Image courtesy of Matt Sautter
It was a lovely afternoon in Colorado for some afternoon baseball today. Especially when you have one of your aces on the mound going for the series win.
Much like last night's game, the Phillies scored first and they scored early. Carlos Ruiz singled to left to bring home Shane Victorino, continuing his hot streak.
Ruiz lead off the fourth inning with a double, and was later sent home on a sacrifice fly from Placido Polanco.
It wasn't until the fifth inning when this game was busted open by Hunter Pence. Jimmy Rollins and Victorino were on base when Pence went deep to left field, giving the Phillies a 5-0 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Rockies scored their first run thanks to an RBI triple from Carlos Gonzalez.
Cole Hamels was absolutely dealing this afternoon through eight innings. He allowed just one earned run on six hits, walking one and striking out seven. His pitch count was a problem through the first two-having thrown 43 pitches, but he settled in after that and tossed 111 overall.
Antonio Bastardo came in for the ninth inning with a four-run lead. After two straight grounders, Bastardo struck out Tyler Colvin looking to end the ballgame.
The Phillies will head west to Los Angeles for a three-game series. The first game will be tomorrow at 10:10 with Joe Blanton on the mound for the Phils.
