The Philadelphia Phillies snapped their six-game losing streak on Friday night, taking down the Reds 8-0. Their record improves to 25-34.
- Cole Hamels anchored the Phillies with 7.2 scoreless innings.
- Hamels allowed five hits and two walks while striking out seven. He lowered his ERA to 3.49.
- The Phillies’ offense broke the scoreless game open in the fourth inning with a three-run outburst.
- Domonic Brown came through with a two-run double, and John Mayberry singled home Brown in the following at-bat.
- Jimmy Rollins tacked on a run in the fifth by hitting his seventh homer of the year.
- The Phillies put the game out of reach by scoring another four runs in the ninth.
- Ben Revere began the ninth with a pinch-hit single, Jimmy Rollins drew a walk, and Carlos Ruiz singled to load the bases. Chase Utley drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, Ryan Howard drove in two thanks to a fielding error, and Domonic Brown finished things up with a sacrifice fly of his own.
- John Mayberry started for Ben Revere in center. Mayberry has had a fairly productive week, and Ryne Sandberg continues to keep him in the starting lineup. He’s got four RBI’s in the last three games.
- Ryan Howard went 1-4 with a walk and scored two runs.
- Chase Utley finished 3-3 with an RBI.
- Mike Adams came on to get the final out of the eighth.
- Jonathan Papelbon pitched a clean ninth.
Final Thoughts
The Phillies were certainly overdue for some kind of offensive outburst.
Its a little surprising that the outburst ended coming against a pretty good pitcher in Johnny Cueto. Cueto entered the game with an ERA below 2.00, and I was preparing myself for another pathetic offensive linescore with less than five hits and three runs.
But all dogs have their day, I suppose. Some would hope that this game can serve as a spark to get the offense going, but anyone that has followed this team closely this season knows better. The only thing that this team can be counted on to provide is constant aggravation and frustration.
