Liberty Ball

Currently mlb.com is performing some maintainence on their site so I can’t watch the game right now.  Hopefully they get it working later.

Here is what happened in the game from a Marlins perspective.

Cole Hamels did not bring his “A” game today.  This was the second straight start that he has struggled in.  I have always looked to him to right the Phillies ship, and now that the team is running on all cylinders, he is struggling.  He gave up 3 HRs and 7 runs total through just 5 2/3 innings.  He has seen his ERA jump up to 3.73 now.  He has to get a quality start his next time out in order to still be mentioned for the All-Star Game.

Speaking of All-Stars, Chase Utley hit his 19th homerun of the season last night.  Meanwhile, Dan Uggla went an impressive 0-4.  If he’s “the best 2nd basemen in the league” then why does he have fewer homeruns, fewer RBIs, a worse batting average, and WAY more strikeouts than Chase Utley???  He’s 1-8 with a single in the series.  Utley is 3-9 with 2 HRs.

Well last night was fun.  The game got a little boring after the 4th inning with only one run being scored.  The Phillies did all their damage in the 2nd and 4th innings scoring 7 and 4 runs in those respective innings.  Not only was the game good because of the outcome, but it was nice to have a running conversation going with ASponge over at thesouthfloridafan.  You can check out the whole post here.  It was really nice to get an insight on the Marlins seeing as I don’t hardly ever see them play.  He was very nice in defeat.  Hopefully we can get something close to the same going tonight (although being an avid Red Wings fan, I will be watching them take on the Penguins in game 4 tonight).

Two different Brett Myers’ came to pitch last night.  There was the Myers of the first inning who gave up a single, a walk, an RBI 2B, another walk, and a 2 run single.  Granted Burrell should have caught the ball on the last single, but the wind fooled him.  Then there was the Myers of the rest of the game who only allowed 3 more hits and struck out 11 Marlins over the next 7 innings!  I, like most Philly fans, figured that he was going to explode after that first inning, but he actually slowed and calmed down and got into a great groove out there.

The first place Philadelphia Phillies go for their 6th straight win with ace Cole Hamels taking the mound.  Hamels hasn’t pitched since last Sunday’s 15-6 win over the Astros.  If you’ll remember, he didn’t get the win in that game.  In fact, he only pitched 4 innings and gave up all 6 of the Astros runs.  I look for him to get back to where he was the game before that.  I’m predicting that he’ll break his season high of 11 strikeouts tonight with a Marlins team that is very young and does not have good plate discipline at all.  Hopefully the bats will keep talking throughout the series.  I love crooked numbers.

I’m going to try to keep an update going throughout the game.  I’ll probably be updating in the comments so that anyone else can join in.  I’ll also be updating with ASponge here.

Meanwhile Myers has already given up a run in the first.  A single, a walk, and a double without an out is not the start he needed.  Sadly it’s the start I expected.  He always tries to get his fastball accross early but it doesn’t work.

*Update*

With Brett Myers recording 5 of 6 outs in two innings on pop-ups, I feel that the young Marlins are a little to eager to hit a homerun and are swinging a little too anxiously.  ASponge confirmed that’s what the Marlins announcers said.

*Well they big innings continue.  The Phillies have now batted around the lineup here in the 2nd.  Shane Victorino just hit a 2-run double to get the total in the inning to 5 runs.

Here is the game thread over at southflorida.

 *Myers seems to have settled down after a shaky first inning.  Apparently Hendrickson isn’t worthy of his good record.  He has been struggling lately I guess.

I knew I should have benched Burrell in fantasy today.  I swear I miss with him every time.

*Myers did in fact settle down.  He just struck out the side in the 4th inning.  I think he knows that if he doesn’t pitch better he might go back to the bullpen…only this time not as the closer.

*With 2 outs in the 4th and with runners on the corners, Hendrickson has been pulled.  I guess Marlins fans were right to be cautious about him getting the start.  That 7-2 record is very misleading.

The Fish went to the pen, and brought in a guy to face Ryan Howard.  He didn’t really do his job considering Howard hit the shortest 3-run homer you can in the park.  He hit the foul pole in left field just over the top of the wall.  Phillies lead 11-3.  And apparently the smap-filter won’t let people comment too many times on one post so I’m just going to move over to thesouthfloridafan blog for the rest of the game and put up the results afterwards.

