Final
Polanco's big hit lifts Phillies into first place
Sep 8, 2010 - 3:33 AMVideo
PHILADELPHIA(AP) -- They overcame injuries to nearly every starter, suffered through an awful slump for long stretches and kept going.
The Philadelphia Phillies are back in first place by the slimmest of margins. Now they'll try to stay there.
Placido Polanco hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and the Phillies beat the Florida Marlins 8-7 Tuesday night to move atop the NL East standings.
"It's always good to be in first. That's the only way to live," manager Charlie Manuel said.
The Phillies moved a half-game ahead of Atlanta, which lost 5-0 in Pittsburgh. The two-time defending NL champions hadn't been in first place since May 30. They're seeking their fourth straight division title.
Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino each hit a solo homer for the Phillies, who were seven games behind the Braves on July 22.
"There's a lot of baseball left," Victorino said. "We are where we wanted to be now. We're in position to control our destiny."
After the Marlins rallied to tie it at 7 in the eighth, the Phillies answered with two outs in the bottom half. Victorino blooped a single to center off Jose Veras (2-2). He stole second and scored on Polanco's liner to right.
Ryan Madson (5-2) got the last four outs to earn the win. Closer Brad Lidge was unavailable because of a tender right elbow. He said he'll be ready by Friday.
Phillies starter Joe Blanton allowed four runs - two earned - and six hits in 6 1-3 innings.
Mike Stanton homered for the third straight game for Florida. Marlins starter Chris Volstad gave up five runs and nine hits in five innings.
"This experience is helping them," Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez said of his young players. "They're getting better and better playing against a real good team."
A crowd of 43,841 was the 113th straight sellout at Citizens Bank Park, and fans did some scoreboard watching in case the Phillies weren't paying attention. When the Pirates took a 1-0 lead over the Braves in the seventh inning at Pittsburgh, some clapped. They cheered louder when it became 3-0 minutes later.
Down 7-4, the Marlins rallied against three relievers with help from the sloppy Phillies in the eighth.
Stanton led off with a homer against Jose Contreras. With two outs and Brad Davis on second, Emilio Bonifacio singled. Davis was held at third, but he scored on right fielder Jayson Werth's throwing error. Bonifacio advanced to second on the throw, got balked to third by J.C. Romero and scored on Madson's wild pitch to tie it at 7.
Blanton left after walking Bonifacio in the seventh. Antonio Bastardo came in to face Logan Morrison, who lined an RBI double to center to cut it to 5-4. Morrison advanced to third on second baseman Chase Utley's throwing error. But Chad Durbin came in and retired Hanley Ramirez on a foul pop. After Dan Uggla walked, Gaby Sanchez flied out to end the inning.
Jimmy Rollins, batting fifth for the second straight game instead of his usual leadoff spot, hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom half. Ibanez then tripled in a run to make it 7-4.
Down 3-1, the Phillies used the long ball to take the lead.
Ibanez hit an opposite-field drive to left-center in the fourth. Victorino led off the fifth with a drive to the seats in right. Two outs later, Howard connected to make it 4-3.
Howard's opposite-field shot off Volstad was his sixth homer off the righty. He's 11 for 23 against him.
Rollins followed Howard's 27th homer with a single. After he stole second, Ibanez singled him in for a 5-3 lead.
Rollins lined an RBI single for a 1-0 lead in the second.
Helped by Blanton's error, the Marlins scored two unearned runs to take a 2-1 lead in the third. Uggla had a run-scoring groundout and Sanchez hit an RBI single.
NOTES: RHP Scott Mathieson and RF Domonic Brown received the Paul Owens Award given to the top players in the Phillies' minor league system. Mathieson, who rebounded from two elbow operations, was 3-6 with 26 saves and a 2.80 ERA in 54 games for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Brown hit .327 with 20 home runs, 68 RBIs and 17 steals in 93 games between Double-A Reading and Lehigh Valley. ... Brown was a late scratch from the lineup due to a sore right quadriceps. ... Ibanez is 9 for 18 with three homers against Volstad. Ibanez has 13 homers this season. He reached that number on May 16 last year on his way to hitting a career-high 34. ... Ramirez's hitting streak ended at 14 games.
