It’s bad when you talk about the team “improving” to 3-6. Things got off to a rough start on Monday. Bret Myers bounced back from a horrible start last week and put up some nice numbers, but the offense wasn’t there. He left the game down 3-2, but it ended up being Ryan Franklin who took the loss in relief. Jimmy Rollins and Aaron Rowand both had three hits, but the Phillies three/four/five hitters combined to go 0 for 11. Rollins scored two of the Phillies three runs and the loss dropped Philadelphia to 1-6.
The Phillies ended the skid on Wednesday. Mike Lieberthal got things going with a two run double in the second inning. The Phillies scored two more on Edgar Renteria error. The Braves crept back into the game and cut the lead to a single run, but a two run homer by Aaron Rowand and a solo shot by Pat Burrell in the seventh inning gave the Phillies the lead for good. Cory Lidle gave up ten hits in six innings, but only three of those runners crossed the plate and he improved to 1-1 on the season.
Tonight’s game looked like it was going to be a blow out, but it ended up being a very close game. The Phillies scored five runs in the top of the fifth and had a 7-3 lead heading into the eighth inning. Then the Braves scored three runs in the eighth and made things close. Fortunately, Tom Gordan came in and slammed the door shut in the ninth. Chase Utley had a monster game. He had two homeruns and four RBIs. Bobby Abreau and Jimmy Rollins both homered as well.
The Phillies travel to Colorado tomorrow. Playing in Denver is never easy. It’ll be Ryan Madson against Zach Day in the series opener.
