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Before I get to the Phillies game, though, a tragic accident at today's Rays - Blue Jays' game: former Phillies J.A. Happ was struck in the side of the face by a line drive off the bat of Desmond Jennings. Happ collapsed, and had to be carted off the field on a stretcher, where he was taken to a hospital. As of 9PM Alaska time, Happ was in stable condition, and undergoing further tests. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, JA.
Now, back to the Phillies. Kyle Kendrick pitched seven strong innings; scattering six hits around six strikeouts and no walks. He allowed two runs in the third, but was otherwise very crisp. The Phillies got their scoring started early, as Ryan Howard drove in Chase Utley with one out in the first. In the second, Laynce Nix scored on a Jimmy Rollins' fielder's choice, and Utley drove in Ben Revere with a single to center.
The Phils would add single runs in the fifth (on a titanic first-pitch homerun from Utley), the seventh (on an RBI double from Michael Young), and in the top of the ninth (on another solo shot from Howard). With those two solo homeruns, the Phils have now hit 12 consecutive solo homeruns. Of the 30 bombs hit by the team this year, 21 have come with the bases clear.
The Giants' Tim Lincecum showed flashes of good stuff, racking up seven strikeouts, but he struggled with his consistency, and got hit hard. Brown missed a homerun by six feet, for example.
In addition, there were some fun moments. Flablo Blardloblob hit a foul shot deep into right, clear enough to land in the water of McCovey Cove. "Two lumberjacks in a kayak" as Scott Franzke described them navigated over to scoop up the ball, nearly going overboard in the process. Their "kayak" was more like a Polynesian War Canoe, but these gents were not capable sailors.
Then there was the absolutely terrifying panda mask shown on the TV broadcast for about an hour. Seriously, I think my soul is still on fire after watching that.
Also, Hunter Pence went 0 for 4, so there's that.
Broadcaster broadcast of regretful broadcastness: "Giants win it, 6-2..., oh, Excuse me! Phillies win it!" - Scott Franzke
Fangraph of Nopence:
Source: FanGraphs
With the win, their second in a row, the Phillies improve to 16-18, only four games back of Atlanta in the division (and two behind Washington). How about that! The Phils go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon, as Jonathan Pettibone matches up against Barry Zito. See ya tomorrow, folks!