Out of the Batter’s Box [5.15.2012] – A toast to Placido Polanco’s 2,000th hit

Placido Polanco’s first home run of the season sure was a memorable one. Polanco’s two-run homer to left center field last night in the eighth inning of a damp game against the Houston Astros pushed the Phillies lead to 5-1, taking the game out of a save situation and making victory just a little more certain for a team that has struggled to close games out. Of course, the home run was also the 2,000th hit of his career.

Here is some standard YouTube video of someone recording their television with their phone to relive the moment…

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bUUMUfpOp_I

Or watch Polanco’s 2,000th hit on Phillies.com.

Polanco is now the 269th player in MLB history to eclipse the 2,000 hit mark, and he should move up on the list a good amount before the end of the season. Juan Pierre is currently 243rd on the all-time list of players with 2,000 career hits with 2,053 hits. Former Phillie third baseman, ironically initially traded by the Phillies in exchange for Polanco, Scott Rolen is 254th on the all-time list with 2,021 hits.

After the game Polanco, of course, talked about hitting the 2,000 hit mark. This video, via Calkins Media (Bucks County Courier Times, The Intelligencer etc.)…

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IDiOCRTfsBM

Speaking of Polanco, Terry Foster of The Detroit News says letting Polanco leave the Detroit Tigers was the worst mistake.

While Polanco deserves props for his milestone last night, the stars of the game were really Joe Blanton and Freddy Galvis. Blanton took the game in to the eighth inning in another solid outing, allowing just one run (on a lead-off home run to pinch hitter Marwin Gonzalez in the eighth inning), and walking one while striking out seven Astros. Galvis boosted the Phillies offense with a three-hit night and two runs batted in to give the Phillies a lead. Galvis has slowly raised his batting average to .231, which of course is nothing to write home about but does show he may be making some progress. Don’t look now but Galvis is now third on the team in RBI totals, with 15 (Hunter Pence and Carlos Ruiz lead the team with 23 RBI each).

Antonio Bastardo and Chad Qualls combined for an inning of relief of Blanton before handing the game over to the already-warmed up Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth inning of what became a non-save situation. Despite some disagreement over the strike zone early, Papelbon closed out the game with three strikeouts.

Yesterday in the NL East

Phillies 5, Astros 1

Nationals 8, Padres 5

Reds 3, Braves 1

Mets 3, Brewers 1

Pirates 3, Marlins 2

Updated NL East Standings

1. 22-13 Nationals
2. 22-14 Braves (0.5 GB)
3. 20-15 Mets (2.0 GB)
4. 18-17 Marlins (4.0)
5. 17-19 Phillies (5.5)

On Deck

The Phillies and Astros will hope to fit in an afternoon game Tuesday, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Cliff Lee is scheduled to take the mound for the Phillies, looking for his first win of his injury-disrupted season. The Weather Channel is predicting a 100 percent chance of precipitation between 9 a.m. and noon, with an 80 percent chance from the scheduled first pitch through 5 p.m. Don’t be surprised if today’s game gets postponed, even though this is the only time Houston is scheduled to visit Philadelphia this season.

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