Roy Oswalt keeps Phillies in thick of post season hunt with 5-1 over the Dodgers
Roy Oswalt ended up being his own worst enemy as he only allowed one hit, but walked six on the way to earning the tenth win of the season and his fourth since joining the Phillies. The Dodger would score one unearned run in the seventh inning to keep from being shut out, but lost to the Phillies 5-1.
The Phillies gave Oswalt a lead to work with early in the game with a pair of home runs in the first two innings, one by Jimmy Rollins and the other by Shane Victorino, which was good since the 33-year-old pitcher was having control issues. His six walks on the day were the most he has given up in a single game since pitching against the Phillies for Houston early in the 2007 season.
“I was just wild. I didn’t have any command with my fastball at any time during the game. So I had to work my slider and my change-up pretty much the whole day, and I got a lot of jam shots. That’s the good thing about having four pitches.”
Chase Utley showed that he has no lingering effects of the injury that landed him on the disabled list at the end of June. He had his most productive night since coming off the DL 17 August going three for five with a pair of RBI doubles.
Oswalt was in danger of finishing with a losing record for the first time in his career when he was with the Astros, but since joining the Phillies has won four of the seven games he has started, with only one loss. With as many as six starts left and with the way he has been pitching, he could very well keep his streak alive.
With the win the Phillies improved to 75-58 on the season and kept pace with the NL East leading the Braves who also won on Wednesday.
Philadelphia will finish their current road trip with a game against the Colorado Rockies before heading home for a six-game home stand starting on Friday. Joe Blanton is scheduled to take the mound for the Phillies on Thursday against Jhoulys Chacin for the Rockies.
The Phillies are leading the race for the NL wild card with the Rockies five games back as of the beginning of the day on Wednesday.
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