April 7 - Phillies vs. Diamondbacks
Follow tonight's action between the Phillies and D-Backs at Chase Field.
April 7 - Phillies vs. Diamondbacks
Todd Zolecki
Shane Victorino and Conor Jackson violently collided on a play at first base in the top of the eighth. Victorino struck out, but ran to first on a passed ball. The throw from catcher Chris Snyder was to Jackson's right and the two smacked heads. Victorino went flying. Jackson helicoptered to the ground. Jackson left the game. Victorino stayed in and scored the game-tying run on Eric Bruntlett's double to left.
Bruntlett scored on Chase Utley's single to center to hand the Phillies a 5-4 lead, their first lead of the night.
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Micah Owings had retired 11 consecutive batters when Geoff Jenkins singled to right with one out in the seventh. Pedro Feliz followed with a two-run homer to left to make it 3-3. Feliz entered the night hitting just .236, but it seems he has had his share of big hits so far this season.
But Ryan Madson gave the lead right back to Arizona in the bottom of the seventh to make it 4-3. Madson has a 5.40 ERA.
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Chris Young homered and Augie Ojeda tripled and scored in the fifth to make it 3-1. The Phillies have just two hits through five innings.
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Shane Victorino singled to center to score Carlos Ruiz from second base in the third inning to make it 1-1. Ruiz made a nice slide to beat the throw to the plate.
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Jimmy Rollins went 0 for 3 with a walk and two runs scored tonight in a rehab assignment with single-A Clearwater. He also helped turn two double plays. Here's what Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said about Rollins: "Jimmy played today and felt fine. We're confident that he's still progressing well and, at this stage, he is still day to day."
I expect Rollins to be ready to roll this weekend against the Giants.
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Kyle Kendrick allowed a run on three hits in the first inning and allowed two more hits and a walk in the second inning. He has thrown 42 pitches in the first two innings, which isn't good after Adam Eaton could give the Phillies just four innings last night.
Todd...what is the solution to Howard's strikeout woes? I'm sure it's frustrating for him, but even though he racks up K's like crazy, he still is getting $10 million. I really think it's more frustrating for the fans because we expect him to perform and we see that without his production the team is not playing to it's fullest potential. And we fans don't have $10 million to fall back on.- Well, we just tied it up, but.......I think maybe we should be worried about the other divisions. Even Chase & Pat can't figure out how to hit against these guys.— Norma
- Howard, 3 more K's tonight, swinging at pitches he isn't even seeing, not getting runners over with less than 2 outs......how much longer can this go on before they do something...it is painful to watch and certainly not worth the 10 million bucks.— Mark1npt
- another come from behind win. beautiful.— hawaiianPhilly8
- Where are the people who said Montgomery should give Howard the $160m right now??? Geniuses!— Casey
- Great win. Not sure how they did it. Madson is a fish, but the rest of the bullpen has been amazing. Bruntlett has turned out to be a really nice acquisition.— John in LA
- I read a letter to the editor this a.m. from Sen. Arlen Specter who suggested that the Phillies fans give Howard a standing ovation each time he bats in appreciation for all of his accomplishments and maybe as a way of building his confidence while he's in this slump. Don't know if Phillies fans would go for it, but I think we/he should try anything at this point?!?— KarenA
- Why don't we offer to wash his Astin-Martin for him whikle we're at it...poor baby........— Mark1npt
- It was good and important to get this win, because we face Webb this afternoon. I'll be happy with a split. Be interesting to see what happens when Jimmy comes back. Eric Bruntlett been hitting well as of late. Move him to first and sit Howard for a bit?— Deb in Dixie
Did anyone else notice that they are pitching around Utley now? Third inning last night it was clearly evident. Man on second base, two outs, four straight balls to Utley, Howard strikes out. Great strategy on their part. Charlie needs to move Burrell into the four hole to protect Utley. It'll probably take him another month to figure this out though.— RAS- who is this Howard imposter. stepford wives?— pathunders
Nice win for the Phils. As for Ryan Howard, something has to happen so that he feels he has a fresh start, not just another at bat. I think we're very close to the point where the manager has a sit-down with him, explains what he's doing, and send Ryan to Lehigh Valley for a week. That allows him to work on things out of the spotlight, clear the slate, and then come back and start over. It also would give the fans a chance to welcome him back rather than just wait to see what happens each time he steps to the plate. Of course, the real problem is what happens if that doesn't work. But honestly, things can't get much worse than they are right now for Ryan.— bobby- Did anyone else notice that hey are pitching around Utley now? Third inning last night, two outs, man on second, Utley gets four straight balls, Ryan whiffs. Great strategy by Arizona. Charlie needs to move Burrell into the four hole to protect Utely so he'll see some pitches to hit. Of course it'll take them another month to figure this out.— RAS
- Norma, did you mean that we should worry about the NL East or the NL Central/West? Because if you meant the latter, that doesn't make sense... the Phils are 9-6 against the Central and 8-3 against the West this season. Their struggles have come against the NL East, where they're only 3-6 this year (1-2 vs. Nats, 2-4 vs. Mets).— danielswolf
- who is this Howard imposter. stepford wives? Posted by pathunders ..... Does look like him doesn't it? But this couldn't be the Ryan Howard we all know and admire. Seems like he's swinging and hoping his bat hits the ball. He looked totally pathetic on that low inside pitch on his third K. After two great years I'm not going to give up on him though. He can (and will) carry this team on his back. Let's be a little more supportive. Oh.. and Arlen Specter can just shut up! Standing ovations are earned and Howard hasn't earned any this season.— James TL
