Cody Asche's 2-run shot sparked a four-run inning during the Phillies' 10-6 loss Saturday
The Phillies offense was great early in support of Cliff Lee, but the Diamondbacks battled back to tie the game and eventually win it in the tenth on Saturday.
Lee wasn't his usual sharp self to start off the game, though it didn't help that home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott called a tight strike zone all night, drawing the ire of players from both teams. Aaron Hill hit a long fly ball off the wall in left for a single to lead off for Arizona, and scored on a broken bat single by Mark Trumbo. Lee hit Gerardo Parra to load the bases, but worked out of the jam by getting Tuffy Gosewisch to pop up for the third out on his 32nd pitch of the inning.
After an 8-pitch top of the inning from Lee, the Phillies went to work against Arizona starter Josh Collmenter in the second. A softly hit ball off the bat of Domonic Brown landed just in front of Trumbo in left, and, one batter later, Cody Asche hit a line drive home run into the seats in right field to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead. Lee and Grady Sizemore followed up with consecutive singles before Rollins his second double of the game, to the same spot, no less, off the top of the wall in right to plate Lee. A Chase Utley single to right staked the Phillies to a 4-1 lead.
Martin Prado cut the D-Backs' deficit in half with a solo home run to left off a hanging Lee curveball. A walk to Paul Goldschmidt and groundball single by Alfredo Marte put men on the corners, but Lee bounced back to retire the side in a scoreless third. Marlon Byrd collided with Sizemore as they both went for the flyout that was the third out, but Sizemore looked to be OK after a moment.
Byrd extended the Phillies' lead with his 20th homer of the season, a solo shot to left. Carlos Ruiz hit a long fly ball for a double to left and scored one batter later on Lee's second hit of the game, a single to center field. With the score now 6-2, Collmenter was pulled in favor of reliever Eury De La Rossa after just 2.1 innings.
Arizona got one back in the fourth on an RBI single to center by Prado, making it 6-3. Lee was pulled for pinch hitter Darin Ruf after just five innings, with Ruf getting hit in the foot to put men on the corners, but the Phillies failed to capitalize as Ruiz was thrown out at home on a Sizemore groundball and Rollins struck out for the third out.
Justin DeFratus came in to pitch the sixth and ran into trouble immediately. Ender Inciarte led off with a double. Hill reached after taking a pitch off his hand, and scored, along with Inciarte, on a double by Prado to the gap in deep left-center field. The Diamondbacks tied it at six on an RBI groundout off Mario Hollands by Inciarte in the seventh.
The Phillies threatened in the eighth and ninth innings, particularly in the latter against righty Evan Marshall (3-2). Reid Brignac singled to center to lead off the inning, but, was called out after official review trying to steal second on a close play. Asche walked with two outs ahead of Ben Revere, who reached on an infield single to first. Revere's was also a close one, with Goldschmidt just barely missing the back of his jersey as Revere moved out of the way, almost missing the first base bag in the process. Sizemore grounded out to first to end the threat.
Arizona wasted little time in the tenth, with Inciarte reaching on an infield single and Didi Gregorius doubling to right with one out. Prado's RBI sac fly gave the D-Backs the lead, with Nick Evans adding a three-run shot off Antonio Bastardo (4-4) for good measure to make it 10-6. Addison Reed worked around a one-out double by Chase Utley to retire the side and win it for Arizona.
Notable Statistics:
Chase Utley: 3-4, RBI, BB
Ryan Howard: 2-5, BB
Cody Asche: 1-4, HR (7), 2 RBI, BB
Impact:
The Phillies are basically playing for pride at this point in the season, and theirs had to have taken a hit after this one. The bats came alive in this one after tallying nine runs on 12 hits in Friday's win, but they came up short late. However, the bullpen was more to blame for conceding a three-run lead and allowing seven runs in five innings. Two of them came in the inning after Lee was pulled after throwing 85 pitches on the evening. It was good to see Howard have some success at the plate after his recent benching. The two teams combined for 33 hits in ten innings, with the Phillies outhitting Arizona 17-16. Prado, who had five RBIs, finished a triple short of the cycle.
Up Next:
The Phillies will send Roberto Hernandez (4-8, 4.25) to the hill Sunday for the rubber game in their three game set with Arizona. The Diamondbacks will counter with left-hander Vidal Nuno (2-6, 5.13).
