Jimmy Rollins fell a double short of the cycle and Blanton survived his usual first inning jitters to take down the Giants 8-2.
Although Blanton surrendered the early lead tonight, he cruised for most of the middle innings, including retiring 8 in a row at one point. This is the kind of workman like effor the Phils envisioned getting from Blanton when they gave him a 3 year extension this past off season. Blanton improves his record to 5-6 on the season. Chad Durbin picked up his 11th hold of the year after he came in and got the Phils out of a Blanton created jam in the 7th enducing a groundball double play by Andres Torres. Dubin's 3.38 ERA doesn't tell the whole story as he typically strands close to 75% of the runners he inherits.
At the plate, the Phillies saw the return of the long ball, including the second career one off a Domonic Brown blast that might have reached center city if not for the second deck. However, the night belonged to JIMMY! He went 3 for 5 with a single, triple, and home run (5th of the year), scoring twice, knocking in 3 (31 on the year) all the while raising his average to .253 on the season.
The Braves walk off win kept the Phils 2.5 back of the division lead. However, with the win tonight the Phillies have a 2 game lead on the wild card. They go for the sweep tomorrow as Jonathan Sanchez duels Cole Hamels at 7:05.
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