Go figure.  Not only will the announcer be comparing the middle infielders tonight, but ESPN.com started in on it too.  I would also like to point out that I will be working in conjunction with ASponge from thesouthfloridafan blog during this series.  He really does some nice stuff over there.  Check his stuff out here.  You can read in the comments that I am definitely taking the over on his predicted 12 homers in the series.  With the way we are scoring runs, the way they hit the longball, and the way Myers slots fastballs, the Liberty Bell should be rockin.

Tonight is the first game in a series bound to shake up the standings in the NL East. The Florida Marlins hold the lead in the division, but only by a half game. After dropping their last 2 to the Mets, Florida comes in looking to rebound and get through a very tough spot of their schedule (a series with the Mets, now us, then Atlanta, then Cincinnati, then us again before an interstate game against the AL best Rays). The Phillies on the other hand are winners of 4 in a row and have been tearing the cover off of the ball lately.

The Phillies boast arguably the best, most productive offense in all of baseball. I went through the team stats late Wednesday night and compiled a list of rankings for the team. I will put that up in a post a little later.

The Marlins are one of the youngest teams in the majors with an average age of about 28 years old, and yes, that does include 40 year-old Luis Gonzalez. Not only are they young, but the entire team payroll for 2008 is less than than what Alex Rodriguez is getting paid this season. They are playing very well right now, but I just don’t see them lasting strong all year. They are good, but with all their young pitching, I see them falling back to just above .500.

Middle infielders Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez lead the way offensively for the Marlins. Uggla is hitting .307. He has 16 homeruns and 38 RBIs. With he and Utley combined, there are 2 second basemen in the top three in homeruns in the league. Ramirez has slightly less power but more speed. He is batting .291, and has 9 homeruns, and 13 stolen bases. Both have scored 51 runs on the season. The biggest knock on the two of them is the rate in which they strikeout. Uggla is over a 2/1 K/BB ratio while Ramirez is slightly under that. With averages where they are, they have an OBP of .386, and .384 respectively. Once they get that up, and cut down on errors (the Marlins lead the league in errors) they will start to get more respect.

Brett Myers gets the start tonight at 7:05 in Philly. He is still trying to grasp being a starting pitcher again. He said way back before the season started that he was going to use his closer mentality in a starter’s role. Well that never started working. He has had just 3 quality starts all year.

Toeing the rubber for the Marlins is lefty Mark Hendrickson. Hendrickson is 7-2 on the season with a 4.14 ERA. He doesn’t pitch for strikeouts much, so I’m not too worried about our lefties going against him.

All in all this should be a very good series, and who knows, we might walk away in the lead in the NL East after Sunday. Be ready for a lot of comparisons between Uggla/Ramirez and Utley/Rollins. I’m sure announcers have been waiting for this series to go on and on about them.

As I told the guys at South Florida Fan, Dan Uggla, no matter how amazing of a season he has, will never be the starting 2nd basemen of the All-Star game. The Marlins don’t have enough fans, plain and simple. End of story.

Through tonight’s games, the voting for NL 2nd basemen looked like this:

Chase Utley (Phi) – 537,788

Kaz Matsui (Col) – 182,827

Mark DeRosa (Chc) – 178,595

Dan Uggla (Fla) – 125,745

Luis Castillo (NYM) – 123,346

Now I’m sure that Uggla will get named to the roster by his fellow players and by the coaches, but he is definitely not the starter. Especially after Utley just hit his league leading 17th homerun tonight.

All-Star voting links can be found on all MLB sites including mlb.com, and phillies.com. Or you can use this link and click on the “vote now” box: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2008/

You can vote up to 25 times total. This includes online and at the ballpark. I think the main reason they are limiting this is the Asia factor. With the gross population of Asian countries being much larger than the US, players like Ichiro, and Yao Ming in the NBA get many more votes when voting is not limited for each person.

Here is what the ballot I just filled out looks like. Let me know what changes you would make to it.

AL:

1B: Kevin Youkilis, BOS (No Errors ever)

2B: Ian Kinsler, TEX (one of the many Rangers going nuts)

SS: Derek Jeter, NYY (in what used to be the best position…now there’s nobody)

3B: Miguel Cabrera, DET (formerly Chone Figgins pre-DL)

C: Joe Mauer I guess, MIN (again, nobody to pick from really…the AL sucks)

OF: Josh Hamilton, TEX; BJ Upton, TB; Carlos Quentin, CHW (had to write him in)

DH: Frank Thomas (just to spite the management in Toronto!)

