After a decisive 10-2 win in the series opener on Tuesday, the Phils looked to continue their strong play on Wednesday night with ace Cliff Lee on the mound. Cliff delivered with his second consecutive complete game shutout and the Phils cruised to an easy 4-0 victory. Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard both homered and that would be plenty of run support for Lee.
In tonight's series finale it was a different story. Roy Oswalt got the start and surrendered 4 earned runs in just 2 innings of work. Oswalt was forced to leave the game after just 2 innings because of lower back tightness and injuring that has been plaguing him all season. In relief Kyle Kendrick surrendered 2, and Danys Baez surrendered 6 runs in the 8th. At the plate the Phils struggled against Chris Carpenter who pitched 7 innings of 1 run ball. The only other Phillies run came in the 9th thanks to a Carlos Ruiz solo homerun. Ultimately the Phils were blown out in the series finale by a final of 12-2.
The big concern coming from this series is the status of starter Roy Oswalt. Oswalt has struggled in his last few starts and if this lower back injury is an ongoing injury he could be headed to the disabled list in the near future.
But even with tonight's ugly 12-2 loss the Phils still won the series. With the series victory the Phils finish up this roadtrip 3-3. At 47-29 the Phils still maintain 4 game over the Atlanta Braves. Looking ahead to this weekend's series against the Oakland Athletics, the Phils will send Vance Worley, Cole Hamels, and Roy Halladay to the mound.
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