- Phillies 8, Marlins 7 - FINAL
FLORIDA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
E Bonifacio 3b 4 3 3 0 1 0 0 .302
L Morrison lf 4 1 2 1 1 0 1 .318
H Ramirez ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 3 .300
D Uggla 2b 4 0 0 1 1 2 2 .281
G Sanchez 1b 5 0 1 1 0 0 2 .280
M Stanton rf 4 1 2 1 1 1 1 .244
C Mayb
Sep 7 10:23 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY PLACIDO POLANCO SCORED SHANE VICTORINO
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, P POLANCO ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 7
PHILADELPHIA 8 BOTTOM,8TH
DUE UP FOR PHILADELPHIA: C UTLEY (.270, 0-FOR-4)
Marlins 7, Phillies 8 Bot 8, 0 OutsSep 7 10:08 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
WILD PITCH BY RYAN MADSON ALLOWED EMILIO BONIFACIO TO
SCORE.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, L MORRISON ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 7
PHILADELPHIA 7 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: H RAMIREZ (.301, 0-FOR-4)
Marlins 7, Phillies 7 Top 8, 0 OutsSep 7 9:58 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
ERROR BY JAYSON WERTH ALLOWED BRAD DAVIS TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, E BONIFACIO ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 6
PHILADELPHIA 7 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: L MORRISON (.318, 2-FOR-4, RBI)
Marlins 6, Phillies 7 Top 8, 0 OutsSep 7 9:47 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY MIKE STANTON (18) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN THE
8TH OFF JOSE CONTRERAS.
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 5, PHILADELPHIA 7
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: J SOSA (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Marlins 5, Phillies 7 Top 8, 0 OutsSep 7 9:40 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY RAUL IBANEZ SCORED RYAN HOWARD
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, R IBANEZ ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 4
PHILADELPHIA 7 BOTTOM,7TH
DUE UP FOR PHILADELPHIA: J WERTH (.294, 0-FOR-3)
Marlins 4, Phillies 7 Bot 7, 0 OutsSep 7 9:34 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY JIMMY ROLLINS SCORED PLACIDO POLANCO
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R HOWARD ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 4
PHILADELPHIA 6 BOTTOM,7TH
DUE UP FOR PHILADELPHIA: R IBANEZ (.261, 2-FOR-3, HR, 2 RBI)
Marlins 4, Phillies 6 Bot 7, 0 OutsSep 7 9:31 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY LOGAN MORRISON SCORED EMILIO BONIFACIO
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, L MORRISON ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 4
PHILADELPHIA 5 TOP,7TH
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: H RAMIREZ (.301, 0-FOR-3)
Marlins 4, Phillies 5 Top 7, 0 OutsSep 7 9:08 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY RAUL IBANEZ SCORED JIMMY ROLLINS
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, R IBANEZ ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 3
PHILADELPHIA 5 BOTTOM,5TH
DUE UP FOR PHILADELPHIA: J WERTH (.294, 0-FOR-2)
Marlins 3, Phillies 5 Bot 5, 0 OutsSep 7 8:41 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY RYAN HOWARD (27) TO LEFT CENTER WITH 2 OUT
IN THE 5TH OFF CHRIS VOLSTAD.
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 3, PHILADELPHIA 4
DUE UP FOR PHILADELPHIA: J ROLLINS (.238, 1-FOR-2, RBI)
Marlins 3, Phillies 4 Bot 5, 0 OutsSep 7 8:37 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY SHANE VICTORINO (17) TO RIGHT WITH 0 OUT IN
THE 5TH OFF CHRIS VOLSTAD.
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 3, PHILADELPHIA 3
DUE UP FOR PHILADELPHIA: P POLANCO (.306, 1-FOR-2)
Marlins 3, Phillies 3 Bot 5, 0 OutsSep 7 8:33 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY RAUL IBANEZ (13) TO LEFT CENTER WITH 1 OUT
IN THE 4TH OFF CHRIS VOLSTAD.
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 3, PHILADELPHIA 2
DUE UP FOR PHILADELPHIA: J WERTH (.295, 0-FOR-1)
Marlins 3, Phillies 2 Bot 4, 0 OutsSep 7 8:19 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY BRAD DAVIS SCORED CAMERON MAYBIN
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, NONE ON, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 3
PHILADELPHIA 1 TOP,4TH
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: C VOLSTAD (.093, 0-FOR-1)
Marlins 3, Phillies 1 Top 4, 0 OutsSep 7 8:10 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY GABY SANCHEZ SCORED LOGAN MORRISON
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, G SANCHEZ ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 2
PHILADELPHIA 1 TOP,3RD
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: M STANTON (.243, 1-FOR-1)
Marlins 2, Phillies 1 Top 3, 0 OutsSep 7 7:54 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY DAN UGGLA SCORED EMILIO BONIFACIO
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, L MORRISON ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 1
PHILADELPHIA 1 TOP,3RD
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: G SANCHEZ (.280, 0-FOR-1)
Marlins 1, Phillies 1 Top 3, 0 OutsSep 7 7:52 PM - NL
AT PHILADELPHIA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JIMMY ROLLINS SCORED RYAN HOWARD
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J ROLLINS ON FIRST, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 0
PHILADELPHIA 1 BOTTOM,2ND
DUE UP FOR PHILADELPHIA: R IBANEZ (.258, 12 HR, 66 RBI)
Marlins 0, Phillies 1 Bot 2, 0 OutsSep 7 7:35 PM
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