San Francisco @ Philadelphia preview
Citizens Bank Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 17, 2010 ) San Francisco 3, Philadelphia 9
The battle for wild-card supremacy naturally had a wild and chaotic finish in Tuesday's series opener in the City of Brotherly Love.
The Philadelphia Phillies claimed sole possession of the lead in the wild card standings by scoring five runs in the eighth inning to pull away for a 9-3 triumph over the San Francisco Giants. The teams entered the contest in a virtual tie, with the Phillies ahead by a percentage point.
Jimmy Rollins had a pair of run-scoring singles and drove in three and Placido Polanco recorded four hits to lead Philadelphia (67-51) to its 19th win in 24 games. The victory also lifted the Phillies to a one-game lead over the Giants (67-53) and 1.5-game advantage over the St. Louis Cardinals (65-52) in the race for the wild card.
Shane Victorino and Carlos Ruiz belted RBI doubles and Mike Sweeney and Ruiz scored twice for Philadelphia, which remains 2.5 games behind the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves (70-49).
The Phillies will look to extend their lead in the wild card while potentially narrowing their deficit in the division on Wednesday against the Giants.
San Francisco, which has dropped three of its last four contests, fell five games behind the NL West-leading San Diego Padres (71-47).
Looking to regain his form is Chase Utley, who went 0-for-5 in his first game back in the lineup. The five-time All-Star second baseman had been sidelined for seven weeks with a broken thumb.
Joe Blanton (4-6, 5.69 ERA) will take the hill for Philadelphia. The 29-year-old Tennessee native has mustered one win, one loss and seven no-decisions in his last nine outings.
The burly right-hander permitted four runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings in his last start. The end result? You guessed it ... a no-decision in the Phillies' 10-9 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers last Thursday.
Blanton has struggled in six career outings against San Francisco, posting a 1-3 record with a bloated 5.08 ERA.
San Francisco will counter with Matt Cain (9-9, 3.11 ERA), who has also struggled in his career against the Phillies. The 25-year-old right-hander is 0-2 with a 7.20 ERA in four career outings.
Cain permitted three runs and eight hits in six innings in a no-decision against the Chicago Cubs last Thursday. The hurler struck out nine in the Giants' 8-7 victory.
The Giants received a power boost on Tuesday as former Phillie Pat Burrell belted a solo homer in his first game at Citizens Bank Park since the team won the 2008 World Series.
Jose Guillen also went deep in a losing effort.