Notes From The Phillies’ 5-4 Win Over New York

The Philadelphia Phillies won their second straight game on Saturday night, taking down the Mets 5-4. Their record improves to 17-18.

• Kyle Kendrick pitched 5.1 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and two walks. 
• Kendrick allowed two runs in the first, settled in for four scoreless innings, and then allowed two runs in the sixth before being removed from the game.
• Ryan Howard enjoyed a very active game at the plate, going 4-5 with a double and driving in the winning run in the ninth inning.
• Chase Utley went 2-3 with another double, and drove in two runs.
• Utley gave the team an early lead with a sac fly RBI in the first, and tied the game with an RBI-double in the seventh.
• Domonic Brown went 1-4 with an RBI, giving him three straight games with a run driven in.
• Jimmy Rollins went 3-4 with a walk, hit a solo home run, and came around to score four of the team’s five runs.
• Jake Diekman came on in relief of Kendrick in the sixth. He got the final two outs of that inning, and came back to pitch a scoreless seventh.
• Mike Adams got the win after throwing a scoreless eighth. He did allow two hits and a walk.
• Jonathan Papelbon shut the door in the ninth for his 11th save of the season.

Final Thoughts

After those four terrible games against the Blue Jays, the Phillies needed to bounce back with a strong series against the division-rival Mets.

They’ve already taken the first two games of the series, and they’ll have a chance to complete the sweep on Sunday.

For the second straight game, the bullpen did a nice job keeping the Mets off the scoreboard to pave way for a comeback victory.

If there’s one thing that the Phillies have done consistently well in the early stages of this season, its been success against division opponents. The Phils have gone 8-4 so far against the National League East. They’ve only lost one of the four series that they’ve played to this point. If you can hold your own against your division rivals in any sport, that alone can go a long way towards keeping you in the race across a long season.