Liberty Ball

What a season for Ryan Howard.  He hit homerun number 48 yesterday and now he sits atop a pretty nice list of Phillies’ sluggers.  50 is a foregone conclusion and the question now is whether he’ll be able to get close to 60.

Fortunately, the Reds have dropped three straight.  The Mets took it to the Phillies this weekend but Friday’s close win allowed them to at least nab one game.  So as it stands, the Phillies are one game back of the Reds and a half game back of the Padres in the Wild Card race.

Ryan Howard hit his first of three homeruns in the series on Friday.  His two run shot in the third ended up being the difference in the 4-3 win.  He also drove in another run on a sac. fly.  Randy Wolf improved to 3-0 and he gave up three runs on five hits and four walks with four strikeouts in five innings.  Ryan Madson picked up his second save since taking over as closer.

On Saturday, Jon Lieber was bounced but it was the pen that really got shelled.  Rick White gave up three runs without getting anybody out and Aaron Fultz gave up four runs in only one inning.  Ryan Howard hit a grand slam and Scott Victorino had two hits, a run and an RBI in the 11-5 loss. 

The Phillies got thumped again today, but Ryan Howard hit his 47th homerun of the season.  He tied Jim Thome for the second best single season total in franchise history and only one more homerun seperates he and Mike Schmidt.  I think it’s pretty certain that Ryan Howard is going to be the first 50 homerun hitter in Phillies history this season.  I could see him taking over this list as long as he stays in a Phillies uniform.

Next up is three against the Nationals.  Man would it would be nice for the Nats to roll over. 

Three out of four isn’t too shabby, and it keeps the Phillies in a three team race for the NL Wild Card.  With today’s loss, the Phillies sit two games back of the Reds, who play tonight.

Monday’s game had its share of drama.  The Phillies took a 6-3 lead into the ninth inning only to have the Cubs score two on Arthur Rhodes.  Fortunately he buckled down and got out of his own jam and held on for a 6-5 win.  Jon Lieber picked up the win and he gave up three runs on eleven hits in 6 2/3 innings.  Jimmy Rollins hit homerun number 19 and Chase Utley went yard with his 22nd.

Jamie Moyer made his debut on Tuesday and he got the job done.  He gave up three runs on six hits in six innings of work.  Pat Burrell drove in two runs and Scott Victorino and Danny Sandoval each had two hits and a run.

The Phillies won their fifth straight game yesterday in a pitchers duel.  Bret Myers got the job done and held the Cubs to a single run through eight innings with nine strikeouts.  Ryan Howard hit a solo homerun (number 44) and Jimmy Rollins drove in the other run.

Today’s game was ugly, but I guess the Phillies were due for a loss.  Cole Hamels was knocked around to the tune of nine runs (five earned) in only two innings.  Ryan Howard drove in his 114th run of the season in the 11-2 loss.

Next up is three against the Mets.  Pedro’s on the DL and Glavine is on the shelf so we won’t face either of their best two starters.  I like our chances this weekend.

While I think this trade will help the Phillies, it’s a little shortsighted.  Just a few weeks ago, the front office game up our second best hitter and a front line starter for pretty much nothing outside of a salary dump.  Now we’re trading two of our prospects to try to make up for the loss of Lidle because all of a sudden, the Phillies are back in the mix.

Fortunately, neither of these guys are high end prospects so  I guess I can live with it.  Moyer will make his Phillies redebut on Tuesday.

The Phillies are now kind of at the bottom of the first tier of Wild Card contenders.  The Reds sit atop the pack and the Padres and Diamondbacks are two games back.  Just half a game back of them are the Phillies.  This has been the story for the Phillies the last few years though, which is falling just short of the playoffs.

Bret Myers was knocked around early on Friday.  He was gone before the fourth inning ended and he gave up six runs, which was all the Nationals would need.  Mike Lieberthal homered and drove in three runs in the 6-4 loss.  Aaron Rowand had two hits and a run.

Ryan Howard hit a three run homerun to cap off an eight run second inning yesterday.  It was homerun number 43 and he joins Chuck Klein in fourth place for the franchise single season leaders.  Scott Victorino had three hits, three RBIs and two runs.  Cole Hamels evened up his record with a strong outing.  He gave up two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts over six innings.

The Phillies locked up the series today but it wasn’t without some drama.  The Phillies jumped out to a 10-1 lead only to see it evaporate in a hurry.  The final was 12-10 but the Nationals were knocking on the door in the eighth inning.  Abrahem Nunez homered and drove in four runs and Mike Lieberthal homered as well.  Aaron Rowand had four hits and three runs in the win.  No pitching highlights in this one.

Next up is four against the Cubs.  The Cubs haven’t been good this year, so hopefully the Phillies can take care of business.

