Posted by Danielle Wilson
It might take me a few days to shut up about last night's game and Wilson Valdez's pitching performance, but this game was greater in terms of offense. For the record, I don't care how many runs the Phillies scored today, I'm still excited over Valdez pitching. I mean, Valdez was pitching!
Anyway…Ryan Howard doubled in the first run of the game in the first inning which scored Michael Martinez who started at shortstop this afternoon.
In Wilson Valdez's first at bat, the fans went nuts and gave him a standing ovation. Video here. In the bottom of the third, Raul Ibanez launched a home run to right field to score Dom Brown and Ryan Howard. 4-0 Phillies.
Paul Janish singled in the top of the fourth to score Jay Bruce and former Phillie Miguel Cairo, 4-2 Phillies. Jay Bruce homered (his second this series, 11th RBI) in the sixth to tie the game.
With the bases loaded and nobody out for Cliff Lee in the sixth inning, he proceeded to smack a double over the head of centerfielder Drew Stubbs to score John Mayberry Jr. and Wilson Valdez. Mike Martinez popped up a sacrifice fly to score Dane Sardinha and make it a 7-4 game.
Cliff did it again in the bottom of the seventh, singling to score John Mayberry Jr. Mike Martinez also came back with a single to score Dane Sardinha. 9-4 Phillies. Everybody hit in this game except for Chase Utley in his third start of the season, until the eighth when he went yard for a solo home run, giving the Phillies a 10-4 lead.
Jose Contreras pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to close it out for Cliff Lee who allowed four earned runs off of 10 hits, walking one and striking out eight. Phillies take the final game of this four-game series, taking three of four from the Reds. They will travel to New York to take on the LOLMets tomorrow with Roy Oswalt (3-2, 2.77 ERA) going against Chris Capuano (3-5, 5.36 ERA)
