Categories: 2009 RecapsPosts

McCann, Braves Power Past Lifeless Phils

The Phillies made Javier Vazquez look like Cy Young.

The Braves beat the Phillies, 6-2, thanks to the sterling pitching of Vazquez and the un-sterling pitching of Joe Blanton. Sure, he went eight innings and looked better than usual, but giving up six runs (no matter how you do it) won’t slice it. He allowed two-run home runs to Yunel Escobar and Brian McCann, who went 3-for-4 against Blanton. Overall, Blanton gave up six runs on eight hits in eight frames.

Meanwhile, the Phils offense played like sludge. They never worked Vazquez, allowing him to throw 115 pitches in eight innings. Only Chase Utley (2-for-4, HR, 2B) and Raul Ibanez (1-for-3, HR) did anything of note against Vazquez. Among the 0-fers were Jimmy Rollins (0-for-4), Shane Victorino (0-for-4), Ryan Howard (0-for-4) and Greg Dobbs (0-for-3).

Scott Eyre pitched a scoreless ninth. At least Blanton gave the bullpen a rest.

With the loss, the Phillies now sit in second place in the NL East, behind the division-leading Mets.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.