Man did the Phillies need this.  I thought we’d be LUCKY to split the series with the Mets, but the bats really got us going in the first couple of games.  If you would have asked me going in if I’d take three of four, I’d have taken it in a heart beat.

What a game on Monday.  Pedro Martinez was gone by the second inning and the Phillies had thirteen runs by the fifth.  Jimmy Rollins hit another homerun and he now has eighteen.  David Dellucci and Scott Victorino also went yard.  Rollins drove in three and scored three.  Lost in all this was eight shutout innings by Cole Hamels.  He struck out nine and gave up only four hits.  It’s the best outing of his young career.

The runs kept coming on Tuesday.  By the end of the fourth, the Phillies led 11-2.  Victorino and Dellucci hit homeruns again and they both drove in three runs.  Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Dellucci all scored twice and Randy Wolf picked up his first win since coming off of the disabled list.

On Wednesday, we didn’t get the runs but Jon Lieber picked up the Phillies.  He threw an awesome five hit shutout in his best start of the season.  Chris Coste went three for three with a homerun, two RBIs and a run in the 3-0 win.

You can’t win them all, and the Mets finally got the job done yesterday.  Scott Mathieson gave up six runs on eight hits and the Phillies scored only two runs on Ryan Howard’s 42nd homerun of the season.

So at the end of all this, the Phillies are 2 1/2 games back of the Reds for the Wild Card.  Next up is three against the Nationals.  Now is not the time to let up.

This series was tough, especially considering we took the first game.  So now the Phillies stand four games back of the Reds with four other teams in front of us.

Friday was a dramatic fourteen inning game.  The Phillies were down 3-1 but then scored three in the bottom of the eighth to take a 4-3 lead.  The Reds answered with two in the top of the ninth to take the lead back, but then Scott Victorino hit a sac. fly in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game up and send it into extra frames.

Neither team scored over the next four innings.  Then finally in the bottom of the fourteenth, Aaron Rowand singled home David Dellucci to win the game.  Jon Lieber had a nice start but didn’t get a decision.  Tom Gordon blew the save with the two run ninth.  Aaron Fultz picked up the win with an inning and a third of no hit ball.  Jimmy Rollins hit homerun number 15 in the win.

It went downhill from there.  The Phillies tied the game up in the bottom of the eighth but once again, Tom Gordon was shelled for three runs in the ninth.  The Phillies threatened and actually scored one in the bottom of the ninth but it wasn’t even close to enough.  Ryan Howard hit homerun number 40 and Rollins homered twice and drove in four runs.  Scott Mathieson was shelled in less then four innings of work but the pen kept the Phillies in the game until Gordon blew things in the ninth.

Ryan Howard had a big game today, but once again, it wasn’t enough.  His RBI single in the ninth inning sent the game into extra frames but the Reds scored two in the eleventh to win it.  Howard also homered and he joins Cy Howard at sixth place in the single season homerun list for Phillies with 41.  Seven more and he ties Mike Schmidt’s 1980 franchise record of 48.  Rollins also continued to hit the ball well.  He went four for six with a run.  Bret Myers was knocked around in less then six innings and Ryan Madson picked up the loss when he gave up the two runs in the eleventh.

We could really use an easy series, but instead we get the best in the National League.  The Phillies play four against the Mets.  Hopefully they’re feeling pretty comfortable with their fifteen game lead in the NL East and we can take some games.

A sweep would have been nice, but I’ll take two of three.  The Phillies have slowly risen to at least the top of the second tier of teams in the Wild Card race.  With their win today (and as of 4:30 PM EDT), the Phillies are in fourth place for the Wild Card, three games back of the Reds and Dodgers.

Things got off to a nice start on Monday.  Ryan Howard hit homerun number 39, and in the process, drove in his 101st run of the season.  Even if Howard didn’t swing the bat the rest of the year, he had a great year number wise.  50 homeruns and 140 RBIs are not out of the question, although without Abreu as a table setter, it’ll be tough.

Bret Myers threw an okay game and he improved to 8-5.  He gave up four runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts over five innings.  Jimmy Rollins and Scott Victorino both drove in two runs in the 9-6 win.

Yesterday’s game was pretty ugly.  Tim Hudson held the Phillies to a single run on seven hits. The only run of the game for the Phillies came on David Dellucci’s sac. fly in the eighth.  A really good start by Cole Hamels went to waste.  He gave up one run on six hits and one walk with six strikeouts over six innings.  Gary Geary was credited with giving up the other two runs.

