Home Runs Propel Phillies To Win

Three solo home runs were the difference in a 5-3 win over the Braves.  Placido Polanco, Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino all went long in the game.  Werth had two RBI on the day and Raul Ibanez collected one as well.  Here are a few game highlights:

And my favorite shot of the day came from Ibanez, who broke his bat:

Cole Hamels started the game and look great through 3 innings.  In the 4th, the bottom began to fall out as he walked the first two batters.  After escaping that near-disaster unharmed, Hamels came back out in the 5th and started again with a walk.  Four singles in a row followed to give the Braves 3 runs.  Hamels worked out of the inning again, but the 5th would be his last inning.

There does not appear to be any rhyme or reason to the sudden change in Hamels’ performance.  He simply lost his command and forgot where the strike zone was.  Luckily, the bullpen bailed him out.  Chad Durbin pitched 2 innings and Jose Contreras took the 8th.  Both did an amazing job as their families looked on.  Before the game, both players greeted their moms and wives on the field for Mother’s Day; even the Phanatic brought his mom to the game:

Brad Lidge earned his first save of the year when he retired the final 3 Braves batters.  The first two batters hit long fly balls that barely stayed in the park, but they turned into outs.  And we cannot expect zero drama from Lidge, can we?  A win is a win; we’ll take it.

Also in honor of Mother’s Day on this day, most of the players used pink bats and wore other pink accessories to mark the occasion and show their support for Breast Cancer research.  Chase Utley went all out…look at the photo.  He used the pink bat, wore pink batting gloves, 2 pink necklaces, a pink wristband and a pink ribbon pin.  Who says real men don’t wear pink?  Not I.

Here is the full Photo Album from the game.

In injury news, back-up catcher Brian Schneider has been placed on the DL with a left achilles strain.  Paul Hoover, who spent a short time with the team last year, has been recalled from AAA and will take Schneider’s place.

So the Phillies closed out this home stand with a series win and will be off to Colorado to face the Rockies on Monday night.  Kyle Kendrick will pitch and the game begins at 8:40pm.

Also, be sure to check out my interviews with Dallas Green, Gary “Sarge” Matthews and Virginia Ventura Marina of the former All-American Girls Professional Baseball League if you missed it yesterday.