I was a little pessimistic about this series. It’s never easy playing out in the desert, the Diamondbacks are a first place team and the Phillies had been playing a little flat as of late. Fortunately they carried their win against the Dodgers on Sunday and turned it into a four game winning streak. They did it with some mighty fine pitching.
On Monday, Cory Lidle and Brandon Webb battled to a draw and it was the bullpen that decided this one. The Phillies battled back from being down 3-0 and Mike Lieberthal’s RBI double gave the Phillies the lead in the eighth. Ryan Howard hit his 20th homerun of the season and Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley both had two hits in the 4-3 win.
Yesterday, Cole Hamels looked like the superstar that he’d been billed as and he picked up his first career win. He gave up one run on three hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. Pat Burrell hit his fourteenth homerun of the season and Scott Victorino and Bobby Abreau both drove in two runs.
Sal Fasano had a career day today in the Phillies 7-3 win. He went four for four with a homerun. Ryan Howard hit homerun number 21 and Ryan Madson improved to 6-3 with 7 2/3 solid innings. He gave up three runs on eight hits with three strikeouts.
The Phillies head to the nation’s capital for four games beginning tomorrow. With the win, the Mets are now down by only three games. We won’t know what happens with the Mets until later tonight.
