Phillies split two-game series with White Sox behind Eickhoff

By: Rebecca Serad, Sports Talk Philly Staff

Final: Philadelphia Phillies 5, Chicago White Sox 3 ❖ Attendance: 15,630

Chicago, IL — In their last two games, the Philadelphia Phillies (59-68) were outscored by their opponents 18 to 1. Coming into tonight's match, they were hoping to capitalize on the struggles of starter James Shields of the Chicago White Sox (60-65). For the Phillies, righty Jerad Eickhoff pitched quite well. He faced the minimum number of hitters through five innings, but was inexplicably pulled after six innings and only 71 pitches. The bullpen held down the White Sox offense to secure the victory.

Offensively, it was a joint effort. Cesar Hernandez and Tommy Joseph combined for two doubles, two home-runs, two RBI, and three runs scored. Aaron Altherr also contributed with two RBI of his own. All of the Phillies' starters, with the exception of Cameron Rupp and Peter Bourjos, had at least one hit.

WP: Jerad Eickhoff (9-12, 3.87 ERA) ❖ LP: James Shields (5-16, 5.98 ERA) ❖ SV: Jeanmar Gomez (34)

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
PHI	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	5	10	0
CWS	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	3	7	0

The Phillies' offense jumped on White Sox starter James Shields in the second inning. After getting two quick outs, Tommy Joseph doubled down the left field line. Aaron Altherr followed with a single to right that allowed Joseph to score without a play at the plate. Shortstop Freddy Galvis contributed with a double to center field that was poorly played by center fielder Adam Eaton. Altherr was able to coast home to give the Phils a 2-0 lead. Peter Bourjos struck out to end the inning, but the early scoring was a good sign.

The Phillies continued to tack on runs in the third. Cesar Hernandez hit an opposite field homer to lead off the inning. It seemed like a casual fly out to left, but the wind carried the ball over the wall to give the second baseman his fifth home-run of the year. One out later, Maikel Franco singled to left field. He moved up to second on a wild pitch during the at-bat of Ryan Howard. However, Howard and catcher Cameron Rupp were both retired to end the inning, leaving Franco stranded on second.

The sixth inning led to more runs for the Phils. With two outs, Joseph homered to left-center field to increase the lead to 4-0. Altherr was then hit by a pitch to put a runner on for Galvis. Unfortunately, Galvis struck out and the Phillies were unable to continue the two out rally beyond Joseph's home-run.

In the bottom of the sixth, the White Sox fought back. After facing the minimum batters through five innings, Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff allowed a single to Avisail Garcia and a homer to Dioner Navarro to cut the Phils' lead in half. One out later, Tyler Saladino hit an infield single and stole second during the at-bat of Tim Anderson. However, Eickhoff got Anderson and Melky Cabrera to strike out and fly out, respectively, to end the threat.

The top of the eighth brought some more offense courtesy of the Phillies. Howard led off the inning with a single and Emmanuel Burriss entered the game to pinch-run for him. After Howard's hit, the White Sox made a pitching change, bringing in Tommy Kahnle. Rupp walked against the new reliever. One out later, Altherr came up with the clutch hit once again, this time singling to left field. If Howard were running, it's highly unlikely that he would have scored. But because Burriss was running in place of Howard, a run was able to score to extend the Phillies' lead. Galvis followed with a groundout that moved Altherr and Rupp to second and third, respectively. However, Bourjos grounded out for the final out and the two runners in scoring position were left stranded.

In the bottom of the ninth, the White Sox made one last attempt at coming back against the Phillies and closer Jeanmar Gomez. With one out, Jose Abreu singled to center field. Justin Morneau popped out for the second out, and it seemed as though this would be an easy inning for Gomez. That, however, was not the case. Todd Frazier walked to put runners on first and second for Garcia. He singled to right to score Abreu and move Frazier over to third, decreasing the Phillies lead to two runs. Gomez was able to get Navarro to ground out to end the game and secure his 34th save.

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