Phillies Come Flying Out Of Break, Rout Mets 13-8
NEW YORK (AP) — Chase Utley, Domonic Brown and the Philadelphia Phillies came flying out of the All-Star break, scoring 11 runs in the first three innings Friday night on the way to a 13-8 rout of the New York Mets.
Michael Young hit a three-run homer, Utley had a two-run drive and Brown a solo shot as the Phillies (49-48) won for the ninth time in 12 games to move over .500 for only the second time this season. Philadelphia roughed up familiar foil Jeremy Hefner in its seventh consecutive victory at Citi Field dating to last season, including a three-game sweep in April.
While the Phillies have made themselves right at home in Queens, the Mets keep struggling in their own ballpark. Back on the field after hosting the All-Star game Tuesday for the first time since 1964, they fell to an NL-worst 17-28 at home.
Utley tripled and drove in three runs on a 95-degree night that made Citi Field feel like a sauna. Delmon Young had three hits and Brown, fresh off his All-Star debut, tagged Hefner once again while adding had three hits and two RBIs.
John Mayberry Jr. also knocked in two, and every Philadelphia position player had at least one hit and scored by the third inning. The beneficiary of all that early offense was Kyle Kendrick (9-6), who was handed an 11-0 cushion and lasted 5 2-3 innings.
Kendrick, who pitched a three-hit shutout April 26 at Citi Field, improved to 4-1 five starts at Citi Field and 13-3 in his last 19 against NL East teams.
Marlon Byrd hit a three-run homer, and David Wright had a two-run shot in the ninth for the Mets.
Hefner (4-7) came in with a 1.76 ERA in his past eight starts, the best mark in the majors since June 4, but he's often run into big problems when facing the Phillies. Chased after getting only six outs, Hefner dropped to 2-3 with a 13.75 ERA in six career outings against Philadelphia.
With streaking center fielder Ben Revere sidelined by a broken foot last weekend, Jimmy Rollins returned to the leadoff spot for the Phillies and got them off to a fast start.
Rollins, who had been hitting third, has batted in each of the top three slots at least 20 times this season.
"To me, the lineup we've got right now, that's where he goes," manager Charlie Manuel said.
Rollins singled to start the game and scored on Utley's one-out triple off the 408 sign on the center-field fence. Brown hit an RBI single, Delmon Young drove in a run with an infield single and Mayberry added an RBI single before Hefner finally ended a 38-pitch inning that lasted 20 minutes.
It only got worse in the third, when Philadelphia scored seven runs and batted around for the second time.
Brown sent an 0-2 breaking ball into the second deck in right for his 24th home run, making him 6 for 6 with two homers, a double, two walks and seven RBIs against Hefner in his career.
Darin Ruf doubled and scored when Byrd overran Young's single in right field for an error. Mayberry smacked a run-scoring double that chased Hefner before Carlos Ruiz hit an RBI double off Greg Burke.
Michael Young capped the outburst with a three-run shot to left. Utley added a two-run drive off Josh Edgin in the fifth to make it 13-3.
New York trimmed it to 13-6 in the sixth and had the bases loaded with two outs when Luis Garcia retired pinch-hitter Josh Satin on a grounder.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
