The day finally came. After eight straight games with a hit each, Jimmy Rollins continually inched towards Mike Schmidt's Phillies record until he tied it with 2,234 hits on Friday night. All eyes were on Rollins today and Rollins pleased the fans at Citizens Bank Park.
In the fifth inning with no outs, Rollins stepped to the plate:
The moment was made all that better by the face the Phillies would win the game.
The biggest offensive moment of the day came from the bat of Domonic Brown. Just after Rollins' celebration, Brown ran into Schmidt in the runway behind the dugout and asked Schmidt for advice. That advice paid immediate dividends as Brown came up to bat with two runners on and slammed a home run well over the right field fence.
The rest of the offense came from Ben Revere, Chase Utley, and Carlos Ruiz, who drove in a run each. Marlon Byrd had two hits and each time he would come around to score. Even David Buchanan got in on the offense, drawing a rare walk from a Phillies pitcher.
David Buchanan was good enough for the Phillies to win, pitching five innings and giving up three earned runs. The bullpen carried the team for the last four. Mario Hollands and Justin De Fratus continued their superb play with a scoreless inning each, before handing the ball over to Jake Diekman. Diekman was tagged with three hits and one earned run, but got an inning ending double play (that included a controversial out call that replay failed to correct) to geto ut of trouble. Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth for his 15th save.
After the game, Rollins made an appearance before the media. Rollins spoke of the importance of accomplishing the record at home in Citizens Bank Park.
Check out Rollins' media interview via CSN Philly:
More on Rollins and the potential trade down the line. But for now, the focus is on Rollins' accomplishment and a Phillies win.
