Jimmy Rollins' 2-run jack broke a 1-all tie in the Phillies' 4-1 win Wednesday
Roberto Hernandez (4-8) hasn't been especially great this season, but pitched his best game of the year as the Phillies again brought the bats in winning their third straight in Milwaukee.
The Game:
Former Phillie Kyle Lohse (9-4) was throwing strikes early, but made a mistake early on a pitch to Chase Utley. With two outs , the second baseman hit a bullet into the right field seats to give the Phillies a quick 1-0 lead.
The Brewers evened things up in he bottom of the second after going down quietly in the first. Jimmy Rollins made a good play on Aramis Ramirez's grounder to short, but his throw to Ryan Howard was low and glanced off the first baseman's glove, allowing Ramirez to reach safely. Lyle Overbay's single with one out scored Ramirez from second to tie the game at one apiece.
Both pitchers had their good stuff tonight, getting lots of ground ball outs and low-pitch at-bats, and the game was moving along very quickly. Lohse got back-to-back strikeouts in a scoreless fifth that saw him retire his 13th straight batter, and Hernandez wasn't far behind him. Cameron Rupp broke the silence in the sixth with a leadoff single and, two outs later, Rollins lifted his 9th home run of the year just over the wall in right to put the Phillies up 3-1. It was Rollins' first homer in 30 games, and the hit ended an 0-for-20 skid.
Marlon Byrd and Cody Asche hit consecutive singles in the seventh before Rupp dropped a bloop single in front of center fielder Carlos Gomez, plating Byrd and staking the Phillies to a 4-1 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Hernandez threw just seven pitches to retire the side in order.
Hernandez was pulled after throwing a season-high eight innings on just 83 pitches. He allowed three hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Lohse was solid as well, finishing the eighth with seven hits, four runs, and no walks with eight strikeouts over his 107 pitches.
Jonathan Papelbon came in for the ninth and made short work of the Brewers, striking out Khris Davis for the final out in a perfect inning for the save. The final: 4-1 Phillies.
Notable Statistics:
Roberto Hernandez: 8 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (83 Pitches, 57 Strikes)
Chase Utley: 2-4, HR (8), RBI
Cameron Rupp: 2-3, R, RBI
Impact:
While four runs isn't that impressive, it was great to see the Phillies work with what they were thrown and hit the pitches they were supposed to hit against a guy that was throwing the ball fairly well all night. The Phillies have now scored 16 runs in this series after totalling just six while being swept by Pittsburgh this past weekend. As for Hernandez, all I can say is wow. This was far and away his best and, not coincidentally, most efficient outing of the year. Sure, his K/BB ratio was just 3-2, and Ryan Braun wasn't in the Milwaukee lineup, but he was great at keeping the ball down and was in complete control all game. He's been pretty hard to watch at times this season, like in his 46-pitch first inning last Friday, so this was a pleasant surprise.
Up Next:
David Buchanan (4-5, 4.82 ERA) takes the hill at 2:10pm tomorrow as the Phillies eye a road sweep of the Brewers, who will counter with Matt Garza (6-5, 3.78).
