The Phillies narrowly avoided losing their third straight of a four-game set out in Pittsburgh, edging out the Buccos by a 12-4 count.
Boats lined up outside to see the holiday weekend's fireworks with the gorgeous PNC Park and the Roberto Clemente Bridge as their backdrop, but the blasts went off a bit early tonight. The Phils' bats were alive from the start in this one, notching runs in the first (2), third (5), fourth (1), fifth (2), sixth (1), and seventh (1). Phils fans who made the trip out for the weekend finally got to see something worth the drive, after watching the visitors net a whopping two runs in the first two games of the series.
Kyle Kendrick led the ice-cream-man capped Phils in the field on Saturday night, working fairly efficiently while allowing just three earned runs over a complete game—his first in 67 career starts.The newly called up Cody Ransom dropped a routine fly by Delmon Young in the eighth, allowing Young to advance to second on the play; Young would score on a two-out double, but Kendrick otherwise emerged unscathed. In the ninth, Kendrick allowed a few hits for a game total of 10, gave up another run, but then retired the next batter to close out with no help from the 'pen.
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Would have taken a hell of an inning by the Pirates to wage a comeback, but KK's work late in this one was a win within the win.
At the plate, J-Roll and Victorino each had three hits, with Rollins leading off the game with a single and later adding a homer, a double, and a walk before calling it a night. Ryan Howard singled twice to add three RBI to his season total (58) and bring his average up to .296. Every Phillies starter, including Kendrick, grabbed a hit tonight. Wa-hoo!
An odd moment ended that eighth frame, with Kendrick giving up a long fly to left-center, which Shane Victorino successfully hauled in at the wall just in front of the Phillies bullpen. After snaring the ball, Vic appeared a little unhappy with Jose Contreras. Who knows what Big Truck did to deserve the yapping he got. Wheels speculated it was the lack of a warning that he was near the fence. I think he was yelling "DON'T DROP IT. NUNAN!"
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Sure the Pirates suck and all, but we'll take any win we can get with the MASH unit lineup the Phils are fielding due to so many regulars being on the DL. Minus their regular 2, 3, and 6 hitters, plus their top two catchers, the Phils and their fifth starter smoked the Bucs in front of a packed house (everyone not wearing red was there to see the post-game fireworks).
The series wraps Sunday with a 1:35 start.