No Utley, No Howard, No Rollins...No Problem

In their first of four games against the Brewers on Thursday night, the Phillies were without three of their star players, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley.  Howard got the night off, which is rare for him.  Rollins just came off the DL and the Phils will be working him back in slowly.  And Utley is back in Philly being examined after getting hit in the head with a fastball on Wednesday.

But even with the lack of star power, the Phillies were still able to handle the Brewers.  Early in the game, it did not look like it would be so easy as Brewers pitcher Chris Narveson no-hit the Phils through  four innings.  Through 5 2/3, the Phillies still had only one hit.

But with two outs in the 6th, the Phillies bats suddenly showed up.  Shane Victorino started the rally off with a double that missed going out of the park by about 1/2 inch as it hit near the top of the left field wall.  Wilson Valdez then continued his tear with runners on base by doubling to score Victorino.

Things snowballed from there.  The Phillies scored six runs in the inning, all with two outs.  Those hits included a triple from Hunter Pence, a John Mayberry Jr. single and Carlos Ruiz double.  Pence ended the night with three RBI.

And while Narveson self-destructed that inning, Cole Hamels continued to pitch well for the Phillies.  Hamels did not allow a run until the 5th when a solo homer put the Brewers on the board.  He allowed another solo shot in the 6th, but the Brewers did very little else against Hamels, who went the distance and picked up a complete game win.

The Phillies won the game by a score of 7-2.  Game two with the Brewers starts Friday night at 8:10pm.  Roy Halladay will face Shaun Marcum.

 

Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography