The numbers didn’t favor Carlos Ruiz when the Phils had a player on 3rd with one out.
Chooch is only a 30% fly ball hitter and with the score tied at two, a sacrifice fly would have been huge.
But Chooch came through, hitting a sac fly to deep center scored Ryan Howard in the bottom of the eighth to give the Phillies a 3-2 win on Sunday, splitting the series with the Marlins.
For the second straight start Cole Hamels was solid, giving up just two runs in seven innings. However, Hamels would not be able to pick up the win after giving up two runs in the top of the seventh to allow the Marlins to tie the game at two. In the bottom of the inning, Ross Gload pinched hit for Hamels giving King Cole a no decision on the day.
The bullpen would be just as great. Ryan Madson came in the eighth inning and struck out two batters in a scoreless inning. Closer Jose Contreras walked the leadoff batter, but got out of the inning without giving up a single run to pick up his third save.
It looked like the Phillies were on their way to scoring a lot of runs after Placido Polanco hit a solo home run, and Raul Ibanez hit an RBI single to score Jimmy Rollins in the first inning, but Florida starter Anibal Sanchez would settle in.
The Phils bats would be quiet for the next six innings, not scoring a single run until the eighth. In the eighth, Ryan Howard led off with a bloop single into left field that was dropped by twitter sensation Logan Morrison. Howard would advance to second on Ben Francisco’s single, and to third after Raul Ibanez grounded into fielder’s choice that was almost a double play.
This brought Mr. Clutch to the plate. Carlos Ruiz hit a deep fly ball that allowed Howard to tag up from third and score to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead.
Yesterday’s scheduled game against the Marlins was postponed until June 15th, so with today’s win; the Phillies have yet to lose a series this season.
HR: Polanco (1)
WP: Madson (1-0) LP: Webb (0-2) S: Contreras (3)
TTB 