Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) – Joe Blanton tossed 7 2/3 sturdy innings and Philadelphia took advantage of some early shoddy defensive play by Cleveland and pounded out 15 hits to cruise to a 12-3 win.
Placido Polanco went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two runs knocked in, while Chase Utley and Jayson Werth each had three hits for the Phils, who swept a series at home for the first time this season.
Blanton (3-5) yielded three runs on six hits before rain halted play in his longest outing of the year, as Philadelphia improved its interleague record to 8-7. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter and was followed to the hill after an hour and 37 minute delay by Nelson Figueroa, who retired all four batters he faced to end the game.
“As a whole in the clubhouse, we like the way we’re playing right now,” Blanton said. “For the past couple of games, the bats look alive, the fielder’s are doing an outstanding job, we’ve had some pretty decent pitching, the bullpen’s been phenomenal.”
Fausto Carmona (6-6) took the loss after yielding seven runs – five earned — on nine hits over four-plus innings for the Tribe, who have lost five in a row.
The Phillies loaded the bases with nobody out in the second inning on three straight singles for Dane Sardinha, playing in his first big league game since June 16 of last season. The veteran receiver hit a ground ball to third baseman Andy Marte, who threw home only to have catcher Carlos Santana drop the ball, allowing Werth and Raul Ibanez to score.
Blanton was hit by a pitch to reload the bases before Shane Victorino’s run- scoring groundout chased home Wilson Valdez to make it 3-0. Victorino was ruled to have run outside the baseline in an attempt to avoid the tag from Carmona, prompting manager Charlie Manuel to argue the call and eventually get thrown out of the game.
Polanco followed with a base hit to center field that brought home Sardinha and Utley’s fly ball brought home Blanton to cap off the five-run rally.
The Indians got on the board in the fifth on a two-run home run by former Phillies farmhand Jason Donald.
Polanco led off the bottom of the inning with a single, advanced to third base on an Utley single and scored on a high throw to the plate by first baseman Russell Branyan on a Ryan Howard bouncer. Werth followed with an RBI single to left field to make it 7-2 and chase Carmona from the game.
Sardinha blasted his first big league home run off Hector Ambriz leading off the sixth. Victorino singled with one out and scored on a Polanco double that pushed the lead to 9-2. Werth delivered a sacrifice fly later in the inning before Valdez greeted Jensen Lewis with a two-out, two-run single to right-center field to finish the scoring for the home side, which last tallied 12 times in a game May 17 against Pittsburgh.
“Today they just blew us out,” said Indians’ skipper Manny Acta. “They hit us around and showed why they have been to the World Series in back-to-back years.”
Trevor Crowe doubled home Donald in the eighth before the rains came with two outs and took the teams off the field.
The Phillies last home series sweep was September 15-17 of last season over Washington…The Phillies last interleague series sweep came June 11-13, 2007 over the Chicago White Sox…Polanco had his third four-hit game of the season, while Werth had his sixth three-hit game and Utley his fourth…Blanton is 9-7 in 21 interleague starts and improved to 3-5 in his career against the Tribe…Howard was 0-for-3 and lost a seven-game hit streak…The Indians have hit a home run in 14 of their last 17 games…Cleveland has lost 10 of its’ last 12 games in National League parks…Hall of Famer Moses Malone, who led the Philadelphia 76ers to the 1982-83 NBA title, threw out the first pitch prior to the game.