Bisenius makes late rally stand

Mike Eylward rips a two-run double in the fourth inning on Wednesday night.

By Tony Zonca

Reading, PA -- Perhaps this was the pivotal game that will turn things around for the struggling Phillies, who have had more things go wrong this year than GM's pickup truck division.

And when the Harrisburg Senators put their first two runners on in the ninth inning, more than a few in the crowd of 7,332 Wednesday might have expected the wheels to come off.

But Joe Bisenius (2-2), unleashing 95 and 96 mph heat, walked off a winner when he got tough-hitting Luke Montz to foul out to first baseman Mike Eylward with the bases loaded.

Eylward, who knocked in three runs with a single and a double, made a difficult grab just over the railing opposite the bag.

With the 5-3 decision, the Phillies (30-46) defeated the Senators for just the fourth time in 15 meetings, ended a seven-game losing streak against them, and won at home for just the fifth time in 19 games.

Pitcher Kip Bouknight tags out his counterpart Adrian Alaniz on a sacrifice bunt.

This time, it was the Phillies who got the key breaks, especially in the deciding seventh inning.  Michael Spidale led with a hard single that glanced off the glove of second baseman William Bergolla.  Jason Donald, looking to move the runner, reached when he popped a bunt between three converging players on the right side.

Brad Harman moved the runners up with his sacrifice bunt and Lou Marson was intentionally walked to load the bases.

At that point, the Senators (43-33) replaced Beltran Perez (3-3) with lefty Jack Spradlin to face lefty-hitting Jeremy Slayden.  You should know that Slayden has hit into 16 double plays.  But he also is batting .318 against lefties and a ridiculous .462 with the bases loaded.

When Spidale crossed the plate on his sac fly to right, Slayden had recorded his 18th RBI with the bases juiced.  Eylward followed with an RBI single to increase the lead to two runs. 

Kip Bouknight had taken a two-hit shutout into the seventh.  He got the first out in the inning, then walked Andrew LeFave.  What followed was the key at-bat of the game for the Senators.  Bynum fouled off three full-count pitches before doubling to the gap in right-center for the Senators' first run.

When pinch-hitter Devin Ivany ripped a home run deep to left, the game was tied, Bouknight's work was done, and he had little to show for his finest effort in six weeks.  He was tagged for three runs and four hits in 6.1 innings, with three strikeouts and two walks.

The Phillies had scored three runs in the fourth to give Bouknight a lift.  Slayden knocked in the first run with his team-best 18th double of the season, and Eylward knocked in two more with a double to right.

Bisenius gave up a hit and two walks (one intentional) in 2.1 innings, with one strikeout.

PHILLERS:  Former Phillie Greg Jacobs, hitting .346 for the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas, was released. . . . Michael Spidale jacked his hitting streak to six games with a seventh-inning single.

PLAYER MOVES:  After the game the Phillies announced that veteran left-hander Jason Kershner was given his release.  He will  be replaced by right-hander Brett Harker, up from Class A Clearwater.  Also, catcher Orlando Guevara was removed from the disabled list and will join Clearwater. 

DID YOU KNOW THAT Senators starter Adrian Alaniz, a former Texas Longhorn, lost his first game as a freshman at Sinton (Tx.) High School, then won 48 straight without a loss?

This story was posted on June 25, 2008