Phils Chop Down Giants, Win 4 in a Row
In the most important series to date, the Phils bats continued to come through, dismantling Giants pitcher Matt Cain, in an 8-2 blowout win at Citizens Bank Park. Jimmy Rollins led the offense with a 3 run homerun, triple, single, and 2 stolen bases. Starter Joe Blanton(W, 5-6) recovered after a rough 1st to surrender just 2 runs in 6 1/3 innings work. The win puts the Phils up 2 games in the NL Wildcard race.
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Jimmy Rollins' three-run homer capped a four-run fourth inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies widened the gap in the NL Wild Card race with an 8-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.
Rollins fell a double shy of the cycle for the Phillies, who have won four straight and 20 of 25 to move two games ahead of the Giants for the wild card lead. Domonic Brown added a pinch-hit homer, while Chase Utley, Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz each finished with two hits, an RBI and a run scored in the victory.
Joe Blanton (5-6) got his first decision in four starts, allowing just two solo homers among eight hits in 6 1/3 frames. He struck out seven without walking a batter.
The Phillies remained 2 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL East after the Braves beat the Nationals, 3-2.
Andres Torres and Pat Burrell both homered for the Giants, losers in three straight and four of five. San Francisco has scored first in both games this series so far and has lost both after coming in with a 45-14 mark in those situations.
Matt Cain (9-10) continued his struggles against the Phillies, yielding five runs -- two earned -- on seven hits and a walk in six frames. In five career starts against Philadelphia, Cain is 0-3 with a 6.23 ERA; it's the only National League team he has yet to beat.
Giants starters continued to falter this month, not having earned a win since August 3 -- a span of 14 games. The starting staff is now 0-9 in that stretch with a dreadful 5.50 ERA, causing the club to fall six games behind San Diego in the NL West.
With the game tied, 1-1, entering the bottom of the fourth, the Phillies used an error to score four times.
Werth led off the inning with a single and moved to second on Shane Victorino's groundout. Ross Gload grounded a ball toward second baseman Mike Fontenot, who misplayed it and allowed it to squirt through his legs, leaving runners on the corners.
Ruiz followed with an RBI single through the infield's left side for a 2-1 lead, and, after Blanton was retired, Rollins smashed a three-run homer to right for a four-run cushion.
Burrell got one back in the sixth, blasting a two-out solo shot to dead center to pull the Giants to within three.
San Francisco put two runners on base with one out in the seventh, prompting the Phillies to turn to Chad Durbin out of the bullpen. Durbin came through by inducing a 4-6-3 double play from Torres to get out of the inning.
Philadelphia followed by adding some insurance in the home half. With two outs and nobody on base, Utley doubled to right. Raul Ibanez followed with an RBI triple to deep center, and Werth's double to the gap in right-center plated Ibanez for a 7-2 score.
Brown capped the scoring with a pinch-hit homer into the second deck in right field in the eighth. With a final chance for the cycle, Rollins grounded out to first.
It didn't take long for the Giants to get on the board, as Torres led off the game with a deep homer to the second deck in right-center field.
Blanton, though, settled down, and the Phillies tied it up in the third. Rollins led off with a triple down the right field line and scored two batters later on a groundout from Utley.
Game Notes
Torres hit his third leadoff homer of the season...Philadelphia leads the season series, 3-2...Rollins stole two bases, pushing his streak of consecutive stolen bases with being caught to 29 -- the longest active streak in the majors...Philadelphia recorded three triples in a game for the first time since August 9, 2008...The Phillies have won 17 of their last 19 at home.
