• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Durbin outstanding as Phillies blank Padres

Jul 23, 2007 - 12:31 AM SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- J.D. Durbin hurled a complete-game five-hitter and Jimmy Rollins homered as the Philadelphia Phillies hammered the San Diego Padres, 9-0, in the finale of a four-game set on Sunday afternoon.

Shane Victorino added three hits and drove in three runs for the Phillies, who cruised to their third straight win.

Durbin (2-2) earned his second straight win after picking up his first major league victory in his previous start.

A waiver-wire pickup who has been released by three organizations this year alone, Durbin walked three and struck out three in his first career complete game.

"A complete-game shutout, that's an undescribable feeling," Durbin said. "But, just the organization giving me a shot to settle in and somebody working with me long enough to actually stay in the big leagues, it feels good.

"People are talking about you and have the faith to let you throw the ball for them. They did, and I'm throwing good right now."

San Diego never mounted a serious scoring threat against Durbin, managing just three runners as far as second base and none to third. Durbin had no difficulty stranding the runners, throwing just 95 pitches.

"His tempo and his rhythm was really good, and he really slowed down," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He took some deep breaths and really showed some poise today. He pitched a heck of a game. He has good ability, and today he showed he has the talent and can pitch."

"J.D. showed early that he was throwing strikes, and the way he was throwing it (the first pitch) may have been the best one to hit," Padres manager Bud Black said. "I think as the game went on, his confidence grew and he started throwing the breaking ball over for strikes. He did a good job."

Rollins led off the third with a solo shot against San Diego starter Jake Peavy. The blast was his 19th of the season and provided a 1-0 advantage that would be all the support Durbin would need.

"People talk about Citizens Bank Park and how we hit there, but if you check, we can hit anywhere," Manuel said. "It's pretty much evened up no matter where we play."

Entering the game ranked first in the National League in runs scored, Philadelphia added two runs in the fifth and sent 10 batters to the plate in a five-run eighth that put the game out of reach.

"We just did what we needed to do, and that was go out and get good pitches and not miss them," said first baseman Ryan Howard, who was one of four Philadelphia players to have multi-hit games. "We got some hits and tried to keep the pressure on them."

Peavy (9-5) was tagged for four runs and nine hits in six innings, marking the fourth time in five games that the National League's All-Star starter has allowed three or more runs.

The 26-year-old righthander walked two and struck out six.

After yielding just one home run through the first three months of the season, Peavy has given up a blast in three of his last four outings.

"All I can do is get better at what I can get better at, and that's pitching," Peavy said. "I can obviously do better than what I have done. I've just got to work on it and try to right the ship and encourage everybody else to do the same."

Michael Barrett's second-inning double was the only extra-base hit for San Diego, which was outscored, 28-8, in the the four-game series and has lost five of its last seven series at home.

"With the exception of these last few games, all of the games have been close," Black said. "We play close games, and we haven't won up until this point I guess at home. I don't know."

Barrett was ejected in the fifth along with Black by home plate umpire Chris Guccione for arguing balls and strikes.