Roy Oswalt wins second in a row for the Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are starting to get what they expected when they traded for starting pitcher Roy Oswalt from the Houston Astros. After getting roughed up in his first start with the Phillies against the Washington Nationals late last month Oswalt has gotten better each time he takes the mound.
Tuesday night against the San Francisco Giants he did not look like an ace, but still looked strong. Over seven innings he only allowed six hits, no walks, and three earned runs while striking out seven; two of the hits were home runs.
Oswalt got roughed up a little by the Giants in the first inning. Andres Torres started the game with a double to right field. Catcher Buster Posey followed him up with a single that gave Torres a chance to advance the third. Torres scored the first run of the game after Aubrey Huff ground into a double play. Pat Burrell hit a home run to give the Giants a 2-0 lead before Pablo Sandoval struck out to end the inning. He took control of the game after a rough first inning. Oswalt retired the side in three of the next five innings, giving up only a pair of singles and not allowing a batter past first base.
Barry Zito pitched four strong innings for the Giant only giving up three hits and holding the Phillies off the scoreboard. That changed in the fifth when Jimmy Rollins hit a single to center field that scored Mike Sweeney and Carlos Ruiz to tie the game at 2-2.
The Giants did lead again during the game. Placido Polanco started the sixth for the Phillies with a single to center field and advanced to third when Jayson Werth hit a double to left field. Shane Victorino, who had recently returned from a stint on the disabled list, followed Werth up with another double scoring both Werth and Polanco to give the Phillies the lead at 4-2.
San Francisco tried to make it interesting in the seventh inning by closing the gap to 4-3 thanks to a home run by Jose Guillen. That would be the end of the scoring for the Giants on the day.
The Phillies padded the lead in the eighth scoring five runs off four hits, a walk, and an error by Giants’ second baseman Mike Fontenot to make the final score 9-3.
Philadelphia stayed in the hunt in the NL East by improving their record to 67-51. Matt Cain is scheduled to take the mound Wednesday for the Giants in the second game of the three game series against Joe Blanton for the Phillies.
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