NL:

1B: Lance Berkman, HOU

2B: Chase Utley, PHI

SS: Jimmy Rollins, PHI (I’m biased, but he is the MVP of the team. Tejada should get it, but I did vote for Rafael Furcal before his injury)

3B: Chipper Jones, ATL (If you disagree, you’re stupid. Not even Mets fans can not vote for him.)

C: Giovanni Soto, CHC (could go Martin, McCann, or B. Molina)

OF: Ryan Ludwick, STL; Nate McLouth, PIT; Matt Holliday, COL (even though he’s injured)

The Phillies were outhit by the Rockies 8-6 in tonight’s game, but still won 6-1.  The runs were due in large part to Colorado’s starting pitcher Greg Reynolds’ 8 walks in just 5 2/3 innings.

Shane Victorino got one of his 3 infield singles in the first inning, then stole 2nd.  Reynolds then walked Chase Utley, got Ryan Howard to ground out for the 2nd out of the inning, walked Pat Burrell to load the bases, then walked Geoff Jenkins to bring in Victorino.  It’s a cheap RBI, but I’m sure Jenkins will take it.

The game was relatively quiet until the 5th inning besides Todd Helton’s RBI in the 3rd off of Adam Eaton.

Then Reynolds got wild again.  He walked lead-off batter Jimmy Rollins.  He walked Shane Victorino.  Then after going to a 3-0 count on Chase Utley, he gave up a HUGE 3-run homerun to him.  Reynolds then walked Ryan Howard.  He got Burrell to fly out, then gave up another homerun.  This time to Geoff Jenkins.  The big inning has been a theme in the last 4 games.  It makes the games a lot of fun to watch, but it’s so difficult to keep a scorecard with the way the Phillies bat around the lineup.

Adam Eaton got the win.  He was pulled after the 6th inning with only giving up 1 run.  The Phillies commentators questioned the move, but I think it was one of the better managerial moves Charlie Manuel has made this year.  Eaton has a knack for exploding for a huge inning.  He had yet to do it in this game, and we have one of the best bullpens in the league.  Why not save the trouble of Eaton possibly losing it, and let the men in the pen get some work.  Great job, Charlie.

Yeah the Phillies won last night.  But they only scored 7 runs in doing so.  Here I’ve grown used to seeing grotesque numbers on the board and they left me empty with only scoring 7.  The Phillies did all of their damage in the first 2 innings of the game.  So if you add up the game before that, and the first 2 innings of this game, the Phillies have scored a ridiculous 27 runs in the last 10 innings.  Sick.

I do believe I said somewhere that the key to Philly victories is Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino getting on base and putting pressure on the opposing pitcher/defense.  Well that is exactly what they’ve been doing lately.  Both of them singled to start the game.  Rollins used his speed to go from 1st to 3rd on Vic’s single, and Vic then stole 2nd.  They were eventually driven in by Greg Dobbs, who got the start in left.  Pat Burrell was a late scratch due to back spasms.  On the next at-bat, Geoff Jenkins grounded to Rockie first baseman Todd Helton who threw home in time to get Ryan Howard who was walked earlier in the inning.  Most people are arguing that he was safe on the play, but he did not argue, and if you look closely, Torrealba tagged him on the shoulder just before his hand crossed the plate.  Pedro Feliz picked up Dobbs and Jenkins with a 2 out double.

Rollins singled again in the 2nd inning, and stole second soon after.  He scored on a double by Chase Utley.  Utley then scored on a single by Ryan Howard.  Greg Dobbs singled once again after Howard, and Jenkins drove him in this time with a double.

The Phillies pitching staff scattered 4 runs to make the game appear closer than it really was.  Kyle Kendrick got the win improving his record to 4-2.  He pitched 7 1/3 innings allowing 2 runs on 7 hits while striking out 5.  Tom Gordon and Brad Lidge each gave up a run in their efforts to end the game.

When a team scores 20 runs in 8 innings, it’s down right impressive.  Pair that with the 15 runs that the Phillies scored on Sunday, and it’s just scary.  The 35 runs combined in two consecutive games is 2nd all time for the Phillies.  I think the most was in ‘79 against the Cubs with 37 runs.  The Phillies batting average for the game was a wowing .463.  They went 19-41 combined.

