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Rollins, Lopez lift Phils past Mets
That is one statistic that clearly isn't misleading and emphasizes the importance of Rollins to the offense.
The Phillies faced rubber-armed Livan Hernandez, an innings-eater who is not bound by strict pitch counts. That's a good thing, because Hernandez needed 36 pitches to get through the first inning.
Phillies pitcher Rodrigo Lopez had not pitched in the big leagues since 2007. ( Michael S. Wirtz / Staff Photographer )
He is the only active pitcher to throw a complete game for six teams, and he entered the night with 46 complete games. Hernandez was never close to No. 47, leaving after surrendering seven runs in three-plus innings.
The Mets, who have nine players on the disabled list, simply lacked the offensive arsenal to make up the deficit.
Of course, plenty of Phillies enjoyed a big night off Hernandez, but any upward curve in offense by Rollins has to be looked on with optimism.
Friday night was the opener of a 10-game homestand for the Phillies leading up to the all-star break. They are 14-22 at Citizens Bank Park, a statistic they would like to reverse - just as they hope to see Rollins' batting numbers rise.
Contact staff writer Marc Narducci at 856-779-3225 or mnarducci@phillynews.com.
The sample is too small, but tonight again showed that when Jimmy Rollins is smoking line drives, the Phillies are a different team, one capable of scoring bushels of runs.
Rollins, who has been in a funk for most of the season, went 2 for 5 with a run scored and two RBIs as the Phillies beat the New York Mets, 7-2, in front of a sellout crowd of 45,231 at Citizens Bank Park.
Even Rollins' outs were hit sharply.
Of course, the Phillies received a major boost from righthander Rodrigo Lopez, who last appeared in the major leagues in 2007 with Colorado and missed most of the 2008 season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Lopez, who recorded 14 or more wins three times with the Baltimore Orioles, pitched 61/3 innings. He exited to a standing ovation when he was lifted for Chan Ho Park with one out in the seventh inning after surrendering consecutive RBI doubles to Nick Evans and Brian Schneider.
Lopez allowed two earned runs, striking out four and walking just one. He threw 96 pitches - 62 for strikes.
It's hard to think the Phillies expected this type of debut from a pitcher who was 5-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 13 starts for triple-A Lehigh Valley.
What the Phillies did expect was plenty of table-setting by Rollins, who ended his 0-for-28 skid Thursday with two hits in a 5-2 loss in Atlanta.
Rollins set the tone tonight with a leadoff double in the first inning; he scored on Chase Utley's RBI single. Greg Dobbs' two-run single made it 3-0, and Lopez had an early cushion.
Tonight was the first time Rollins put together consecutive games of two or more hits since totaling five hits in games on June 7 and 9.
Utley's second-inning sacrifice fly and Jayson Werth's solo home run in the third preceded another piece of good hitting and hustle by Rollins.
In the third inning, he turned what looked like a sharply hit two-run single to center field into a two-run double when he kept motoring while none of the Mets covered second base.
