Chase Utley hit a grand slam and Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth added homers in a nine-run seventh inning as the Philadelphia Phillies outslugged the Colorado Rockies, 12-11, on Thursday.
Raul Ibanez and Placido Polanco added two hits apiece for the Phillies, who extended their lead in the National League wild card race to two games over the idle San Francisco Giants while the Rockies fell 6 ½ back.
Colorado looked like it was in good shape with a 7-3 lead after the sixth, but the bullpen proved ineffective as Joe Beimel allowed a double to Polanco and an RBI single to Utley before surrendering Howard’s two-run blast that cut it to 7-6.
Manny Delcarmen (3-3) then made his first appearance since being acquired from the Boston Red Sox and did not make a very good impression, allowing a solo blast to Werth to tie the score.
Delcarmen allowed three more hits, including Ben Francisco’s RBI single, before being removed. Matt Reynolds wasn’t much better, loading the bases before surrendering Utley’s blast - his 12th of the season.
The Rockies tried to come back with three runs in the seventh but could not overcome the deficit.
Antonio Bastardo (1-0) got the win in relief and Brad Lidge worked out of a jam in the ninth to earn his 19th save for Philadelphia.
Philadelphia | Colorado | |
Joe Blanton | Player | Jhoulys Chacin |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
4.1 | IP | 5.1 |
3 | Strikeouts | 3 |
10 | Hits | 5 |
8.31 | ERA | 1.69 |
Philadelphia | Colorado | |
Jayson Werth | Player | Melvin Mora |
3 | Hits | 3 |
1 | RBI | 0 |
1 | HR | 0 |
6 | TB | 3 |
.600 | Avg | .750 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Philadelphia | 15 | 3 | 25 | .375 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
Colorado | 20 | 3 | 31 | .426 | 32 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 1 |