Chase Utley lead the way with 6 RBIs.  Pedro Feliz was 4-6 on the day with 4 RBIs.  Both Chris Coste and So Taguchi were 3-6.  Coste also had 4 RBIs with a double and a homerun.  Taguchi, who got a rare start rather than just pinch-hitting, hit the ball very well going for 2 doubles.  Ryan Howard scored 3 Runs on 3 walks, got 3 RBIs with a sac fly and a single, and did not strike out at all.

Every starter scored a run in the game, except for Pat Burrell that is.  And of course I had him starting in my fantasy league that day.  Every single batter who had a plate appearance reached base.  Burrell and Moyer each drew walks.  Eric Bruntlett, TJ Bohn, and Greg Dobbs all had hits in their at-bats in the 8th inning.  Shane Victorino drew 2 walks, and was hit by pitches twice.  Pairing all those free passes with a single of his own, Vic came around to score 4 runs in the game.

Jamie Moyer got the win despite giving up 4 runs in the first 3 innings.  3 of those came in the form of a 3-run homerun in the first.  Moyer settled in and pitched a strong 7 innings.  Clay Condrey pitched the 8th and 9th giving up 1 run in that time.  Being from Michigan, and consequently being a Tigers fan, I was overjoyed to see the Phillies knock around Jason Grilli.  All of the Rockies pitchers got knocked around for a lot of runs.  Out of the 20 runs, 19 were earned.

After the Phillies went 1-2-3 in the first inning, Cole Hamels got the first two Astros out in the bottom of the inning before giving up a single to Miguel Tejada, and a week hit to Lance Berkman. Carlos Lee then came up to the plate. After fouling a ball off, Lee’s follow through hit the home plate umpire on the top of the head. The ump had to leave the game following a 10+ minute delay. It looked like a bad hit, and that he possibly cut his head open. Hopefully he isn’t hurt too badly.

After the delay, Hamels ran the count full against Lee then fed him a fastball about middle in. That ball got out very quickly and the game was now 3-0 Astros.

After Pat Burrell drew a walk, Geoff Jenkins stepped into the batters box. Jenkins gets the start today after the Phillies had to place Jayson Werth on the 15-day DL with a strained right oblique. After the Houston commentators on mlb.tv said at least 4 times that Jenkins has an uppercut swing, he crushed his 3rd homerun leftfield. The Phillies currently trail 3-2 at the end of the 2nd inning.

And the rest of the game: Cole Hamels had a better day at the plate than he did on the mound in this game.  He singled to lead off the 3rd inning.  He eventually came around to score after Jimmy Rollins doubled off the right field wall to move him to third, and Chase Utley got him home on a sac fly.  After he tied the score 3-3, he gave up 2 more runs in the bottom of the inning to still trail 5-3.  In the 4th, Carlos Ruiz doubled to left, and Hamels drove him in with his second hit of the game.  He once again gave up a run in the bottom of the inning though to trail 6-4.

Hamels was pulled after pitching only 4 innings and giving up 6 earned runs.  More surprising than all the runs, he did not strike out any batters.  Luckily for him, the bats showed up later in the game, and once again the outstanding bullpen did not give up a single run for the rest of the game.  Rudy Seanez, JC Romero, Ryan Madson, and Clay Condrey all combined to throw 5 scoreless innings with Seanez getting the “W”.

As I said, the bats would show up more later in the game.  That would be the 6th and 7th innings precisely.  The Phillies pounded the Houston bullpen for 11 runs in those 2 innings, batting around the lineup in each.  Pat Burrell lead off both the innings with big hits; a homerun and a double where So Taguchi scored for him as a pinch runner.  In the 6th, including Burrell, the bottom 5 in the lineup all reached base and scored.  In the 7th, it almost happened again, but Carlos Ruiz struck out.  In his pinch-hit at bat, Greg Dobbs got a 2 RBI double to help cement himself as the best pinch-hitter in the league this year.  Chase Utley rounded out the scoring with a 2-run HR.

Ryan Howard was the only starter to fail to get a hit in the game.  He struck out 2 times, but he has looked much better these last 2 weeks.  He and Jimmy Rollins were the only Phillies starters to not score a run in the game.

