I am going to be honest, I was a little worried coming into the weekend. The Mets threw Pelfrey and Santana, who have been dominant thus far. The Phillies had Doc going Saturday but the inconsistent tandem of Kendrick (Friday) and Moyer (Sunday) going as well. I figured the Phillies would take one of three considering the hot streak that the Mets brought to Philly. Little did I know, the Phillies bats would break out the bats. Though Friday's game was an ugly loss, Saturday and Sunday definitely made up for it.
Friday - Mets 9, Phillies 1
W: Niese (1-1); L: Kendrick (0-1)
Now, I do not really want to get into this game too much because I could just state it like this. "Kyle Kendrick started again". Most fans would get the idea that it meant nothing good. Kyle allowed a two-run home run to David Wright and a solo home run to Jeff Francoeur in the second inning to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. He retired eight of the next nine batters he faced after Francoeur's homer before he allowed a homer to Barajas in the fifth. Kendrick only went five. He surrendered four runs, three off of homers. Danys Baez came in to try and keep the game within reach but gave up four runs on two hits in an inning of work. Brad Lidge took the mound for the first time this season and oh boy, it was nothing good. In his one-third of an inning, Lidge gave up two hits, including a homer. On the bright side, David Herndon pitched two scoreless and JC Romero relieved Lidge to get the final two outs. Carlos Ruiz picked up the lone RBI and Werth scored the run.
Saturday - Phillies 10, Mets 0
W: Halladay (5-1); L: Pelfrey (4-1)
Who better to have pitch a game after losing by eight than Doc himself. Halladay brought his best stuff against the undefeated Mike Pelfrey and he did not disappoint. Both teams were quiet until the bottom of the fourth when the Phillies got their groove going. Werth singled in Utley for a 1-0 lead. Juan Castro added a two-run double in the fourth as well. Victorino added a three-run bomb in the fourth and Raul Ibanez had a two-run run triple in the fifth. With a .218 average in their last 12 games, this breakout was just what they needed...and once you give Roy Halladay a nice lead, he is gonna throw zeros. Halladay stifled the Mets hitters during his 118 pitch outing. He gave up only three hits and struck out six, two to David Wright. Halladay gave the bullpen a much needed rest as well. Victorino continued his success out of the lead off spot with two hits, including his three-run homer and Utley added three hits and three runs. Werth, Ibanez and Castro each had two RBI's. This was a big win for the Phils going into a Sunday night match up on ESPN that slated Moyer vs. Santana.
Sunday - Phillies 11, Mets 5
W: Moyer (3-2), L : Santana (3-2)
What looked to be another bad start by Jamie Moyer ended up being another offensive explosion for the Phillies. Moyer got two outs in the first inning before surrendering a three-run shot to David Wright to give New York a 3-0 lead. The Phillies fought back in the bottom of the frame with homers from Polanco and Howard to make it 3-2. Moyer gave up a two-run homer to former Phillie, Rod Barajas, in the top of the fourth to give the Mets what looked to be a commanding 5-2 lead. Commanding would be the complete opposite as the Phillies erupted in the bottom of the fourth. Chase Utley doubled to lead off but Howard flew out and just missed a homer and Jayson Werth grounded out. It looked like the Utley two-bagger would go to waste but Raul Ibanez got it all started. Raul singled to shallow left to score Utley to make it 5-3. Johan Santana would choose to pitch around Ruiz to load the bases for Jamie Moyer. Moyer worked a memorable walk after a fantastic at bat. He fouled off a Santana fastball and did not swing at any other pitch. The walk brought in a run to make it 5-4. Shane Victorino, known for his playoff grand-slam against CC Sabathia, smacked a Santana pitch into the left field bleachers for his second career salami. This made it 8-4. Polanco got on base and Chase Utley hit a two-run homer to right to make it 10-5 Phillies. Howard singled and Werth doubled to score him to make it a six-run lead, 11-5. Nine straight batters reached in the inning to chase Johan out after three and two-thirds. His 10 runs given up were a career high. Moyer pitched six and gave up five runs on six hits. Chad Durbin and Danys Baez finised the final three frames to seal the win and the series victory.
APTER THOUGHTS: Taking two out of three from the Mets could not feel much sweeter at this point in the season. Despite Kendrick faltering yet again, this weekend was a sigh of relief after the Phils lost eight of their last 12. Since it takes a lot to satisfy me in sports, I wanna put up my negatives for the weekend. Obviously, Kendrick needs to get better. That 9-1 loss was embarrassing. Danys Baez is also to blame for some of the runs there but he partially redeemed himself on Sunday. Moyer did draw that walk and he did win the game but I just was not impressed with his outing. He cannot depend on the offense to pick him up every time. Five runs is unacceptable but he gets a pass this time thanks to the offense. Lastly, let me say how much I hate Rod Barajas. Ever since this guy left Philly, he has destroyed our pitching. Rod is hitting .542 (13-for-24) with seven homers and 15 RBIs in his past seven games at Citizens Bank Park. All i can ever remember him for is the game against the Marlins when he gave up the game-tying run by letting a guy slide right between his legs at home plate. Hate that guy.
Now to the positives. The Phillies have found their stroke, or so it seems. 21 runs over two games and they chased the two top Mets starters off the mound early. Shane Victorino has done a great job out of the lead off spot and would like to see what Charlie will do when Jimmy comes back. Juan Castro and Wilson Valdez have been great filling in for Rollins as well. It was also nice to see Polanco break out of his slump and hit a homer off of Santana. I hope the offense keeps this up because they have the NL Central leading Cards coming into town. Jayson Werth has reached base in every game so far this season. Ryan Howard showed his opposite field pop when he homered off of Johan and Utley showed how dominant he can be with his homer as well. This Phillies offense, when clicking, is better than any line up in the league.
Up next...Let's take a look at the probable pitching match-ups for the Phils and Cards...
Monday 5/3: Jamie Garcia (2-1, 1.04) vs. Joe Blanton (NR)
Tuesday 5/4: Adam Wainwright (4-1, 2.13) vs. Cole Hamels (2-2, 5.28)
Wednesday 5/5: Brad Penny (3-1, 1.56) vs. Kyle Kendrick (0-1, 7.61)
Thursday 5/6: Kyle Lohse (0-1, 5.28) vs. Roy Halladay (5-1, 1.47)
Stay tuned after the Phils and Cardinals series for another edition of Apter Hours!
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