Phillies-Orioles Series Recap

(Photo: CSNPhilly.com)

This Phillies-Orioles series was an interesting one to say the least. The Phillies won only one game out of this three game series but they were in every single game. There were some good things that you can take from this series and there are some bad things that came out of this series. Let us take a look at the all three games from this series and analyze them.


In Game One, the Phillies defeated the Orioles 9-6 and the offense had a heck of a game as they scored seven runs in the first two innings to give starting pitcher Joe Blanton some breathing room. Blanton pitched well as he only gave up five runs on seven hits and struck out seven Oriole hitters. Shane Victorino and Jim Thome had great games as Thome’s bat finally came to life. Thome went 3 for 5, with one RBI and scored two runs. On the other hand, Shane Victorino went 3 for 5, with five RBI and one of those hits was a two run home run.

(Photo: CSNPhilly.com)

In Game Two, Jim Thome was still hitting the ball but it was not enough as the Orioles defeated the Phillies 6-4 in 12 innings. In this game, the Phillies used the long ball a lot as Jimmy Rollins, Jim Thome and Hector Luna all hit solo home runs. Thome kept on swinging a hot bat as he tied the game up in the eighth inning; he went 2 for 4 with two RBI. Hunter Pence also had a great game as he went 4 for 5 but no RBI or runs scored. Finally, when the Phillies got to extra innings, they used reliever B.J. Rosenberg, who they just called up from Lehigh Valley. Rosenberg got a welcome to the majors as he served up a home run ball to Adam Jones and the Orioles walk off with the victory.

(Photo: CSNPhilly.com)

Finally, in Game Three, The Phillies went to extra innings again and fell to the Orioles 5-4 in 10 innings. Phillies starting pitcher Cliff Lee was looking for his first win in 10 starts and he could not get it again. The Phillies offense gave Lee an early 3-1 lead but it was not good enough as he gave up a three run home run to Orioles third baseman Steve Tolleson. The Phillies had numerous times to put up more than four runs as they had bases loaded three times throughout the game but they could not convert on those opportunities. 


The Phillies record now stands at (29-33) and they are still in last place in the NL East and are slowly falling out of contention to make up ground on the first place Washington Nationals. The Phillies will now start a three game series versus the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night. On the mound for the Phillies it will be Kyle Kendrick (2-5, 4.44 ERA) and on the mound for the Twins it will be Nick Blackburn (2-4, 7.75 ERA). The Phillies need to sweep the Twins cause if they do not then something will have to be changed with this team. First pitch is at 8:10 pm on Tuesday night at Target Field.