Freddy G Walks Phillies Off

The Phillies took full advantage of the opportunity to win a series against the National League East leading Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.

While it was not pretty, it gave yet another glimpse into not only the young nucleus this organization will field moving forward, but also the heart and swagger that they’ve been sorely missing.

Kyle Kendrick got the start in search of his 11th win in 2013, and was solid for the most part.

He did allow runs in the top of the third inning, after hitting Dan Uggla with a pitch and allowing a single to shortstop Andrelton Simmons. He would eventually walk Justin Upton to load the bases with one out. First baseman Freddie Freeman then singled to center field to plate two runs and give Atlanta a 2-0 lead.

The Phillies offense responded in the bottom of the inning, starting with a single from Cesar Hernandez, followed by a double from Kevin Frandsen who started at first base. With two outs, Carlos Ruiz roped a single to center-field to score both runners and tie things up.

The Fightins’ took the lead in the fifth inning, thanks to back to back doubles from Chase Utley and Ruiz again. With the score now 3-2 Phillies, Darin Ruf worked a one out walk, but was eventually forced out at second on a fielder’s choice hit by Cody Asche.

With two men out, shortstop Freddy Galvis stepped up and knocked an RBI single to center-field to score Ruiz from third, making it a 4-2 Phillies lead.

Kendrick worked in and out of trouble in his last inning of work, the sixth. He allowed a lead-off single to Freeman and then walked Evan Gattis. He was then able to get catcher Brian McCann to ground into a double play, leaving Freeman on third base with two outs. Chris Johnson would hit next, and he laced a double to Ruf in left field.

Freeman scored to make it a 4-3 Phillies lead.

Kendrick went 6 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits and three bases on balls. He also had eight strikeouts.

The Phils added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, when Hernandez reached base on a one out double. Frandsen would bring him around with a line drive single to the gap in center field. The Phillies led 5-3 heading to the ninth inning with Jonathan Papelbon coming in.

Papelbon has been shaky all season, and tonight was a perfect example of his inconsistency. He got one out, then allowed a single to Johnson. He would get Joey Terdoslavich to fly out, making Simmons the Braves’ last hope.

With two outs and a 2-2 count on Simmons, Pap left one out over the heart of the plate and Simmons did not miss it. It landed in the left field seats for a two run home run and a 5-5 game.

Frandsen’s RBI single in the eighth proved huge to keep the game tied.

The Braves’ skipper Freddi Gonzalez called on one time Phillie Freddy Garcia to get three outs and send the game to extra innings. After Asche popped up to start the inning, another Freddy G came up to face Garcia. All that Freddy did was hit a high fastball to the opposite field, over the fence and out of the ballpark.

Galvis sent the fans home happy and bailed out his teammate Papelbon with a walk off home run. In the process, he won the series for the Phils against the first place Braves, with a chance to sweep them this afternoon.

Though they left 12 men on base in nine innings, the Phils finished with 15 hits, getting three each from Hernandez & Frandsen. Galvis finished going 4-5 with a run scored and two huge runs batted in.

Utley & Ruiz finished with two hits apiece, with Chooch netting three runs batted in.

This was truly a team victory. Everyone chipped in offensively, and they were able to pick up Papelbon after the blown save. These sort of games can be great character builders for a squad of young up and comers heading into next season.

Another encouraging sign for Sandberg’s young bunch.

Stats Courtesy of Phillies.com

Photo Courtesy of USAToday.com