The Phillies bounced back in a big way today.  An eight run seventh inning was the difference in this one.  Pat Burrell homered and Chase Utley drove in three runs in the 9-3 win.  Randy Wolf left the game in the sixth after his best start since coming back.  He gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Next up is a huge series with the Reds.  Right now, the Reds are tied for the Wild Card lead and if we can knock them down a peg or two, it’s one more team we’re closer to passing.

Down but not out.  The Phillies had a nice run last week, and now this weekend it was back to reality facing the very tough Mets.  As it stands, the Phillies are 3 1/2 games back of the Reds for the Wild Card with three other teams ahead of them.  They also have several teams knocking on their door so now is not the time to let up.

Chase Utley’s hitting streak came to an end on Friday, but the Phillies pulled out a win.  Randy Wolf was roughed up in his four innings but the bullpen did a very nice job with four relievers combining for five shutout innings.  Ryan Madson picked up the win and Tom Gordon saved his 27th.  Ryan Howard hit homerun number 37 and David Dellucci also went yard.

Saturday’s game was probably the most disappointing.  Ryan Howard hit a three run shot in the first inning but that’s all the Phillies would score the rest of the game.  In the meantime, Jon Lieber was cruising until he gave up three runs and the lead in the sixth.  All three of those runs in the sixth were unearned and Lieber went the distance in this one.

Last night’s game was ugly and it was the national scene.  The Phillies didn’t score until the seventh when Mike Lieberthal hit a solo homerun.  Scott Mathieson was knocked out in the third and by then the game was already a blowout.

Next up is three against the Braves.  Man, it seems like whoever we’re playing, it has some sort of Wild Card implication.  The Braves are way behind as far as the teams ahead of them, but they trail the Phillies by only two games so they’re hardly out of it.

Right when we gut the team, we begin playing better.  The Phillies have now won three straight games, and we now sit only 2 1/2 back of the Reds and Diamondbacks for the Wild Card.  Not too shabby.  Even better, the Phillies did it against a good but struggling Cardinals team.

Scott Mathieson picked up the win on Tuesday as the Phillies held off an early inning rally by the Cards.  Mathieson gave up three runs on three hits and five walks and he’s now 1-2.  Ryan Howard hit homerun number 36 and Chris Coste went yard with his fourth homerun of the season.

Wednesday’s game was over very early.  Jimmy Rollins homered twice and a box score fit for a video game.  He went three for five with five runs and four RBIs.  David Dellucci and Aaron Rowand both went deep as well and Ryan Howard drove in three runs.  Bret Myers was roughed up but he picked up the win.  He gave up six runs on nine hits with eight strikeouts in six innings in the 16-8 win.

The Phillies finished up the sweep yesterday.  A three run third and some solid pitching by Cole Hamels did it for us.  Hamels improved to 4-5 and he gave up one run on two hits and two walks with a career high twelve strikeouts.  Chris Coste went four for five with two RBIs and Aaron Rowand homered.  Just as important, Chase Utley racked up a hit in each game and his hitting streak is now an amazing 35 games. 

Next up is a three game series at Shea against the Mets.  We have to win two of three.  Not to overtake the Mets, which is a near impossibility now, but to keep making up ground in the wild card.  It’s wide open right now and it would be huge if the Phillies could squeak in there despite being sellers at the trading deadline.

Right when we gut the team, we begin playing better.  The Phillies have now won three straight games, and we now sit only 2 1/2 back of the Reds and Diamondbacks for the Wild Card.  Not too shabby.  Even better, the Phillies did it against a good but struggling Cardinals team.

Scott Mathieson picked up the win on Tuesday as the Phillies held off an early inning rally by the Cards.  Mathieson gave up three runs on three hits and five walks and he’s now 1-2.  Ryan Howard hit homerun number 36 and Chris Coste went yard with his fourth homerun of the season.

Wednesday’s game was over very early.  Jimmy Rollins homered twice and a box score fit for a video game.  He went three for five with five runs and four RBIs.  David Dellucci and Aaron Rowand both went deep as well and Ryan Howard drove in three runs.  Bret Myers was roughed up but he picked up the win.  He gave up six runs on nine hits with eight strikeouts in six innings in the 16-8 win.

The Phillies finished up the sweep yesterday.  A three run third and some solid pitching by Cole Hamels did it for us.  Hamels improved to 4-5 and he gave up one run on two hits and two walks with a career high twelve strikeouts.  Chris Coste went four for five with two RBIs and Aaron Rowand homered.  Just as important, Chase Utley racked up a hit in each game and his hitting streak is now an amazing 35 games. 

Next up is a three game series at Shea against the Mets.  We have to win two of three.  Not to overtake the Mets, which is a near impossibility now, but to keep making up ground in the wild card.  It’s wide open right now and it would be huge if the Phillies could squeak in there despite being sellers at the trading deadline.