Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Cole Hamels tossed a three-hitter and denied Ken Griffey Jr. the 600th home run of his career as the Philadelphia Phillies topped the Cincinnati Reds, 5-0, in the finale of their four-game set at Citizens Bank Park.
Hamels (6-4) rebounded from a pair of rough starts to notch his second shutout of the season, striking out four and walking three. Geoff Jenkins clubbed a solo home run for the Phillies, who won three of four in the series and finished off an 8-2 homestand.
Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino each added a run-scoring single in the win.
Griffey, making his first start of the series, went 1-for-4 with a double, but gave the crowd a thrill in his final at-bat. Griffey crushed the first pitch of the ninth inning deep to center, but Victorino tracked the ball down just in front of the wall and Griffey left to a standing ovation from the crowd.
Homer Bailey (0-1) made his season debut after being recalled from Triple-A Louisville before the game and took the loss, allowing five runs -- two earned -- on four hits in 6 1/3 frames while being the victim of lackluster defense.
Paul Janish and Jerry Hairston Jr. collected the other hits for the Reds, both doubles, as Cincinnati fell to 1-3 in the first half of their eight-game road swing.
Bailey retired the first seven batters he faced, before Carlos Ruiz gave the Phils a start with a one-out single in the third. Hamels sacrificed him to second with a walk, and when Jimmy Rollins lofted a weak pop-up to shallow left, Bailey looked to be out of the inning. Janish dropped the routine catch, however, allowing Ruiz to score.
Rollins left the game for undisclosed reasons after the fourth inning and was replaced by Eric Bruntlett.
A pair of errors resulted in two more unearned runs for the Phillies in the fifth.
With one out, Pedro Feliz grounded back to the mound, but Bailey's throw skipped past Joey Votto at first, allowing Feliz to end up at second. After Ruiz walked and Hamels flew out, Bruntlett flared a line drive right at Griffey, who lost track of the ball and had it tick off his glove, bringing Feliz in to score. Victorino then lined an RBI single to right for a 3-0 lead.
Jenkins upped the lead to 4-0 with two outs in the sixth, reaching down and launching a first-pitch change-up from Bailey into the seats in right-center.
A pair of one-out walks to Bruntlett and Victorino in the seventh chased Bailey from the game. Jeremy Affeldt came on in relief and got Chase Utley to fly out, but Howard beat the infield shift with a ground single to left to score Bruntlett.
Hamels walked Votto to start the fourth, but set down the next 13 hitters before Hairston smashed a ground ball for a double with two outs in the eighth. Jay Bruce then laced a grounder to the left side of the infield, but Bruntlett made a diving stab and fired across the diamond to nip Bruce and preserve the shutout.
After Griffey's long out in the ninth, Brandon Phillips reached on a throwing error, but Hamels retired Votto and pinch-hitter Corey Patterson to finish the contest.
Cincinnati, OH (Sports Network) - Jay Bruce hit a grand slam and Joey Votto added a two-run homer, as the Cincinnati Reds pounded the Chicago C... Full Story...
What Is The Score | WhatistheScore.com
Design by SEOSolutions.co.cr
All Rights Reserved ©2006-2007
WITS - WhatIsTheScore.com is a Sports Content Website offering Real Time Sports Information such as Live Score, Free Live Odds, Sports News, Sports Events, Stats, Standings, Sports Articles and more in all Major Sports around the World – WhatIsTheScore.com
WebDesign & SEO marketing by
(fm) freaky-media! technology