On a night that was Marlon Byrd's 37th birthday, Jerome Williams and Byrd delivered a present to the Phillies fans, who watched the Phillies take down the Mets on enemy territory. Williams continued to give the Phillies a chance to win, and Byrd showed baseball that he was one of the best free agent bargains on the season.
The Game:
The first four innings were very quiet. Both Mets starter Bartolo Colon and Phillies starter Jerome Williams retired the other side quickly and quietly before the scoring began. The Phillies would score first in the top of the fifth inning. Leading off the fifth, Marlon Byrd connected on a Bartolo Colon fastball that cleared the right-center fence to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the sixth, the Phillies would switch on the offense in the form of a barrage of singles. Ben Revere, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back-singles. Howard's would come with the bases loaded and would knock in Revere and Rollins to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead. Byrd struck out but the Phillies were not done singling in runs. Domonic Brown singled next, driving in Utley to make it 4-0 Phillies. Carlos Ruiz followed with his single, this time driving in Howard to make it 5-0 and end Colon's day. Not to be left out, Cody Asche singled to drive in Brown to give the Phillies a 6-0 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Williams started leaking oil. Lucas Duda, Matt den Dekker, and Dilson Herrara would all hit singles to load the bases. Williams exited with one out and the bases loaded. Justin De Fratus would get the softly-hit ground ball he was looking for, but it just barely slipped by second baseman Chase Utley to give the Mets their first run. De Fratus would strike out Kirk Nieuwenhuis, but walked Juan Lagares to force in the Mets second run. Antonio Bastardo would enter and strike out Curtis Granderson to end the Mets' threat.
The Phillies added one more in the top of the ninth inning. Jimmy Rollins led off with a walk and stole second base. A Chase Utley groundout got Rollins to third base. Ryan Howard hit a sacrifice fly to score Rollins to make the score 7-2 Phillies.
Despite the lead being five runs, Jonathan Papelbon pitched a clean ninth inning to preserve the Phillies' win.
Significant Stats:
- Jerome Williams went 6 1/3 innings allowing just two earned runs
- Marlon Byrd hit is 25th home run of the season, a career high
- Ryan Howard had three RBI, giving him 84 for the season.
Impact:
The Phillies have won eight of their last 11 games. This does not mean a whole lot at this point, of course. The Phillies are now one game behind the Mets for fourth place. Every win just keeps the Phillies further and further back in the draft order next season.
Up Next:
Tomorrow is the waiver trade deadline. Several Phillies have cleared, including A.J. Burnett and closer Jonathan Papelbon. There is still a chance that the two be dealt. Any deals must be official prior to midnight for those players to be eligible for the postseason. Burnett (7-14, 4.30) is set to face Dillon Gee (5-6, 3.77) tomorrow at 1:10 to close out the series.
