Philadelphia Phillies defeat Pittsburgh Pirates 10-3 – MLB Update
Philadelphia Phillies comprehensively beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-3 on Friday, July 29 at Citizens Bank Park.
This win also gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the three-game series against the Pirates. The Phillies are now at the top of the rankings with the most wins.
With Hunter Pence a new addition in the Phillies, the team has become ever stronger now with All-Stars already dominating the list.
"We tried to address a need that we felt was a missing piece," Phillies’ general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "This gives us a little more balance."
The game will not have the same result were it not be for the starter Roy Holladay who pitched some of the best seven innings and allowed only a hit which kept the team in the lofty position since the start
"We got on them early and made my job pretty easy," Halladay said. "You get a team down like that, especially coming off a tough series, it kind of takes the wind out of them."
Phillies have set their order of priorities. Their first attempt is to get hold of the fifth straight NL East title and Friday’s start has already laid a solid foundation for that, underscoring the fact that Philadelphia has become virtually unbeatable.
The game started with Chase Utley’s RBI single against Charlie Morton followed by Ryan Howard’s run that doubled the lead. Raul Ibanez was the third in the inning to score, tripling the Phillies lead by the end of the first.
Halladay, pitching the first scoreless inning, went for the shut-out second, maintaining the 3-0 lead for the Pirates. As if the first inning was not enough, Morton faced the double-edged sword of trying to compensate for the initial score and containing
the Pirates’ hitters. That did not happen.
The second inning saw a more forceful Phillies’ offence whereby Domonic Brown hit an RBI single followed by one of the best hits of the game by Chase Utley’s bat, a three-run homer that took the lead to 7-0 for the Phillies.
Wilson Valdez scored another single against the struggling Charlie Morton in the 3-hit five-run second inning. That virtually put the Phillies in absolute lead, one that Halladay defended with unplayable pitches.
While Halladay pitched into the seventh inning, Jimmy Rollins scored a two-run homer to put the Phillies on driving seat, crumbling every hope of the Pirates to stage a comeback.
Drew Carpenter who came to pitch after Halladay was relieved, gave up three hits and allowed three runs to the Pirates’ hitters, bringing the lead down to 10-3.
However, David Herndon pitched a shut-out ninth to wrap up the game in the Phillies’ favour, as they managed to win another important match-up.
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