I know the Phillies are tied for second place in the NL East, but 9-12 isn’t going to cut it. And while the Rockies have been off to a good start, they’re not a great team so this split doesn’t sit wll, especially considering it came at home.
Things started off nicely on Monday. The Phillies jumped out to a 6-2 lead, and while the Rockies tried to stage a come back, they fell a run short. Cory Lidle struck out ten in 6 2/3 innings and he picked up the win. Tom Gordon pitched the ninth and he picked up his sixth save of the season. Bobby Abreau drove in three runs and Ryan Howard drove in two. Chase Utley had three hits and three runs and Jimmy Rolling had two hits and scored twice in the 6-5 win.
Tuesday was another one run game but we were on the losing end of things. All thirteen runs in the game were scored before the fourth inning as both starters were hit hard. Gavin Floyd continues to struggle and he picked up the loss. He’s now 1-2. The pen tried to keep them in the game but the offense ran out of gas in the first half of the game. Aaron Roward scored twice and Sal Fasano drove in two runs.
The Phillies ensured at least a split on Wednesday as their offense turned it on. The Phillies jumped out to a 7-1 lead by the third inning. David Bell hit a three run homer and Pat Burrell had two hits and two RBIs. Mike Lieberthal and Chase Utley both had three hits. Ryan Madson didn’t throw all that well but he picked up the easy win. He gave up three runs on ten hits in five innings and he’s now 2-1. Tom Gordon had another nice outing and pitched a scoreless ninth.
The Rockies secured the split this afternoon 6-3. The Phillies actually had a 3-1 lead, but the Phillies scored two in the fifth, two in the eighth and one in the ninth to put the game away. Jon Lieber had a solid start but it went to waste. He gave up three runs on nine hits with four strikeouts in seven innings. Ryan Franklin was hit hard and he took the loss. He gave up two runs and one of the them was a two run jack. He was pulled without getting an out. Pat Burrell had two hits and two RBIs and Bobby Abreau and David Bell both had two hits.
The Phillies travel to Pittsburgh tomorrow so hopefully this is where we get back on track and back to .500 with a sweep. The Pirates have been one of the worst teams in all of baseball this year, so we have to get the job done.
