Phils Getting it Together at the Right Time
Phillies starting pitcher Roy Oswalt threw 6 1/3 shutout innings. Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino led off the 1st and 2nd with solo homeruns, and Chase Utley found his swing, going 3 for 5, with 3 doubles, and 2 rbi, in a Phils 5-1 win over the Dodgers in LA. Phils improve to 5-1 on their current road trip. Thursday night they visit the Rockies in a 7:10 make-up game.
Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Roy Oswalt lost a no-hitter with two outs in the sixth but still contributed 6 1/3 stellar innings to a combined three- hitter in a 5-1 Phillies win over the Dodgers to finish out a three-game set.
Oswalt (10-13) won his fourth straight decision and moved to 4-1 in seven starts since being acquired from Houston. The crafty veteran took his career record in August to a remarkable 32-7. He reached 115 pitches, struck out six and departed after issuing his sixth walk of the game with one down in the seventh.
J.C. Romero entered and got Scott Podsednik to ground into a double play to preserve a 3-0 lead provided by solo home runs from Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino and an RBI double from Chase Utley in the seventh.
Rollins scored three times, walked and later added a run-scoring single in the ninth. Utley recorded three doubles, the last making it a 5-1 game in the ninth.
Ryan Madson allowed a James Loney RBI hit in the eighth but recovered nicely to get an inning-ending double-play ball off the bat of Casey Blake. Brad Lidge pitched a scoreless ninth to polish off the win.
The Phils picked up a half-game in the division on the Braves, who host the Mets later Wednesday. The spread currently stands at 2 1/2 games.
Clayton Kershaw (11-9) struck out 11 in six innings, but was touched for five hits and two runs in his fourth losing decision in the last five for Los Angeles, which has dropped four of five.
"We made Roy work for it. He's effective because he can throw a number of pitches for strikes. He keeps you guessing," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "We need to be more productive in the middle of our lineup. We still have a six or seven-game winning streak in us, but we need to do it now."
Rollins hit his 35th career leadoff homer to stake Oswalt to an early lead and Victorino started the second with a home run to double the advantage.
Things stayed that way as Oswalt battled through the walks, including back-to- back two-out passes to Loney and Casey Blake in the fourth. Ronnie Belliard struck out to end the threat.
Loney walked with two down in the sixth and Blake singled into right field to foil the possible no-hit bid. Oswalt recovered to get Belliard on a pop-up to second.
"I was a little wild and had no command of my fastball. When I got in trouble I went with the breaking ball. That's the advantage of having four pitches -- when one isn't working you can go to another one. I was able to put enough movement on the ball to keep them off-balance," Oswalt said.
The Phillies proceeded to add insurance runs over the final three frames. Utley doubled home Rollins with two out in the seventh, a run that LA got back on Loney's base knock an inning later. The visitors put things away in the ninth with RBI hits from Rollins and Utley off Hong-Chih Kuo. Domonic Brown got the rally started with a pinch-hit, ground-rule double.
Game Notes
The Phillies have won five of the last six games overall encompassing a west coast swing that started against the Padres. The Phillies are now 11-2 in their last 13 road games and will play a make-up game in Colorado on Thursday. The game was originally scheduled as the second game of a doubleheader on May 12. Philadelphia will then host Milwaukee for three games over the weekend...Rollins also swiped his 16th base of the season...Victorino set a new career high with his 16th home run...Loney walked three times...The Dodgers next play host to San Francisco for three games...Kershaw dropped to 0-4 lifetime against Philadelphia...Oswalt improved to 8-3 all-time versus Los Angeles.
