Phillies make improbable rally to beat Dodgers 10-9
The Philadelphia Phillies rallied over the last two innings to squeeze out a 10-9 win over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday night.
For most of the game Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw had control. He scattered six hits and two walks over six and two thirds innings, striking out four and giving up two earned runs. His offense had given him plenty of support with eight hits and four earned runs off Phillies starter Joe Blanton in five and two thirds innings.
In the end it was the bullpen that cost Kershaw the chance to win his 11th game of the season; the young pitcher has only won once in his last seven starts going 1-3 in that span.
Reliever Hong-Chih Kuo closed out the seventh inning before handing the game over to Ronald Belisario to start the eighth inning. Belisario was pulled before recording a single out, but not before giving up four earned runs off four hits and allowing the Phillies to close the lead to 6-9.
Kenley Jansen and George Sherrill combined for three outs to end the eighth inning before handing the game over to closer Jonathan Broxton in the ninth. Broxton started off the inning by loading up the bases without giving up a single hit; he hit Placido Polanco with a pitch and then walked Mike Sweeney and Jayson Werth.
Ben Franciso appeared to hit into an easy double play, but the ball would roll between the legs of third baseman Casey Blake. Two runs scored putting the Phillies within one of tying the game after being down 9-2 to start their half of the eighth inning. Carlos Ruiz followed up Ben Francisco with a double deep into left-centerfield to score two runs and complete an improbable comeback.
The inning earned Broxton his fourth loss of the season and was his fifth blown save in 26 save opportunities. Broxton has not done well against the Phillies since blowing a save in game four of the NLCS in 2008.
With the win, the Phillies improved their record to 64-50 and sit two games behind the Atlanta Braves who have led the NL East for most of the season. The Phillies travel to New York to take on the Mets in a three-game weekend series. After taking a day off they begin a ten-day home stand, starting with the tough San Francisco Giants before facing the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros.
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