Here is a rundown on who scored all the runs and who had all the RBIs:

Jimmy Rollins: 1-6, 1 RBI

Shane Victorino: 2-5, 1 Run, 3 RBI

Chase Utley: 1-4, HR, 1 Run, 3 RBI

Ryan Howard: 0-4, BB, 2 Ks

Pat Burrell:  2-3, 2 Runs, 1 RBI

-So Taguchi: 0-1, 1 Run

Geoff Jenkins: 3-5, HR, 3 Runs, 2 RBI

Pedro Feliz: 2-5, 2 Runs, 1 RBI

Carlos Ruiz: 2-5, 2 Runs, 1 RBI

Cole Hamels: 2-2, 1 Run, 1 RBI

-Eric Bruntlett: 0-0, BB, 1 Run

-Greg Dobbs: 1-1, 1 Run, 2 RBIs

-TJ Bohn: 0-1

Last night was absolutely the worst way that a team could lose a game.  Trailing by 1 with the bases loaded and 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, Shane Victorino hit a fly ball to left field.   Darin Erstad made the catch for out number 2.  Pedro Feliz, who was on third, tagged up and tried to score on the play.  Pedro isn’t close to being the fasted man on the field.  He was gunned out at the plate for a game winning double play.  It wasn’t even that close of a play at home.

It appears that I should bench Pat Burrell more often on my fantasy team.  After cooling off considerably, Burrell has gone deep in each of the last two games.  It was exactly 2 games ago that I finally decided to go with Adrian Gonzalez as my utility hitter rather than Burrell.

Burrell’s solo, pinch-hit homerun in the top of the 8th inning gave the Phillies a 1-run lead.  Chase Utley later drove in pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett to get the score to 7-5 Phillies.  Tom Gordon and Brad Lidge then came in to do what they have been doing very well: closing out the last two innings in games.  Chad Durbin got the win with his inning of work in the 7th.

The top 5 of the lineup was off the charts going a combined 11-23.  Leading the way, and more notably getting his season average above .200 was Ryan Howard.  He went 3-5 with a homerun, a double, 2 RBIs, and 3 runs scored.

Burrell, who did not start because of his slump and the fact that right-hander ace Roy Oswalt was starting for the Astros, got his pinch hit for Phillie pinch-hit specialist Greg Dobbs.  Dobbs got the start in left field for Burrell.

Last night the story was not as sweet.  Despite Burrell going 2-4 with another homerun, and Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino going a combined 5-10, the Phillies lost 4-3.  Things got interesting, and scary in the 9th inning.  Burrell lead off with a double.  Geoff Jenkins moved him over to 3rd on a groundball.  Then Pedro Feliz was able to drive Burrell in.  The way it happened was scary though.  Feliz hit a liner right back up the middle off of Houston closer Jose Valverde.  Valverde got his glove on it, but only deflected it.  The problem was that he deflected it into the side of his face/head.  Burrell didn’t know what to do at first but came home after the ball fell.  Valverde got checked out for awhile, but somehow remained in the game.

Carlos Ruiz, the next batter, then singled.  Chris Coste struck out.  Then Jimmy Rollins hit an RBI double driving in Feliz.  With runners on second and third, 2 outs, trailing by a run, Shane Victorino came to the plate against a pitcher who was probably not all there.  Sadly Victorino flew out to center to end the game.

Chris Berman would have had a field day calling last nights blowout win over the Nationals last night. The Phillies hit 4 homeruns en route to a 12-2 victory. And for all of those critics out there who say that the Phillies only hit a lot of homeruns because they play in Citizens Bank Park (looking your way southfloridafan blog), the game was at Washington. In fact, Ryan Howard in his career is at an almost 50/50 split of home and away homeruns. His 2 longballs last night just go to prove that the kid has some mad power.

Howard’s journey to .200 is getting ever closer. In going 3-5 with 2 homers and 4 RBIs last night, Howard is now batting .195. It might still be bad, but he has looked much better in the last week or so.

Pedro Feliz, and Shane Victorino also went 3-5 with homeruns of their own. Victorino also scored 3 runs. Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Chris Coste each added 2 hits a piece taking the team total to 15! Rollins and Victorino stepped into the batters box 6 times each last night. That’s how much batting was going on.

