The Phillies looked really good tonight for the first time in a while. The bats were working and the arm of their starting pitcher, Joe Blanton, was good enough to defeat the Twins 6-1.
The Phils struck first in the second inning when Ty Wigginton hit a solo home run, his seventh of the season. Although the Phillies were up 1-0, it wouldn't be long until the Twins got on the board as in the next half of the inning, Trevor Plouffe hit his 12th home run of the season to tie it 1-1.
Blanton would cruise through the Twins' lineup late into the game. Given more run support from a Jim Thome three-run jack. In Thome's last six games, he is hitting .500 (11-for-22) with two doubles, three homers, 13 RBIs, three walks and five runs scored. It's safe to say that Thome is on fire and hopefully he can carry it back to Philly next week.
The Phils would get an extra run later in the eighth on a Carlos Ruiz two-out, RBI double to score in Shane Victorino, who had been walked before. They would also get another cushion run after Placido Polanco drove in Jimmy Rollins to make it 6-1.
Starting the 9th with 103 pitches, Joe Blanton would go the distance for the second time this season. He would get a pop up, a ground out and another pop up to seal the win. Blanton's line looks like this: 9 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. It's a good sign to see Joe Blanton playing good baseball. After a horrible stretch, Blanton broke out of that funk and hopefully he can hit another hot streak headed into the All-Star break.
The Phillies are now 31-34 and sit 9 games behind the Nationals in the NL East. The Phils will cross the border this weekend as they head up to Toronto for a three-game set with the Blue Jays, who were just swept by the Nationals.
We'll see you in Toronto!
Follow Erik on Twitter @ErikSeyboldPHI.
