Contreras and Lidge Blow It in the 9th

In what was supposed to be a game that stroked the egos of the Phillies hitters that had to hear for the last month how cold they were, this was the game they proved that they were officially back on track and so was the team as they looked for their fourth straight win. It didn't turn out that way.

The Phillies (35-31) lost an 11 inning heart breaker to the Minnesota Twins today in a shootout, 13-10. Every position player but Ben Francisco registered a hit for the Phillies.

Today's game resembled a home run derby as both teams combined for nine home runs in the game and both teams hit ninth inning blasts as this game packed a lot of drama into an almost four hour tilt.

Cole Hamels got the start for the Phillies today and didn't have his best stuff early as he surrendered three runs in the first inning before calming down and getting through seven innings of work while allowing another earned run on a Justin Morneau home run in the sixth inning. Hamels finished with a good stat line, he only gave up five hits and struck out seven on the night and got into a good groove in the later innings.

The Phillies hit some home runs of their own as they hit five out of the ballpark today.

Ryan Howard continued to torch the ball as he hit another home run today, his 14th of the season and his fourth in the last three games. Howard finished with that one home-run on the day and three strikeouts as he couldn't create a Citizens Bank Park memory late, but Brad Lidge did.

The ninth inning is where everything went horribly wrong for the men in red, the inning began with the Phillies holding a 9-4 lead with Jose Contereras entering the game to finish off a what should have been a laugher.

Contreras didn't record a out as he gave up a lead-off single to Delmon Young and then gave up a huge pinch-hit blast to former Phillie Jim Thome which cut the lead to 9-6. Contreras walked another former Phillie in Nick Punto and that spelled the end for Contreras' day.

Lidge entered the game there and then got a quick out before allowing a run on an RBI single to Denard Span. Lidge recorded another out before Joe Mauer approached with two outs.

Mauer had only hit two home runs on the season but that didn't matter as Mauer blasted a 419 foot home run to center field as he tied the game at nine.

The Twins got a run in the top of the tenth off a home run by rookie Drew Butera and the Phillies came to plate in the bottom of the tenth down to their last out when Ross Gload...yes, that Ross Gload hit a two out game-tying home run off Minnesota reliever Jon Rauch to tie it again at 10.

But that was all the fight the Phillies had left as the Twins scored three times in the top of the 11th and the Phils couldn't respond in the bottom of the inning as the Phillies blew a tough one.

The thing that concerns me about this game is that just as there are games that can springboard a team into a winning streak, there are games that can do the opposite to a team's fortunes and I hope today's game doesn't mean the start of another such streak for the Phils since we just endured a month of brutal play.

The one saving grace for the Phillies is that Roy Halladay is starting tomorrow, but are we gonna get the Halladay we saw on Tuesday or the Halladay that's been spectacular all season long. The answer could mean the difference in the way the Phillies play for the next month.

Phillies Win 3rd Straight thanks Howard & Utley

The bats could be back as Chase Utley and Ryan Howard looked like their old selves on Friday night as they bashed their way to victory.

The Philadelphia Phillies (35-30) defeated the AL-Central leading Minnesota Twins 9-5 last night at Citizens Bank Park. Ryan Howard led the offensive charge as he had a 4-4 night with two home runs and three RBIs and scored three runs as Howard fell a single shy of the cycle. It was Howard's first two home run game of the 2010 season.

It was a feel-good victory for the Phillies who weren't hitting much going into Wednesday night's game against the Yankees and now they have scored 22 runs since in three straight interleague victories.

Joe Blanton got the start on the night and he turned around his recent bad fortune on the mound by lasting a solid six innings while giving up three earned runs and seven hits. Blanton got off to a terrific start as he retired the 11 of the first 12 Minnesota batters.

There was quite a stir caused by first base coach Davey Lopes yesterday as he made a statement about Chase Utley saying that he had been playing with a sore knee, a statement that was rebuffed from all sides from Chase himself, to manager Charlie Manuel, all the way up to Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. who went as far as to say that Lopes isn't a doctor.

Well, the the added attention to Utley certainly didn't hurt his game as he broke out in a big way with a two-run home run in the second inning that put the Phillies up 7-0 at the time. Utley had gone 88 at-bats since his last home run.

Utley finished the game with two hits and drove in four runs in the four run victory.

One negative for the Phillies last night was the injury to catcher Carlos Ruiz which occurred in the eighth inning when he was hit in the head with a broken bat. Ruiz was down for a couple of minutes on the field before eventually walking off the field under his own power. Ruiz was taken to the hospital and there is no immediate word on his condition other than a possible concussion.

The Phillies have to be confident with the way the rest of this weekend will shake out pitching wise because they have Cole Hamels going today and Roy Halladay pitching tomorrow, looking to bounce back after the poor start on Tuesday against the New York Yankees.

First pitch for Phils/Twins today is set for 4:10 this afternoon.