Phils rally to stun 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 on 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.
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 twogame 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.
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 Diaz was touched up for the second straight day. He allowed four runs — none earned — in a nonsave situation on Tuesday. Seattle manager Scott Servais was critical of Diaz’s focus but wanted his closer back in on Wednesday.
Servais got his wish, but Diaz’s pitch to Joseph caught too much of the plate. It was his third blown save of the season.
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 tworun 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.