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PHILADELPHIA(AP)
Joe Blanton
got just enough run support for a change.
Carlos Ruiz
hit a two-run, go-ahead double in the seventh inning and Blanton pitched seven strong innings to lead the
Philadelphia Phillies
to a 3-2 victory over the
Atlanta Braves
on Sunday night.
''I was missing on the plate,'' he said. ''You just keep plugging away and sometimes you find it, sometimes you don't. It
just happened to click in today.''
Blanton (9-6) allowed one run on three hits in seven innings, making it 12 straight starts he has allowed three earned runs
or less.
''Anytime in our starting rotation when we get our pitchers very consistent that makes our club much better and he's definitely
been that,'' Phillies manager
Charlie Manuel
said. ''He's been very consistent for a long time now.''
Due to a lack of run support, though, the right-hander was just 4-3 in his previous 11 appearances. It looked like more of
the same Sunday night until the seventh inning when Ruiz broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run double to left.
The ball glanced off the end of the glove of Braves left fielder
Garret Anderson
before caroming to the wall, scoring
Raul Ibanez
and
Pedro Feliz
. Ruiz finished 3 for 3 with two doubles for the NL-East leading Phillies.
''That seventh got crazy,'' Braves manager
Bobby Cox
said. ''We were playing Ruiz the other way. We almost made the catch.''
Atlanta got a run back in the eighth on
Chipper Jones
' RBI single, but
Scott Eyre
came on in relief of
Ryan Madson
and got out of a two-on, no-out jam.
Brian McCann
grounded into a double play and Anderson grounded out to second.
Phillies shortstop
Jimmy Rollins
made a smart decision on the double play, taking the relay from second baseman
Chase Utley
and throwing to third to force out
Martin Prado
. It was a stellar defensive night for Rollins, who opened the game with a diving catch off
Matt Diaz
's liner and made a strong play later in the frame on a liner up the middle by
Yunel Escobar
.
''Jimmy knows how to play the game. He's alert and he knew exactly where the runner was at,'' Manuel said of the double play.
''He made a couple of other really good plays.''
Jair Jurrjens
(10-9) made it 21 of 28 starts in which he's allowing two earned runs or less. But the Braves couldn't muster enough offense
for the right-hander, who has seen that trend repeat itself this season. Jurrjens pitched seven innings, allowing three runs
- two earned - on seven hits while striking out two and walking two.
''He pitched a great game in this ballpark once again,'' Cox said of Jurrjens, who entered Sunday 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA in three
career starts at Citizens Bank Park. ''He's turned into an ace.''
Brad Lidge
pitched a scoreless ninth for his 27th save.
Prior to the seventh, homers by the Braves' Prado, in the first, and the Phillies' Utley, in the fourth, accounted for the
scoring.
NOTES: Philadelphia's
Matt Stairs
struck out pinch-hitting in the seventh, making him 0 for his last 27 at-bats. ... Braves RHP
Tim Hudson
is set to make his first start of the season Monday at Florida. Hudson had
Tommy John
surgery last Aug. 8.
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