Phillies 4, Astros 3
WP – Jake Diekman (1-0, 0.00)
LP – Brett Myers (0-1, 2.08)
PHILADELPHIA — An ex-Astro hitting for the Phillies took an ex-Phillie pitching for the Astros deep in walk-off fashion.
Hunter Pence recovered from a near-costly fielding miscue earlier in the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the 10th off Brett Myers, his second of the game, to win the game for the Phillies, 4-3.
The win was the third straight for the Phillies, their first three-game winning streak all season. It was also their first series sweep, though a two-gamer, of the season.
Pence’s error in the bottom of the 9th nearly cost the Phillies the game.
Chad Qualls had already allowed a run to score in the 9th inning, cutting the Phillies lead to 3-2. It was then that the wheels nearly fell off for the Phillies bullpen once again.
With a runner on second and two outs, J.D. Martinez singled to right field. Pinch runner Brian Bogusevic was held up at third but Pence’s fielding error in right allowed Bogusevic to score to tie the game up, 3-3.
After a double to Jason Castro put runners on second and third, Qualls was lifted in favor of Jake Diekman’s Major League debut and the left-hander didn’t disappoint.
Diekman struck out Marwin Gonzalez to end the 9th, and then pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 10th with his second and third strikeouts of the game. With Pence’s homer in the bottom of the 10th, Diekman earned his first Major League win.
“That was fun,” Diekman said after the game. “My heart is going down, so that’s good.”
Pence recovered quickly, hitting a solo home run with one out in the 10th to win it for the Phillies.
The bullpen failed to get Cliff Lee his first win of the year, but it was the first game the Phillies had won in the last nine combined starts by both Lee and Roy Halladay.
Lee went eight innings, allowing a run on five hits and a walk, striking out 10. The lone run he surrendered came in the 7th inning, a solo home run by Matt Downs.
Pence had his second multi-homer game of the season, going 3-for-5 on the afternoon.
Brian Schneider hit his first home run in 390 days, a two-run shot in the 2nd inning off Jordan Lyles, making his first start April 29 after being called up earlier today.
Lyles went six innings, allowing three runs, one earned, on six hits and a walk, striking out four. He allowed home runs to Schneider and Pence.
2B: Rollins (6). HR: Schneider (1), Pence 2 (9).
TTB 