1-2-3 Punch Finishes Fish
The Florida Marlins were knocked out by the Phillies last night by a score of 4-0 in the first game back after the All-Star break. If you thought the Phillies would be rusty after some time-off, think again.
Strike 1
Raul Ibanez – we missed you! Without skipping a beat after a long stint on the DL, Ibanez is back firing on all cylinders. In his first two at-bats last night, he knocked the ball out of the park; a 2-run home run in the 2nd inning and a solo shot in the 4th gave the Phillies all the momentum they needed. Ibanez continues to make a case for MVP as he slings this team onto his shoulders and carries them towards the promise land…
Strike 2
Ryan Howard now holds the record for the fastest time to reach 200 home runs in major league history. He hit #200 last night deep into the seats beyond right field. Howard’s homer in his 658th career game surpassed the previously held record by 48 games, set by Hall of Famer, Ralph Kiner. And that home run gave the Phillies a 4-0 lead in the 6th inning.
Strike 3
Jamie Moyer keeps getting younger and younger. In his longest outing of the year, Moyer pitched 7 full innings and allowed only 1 hit, which did not come until the 5th inning. And at the plate, he went 1 for 2 with a single to add to his dominance. Moyer leads the Phillies pitching staff with 9 wins. Who saw that coming at the beginning of the season? I am betting Moyer did.
Up Next
The Phillies continue the 4-game series with the Fish tonight; game time is 7:10pm and Cole Hamels will try to reclaim his spot as the staff ace. Best of luck to him!
Photo by Jenn
*Read more about the Phillies at my other home page, Phightin’ Phils Phorum in the My Team Rivals network*
Phillies Phollowers 
It was quite a thrill to watch Howard live for the first time during the All-Star festivities. He’s a hometown STL boy, so he got the big red carpet treatment. It was awesome. Seriously. Congrats to Howie on 200.
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/
So how come the NL teams all seemed to start last night and we AL fans had to wait until tonight? It is SO unfair!
Julia
http://werbiefitz.mlblogs.com/
If Moyer keeps getting younger, I want what he’s having! Really incredible the way he just keeps going at a high level.
– http://janeheller.mlblogs.com
Hahaha! 🙂 Now I really want the seagulls to come to Pro Field today & poop on one of the Mariners. Good job beating the Marlins! http://tribechick.mlblogs.com/
-TC
end of 4th I thought wow could he actually pitch a perfect game tonight, everything was going his way, went out to the deck for a quick smoke, came back and wooosh, he gave up a hit…. but still think he is going to have another good year, possibly 14 or 15 wins…. and yep… RAUUUUUUUL is definately MVP bound…..
~peter~
Outside the Phillies Looking In
http://devilabrit.mlblogs.com
LOL! Should’ve seen the gull in Toronto, Jenn! You’d have laughed your head off!! 🙂
Good luck to Cole and the Phillies tonight. Enjoy!
Ginny
http://watercooler.mlblogs.com
I think the Phils have now got their shiite together and will run away with the NL East in the second half. I also agree with Jane: Moyer is the Dick Clark of MLB!
:^)
–Jonestein
http://jonestein.mlblogs.com/
Man, how does Moyer own the Fish so much? I saw his career ERA is 1.58 against those guys? Not fair.
Congrats to the Phils for getting started on the right foot. We should all be so lucky. Oh! and congrats to Howard on his awesomeness.
http://raysfanboy.mlblogs.com/
This run of wins is great, and I think the Phils are going to win the NL East. I just hope the streakiness is behind us. That stretch against the AL Teams was brutal, and they need to beat Atlanta next time we play to get revenge for them sweeping us last time. The key as always is how well are our starting pitchers doing. I hope Pedro is able to contribute when he gets here in a few weeks. Let’s go Phils!