Chase Utley took his four-game, five-home run streak into Colorado on Monday night, building off the important win in the final game against the Mets on Sunday.
The Phillies were also looking to get some other offense going since so far this season they have been thriving off the long ball. They went into Monday's game against the Rockies with a league-leading 31 home runs.
Monday night's matchup featured the Rockies' Mike Redman against the Phils' Kyle Kendrick.
Kendrick has been struggling a bit this season. Being a contact pitcher requires getting good defense from the rest of the team, and the Phils have been struggling in the field, more so since the lost of Jimmy Rollins.
Kendrick allowed the Rockies to get on the board early. In the second, the Rockies scored off of a three-run homer by Yorvit Torrealba.
The Phils' struggle to score runs looked to continue until the fourth inning, when Ryan Howard reached on a single and Pat Burrell crushed a ball for his seventh home run of the season.
It didn't take long though for the Rockies to add to their lead. Kendrick allowed a two-run homer by Garrett Atkins, bringing the game to 5-2.
The Phillies came right back in the top of the sixth when Jason Werth managed an inside-the-park home run off a ball hit to center field, followed by Chase Utley's sixth home run in five games.
In the top of the eighth, with the score 5-4 and the Rockies readying their closer in the bullpen, the Phillies managed to score two runs off of non-home run plays for the first time in two games.
Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, and Pedro Feliz all reached base, bringing up Carlos Ruiz with the bases loaded and two outs. Ruiz smoked a ball down the right field line for a double, allowing Howard and T.J. Bohn (pinch runner for Burrell) to score.
With their lead going into the ninth, the Phils looked to tack on some insurance runs.
Geoff Jenkins led off the ninth with a single to right field, and Chris Coste was hit by a pitch. Jason Werth came up to the plate and hit a line drive to right field for a double, which allowed Jenkins to score.
After Utley and Howard went down, T. J. Bohn came to the plate and hit a line drive to left field allowing Coste and Werth to come in to score.
Although they had a four-run lead, Brad Lidge came in to end the game.
After striking out Troy Tulowitzki and Matt Holiday, the Phils closed out a well-fought 9-5 win.
The Phils send Brett Myers to the mound on Tuesday to face Jeff Francis.
The Phillies are at the .500 mark for the fourth time this season and will be looking to get over the hump.
1 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Aron Glatzer about 1 year ago
Good to see Lidge having some success again.
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