As great as it was to see Roy Halladay beat his former team, the Toronto Blue Jays, for his ninth win of the season, it was even better to see the offense put up nine runs and finally give Halladay the run support he deserves—even if he didn’t actually need it.
Ross Gload, playing first base for Ryan Howard, led the way with four RBI, including a base-clearing double in the fifth inning, which counted for half of the runs the Phillies would go on to score in that inning.
Chase Utley and Shane Victorino also contributed with two RBI each. Victorino got one of his RBI on his 12th home run of the season to put the icing on the cake in the top of the eighth.
Howard, who became the first DH ever used at Citizen’s Bank Park due to the odd arrangement in this series, also contributed with an RBI of his own—his 54th of the season.
Jayson Werth also hit his first triple of the season and crossed the plate three times.
But even more astounding than all of that (expect perhaps Gload’s four-RBI performance) is the amount of walks Jimmy Rollins was able to draw. Rollins was walked on four—yes, four—separate occasions and only recorded one official at-bat because of it.
That’s showing a lot of respect to Rollins, a guy who is by no means a power hitter. The way the offense has performed over the past three games with Rollins in the lineup might give a slight glimpse into why the Phils were struggling without him.
His presence has clearly had a major effect on this team positively over the past few days, and it might be time to admit that the lack of his presence could have had a whole lot more to do with the Phillies’ funk than anyone was willing to acknowledge.
Cole Hamels takes the mound for the Phils in game two and gives them a great chance to finally get on a respectable role as they look to make it five in a row.
There’s no word as to who Charlie Manuel will peg as the designated hitter, but it’s likely Howard resumes his role at first base and Gload simply becomes the DH.
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