Well, Happy Birthday Raul Ibanez!
Ibanez homered twice and drove in five runs on his 37th birthday, and the 23-year-old Antonio Bastardo tossed six excellent innings as the Phillies jumped on Jake Peavy in a 10-5 win last night.
Exactly as we hoped, the Phillies lineup gave Peavy something to think about – grabbing four runs in the first inning. The Padres ace then left after that one inning with a viral upper respiratory infection.
Bastardo, a left-hander from the Dominican Republic, looked terrific with a mix of breaking balls and a fastball that seemed to overpower the Padres’ lineup.
His only mistake was allowing Adrian Gonzalez’s major league-leading 22nd homer.
“As the game progressed I felt better, more relaxed, more confidence from the third inning on,” Bastardo said after the game.
Bastardo (1-0) was brought up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take over for Brett Myers who is done for the season.
“His adrenaline was going,” Charlie Manuel said. “He was in a rush. You couldn’t have slowed him down if you wanted to. But he did one thing real good – he was aggressive and he wasn’t afraid to throw the ball.”
The win was especially sweet as the Mets, behind Johan Santana, lost again to the Pirates, 3-1.
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