Rollins, Howard help Phils demolish Bucs

Jul 03, 2010

By: norris

By RYAN LAWRENCE
Journal Register News Service

PITTSBURGH – The Phillies were noticeably quiet Friday night – and not just at the plate.

Following their second straight loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates and their eighth shutout of the season, the Phillies quietly showered, dressed and exited the visiting clubhouse. A week that began with losing both Chase Utley and Placido Polanco to injuries wasn’t getting any better as the holiday weekend began.

“Sometimes you have to give the others guy credit,” shortstop Jimmy Rollins, the only hitter talking after the game said. “But to get shut out that many times, you have to start looking at yourself.”

Rollins apparently got tired of looking at himself in the mirror. After three straight losses where the offense let the starting pitching down, the leadoff hitter led the charge in a 12-4 win at PNC Park last night.

Rollins was a triple away from the cycle. He went 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk, three RBIs and three runs scored.

Rollins reached base in each of his first two at-bats – in the first and third innings – when the Phillies bounced Pirates starter Paul Maholm from the game with seven runs.

The seven runs the Phils scored in the first three innings Saturday surpassed their output in the previous three games, when they scored a total of five runs.

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak and helped the Phillies avoid heading into this afternoon trying to avoid what could have been a disastrous four-game sweep to the lowly Pirates. After finishing the series today, the Phils return home for three straight against the National League East leading Atlanta Braves.

The third-place Phils remain five games back of the Braves.

After being blanked over nine innings Friday – and for 13 straight innings dating back to Thursday in Cincinnati – the Phils were on the scoreboard after five pitches from Maholm Saturday. Rollins ripped a single to left and Victorino followed with a triple to right-center.

Ryan Howard added a single to center two batters later to collect his first RBI in a week and put the Phils up 2-0.

They wouldn’t need much more, but tacked on 10 more runs anyway.

Rollins again ignited the offense, beginning a five-run third inning with a walk. He was the first of eight straight batters to reach off Maholm in the inning.

Howard collected two more RBIs in the inning, with his second single in as many at-bats, while understudies-turned-starters Wilson Valdez (single), Cody Ransom (single), and Dane Sardinha (double) all chipped in, too.

As if the 7-1 lead after three innings wasn’t enough, the Phils scored at least one run in each of the next four frames, too, highlighted by home runs from Rollins and Francisco. Francisco’s solo shot to left in the sixth inning was his first of the season.

While the offense has been M.I.A. often in the last two months and throughout the week with both Utley and Polanco gone, the starting pitching hasn’t been an issue on the current road trip. Kyle Kendrick continued that trend Saturday.

Kendrick collected the first complete game of his career. With a dozen runs of support, Kendrick coasted to his fifth win of the season.

He held the Pirates to four runs – two on solo home runs – on 10 hits in nine innings. Saturday marked the sixth time this season Kendrick has pitched seven or more innings and allowed three or fewer runs.

Kendrick is 3-1 with a 3.88 ERA in his last eight games, dating back to May 22.

In the starting rotation’s last turn, they have a 3.58 ERA. But Kendrick’s was the only win in that turn, no thanks to an offense than only first showed up Saturday night at PNC Park.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 3rd, 2010 at 10:53 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.