Just 24 hours after perhaps the best win of the year for the Arizona Diamondbacks, they were unable to muster that late inning magic. Instead, it was the Philadelphia Phillies who scored three runs each in the seventh inning and another four in the eighth en route to a 9-2 victory in the second of the three-game series between two division leaders.
For the first six innings, it was a continuation of Tuesday's classic. Jimmy Rollins got things going by hitting the first pitch he saw from Joe Saunders in the bottom of the first inning into the left-center field bleachers.
The D-Backs answered right back in the top of the second when rookie Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run shot off of Philly starter Cliff Lee. Quickly answering, John Mayberry, Jr. singled home Hunter Pence in the bottom half of the second.
From there, Lee cruised until his night was over after seven innings.
Saunders pitched six strong frames, but then had problems in the seventh. Hunter Pence walked, Mayberry singled and then Wilson Valdez drove them both in with a double. Valdez would score on a sacrifice fly allowed by Joe Paterson, who came on in relief of Saunders.
The eighth inning was a mess. Brad Zeigler failed to retire any of the four hitters he faced and they all would come around to score.
Arizona lost a game off their lead as the San Francisco Giants won their game against the Atlanta Braves. They now have a 2 1/2 game lead in the NL West.
With the victory, Lee improved to 13-7 for the year. Saunders fell to 8-10.
The two teams will square off in the series finale Thursday evening at 4:05.
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