Hamels, Wigginton Rally Phillies Past Mets
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cole Hamels pitched seven strong innings and Ty Wigginton drove in four runs, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-2 win over the New York Mets on Sunday.
Hamels (1-1) struck out 10 to help the Phillies avoid a three-game sweep at home against the Mets for the first time since June 13-15, 2006. It was the 19th career double-digit strikeout game for Hamels.
As they have all season, and especially in this series when they scored two runs total in a pair of losses entering Sunday, Philadelphia struggled to cross the plate until scoring twice in the seventh inning against Mets reliever Ramon Ramirez (1-1). The Phillies blew the game open with five unearned runs in the eighth off two Mets relievers.
The Phillies tied it at 2 in the seventh on Wigginton's sacrifice fly to right that scored Jimmy Rollins. Rollins could've been the second out of the inning, but right fielder Lucas Duda misjudged Rollins' lazy flyball to short right field allowing Rollins a single.
Rollins moved to second on Hunter Pence's single to left, then both advanced on Ramirez's wild pitch. Pence, incidentally, likely would have been the third out: his grounder into left field got through the hole between short and third because shortstop Ruben Tejada was cheating up the middle for a potential steal by Rollins.
Laynce Nix, who had been hitless in seven at-bats this season, doubled home Pence to put the Phillies up 3-2. Nix's hit nearly was caught by left fielder Scott Hairston, who charged into the corner and jumped for the liner but had it glance off his glove and ricochet into foul territory.
The Phillies, helped by Tejada's throwing error, tacked on five unearned runs run in the eighth.
Reliever Manny Acosta walked Pence with the bases loaded before Wigginton hit a bases-clearing double to left off Miguel Batista for the five-run lead. Wigginton then scored from second on John Mayberry's dribbler up the first base line that Batista had hoped would go foul.
Ike Davis' two-out, two-run homer in the first staked the Mets to a 2-0 lead. David Wright got on with a bloop single to right, giving him 11 hits in 18 at-bats this season.
Wright finished 2 for 4 to raise his average to .632. Davis and Duda each had two hits for the Mets, who got six solid innings from starter Mike Pelfrey. The right-hander allowed one run on eight hits while striking out two and walking two.
The Phillies got a run back in the bottom half when Rollins singled home Juan Pierre, who went 3 for 4 with three singles.
Rollins and Pence each had a pair of hits for Philadelphia, which finished with 14 hits to tie its season high.
NOTES: Mets OF Jason Bay, after originally being in the starting lineup, was a late scratch. He injured his right ring finger sliding into a base Saturday night. . Each member of the Phillies and Mets honored the 65th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball by wearing No. 42 during the game. During a pregame ceremony, members of the Tuskegee Airmen and two players from the Philadelphia Stars, Harold Gould and Mahlon Duckett, of the Negro League were recognized. . The crowd of 45,829 was the sixth-largest in Citizens Bank Park history and the 210th regular-season sellout.
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