Yesterday, the Phillies took the loss in the tenth inning when Antonio Bastardo allowed four runs. Today, the Phillies faced the Diamondbacks in the rubber match. For the Phillies, Roberto Hernandez took the hill going for his first win since July 9th. In his last outing, Hernandez went 5.2 innings in a game the Phillies went on to lose in the 14th inning. The Phillies faced Diamondbacks new left-hander, Vidal Nuno, who came over in the Brandon McCarthy trade with the Yankees.
The Game: In the bottom of the first inning, the Phillies saw something they have been looking for a while. With two outs, Chase Utley worked a walk to bring up Ryan Howard. Howard put together a great at bat and squared up a fastball for his 16th homerun of the season. 2-0 Phillies
The Diamondbacks got one right back in the second. Martin Prado led off with a single and moved to second on a ground ball by Gerardo Parra. Then with two outs, Nick Ahmed doubled to plate Prado. 2-1 Phillies
In the sixth, the DBacks tied the game. Former rule 5 draft pick of the Phillies, Ender Inciarte, doubled to right to lead off the inning. Inciarte moved up to third on David Peralta’s ground ball. Paul Goldschmidt then hit a deep fly ball for a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2. 2-2 TIE
The Phillies were going to let that stand. With two outs, Ryan Howard worked a walk. Marlon Byrd then hit a fly ball that Didi Gregorious dropped. The ball was thrown to the plate and the ball beat Howard, but catcher Miguel Montero did not give him a lane. After a review, Howard was safe. 3-2 Phillies
The Phillies added on in the seventh. With one out, Wil Nieves singled to center. Then with two outs, Ben Revere crushed a double off the glove of David Peralta. Nieves scored at the plate after catcher, Miguel Montero, throw the relay throw. 4-2 Phillies
Papelbon came in the ninth. After allowing a hit to Paralta, Papelbon struck out Goldschmidt. Montero then singled, but Papelbon secured the save by getting Martin Prado to ground into a double play. 4-2 FINAL
Significant Offensive Stats:
Ben Revere 1-4 2B RBI
Ryan Howard 1-3 HR 2R 2RBI
Wil Nieves 1-3 R
Impact: The Phillies won their first Sunday game since May 18th and since home series win since the Padres on June 12th. Ryan Howard also homered off a lefty, after sitting three games. Ryan Howard needs to hit well in order for this team to preform. An unproductive Howard leads to a huge hole in the lineup.
Up Next: Tomorrow, the Phillies will travel to New York to face the Mets. A.J. Burnett will get the start for the Phillies. Burnett coming off an eight scoreless inning performance that had an hour rain delay in the middle. Phillies will face veteran right-hander, Bartolo Colon. Colon won his last start over the Mariners going 7.1 innings giving up two runs on three hits.
Andrew Shipotofsky is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Ashipotofsky
