Burrell’s blast helps Rays beat Phils

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Pat Burrell's performance and popularity rose and sank at various times during the last nine years, but one thing never changed: He was a Philadelphia Phillie. That was his baseball identity.

Burrell is still trying to find himself as a Tampa Bay Ray, after missing significant time to a neck injury and hitting just one home run before tonight. His second homer of the season, a-two run shot to left in the second, gave his new team a lead, and his RBI in the eighth helped drive a five-run inning. The Phillies fell to the Rays, 7-1, at Tropicana Field in a game that helped their former teammate begin to feel more comfortable in Florida.

Though the game was essentially decided by Burrell's early home run, it was defined by two excellent pitching performances.

The talk around the Phillies since Brett Myers was likely lost for the season to a hip injury has been about starting pitching - how much they need it, and how hard it is to find. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has scoured the league for weeks, discouraged to find more potential buyers than sellers.

Tonight's pitching matchup underscored just how helpful an added starter can be, as both pitchers were acquired last year to bolster playoff runs. Matt Garza, snatched away from Minnesota before the 2008 season for outfielder Delmon Young, provided a crucial lift to the Rays staff during their worst-to-first campaign. Joe Blanton, picked up by the Phillies last July, also solidified a rotation in need, and strengthened it for the playoff run.

Both pitchers have experienced rough patches this season, but both were excellent tonight. Garza had failed to last six innings in his previous three starts. Blanton has been more consistent in recent weeks but did not see his earned run average drop below 7.00 until May 21.

Tonight's start mirrored the trajectory of his season, with an early hiccup giving way to a stronger performance midway through. The righthander struck out five of six batters in the fourth and fifth innings, and struck out the side in the fourth. He stranded two runners in the sixth when Burrell grounded out, and struck out the side in the seventh.

After Blanton spotted the Rays a second-inning lead, Garza dominated the Phillies early on. The 25-year-old righthander, who received a no-decision in a World Series loss to the Phillies and Jamie Moyer in Game 3, struck out five in the first two innings tonight. Before allowing a hit in the game, Garza walked Shane Victorino, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to lead off the fourth.

Jayson Werth came to bat with the bases loaded with none out. Though Garza had walked three straight batters, Werth swung at the first pitch and bounced into a double play that erased Victorino at home. Matt Stairs then struck out, and Garza had pitched into, and out of, an unusual jam.

Dobbs led off the fifth with a single, ending the no-hit bid, but the inning ended when Carlos Ruiz grounded into a double play. The top of the Phillies' lineup went in order in the sixth, though Werth's solo homer in the seventh narrowed the Rays' lead to 2-1.



(philly.com)