The Philadelphia Phillies won the finale game of their series with the Nationals 3-1. Their record improves to 46-47.
- Kyle Kendrick was in top form tonight, cruising through seven innings and allowing just one run on four hits.
- Kendrick allowed his lone run during the sixth inning. The righty gave up a triple to Bryce Harper with one out, and then allowed Ryan Zimmerman to knock him in with a sacrifice fly.
- Ben Revere gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning with an RBI single that scored Carlos Ruiz with two outs. Revere had another multi-hit game as well.
- Darin Ruf went 1-3 with a double to lead off the seventh inning.
- Two batters later, Kevin Frandsen gave the team the go-ahead score with a pinch-hit RBI single.
- Domonic Brown picked up two hits, including his 15th double of the year.
- Michael Young also doubled and got an insurance run home in the eighth inning.
- Antonio Bastardo pitched a clean eighth inning.
- Jonathan Papelbon picked up the save in the ninth.
- The Phillies committed four errors in the field tonight, three of them charged to Chase Utley alone.
Final Thoughts
The Phillies accomplished what they set out to do, taking three of four possible games from the Nationals. They’re now an impressive 5-2 on their 10-game homestand.
Kyle Kendrick really came through for the team tonight, pitching a great seven innings. The Phillies needed him at his best tonight, and the righty didn’t disappoint.
We’ve also got to give a serious nod to Kevin Frandsen. Frandsen has been such a solid, consistent player for this team ever since he was called up from Triple-A a year ago. All he does is hit. And hit in big moments. He’s won a handful of games for the team with his clutch hitting, and he’s become Charlie Manuel’s go-to guy in late innings. For the year, Frandsen is batting .295 with three homers and 16 RBI’s off of the bench.
Also, how about the impact that Darin Ruf has made since being inserted in the starting lineup? Ruf has a hit in every appearance so far this year, and has injected some life into the bottom of the order. His lead-off double in the seventh was the initial spark that helped give the team the lead late in the game.
Great outing from KK tonight, nice series against the Nats.
Huge game from Kendrick. Frandsen is like a modern day Greg Dobbs. Making the most of the little playing time that he gets. Nice to see easy outings for Bastardo and Papelbon.
keep it up fellas. im starting to believe in this team obviously with a lot of reservations. typical of this season would be for them to get swept by the lowly white sox after an impressive run but if they do what they are supposed to and win the series i will really start believing
The key is that the NL East is medicore this Season..
Look at the Braves after a 12-1 Start, they are playing below .500 Baseball since late April, The NAts have been like the Phils of past season, lot of hype & epxectations and have not lived up to them.. Phils keep winning Series (2 out of 3) and win some of these head to head match-ups, they are right in this Race..
I believe that only the NL East Winner will make the Playoffs.. The CentralDivision with the Cardinals,Reds & Pirates have all been playing solid Ball for most of the Season.. and now the Dodgers are Hot in the West and will duke it out with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the NL West as SF Giants & Rockies have played their way out of the Playoff Hunt for now..
NL East is up for grabs .. Phils will be minor buyers for a Relief Pitcher and that’s probably it for as far as the Trade-Deadline moves go..
same old story with this core team…. they will fool everyone into thinking they can contend, but will fall short by 4-5 games and still have the same core of aging and degrading talent…….Amaro needs to grow a pair and deal Papelbon, Utley, Young, Rollins and Lee and get some top talent to infuse into this organization….. fill some major holes on this team and inject some youth into the lineup and talent to the dry farm system….
you must be joking… they are trying to win
I think Utley knows this is it for him and will be playing for a short-term Contract and expect him to play well as he probably ends up moving out
west for the Dodgers and replace another aging 2B Nick Punto for the Dodgers.. If the Phils were out of it, he would probably be dealt to them, but since they are 7.5 out of 1st Place and 6 Games out of Wildcard Race, they will not be blowring up this Team.. Maybe a MIke Young to the Yankees who have gone thru 6 3B this Season so far in A-Rod’s absence.. but he alone won’t bring much back in return..
Phils have to keep Lee who is still a Top 5 Pitcher in the NL and at least with Lee,Hamels, and maybe Kendrick, the Phils would have a semblance of a decent Starting Rotation going into 2014 ..