The Phillies won the rubber match of their three game series with the New York Mets on Wednesday night, claiming their 27th victory of the season.
- Still no wins for starter Cliff Lee. The lefthander was solid but unspectacular in his latest start, allowing three runs on seven hits through six innings, settling for another no decision.
- The Philadelphia offense sent in their run support too late to reward their lefthanded ace with his first win of the season. They scored just one run with Lee in the game, and nine once he exited.
- Jimmy Rollins came through with one of his best games of the season. The shortstop went 3-5 and drove in three runs. He hit just his second homer of the season, and also stole a base.
- Juan Pierre also had a three-hit night, and scored two runs. He’s continued to be an asset for this team, hitting .324 on the season.
- Ty Wigginton got another chance to bat cleanup, and this time turned in a productive evening, going 2-4 with a walk, driving in two runs, and hitting his fifth homerun of the year.
- Carlos Ruiz made his only action of the game count. The catcher pinch-hit for Cliff Lee in the seventh inning, and came through with a two-run homer to tie the game.
- Shane Victorino also had a nice game, driving in three runs, including two in the ninth inning.
- Relievers Antonio Bastardo and Jose Contreras performed well, tossing scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth frames.
- For Contreras, it was his fifth straight scoreless outing. It may or may not be a mirage, but for now its encouraging to see one of the other veterans in the bullpen step up and begin to assert themselves as a reliable option. Charlie Manuel needs to be able to count on more of his arms from the ‘pen that don’t belong to a guy named Papelbon.
- Speaking of which, Raul Valdes tried to make things interesting in the bottom of the ninth inning. The lefty gave up three runs, and forced Charlie Manuel to bring in Jonathan Papelbon to record the final out.
-Chooch is the best. Enough said.
-Pierre did a great job scoring on Shane’s shallow fly. The guy can still move.
– I liked what Bastardo & Contreras did. We need strong arms fromthe bullpen if we have any hope on staying in the race until the team gets healthier.
-That play that Lee made on the popped up bunt attempt was great. The guy who bunted and then stood there should be fined by the Mets.
An improtatnt win for the Phils who have now won 2 Series in the Row
(3-1 vs Cards and 2-1 vs Mets) and they need to keep winning Series
They are 7-6 in the “Paulman’s 23 Game Stretch to determine the Season”
and have the next 10 Games versus the Miami, Dodgers, Orioles..
(Marlins have the best record for the Month of May so they are a hot team as has the Dodgers so this will be an improtant stretch)
23 game stretch to determine the season? Dude? So unless they come out with above .500 its over huh? They had a winning record for the second month of the season.Injuries throughout the clubhouse and again…those dominant Nats are only 4 games up.
That is correct Erock as far as repeating as NL East Division Winners..
I call them as I see them (even if it’s only 1/3rd of the way thru the Season)
check that erock, they are only three back, if someone told you before the season that by the end of may still no Utley, no howard in sight, Worley on dl, Doc now on dl, and Lee no wins and phils only 3 back, two above 500 you would be ecstatic, its a long season, only morons make predictions this early, especially a 23 game season, some of thes guys who are out of town just do not have areal feel for what’s going on
The reality is that this Year’s Baseball Season will go down to the Final Week-10 Days of the Season and especially in the NL East and AL East where there are many quality teams, who will spend the season beating each other up and down..
I have used this current “23 Game Stretch” as a real barometer of what to expect moving forward since these 23 games were against quality opponents all with winning records and a few teams (Mets/Marlins/Nats) that the Phils have to leap-frog to repeat as NL East Winners and to help keep some fans interested or talking about baseball while the Flyers/76ers Eagle OTA’s were happening ..
As I have stated 88-90 WIns probably wins the NL East this Season so the Phils shtill have as good a chance as any other Team to reach that but they have to conontinue to win series 2 games to 1 in order to do so…