The Philadelphia Phillies lost the first game of their series with the Diamondback on Friday night, falling to Arizona 5-4. Their record drops to 11-12.
- Roberto Hernandez took his first loss of the season, allowing four runs on seven hits over six innings.
- Hernandez allowed a two-run homer to Aaron Hill after giving up a lead-off walk to Miguel Montero in the fourth inning.
- In the fifth, Hernandez allowed two more runs on three hits and a walk, including a ground-rule double to Hill.
- The Phillies offense was quiet until a three-run rally in the seventh inning. After three singles from Marlon Byrd, Domonic Brown, and Carlos Ruiz, Cody Asche drew a walk with the bases loaded. Tony Gwynn then reached on a fielding error, which allowed two more runs to score.
- In the ninth inning, the Phillies had one more rally going, but ultimately fell short. With two outs, Jimmy Rollins singled home Ben Revere, and then the Diamondbacks intentionally walked Chase Utley. John Mayberry, who had entered the game in the eighth as a pinch-runner for Ryan Howard, struck out with the bases loaded.
- Ben Revere went 2-5, finishing with another multi-hit game.
- Domonic Brown and Marlon Byrd each went 2-4.
- Cody Asche got his second straight start, and went 1-3.
- Jake Diekman pitched two innings in relief of Hernandez, and allowed a solo home run in the eighth.
Final Thoughts
The Phillies just can’t seem to make it over that .500 mark.
It was nice to see the team fight back from a four-run deficit late in the game, even though their rally ultimately fell short.
Having Ryan Howard out of the lineup late in the game came back to hurt the team in the ninth inning. Howard has been enjoying a very productive week, and I’d have much rather had him taking the final at-bat as opposed to the likes of John Mayberry, but its hard to fault Ryne Sandberg for lifting Howard for a pinch runner in the eighth.
The Phillies were down by just one run at the time, and Mayberry obviously runs better than Howard, and would have given them a better chance to score the tying run if the situation had allowed for it.
