Blanton Goes Seven Solid

Petco Park is a big ballpark. But don't tell Ryan Howard and Chase Utley that. They won't know what your talking about. In a 2-1 Phillies lead in the fifth inning, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit back-to-back homeruns to give the Phillies a 4-1 lead. Joe Blanton had it going all night long. The Padres had the bases loaded in the second inning with no outs, and Blanton got a double play. The Padres did score a run but it was a good way to stay away from the big inning. In the sixth, Blanton had his only hiccup. Adrian Gonzalez and Scott Hairston went back-to-back to make it a one run game. The Phillies tacked on one more run in the eighth inning but they wouldn't need it. With Ryan Madson unavailable tonight due to to the fact that he has pitched in three consecutive ballgames, Scott Eyre took his spot and pitched a scoreless inning. Brad Lidge did his usual thing with a lights out save and the Phils went on to win 5-3. Also, J.C. Romero's suspension is almost up. He only has one more game to wait until he comes back to the mound. Romero has been pitching for the Phillies minor league teams on a rehab assignment to get his form back. One more note, the Phillies 2006 first round draft pick Kyle Drabek has been promoted to the Reading Phillies. Drabek missed most of last year with Tommy John Surgery. Drabek has electric stuff and expect for him to be up in the big leagues in the next couple seasons.
UP NEXT
Left-hander Antonio Bastardo will be making his major league debut today. Bastardo is taking over for Myers spot in the rotation, after Myers claimed that he will have surgery in the coming week. The Padres will counter with their ace Jake Peavy. Peavy pitched with tendinitis in his right anke last start. It seemed to get worse as the game went on. Peavy struggled, by allowing eight hits and four earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. Peavy should be ready to go despite his injury.