Joseph’s HR in ninth sparks rally, Phillies sweep Mariners
SEATTLE » Tommy Joseph hit his 13th homer of the season leading off the ninth inning, Andrew Knapp followed with a two-out RBI single and the Phillies rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners Wednesday.
Seattle held a 4-3 lead headed to the ninth and had not allowed a hit to the Phillies since the third inning. Joseph changed that quickly, hitting a 98 mph fastball on a 3-2 pitch from Seattle closer Edwin Diaz (2-3) out to left field, tying the game at 4-all.
Diaz struck out the next two batters, but walked Cameron Perkins and a balk moved Perkins into scoring position. Knapp delivered, lining a 1-2 pitch into right field to give the Phillies the lead.
Facing the lowly Phillies was supposed to be an opportunity for Seattle to stabilize after dropping two of three against Houston. Instead, the Mariners have lost four straight headed out on a brief three-game road trip against the Angels before returning home for seven games before the All-Star break.
“Baseball is a great game but many days it can be cruel,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said.
Ricardo Pinto (1-0) pitched three innings of relief to get the win and Hector Neris pitched the ninth for his seventh save as the Phillies swept the two-game series and provided a thud to what had otherwise been a solid homestand from the Mariners. After winning the first five games of the homestand, Seattle dropped the final four.
“Pinto was the key to that game. He gave us three strong innings, kept the game close and really pitched well for a young kid,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.
Seattle appeared fine after Robinson Cano’s 14th home run of the season snapped a 3-all tie. Seattle also got solo homers from Kyle Seager and Danny Valencia, and an RBI single by Nelson Cruz all coming off Philadelphia starter Mark Leiter Jr.
But the Mariners were unable to add on to the lead. Knapp said his approach changed once the balk by Diaz got Perkins to second base.
“I knew he was going to challenge me. He has a really good fastball. I was just making sure I battled and put the ball in play,” Knapp said.
Diaz’s mistakes also cost Felix Hernandez a second straight victory since coming off the disabled list. Hernandez was not overpowering in his second start after missing nearly two months with shoulder inflammation. But Hernandez limited the damage to just one inning when the Phillies had four consecutive hits, helping lead to all three runs. Ty Kelly’s two-run home run, the second of his career, got the inning started and Odubel Herrera added an RBI groundout after Philadelphia loaded the bases.
Hernandez threw six innings, striking out five and allowed just one hit outside of the third inning.
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