These late night games can really get weird. Joe Blanton opened up a series in Los Angeles with a whale of an effort (unintentional weight joke, you're lookin' good, Joe) to shut down the Dodgers' lineup for the most part. The leaders in the National League West and the bottom feeders of the National League East played an interesting ballgame tonight.
The Phils scored first tonight in the second inning. With Carlos Ruiz on base, Juan Pierre singled to send him home. In the next inning, Jimmy Rollins smacked a solo home run to right field, giving his team a 2-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, Ryan Howard went to the opposite field with his first home run of the season– his first of many to come. This gave the Phillies an extra run.
Joe Blanton was cruising along, tossing nothing but strikes. However, the sixth inning brought about a bit of trouble. With two men on, slugger Matt Kemp grounded into a double play which allowed Jerry Hairston, Jr. to score from third. This put the Dodgers on the board, but that's all they would get in the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, Blanton was lucky to get out of the inning allowing just one run. He had men on the corners, and a run would score on a wild pitch. He ended the inning with a pop-up to center, but the Dodgers had just one more run to score to tie it up.
Big Joe went the distance tonight for the Phils. In eight innings, he allowed two earned runs on six hits, walking none and striking out seven. Incredible effort. Jonathan Papelbon closed out the ballgame preserving the 3-2 lead to send the Phillies to their third straight win. It was Pap's 20th save of the season.
Another 10:10 start time tomorrow, but this game will feature ROY HALLADAY! He'll be making his return from the disabled list tomorrow night against the Dodgers.
