Phillies 8, Giants 2
Jimmy Rollins belted a three-run homer and Joe Blanton overcame a leadoff home run to toss six-plus strong innings as the Philadelphia Phillies cruised to an 8-2 triumph over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.
Rookie Domonic Brown launched a solo homer, Raul Ibanez blasted an RBI triple and Jayson Werth added a run-scoring double for Philadelphia (68-51), which posted its 20th win in 25 contests to pull two full games ahead of San Francisco (67-54) in the chase for the wild card.
Rollins fell a double short of the cycle and Chase Utley had a double, single and an RBI groundout as the Phillies notched their 17th win in 19 contests at Citizens Bank Park.
Blanton (5-6) overcame his shaky start to settle down quickly. The 29-year-old Tennessee native allowed two runs and eight hits while striking out seven in 6 1/3 innings to pick up the win.
Chad Durbin and Ryan Madson combined to pitch 1 2/3 innings of hitless ball and Jose Contreras retired the side in the ninth to preserve the win.
Andres Torres led off the game with a blast and former Phillie Pat Burrell belted his second straight solo homer for San Francisco, which fell for the fourth time in five games.
Matt Cain (9-10) permitted five runs and seven hits in six innings to take the loss.