Phillies Offensive Explosion

The first half of the series opener last night was an agonizing low scoring game.Roy Halladay was great as he put together 6 innings and only gave up 1 run. It was a 1-0 game for an extremely long time as Cardinals' pitcher Kyle McClellan used his sinker and off speed junk to keep the Phils off the scoreboard. The Phils were swinging at bad pitches out of the zone and couldn't get into a rhythm offensively and it was painful to watch.

Finally in the 7th, Ross Gload pinch hit for Roy Halladay and hit a line drive to score Raul Ibanez. But after Stutes surrendered a run in the bottom of the inning, the Phils again found themselves down by 1. In the 8th the Phils generated a ton of base runners and after Ryan Howard got plunked by Jason Motte, the Phils had the bases loaded for Placido Polanco. Pauly also got plunked by Motte to walk in the tying run. In the next at bat Ibanez struck out and with 2 outs and the bases loaded, Charlie Manuel elected to hit Ben Francisco for the lefty Dom Brown. Francisco hit a single to left field to score and put the Phils up 3-2. With the bases still loaded, Carlos Ruiz and Michael Martinez worked back to back walks to put the Phils up 5-2. But the Phils weren't done as Jimmy Rollins laced a singled up the middle to score 2 more runs and put the Phils up 7-2. Chase Utley then followed Shane Victorino's walk with a single to left field to score 2 more runs. Ryan Howard also got in on the action by singling to score Victorino and cap off the 9 run inning. The game went from being a boring low scoring game to a blowout in a matter of a few minutes. Up by 8 Antonio Bastardo and David Herndon finished off the game for by pitching scoreles innings.

Last night was an impressive victory. The Phils were having an awful game vs McLellan and it looked like they were going to get shutout for the second game in a row. But to their credit they didn't get frustrated and with a few smart managerial moves by Charle were able to bust open in the 8th inning with a 9 spot. Last night's 10 run explosion further proves just how potent this offense can be. Tonight the Phils will send Cliff Lee to the hill as he looks to build off of his successful homestand.