PHOENIX (AP) - The good vibes the Philadelphia Phillies felt in Los Angeles didn’t carry over to the series opener in Arizona.
Josh Collmenter shut out the Phillies for six innings and a late rally fell short Friday night in a 5-4 loss to the Diamondbacks, who have won three in a row after a 5-18 start to the season.
“We didn’t do our scoring until late, three in the seventh, one in the ninth,” manager Ryne Sandberg said. ” We did have a couple of chances with base running going first to third. We came up short on that.”
He was referring mostly to the eighth inning, when Ryan Howard singled and was replaced by pinch runner John Mayberry Jr. Marlon Byrd ripped a base hit to left. Tony Campana was able to keep the ball from getting past him, saving a run in what Arizona manager Kirk Gibson called “the play of the game.”
Sandberg said Mayberry should have gone to third even though Campana had stopped the ball.
“To me that is a first and third play,” Sandberg said. “It might have been a double by Byrd.”
The Phillies had won three of four over the Dodgers to pull to .500 but couldn’t get anything off Collmenter, who has an unorthodox overhand style. The right-hander topped out at a mere 88 mph but his location was superb.
“He was hitting both sides of the plate and stuck to his game plan,” Howard said. “He hit spots. That was key. We had a couple of good swings on him but just couldn’t find any real estate.”
Collmenter (1-2), in his third start since replacing Randall Delgado in the rotation, allowed four hits and struck out five. It’s the first time a Diamondbacks pitcher has gone six scoreless innings this season.
Aaron Hill drove in three runs with a two-run homer and RBI double
“Now I think a little bit of the pressure’s off,” he said. “We know that we’re a good team and we can play well and win games like this.”
A.J. Pollock’s solo homer in the eighth provided what proved to be the deciding run for the Diamondbacks, who won at Chase Field for only the second time in 11 games this season.
The Phillies scored a run on two-out singles by Ben Revere and Jimmy Rollins off Addison Reed in the ninth. Reed intentionally walked Chase Utley, then struck out Mayberry for his sixth save - three in the last three days.
Roberto Hernandez (1-1) gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings, walking three and fanning five to take the loss.
Trailing 4-0, Philadelphia made it a one-run game in the seventh.
Carlos Ruiz’s single off Delgado loaded the bases, then Cody Asche walked to bring in a run. Pinch-hitter Tony Gwynn Jr. hit a sharp grounder that looked to be an inning-ending double play. But the usually sure-handed Pennington muffed it and two runs scored to cut the lead to 4-3.
Asche was called out trying to get back to second after Pennington’s error, but the Phillies challenged and the call was overturned. Revere hit into a fielder’s choice and, with runners at first and third, Rollins flew out to left to end the inning.
Arizona broke a scoreless tie in the fourth when Hill slammed a 1-0 pitch into the seats in left-center.
The Diamondbacks added two in the fifth. Paul Goldschmidt’s opposite-field single to right brought Gerardo Parra home. Hernandez walked Montero, then Hill hit an RBI ground-rule double to almost the same spot as his homer in left-center and the Diamondbacks led 4-0.
The Phillies, who just won three of four against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, are 4-4 on their western trip.
Notes: Arizona LF Mark Trumbo said before the game that he was told his left foot stress fracture will sideline him for six weeks. … The Phillies send Cliff Lee (3-2, 3.09 ERA) to the mound Saturday night, while Arizona goes with struggling Bronson Arroyo (1-2, 9.50). … Byrd made a diving catch of Montero’s line drive in RF in the second. … In the eighth, Perez was told by the umpires to remove his undershirt because of a rip in the sleeve and one sleeve was longer than the other.
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