Prior to the game tonight, the Phillies agreed on a trade with the Dodgers to send long-time second baseman Chase Utley in exchange for two prospects, one of which will be 24-year-old Darnell Sweeney. Though the trade was agreed upon by both teams, it wasn't made official, so Utley was in the dugout to support his teammates against the Blue Jays. It was a good game to watch.
Rookie outfielder Aaron Altherr was inserted in the Phillies starting lineup for the first time since his call-up and made the most of it, hitting an RBI-double and a two-run homer, while starter Adam Morgan kept the Blue Jays bats at bay, earning the Phillies a split with Toronto during the brief two-game series at Citizens Bank Park, 7-2.
In the opening frame, the Phillies jumped on veteran left-hander Mark Buehrle right away. Andres Blanco and Odubel Herrera hit back-to-back one-out singles. Phils right fielder Jeff Francoeur plated Blanco with a sacrifice fly to left, giving them a 1-0 advantage. Darin Ruf followed with a single of his own to drive in Herrera. Ruf reached third on a missed catch error by Russell Martin, but not before the Phillies took a 2-0 lead. New call-up Aaron Altherr smacked an RBI-double to left field, his first big league hit, to give the Phils a 3-0 lead. A Jeff Francoeur solo home run made it a 4-0 game in the third.
Toronto got on the board in the fifth, courtesy of a solo home run from Edwin Encarnacion and a Cliff Pennington RBI-double. Heading into the bottom of the inning, it was 4-2 in favor of the guys in red.
In the bottom half of the fifth, the Phillies added on some insurance. To start things off, Andres Blanco belted a solo home run to make it a 5-2 game right away. Odubel Herrera walked and stole second during Jeff Francoeur's at-bat and reached third on a Darin Ruf groundout. Left fielder Aaron Altherr continued his big night, hitting a two-run homer just over the wall in left to give the Phillies a five-run lead, 7-2.
The Blue Jays began to chip away a little in the eighth. With Luis Garcia on the mound, unable to find the strike zone, Ben Revere and Cliff Pennington drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. Justin Smoak came in to pinch hit and hit a grounder that Cesar Hernandez couldn't corral. It went into right center field, scoring Revere and moving Pennington to third. Troy Tulowitzki followed with an RBI force out to make it a 7-4 game. Garcia limited the damage by striking out Jose Bautista to end the inning with the Phillies maintaining a three-run lead.
With the exception of an Andres Blanco error, Ken Giles retired the side with ease for his eigth save in as many opportunities since taking over the closer role.
Starting Pitcher Report:
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mark Buehrle (L, 13-6) |
4.0 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3.45 |
|
Adam Morgan (W, 4-4) |
7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3.92 |
- Buehrle: 53 pitches, 40 strikes; 5 groundouts, 3 flyouts; 19 batters faced
- Morgan: 83 pitches, 58 strikes, 5 groundouts, 7 flyouts; 24 batters faced
Out of the 'Pen
Blue Jays
- Bo Scultz (5th, 6th): 2.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 2 HR, 2.83 ERA
- Liam Hendriks (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Mark Lowe (8th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 1.52 ERA
Phillies
- Luis Garcia (8th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.46 ERA
- Ken Giles (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 1.69 ERA
At the Plate:
Blue Jays
- Ben Revere: 1-3, 2 R, K, .286 avg
- Edwin Encarnacion: 1-4, HR, R, RBI, K, .255 avg
- Cliff Pennington: 1-2, 2B, R, RBI, BB, .236 avg
Phillies
- Aaron Altherr: 2-3, HR, 2B, R, 3 RBI, BB, .400 avg
- Odubel Herrera: 2-3, 2 R, BB, .291 avg
- Andres Blanco: 2-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, 2 K, .292 avg
What's Next:
Thursday, August 20th at Miami Marlins, 7:10PM
- RHP Jerome Williams (4-8, 5.27 ERA) vs. LHP Brad Hand (2-3, 4.74 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Sp.)
Brandon Apter, Publishing Editor for Philliedelphia.com
