posted June 30, 2009
) Photo by Tim Evearitt Gregor Blanco went 3-for-5 and scored two runs. |
Atlanta snapped a nine-game home losing streak to the Phillies and won its second consecutive game overall.
The Braves are 5-3 in extra-inning games this season.
Starting pitcher Derek Lowe went 6.0 innings giving up two runs on seven hits, including a fifth inning solo homer to Chase Utley.
The first of three contests between National League East rivals came down to Philadelphia's failure to hold three separate leads, and the career nights for both Gregor Blanco and Prado, who was initially penciled into the eighth hole before late adjustments found him hitting second.
Blanco, who came into the game with a .148 batting average, and Prado combined to go 7-for-10 with three runs scored.
Jeff Francoeur finished 2-for-5 with an RBI and Peter Moylan (2-2) picked up the victory with two-thirds of an inning pitched.
Utley, John Mayberry and Pedro Feliz all homered and Ryan Howard also knocked in a run for the Phillies, who saw their brief two-game winning streak come to an end.
Chan Ho Park (3-2) took the loss, allowing the deciding run on three hits in two-thirds of a frame.
Starter Joe Blanton gave up three runs on eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts over five frames.
The bottom of the 10th got going with Matt Diaz's one-out single and he aggressively advanced to third on Blanco's single to left. Prado then drilled an inside fastball from Park over the drawn-in Mayberry to win the game.
Two frames earlier, the Braves tied the game off Ryan Madson. Blanco walked with two outs, moved to second on a wild pick-off attempt and scored on Prado's double down the line in right.
The game was highlighted by several missed opportunities on both sides in the early going. A Jayson Werth walk and Greg Dobbs double off the glove of Blanco in the second forced a Feliz walk to set up a match-up between the sinker-baller Lowe and the slow-footed Carlos Ruiz, who eventually beat a ball into a 5-3 double play.
Atlanta also loaded the bases in the bottom half, but like Lowe, Blanton wiggled out of any damage by inducing a popup from the opposing hurler.
The Phillies used some two-out offense to tally the game's first run in the third. Shane Victorino singled, Utley punched a roller in-between the vacated shortstop position and third then Howard laced a low slider over Francoeur's head and the wall for a run-scoring double.
Atlanta's makeshift top of the order did some damage in the home half, as Blanco tugged a low curveball down the first-base line and into the corner for a triple. Prado then laced a run-scoring single to left.
Utley hit the first home run Lowe has allowed to a left-handed batter this season in the fifth, crushing a flat sinker deep into the right-field seats for a 2-1 game.
Prado got it right back with one swing as he started the home fifth with a line drive just over the left-field wall. Atlanta took the lead later in the inning on Francoeur's bases-loaded groundout, but again left the bases loaded with Lowe making the final out.
Lowe worked his way out of more trouble in the sixth, putting runners on second and third before striking out pinch-hitter Chris Coste to conclude the frame.
The Braves took a 3-2 lead into the eighth but the Phillies hit the first two homers Braves relief pitcher Mike Gonzalez has allowed to right-handed hitters this season. Mayberry hit the first, a line-drive shot that barely cleared the center-field wall; Feliz then homered over the left-field wall for back-to-back homers and 4-3 lead.
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Source: Sports Network
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Atlanta's Jair Jurrjens (5-6/2.93) faces 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels (4-4/4.44) Wednesday night.
) Photo by Tim Evearitt Derek Lowe gave up home runs in consecutive starts for the first time this season. |
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