Cole Hamels held the Dodgers in check for only 2 runs in 7 innings. The best thing that could have happened for the Dodgers is that his pitch count reached 111, so he was yanked.
Addings runs in the 8th and 9th, the Dodgers came back from a 3-2 deficit to take the game over the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3. The Diamondbacks also won, thanks to a great effort by Randy Johnson, so the lead for them is still 1 game in the NL West.
The game featured a great pitching matchup of Hamels against Clayton Kershaw, 2 of the best young lefties in the game. Kershaw struggled through the first 3 innings, giving up a homer to Chase Utley as the 2nd hitter of the game. In the 2nd inning he got 2 quick outs, then 3 straight singles for another run. Worst of all, it was Hamels who had the RBI single.
In the 3rd he faced the heart of the Phillies order, and retired Utley to start. Jimmy Rollins, hitting in the #3 spot, doubled and stole 3rd. A sac-fly RBI by Pat Burrell made it 3-1.
After that, he settled down quite nicely. He struck out the side in the 4th, K'd the first 2 hitters in the 5th, and stranded 2 runners in the 6th. Overall, he finished at 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. Bottom line is that he kept the Dodgers in the game.
The Dodgers got runs starting with a Casey Blake single in the 1st to score Matt Kemp. They went down in order until the 6th, when they scratched across another run on a Manny Ramirez single to score Juan Pierre. You know, that Manny guy is pretty good. Just thought I'd let you in on that little secret.
Thankfully Hamels was done by the 8th, and the Dodgers were able to load the bases on Chad Durbin with no outs. Blake hit a sac-fly RBI to score Kemp again. Then Nomar Garciaparra grounded into a double play. Just like the night before, they dropped the ball again with the bases loaded. But, that one run tied it up.
Hong-Chih Kuo was great in relief, mowing down 6 of the 7 hitters he faced in the 8th and 9th. With J.C. Romero on to start the 9th, it didn't take long for this one to be over. Russell Martin was beaned, and James Loney got him to 2nd on a groundout. Ethier then stepped up and ended the game with a single.
Taking 2 in a row against the NL East leading Phillies is always a good thing. They've had chances to blow these 2 games open with so many men on base and haven't done so, but they've still won, which is all that matters. I'll take it, and I think they will too.
Brad Penny makes his 2nd start since coming back to take on the newly acquired Joe Blanton. Penny was lucky to have faced the Giants last game, as they didn't take advantage of him. The Phillies will be a much stiffer challenge.
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