Shane Victorino drew a bases-loaded walk off of Sean Green with two outs in the 10th inning and the Phillies beat New York 6-5 on Saturday to even the first series of the year between the two East rivals. Green gave up an infield single to Pedro Feliz, hit Matt Stairs (near right) and walked Chris Coste before Victorino (far right) walked on a 3-2 pitch.
Jack Taschner, who pitched out of trouble in the 10th by getting an inning-ending double-play grounder, got his first win. Earlier in the game Daniel Murphy and Ramon Castro hit consecutive homers for the Mets off Jamie Moyer in the sixth, before Raul Ibañez homered in the bottom half to tie it. Phillies closer Brad Lidge pitched a scoreless ninth in his first appearance in a week. He was bothered by inflammation in his right knee.
(Sports Network) - Early bragging rights in one of baseball's most heated rivalries will be at stake this afternoon at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies and New York Mets play the rubber match of a three- game series.
The Mets drew first blood in this weekend set with a 7-4 victory on Friday, but the defending world champion Phillies got a measure of revenge with yesterday's 6-5, 10-inning triumph. The winning run came when Shane Victorino drew a bases-loaded, two-out walk off New York reliever Sean Green.
Pedro Feliz reached base on an infield single with one out in the Phillies' half of the 10th and moved to second when Green (0-2) hit pinch-hitter Matt Stairs with a pitch. Chris Coste worked a walk two batters later to set the stage for Victorino, who took a full-count pitch for ball four to bring home Feliz.
Daniel Murphy and Ramon Castro hit back-to-back homers off Philadelphia starter Jamie Moyer to ignite a three-run sixth inning that put the Mets up 5-4, but the Phillies' Raul Ibanez belted a solo shot in the bottom of the frame to tie the score.
Ibanez finished 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, while Victorino had two hits and scored twice to help Philadelphia to its sixth win in eight games. Reliever Jack Taschner (1-0) picked up his first victory as a Phillie after throwing a scoreless top of the 10th.
Castro ended 2-for-3 and Murphy knocked in a pair of runs for the Mets, who were dealt their third loss in the last four games.
In an effort to earn a much-needed series win, the Mets will send out a noted Phillie-killer for today's finale in John Maine. The hard-throwing right- hander boasts a 5-0 mark in nine lifetime starts against Philadelphia, along with a 2.54 earned run average over that span, and is 2-0 with a 2.75 ERA in three previous trips to the Citizens Bank Park mound.
Maine, who missed most of the second half of 2008 due to shoulder problems that required surgery at season's end, has gotten this year's campaign off to a slow start but is coming off his best showing. Against Florida on Monday, the 27-year-old yielded just one unearned run and a single hit in leading the Mets to a 7-1 victory. It was Maine's first win since August 13 of last season.
Prior to that outing, Maine had lost back-to-back starts to San Diego and St. Louis and surrendered 11 runs in 10 2/3 innings during that stretch, in addition to walking eight batters.
The Phillies pin their hopes on the struggling Joe Blanton, who's still in search of his first win of 2009. The stocky righty is 0-2 with a lousy 8.41 ERA through four starts this season, and opponents are hitting a robust .371 against him thus far.
Blanton was on the verge of another loss in Monday's home start against Washington, a game in which he served up three homers and allowed six runs before being yanked after just 4 1/3 innings. He left with his team trailing by four runs, but the Phillies would rally late for a wild 13-11 triumph.
In three Citizens Bank Park appearances this season, Blanton has permitted a whopping 16 runs, 25 hits and five homers over 14 1/3 innings.
The University of Kentucky product does have a track record of success against New York, however. Blanton has faced the Mets three times during his career and has a composite ERA of 2.14 in those games, earning a win in one and no decisions in the others.
Although the Phillies edged out the Mets by three games for last year's National League East title, New York won 11 of the 18 matchups between the teams in 2008, including six of nine as the guest.
