Yesterday, the Phillies took a tough loss, as they could not complete their ninth inning rally. Tonight, looking to tie up the series the Phillies sent ace Cliff Lee to the hill. Lee has rebounded well since the first game of the season. Heading into tonight’s game Lee is 3-2 with a 3.09 ERA.
The Diamondbacks countered with veteran right-hander, Bronson Arroyo. Arroyo this offseason signed a two-year deal with the DBacks. Unfortunately for Arroyo, he hasn’t had the greatest of years going into the night going 1-2 with a 9.50 ERA.
The Game: In the bottom of first the Diamondbacks struck first. A.J. Pollock led off with a single. While Martin Prado was batting Pollock was caught stealing, but was safe on a catching error by Jimmy Rollins. Prado then grounded out to move Pollock to third to allow Paul Goldschmidt to score Pollock on a sac fly. Miguel Montero and Aaron Hill followed with singles, before Cody Ross singled to score Montero. 2-0 DBacks
The DBacks were back at it in the second inning. Chris Owings lead off with a single to center. Pitcher Bronson Arroyo bunted him over to set up A.J. Pollock who tripled to score Owings. Prado then hit a ground ball to Rollins who threw Pollock out at the plate. And Prado was caught stealing to end the inning. 3-0 DBacks
In the third inning, DBacks stuck again. Goldschmidt walked to lead off the inning. Then with one out, Aaron Hill doubled to move Goldschmidt to third. Cody Ross then singled again to score Goldschmidt. 4-0 DBacks.
The Phillies would not let that stand. In the seventh, Carlos Ruiz led off with a single. Freddy Galvis then grounded out to move up Ruiz. Tony Gywnn then hit a pinch double to score Ruiz for Cliff Lee. Ben Revere the singled and went to second on an error. Jimmy Rollins then grounded out, but still scored Gwynn. 5-2 DBacks
In the top of the eighth, Ryan Howard reached on an error to lead off. Marlon Byrd then followed with a walk. Domonic Brown the singled to load the bases. Then red-hot Carlos Ruiz singled to score Howard. After Galvis struck out, Cody Asche hit a pinch double for Jeff Manship to score Byrd and Brown to tie the game. Revere then hit a single to give the Phillies the lead they needed. 6-5 Phillies
Jonathan Papelbon came in for the save in the ninth. After allowing a hit to Martin Prado, Papelbon threw a wild pitch, which Ruiz threw to second in which Prado was called safe. The replay showed otherwise. Sandberg challenged the play and Prado was out. Papelbon finished out the save with a strike out of Goldschmidt and a ground out by Montero.
Notable Offensive Performances:
Ben Revere: 2-5, RBI
Domonic Brown: 2-5, R
Carlos Ruiz: 3-4, 2R, RBI, BB
Tony Gwynn: 1-1, 2B, RBI
Cody Asche: 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI
Impact: Though Cliff Lee had a rare shaky night on the hill, it was huge for him to battle and go six innings and retire ten in a row through the fourth, fifth, and sixth. Also, this season the offense appears to have some more to them. I think this is most likely due to the fact they are finally healthy.
Up Next: Tomorrow the Phillies will send A.J. Burnett to the hill as they close out this series. A.J. has pitched when this season after signing at the start of spring training for the Phillies. He is 0-1 with 2.73 ERA in five starts. He will be opposed by right-hander, Brandon McCarthy. McCarthy hasn’t has the greatest year, spotting a 0-4 record with a 6.23 ERA. After tomorrow’s game the Phillies will fly back home after a long west coast road trip.
Andrew Shipotofsky is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Ashipotofsky
