Philadelphia Phillies double the Brew Crew up 6-3 behind solid pitching from Moyer, bullpen, and Howard power!

The Phillies needed this game…there is no doubt about this…as a matter of fact they need all games from here on out. No doubt about that at all. So they send out Moyer on short rest. We all know he is 45, etc,etc…but this man came off not only short rest, but two pressure packed starts against the Cubs and Mets. And he won them both with brilliance. So out he gave his all. 5 2/3 of 3 run baseball. He had key strikeouts with men on base, induced key groundouts, etc. What a sigh of relief. And to back him up? Who else better than Ryan Howard (Mr. Power). His electrifying 2 run HR off Sheets in the bottom of the first served a couple of purposes:

1) Gave the Phillies an early lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
2) Broke Sheet’s scoreless innings streak.
3) Set the tone early for the game, and perhaps the series.

And he was not done there…later in the 4th inning, he plated Utley with a shot that bounced off the padding on the CF wall, and bounced back in for a double. So close to his second HR of the evening…but Pedro Feliz made sure Howard would score in that inning by ripping an RBI double which scored Howard from second. So Howard’s 3 RBI which tied the whole Brewer team for runs (Two HR’s one from Hardy, and 2 R HR from Fielder ((his first in 93 AB…also interesting was Moyer gave up a HR to his dad Cecil way back when..)) had a great night. But it was also not to be forgotten of Carlos Ruiz who picked the right time to pick up his anemic bat…he had 2 crucial insurance RBIs which came in the form of an old fashioned double to the gap, and the rare (only 2nd time under Manuel this has been attempted) squeeze bunt, to bring Victorino home in the bottom of the 8th off of third. Great execution. Meanwhile, the bullpen came on, and got the 10 outs to win the game, and Brad Lidge converted yet another save oppurtunity and is now 36-36 in saves.

Tonight’s game 7:05 EST:
Friday, September 12th, 2008
Citizen’s Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
Milwaukee (Parra 10-7) @ Philadelphia (Hamels 12-9)