But since beating San Diego, 5-3, on June 1, the Phillies scored five or more runs in only two Blanton starts.
Last night, the Phillies' bats made up with Blanton with a show of affection by pounding out 12 hits in a 12-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"It's not an easy game, but when you get some runs, you can go out and just attack the zone and make them try to beat you," said Blanton, who gave up 10 hits in eight innings. "Obviously, it makes you more comfortable.
"You're throwing in a one-run game, and one pitch can tie the game up or give them a lead. A game like this makes it a little easier to attack the hitters."
The baseball gods help those who help themselves.
One area the offense struggled with recently was producing with runners in scoring position and less than two outs. And with Blanton coming up with one out in the fourth inning and the bases loaded in a 3-3 game, it figured that trend would continue.
Instead, the pitcher who came into the game batting .056 hit a slow chopper up the middle that Arizona could not turn into an inning-ending doubleplay. Jayson Werth scored from third, and the pitcher's RBI opened the floodgates.
"Well, I definitely was trying to hit a grounder," said Blanton, who singled in the sixth and seventh innings for his first career multiple-hit game. "That's a recipe for a doubleplay, since I'm not too swift of foot.
"Fortunately, I hit it weak enough to avoid that, and then we got some more runs."
What you had to like about Blanton was that even after the Phillies gave him two more runs in the fifth inning and five more in the sixth, he still approached the game as if it were one of his one-run nail-biters.
Blanton didn't let Arizona catch a glimmer of hope after Werth, Carlos Ruiz and Ryan Howard broke the game open with home runs.
