In today’s 5-3 win over the Cubs, Jayson Werth accounted for 3 of the runs; he went 2 for 4 including a solo homer. It was his 3rd home run in 2 days. And Werth has slowly raised his batting average up to a solid .282, only 1 point behind Shane Victorino (.283) and 11 behind Chase Utley (.293). This guy is totally locked in right now, and the timing could not be better. The Phillies really needed this win today to split with the Cubs in their four game series and stay only 1 game behind the Mets in the tight NL East race.
Having Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs pulled at the last minute before game time certainly put an extra hop or two into the steps of the Phillies players. They came out scoring right away off the inexperienced lefty, Sean Marshall. In the first inning, they scored 3 runs, all with 2 outs on the board. Chase Utley walked; Ryan Howard singled to score Utley; Shane Victorino singled and then, the man of the hour, Jayson Werth, doubled to drive in the remaining two runs. Howard had a huge day as well, going 3 for 5 with 1 RBI. Utley and Victorino also ended the game with 2 hits each.
Jamie Moyer started the game and wound up going 5 1/3 innings, giving up 2 earned runs on 8 hits and 2 walks. Not his greatest, but still a good outing and enough to earn the win. The bullpen finally held onto a lead, surrendering only 1 run in the remaining 4 2/3 innings. I’ll bet they are all breathing a huge sigh of relief right now! Brad Lidge got save #33 and still remains perfect in save opportunities.
The Phillies are now on their way to Washington DC where they will begin a 3 game series with the Nationals tomorrow; game time is 3:05pm and Kyle Kendrick gets the ball. This is a great opportunity to gain some ground in the standings, playing against a last place team. However, the Nationals have always given the Phillies a rough time, so this will be tougher than it looks on paper. Keep your rally hats on! Go Phillies!
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