Associated Press Sports
updated 10:40 p.m. ET May 18, 2012
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - It was no surprise that Philadelphia earned its season-best sixth straight victory with Cole Hamels on the mound.
Hamels pitched seven strong innings, and Hunter Pence and Freddy Galvis homered to lead the Phillies to a 6-4 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
Hamels (6-1) gave up three runs on six hits while striking out nine and walking one. It was the sixth straight win for Hamels, who improved to 4-0 in five career starts against Boston.
"I'm just doing everything I've done the past couple of years," Hamels said. "I can't say there's any secret. We're able to battle and get runs and I'm able to hold it. It's the same sort of way I've gone out and pitched. I try to put up as many zeroes as I possibly can."
Philadelphia improved to 7-1 in Hamels' eight starts this season.
"I'm focused on trying to get wins, no matter how they come," Hamels said. "If I can plug away and do my job, then good things will happen and they have been."
Streaking Carlos Ruiz went 2 for 3 with a pair of RBIs for Philadelphia, which moved two games above .500 for the first time this season. Ruiz, who entered leading major league catchers in several offensive categories, is 11 for 17 in his last five games.
Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth for his 12th save in as many chances. Papelbon had 219 saves in six seasons with the Red Sox before signing a four-year, $50 million deal with Philadelphia in the offseason.
The closer said there wasn't any extra meaning in getting the save against his former team.
"I want to go out there and try to preserve all the wins I can for my starters," Papelbon said. "I think for me I take a little extra pride in that. That's basically kind of what it boiled down to for me."
Adrian Gonzalez, Mike Aviles and Cody Ross homered for the Red Sox.
The game matched clubs with the second- (Phillies, $175 million) and third-highest (Red Sox, $173 million) payrolls, though each entered in last place in their division.
Daniel Bard (3-5), converted to a starter before this season, matched his shortest outing of the year by allowing five runs on three hits with five walks in five innings.
The right-hander struggled with control in the first inning when the Phillies scored four runs on just two hits thanks to three walks. Philadelphia went up 2-0 on Ruiz's two-run single to center before Ty Wigginton's sacrifice fly and John Mayberry Jr.'s RBI double gave the Phillies a four-run lead.
"I'm still getting out of my relieving mode and I needed to be more aggressive there," Bard said of the first inning. "This loss is definitely on me."
Said Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, "Those amount of walks are not acceptable. He just didn't have command."
Hamels said the early run support was a boost.
"Being able to score runs early is huge," he said. "It puts a slight cushion on just trying to go out and battle. Even when you do get a ton of runs in the first inning it almost seems it's not enough because they keep pounding away on you and keep battling back."
Boston got a run back in the third on Aviles' solo homer to left in the third. The Red Sox put runners on first and second with no outs in the fourth, but managed just one run on Daniel Nava's sacrifice fly.
Pence upped Philadelphia's advantage to 5-2 with a solo homer to left-center in the fifth before Ross responded with his own homer in the sixth to pull Boston within 5-3. It was Ross' fifth off of Hamels in 37 at-bats.
"(Hamels) had a good fastball," said Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin, who filled in for suspended manager Charlie Manuel. "He wasn't as sharp as he had been over the course of the year. He did settle down, did a great job. He made a few mistakes but certainly pitched well enough to win and we're all pretty pleased."
Gonzalez's homer off the second deck in right off reliever Chad Qualls in the eighth made it 5-4. But Galvis got the run back in the bottom of the frame with a solo shot to left off Franklin Morales.
Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia was forced to leave the game in the bottom of the fifth with a cut on his left ear after Bard's pitch hit Wigginton, deflected off Wigginton's right forearm and hit the catcher on the left side of the head just below the ear.
Saltalamacchia immediately went to the ground, appearing to be in a great deal of pain, and stayed face down for a few minutes before being attended to by the Boston training staff. He walked off under his own power and was replaced by Kelly Shoppach.
Valentine was ejected in the ninth inning by first-base umpire Gary Darling for arguing Darling's out call at first base on Marlon Byrd's groundout.
Ross fouled a ball off his left leg in the eighth inning and didn't come out in the field in the ninth.
Notes: Manuel missed the game after being suspended one game for his ejection by umpire Bob Davidson Tuesday night. ... Philadelphia's crowd of 45,205 was the 223rd straight sellout, and 239th counting postseason play. ... Former Red Sox manager Butch Hobson, now heading the Lancaster Barnstormers in the Atlantic League, became the 20th manager to reach 1,500 career victories with the club's win Thursday. ... Boston left-hander Jon Lester (2-3, 3.71) is scheduled to face Phillies right-hander Joe Blanton (4-3, 2.96) on Saturday night.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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