Not everybody took part in the offensive festivities though. Pat Burrell and Jayson Werth each went 0-4. Burrell has cooled off almost completely, and is now batting just .271.
Jamie Moyer pitched 6 shutout innings to get his 4th victory of the season. Clay Condrey picked up the rare save in a 10-run win by pitching the last three innings of the game. He gave up 2 runs in the 7th, but was able to relax finish out the game.

Things get tougher tonight as the Phillies will take on Roy Oswalt in Houston. As I said before we played him at home, it doesn’t matter what his record is because he has amazing stuff and can pitch lights out at any moment. JRoll and Vic getting on base early and putting some pressure on with the running game will be key to getting a victory tonight.

…when it is the other team’s score at the end of the game.

This was the case Tuesday night when the Phillies beat the Nationals 1-0. Greg Dobbs singled in what would be the winning run in the top of the 9th inning. Eric Bruntlett, who was pinch running for Pedro Feliz, came around to score on the play. It was Dobbs’ league leading 11th pinch hit this year. He is a very valuable asset to the Phillies. Most fans really do not appreciate a guy who can accept his role as being basically a bench player, but Dobbs is very professional about it. He knows that it is in this position that he can best help the team.

Cole Hamels did right the ship like I said he would. He pitched 7 innings of shutout ball, and tied his season high with 11 strikeouts. Sadly he did not get the decision due to the fact that the run was scored in the 9th inning. Tom Gordon picked up yet another win. His record is a ridiculous 4-2 now. Remember that he is a set up man. That just goes to show how many close games there have been this season.

Brad Lidge picked up his 11th save on the season. He walked 2 men, but also struck out 2. Yet again he did not give up a run. His ERA is just 0.45.

With his performance, I think that Cole Hamels is a definite all star. His record is only 5-3, but his ERA is only 2.61. The only debate that will go on is who the starter for the NL will be. Right now it’s an obvious choice of Brandon Webb. He won his first 9 starts of the season. Had he not lost to the Marlins last night, he had an opportunity to get 11 wins by June 1st! If he cools down, there are 3 other pitchers right there waiting to take his spot. All three are very young so I wonder how it will play out. They are: Tim Lincecum, 23 year-old pitcher for the SF Giants. He has a 6-1 record, leads the league in Ks, and is second in the NL in ERA. Next we have the league leader in ERA: Edinson Volquez, the 24 year-old pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds. He is 7-1, leads the league in ERA, and is 3rd in the NL in strikeouts. And finally you have 24 year-old Cole Hamels. He is 5-3, but is second in the NL in Ks, and is 4th in the NL in ERA behind Lincecum, Volquez, and another gut off to a gret start, Carlos Zambrano.

Since the fans cannot vote for pitchers, it will be very interesting to see who the coaching staff picks for the starters and relievers. This is always where it gets interesting considering that every team has to have one player representing them in the game. The Phillies should get Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins in as position players. I think Hamels is definitely in if he keeps up his performance. I also feel that Brad Lidge, who not too many people thought was still mentally able to close, should make the roster as well.

The Phillies were shut out last night in the series opener against the Nationals last night.  Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, and Geoff Jenkins each had 2 hits, but the Phillies left a total of 9 men on base.  That makes it pretty hard to win a game.  Brett Myers did get a quality start (6 IP, 3 Runs), but without any help he picked up another loss running his record to 2-5.

The good thing is that last season in the 11 games that the Phillies were held to 1 run or shutout, they came out the next day and won 9 out of 11 games, scoring an average of almost 7 runs a game.  Already this season the Phillies have been held to 1 or fewer runs 3 times.  In the next game, their record is 3-0 and they have scored 25 runs in those following 3 games.

With the loss, their 3rd in a row, the Phillies dropped to 24-22.  Once again I look to Cole Hamels to get the team back in the winning direction.  Right now the Phillies are in a 3-way tie for second place with Atlanta and the Mets at 1.5 games behind the Marlins.  It is of the utmost importance to get 2 wins here against the subpar pitching of the Nationals before we have to face fireballer Roy Oswalt.

In other news one of my most hated players retired today.  Mike Piazza called it quits after 19 major league seasons.  Sadly he is continually called one of the best catchers of all times.  He was a terrible catcher.  He could not throw out anybody, and he was not that good at calling a game.  He was a good hitter, but he was not a good catcher.

Since the last time I wrote, a few things have happened with the Phillies.

