Carlos Ruiz Comes Off the Bench, Helps Phillies Overpower Braves
By: Mike Reisman
Today, the Phillies played the second game of their three game series with the Braves, sending Roy Oswalt to the mound. With a win against the Braves, Oswalt would have beaten every team in the NL, as he defeated his former team the Astros last week. The team as a whole was looking to avoid their first two game losing streak of the year, and improve to 6-2.
The Phillies jumped out in front of the Braves early in the 1st, with a Ben Francisco single, giving him seven RBIs so far, and scoring Shane Victorino. The Braves would strike back in the 3rd, with an RBI single by rookie Freddie Freeman, and a single by Martin Prado in which Freeman scored on an error by Ben Francisco, giving them a 2-1 lead.
The Phillies wouldn't let the Braves keep the lead for long though, as they re-took the lead in the 4th on a ball that Brian Schneider crushed to right, a two run home run, putting the Phillies up 3-2. The game would stay close until the 7th, when Carlos Ruiz would step into the batter's box for Roy Oswalt with the bases loaded. After two strikes, Ruiz would unload the bases with his first career grand slam, making it 7-2. But the inning wasn't over there. Shane Victorino would get a single and steal second, allowing Ryan Howard to hit an RBI double, sending him home. They would cap off the scoring in the 8th, with a double by Carlos Ruiz and a single by Shane Victorino making the game 10-2.
The game would end 10-2, as Roy Oswalt would improve his record to 2-0, and Brandon Beachy would get the loss going to 0-1. The Phillies are now 6-2, and Roy Oswalt has beaten every NL team.
This afternoon's game was almost the opposite of last night's. First, the line-up exploded, with seven of the nine starters getting hits, and five different players getting RBIs. The Phillies were also 5-16 with RISP, showing this team will not fold under pressure.
Roy Oswlat also had an incredible game, going six very strong innings, allowing just five hits, one earned run. He only walked two batters and struck out two. Those may not seem like stellar numbers, but he really looked in control today, getting 21 out of 24 first pitch strikes, and really only beating by Alex Gonzalez, who always does well against him.
Of course, the real hero of today's game was Carlos Ruiz who came off of the bench to get 5 RBIs, going 2-2 with two extra base hits, including his first career grand slam. It was also his first home run of the year, and with this game he almost tripled his RBI count, bringing his total to 7 on the year. If Carlos can keep this up and have a year similar to the one he had last year, the Phillies line-up surely won't be the thing keeping them from winning.
The Phillies close out the series tomorrow at 1:35 as Cole Hamels looks to avenge his dreadful first start against Derek Lowe who has an astounding 0.77 ERA so far this year.