Thursday, May 8, 2008

Phils Battle Back Late In The Desert

Wednesday nights game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Philadelphia Phillies featured two young prospects in the teams rotations. Kyle Kendrick took the mound for the Phils looking to bring his record to 3-2 on the year while Micah Owings went for the D'backs with a substantial 4-1 record. The big talk of the year has been Owings ability with the bat and his potential to play when not pitching.

The D'backs struck first against Kendrick who struggled in the inning and allowed a two out run on a Stephen Drew single to left bringing home Augie Ojeda.

The Phils struck back in the third with a run of their own with a one out single by Shane Victorino bringing home Carlos Ruiz tying the game at 1.

Despite throwing almost 40+ pitches in the first two innings, Kendrick managed to settle down and it took until the 5th for the D'backs to strike again. Chris Young led off with a home run to left and after a triple by Augie Ojeda, Conor Jackson was able to bring home their third run on a ground out.

The Phighting Phils wouldn't go quietly and tied the game up again in the top of the 5th when Pedro Feliz hit his fifth home run of the season bringing in Geoff Jenkins with him.

Ryan Madson came in to pitch in the seventh inning to protect, but after allowing a one out single to Eric Byrnes, and then a stolen base, Conor Jackson hit his sixth double of the season and collected his 2nd RBI of the night.

Things looked tied up for the Diamondbacks after taking the lead right back from the Phils but when Shane Victorino reached base on a passed ball third strike, the Phils gained new life. Eric Bruntlett came up and double to left field bringing home Victorino from first to tie the game back up and Chase Utley singled to center allowing Bruntlett to score the eventual game winning run.

The Phils collected an important win as they face the hottest pitcher in baseball, Brandon Webb on Thursday. The Phils will look to hand Webb his first loss of the season and leave Arizona on a high note before heading to San Francisco for a three game set.

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