Well, it’s finally in the books. The Phillies have their first win at Citizens Bank Park.
Vicente Padilla came out firing strikes, but ran into some rough spots in his five innings of work. The Reds picked up their first run in the second inning when Jason LaRue doubled to score Sean Casey with the games first run. Padilla regained his composure and got out of further trouble in the second and breezed through the third before he stumbled again in the fourth. With the bases loaded, Juan Castro doubled to right scoring two runs. LaRue tried to score on the play, but was gunned down at home on a great relay throw by Placido Polanco. Castro went to third on the play and scored on a wild pitch as the Reds went up 4-0 through four innings. Padilla again got out of the inning and set down the Reds in order in the fifth before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Reds starter Jose Acevedo was breezing through the Phillies lineup. It looked like the Phillies were headed toward their sixth straight loss until David Bell woke up the crowd with a two-run homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning hitting the homerun through a strong wind blowing straight in to cut the Reds lead to 4-2. After Bell’s homerun, Acevedo was lifted in favor of lefty Phil Norton, who got the Reds out of the seventh inning, but ran into problems one inning later.
Polanco started the eighth inning with an infield single that trickled off the glove of Ray Olmedo, who had just entered the game as a defensive replacement at shortstop. Bobby Abreu then walked and after Jim Thome just missed a three-run homerun by pulling the ball just foul, Thome hit into a fielder’s choice leaving runners at the corners with one out. Ryan Wagner relieved Norton and got two quick strikes on Pat Burrell before the Phillies left fielder reached out and dropped a single into right field, making it a 4-3 game. Lieberthal then stepped up and delievered his blast, again cutting it through a strong wind, as the Phillies went up 6-4.
Billy Wagner entered in the ninth for his second save opportunity and converted it easily, getting a game ending double play ball off the bat of pinch-hitter Barry Larkin.
Rheal Cormier (2-2) threw a shutout inning to record the win. Roberto Hernandez also pitched two shutout innings in relief of Padilla.
The Phillies will play their first night game in the history of Citizens Bank Park Friday night when the Montreal Expos come to town to start a three-game series with the Phillies. Livan Hernandez will oppose Eric Milton in the series opener Friday night.
Jimmy Rollins and Marlon Byrd switched spots in the batting order, with Rollins hitting leadoff and Byrd dropping to seventh in the order. Rollins went 0-4 and is hitting .138 while Byrd finished the day 2-3 and is now hitting .250 on the season.
CINCINNATI (4) VS PHILADELPHIA (6) - FINAL
CINCINNATI ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D Jimenez 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .310
R Freel 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .276
R Olmedo ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
K Griffey Jr cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .269
A Kearns rf 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 .167
S Casey 1b 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 .400
A Dunn lf 3 0 0 0 1 2 0 .333
J LaRue c 3 0 2 1 1 1 0 .150
J Castro ss-3b 3 1 1 2 0 2 3 .167
a-B Larkin ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .143
J Acevedo p 2 0 1 0 1 1 2 .200
P Norton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
R Wagner p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Riedling p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 30 4 7 3 5 10 10
a-grounded to shortstop for J Castro in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - J LaRue (1, V Padilla); J Castro (1, V Padilla). RBI - J LaRue
(1), J Castro 2 (2). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Acevedo 2.
GIDP - R Freel, D Jimenez, B Larkin. Team LOB - 4.
PHILADELPHIA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Rollins ss 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 .138
P Polanco 2b 5 1 2 0 0 0 3 .303
B Abreu rf 2 0 0 0 2 2 1 .111
J Thome 1b 4 1 1 0 0 1 3 .290
P Burrell lf 4 1 1 1 0 3 2 .300
M Lieberthal c 4 1 1 3 0 1 1 .107
M Byrd cf 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 .250
D Bell 3b 3 1 1 2 1 0 0 .292
V Padilla p 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 .000
a-D Glanville ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
R Hernandez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-R Ledee ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
c-S Wooten ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
R Cormier p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
d-J Michaels ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000
B Wagner p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 32 6 8 6 6 8 13
a-grounded to pitcher for V Padilla in the 5th; b-hit for V Padilla in the
7th; c-grounded to shortstop for R Ledee in the 7th; d-walked for R Cormier
in the 8th.
BATTING: HR - D Bell (1, 7th inning off J Acevedo 1 on, 1 Out), M Lieberthal
(2, 8th inning off R Wagner 2 on, 1 Out). RBI - D Bell 2 (3), P Burrell (6), M
Lieberthal 3 (4). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - P Polanco 2, V
Padilla 2. Team LOB - 8.
FIELDING: Outfield assists - B Abreu (J LaRue at Home). DP: 3 (J Rollins-P
Polanco-J Thome 2, P Polanco-J Rollins-J Thome).
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CINCINNATI - 010 300 000 -- 4
PHILADELPHIA - 000 000 24x -- 6
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CINCINNATI ip h r er bb so hr era
J Acevedo 6 1/3 4 2 2 3 8 1 3.65
P Norton (H, 3) 1 1 2 2 1 0 0 4.50
R Wagner (L, 0-1; B, 1) 1/3 3 2 2 2 0 1 5.40
J Riedling 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
PHILADELPHIA ip h r er bb so hr era
V Padilla 5 5 4 4 4 6 0 4.91
R Hernandez 2 1 0 0 0 3 0 6.35
R Cormier (W, 2-2) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 5.40
B Wagner (S, 2) 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.00
WP - J Acevedo, V Padilla. IBB - D Bell (by J Acevedo), J LaRue (by V
Padilla). Pitches-strikes: J Acevedo 106-71; P Norton 19-9; R Wagner 23-11; J
Riedling 1-1; V Padilla 94-57; R Hernandez 23-16; R Cormier 17-9; B Wagner
12-8. Ground balls-fly balls: J Acevedo 6-5; P Norton 3-0; R Wagner 1-0; J
Riedling 0-1; V Padilla 5-3; R Hernandez 3-0; R Cormier 3-0; B Wagner 2-0.
Batters faced: J Acevedo 26; P Norton 5; R Wagner 6; J Riedling 1; V Padilla
22; R Hernandez 6; R Cormier 4; B Wagner 3.
UMPIRES: HP--Angel Hernandez. 1B--Mike Everitt. 2B--Mark Wegner. 3B--Jerry
Crawford.
T--2:55. Att--37,512.
Weather: 55 degrees, sunny. Wind: 26 mph, in from
center.