I was correct that Cole Hamels would be able to get the team back on board.  I was worried that I might jinx him, but he came out and threw his first career complete game shutout against the Braves last Thursday.  He only allowed 6 baserunners in the entire game.  His record is now 5-3 with an outstanding ERA of 2.89. 

Looking through my fantasy league’s free agent list on Saturday one name popped out at me as a surprise.  Jayson Werth was the 4th ranked free agent in the market, and he was ranked 30th overall (one behind Pat Burrell).  Then I realized that Werth went absolutely nuts Friday.  He went 3-4 on the day.  The amazing thing is that all three of his hits were homeruns.  He had an astounding 8 RBIs!  Jamie Moyer picked up the win in the first game of interleague play against the Blue Jays.

The Phillies did not fair as well on Saturday losing 6-3.  AJ Burnett got the win for the Jays as Adam Eaton got the loss.  He pitched 5 innings, but blew up for 4 runs in the second.  This is the Eaton trademark.  He will pitch well for most innings then give up 3+ in one, and not be able to get out of it.  Jimmy Rollins continued to be on fire in his return going 3-5 with 2 RBIs while Ryan Howard went 0-4 with 3 Ks.

Yesterday, the game against the Blue Jays was delayed due to rain after the first inning.  Kyle Kendrick and Jay’s starter, Shaun Marcum, pitched only one inning as they did not return after the rain delay.  Chad Durbin entered the game and gave up 3 runs over the next 4 innings.  Rudy Seanez then gave up three runs of his own in the 6th inning to get credit for the loss.  The Phillies trailed 6-4 entering the 9th inning.  Despite the best efforts from Pat Burrell, who hit a solo homer with 2 outs, the Phillies went down 6-5.  Ryan Howard also homered in the game off of Marcum in the first inning.  His first inning homer drove in Jimmy Rollins who was 2-3 on the day with 2 runs scored.  He also reached base twice with 2 walks.

As Ryan Howard’s average closes in on .200, Pat Burrell has slipped below .300 after his hot start, and Chase Utley is dropping in on it also.

The Phillies take on the Gnats tonight on the road at 7:10.  Brett Myers needs to get his act together.  Tonight will be a good showing to see if there is something seriously wrong with his arm, or that he is just not cut out to get back into the starting rotation.  He needs to get a quality start tonight, end of story.

Eric Karabell at espn.com wrote a nice article dealing with fantasy relievers.  In his article, Relief Efforts: Good relief pitching can be contagious, he highlights the Phillies bullpen and the fact that they have the lowest bullpen ERA in the majors.  For all of you fantasy owners struggling to find a good closer, he also gives some advice for you.  Check it out.

After a horrible showing by Brett Myers last night, the Phillies need to regroup and get things together in order to keep pace with the Marlins. Yes, that is correct. The Florida Marlins are in first place in the NL East. It’s strange how they sent their best pitcher and best hitter to the Tigers, and now they are in first place and the Tigers are in last. That team is young though, and does not have the experience to keep up success for the whole season. The problem is that the Mets and Braves do.
The Phillies have lost 4 of their last 6 and have not looked very impressive on their way to that mark. Although Ryan Howard hit his 8th homerun last night, he has been terrible at the plate. Brett Myers gave up 8 runs, 6 earned, in 4 1/3 innings last night to see his ERA balloon up to close to 6. More disheartening was the way he gave up 3 solo homeruns in the first 2 innings. Even Brad Lidge gave up a run in his save the other night. OK, I’m kidding about bad talking Lidge. That was his first run that he’s given up all season.
Chase Utley and the bullpen are the brightspots of the team for sure. Utley hit his 14th homerun last night, but has seen his batting average drop to .323. Pat Burrell has cooled off and is now batting under .300 after going 0-3 last night.
With ace Cole Hamels toeing the rubber tonight, the outlook is bright to win the series against the Braves before starting up interleague play against the Toronto Blue Jays. Luckily after the Jays come to town, we get to tee off on the Nationals.

Jimmy Rollins returned to the lineup last night for the first time since sustaining a sprained ankle against the Mets way back when. Rollins went 3-5 with a homerun, a double, 3 RBI, and 1 run scored. Having him back at the top of the lineup sent a bolt of energy through the rest of the team as the Phillies went on to beat the Giants 7-4. Rollins hit a 2-run shot in the 3rd. His double came as part of a three-run 8th inning that proved to be the winning margin.

Cole Hamels notched another victory in his belt by pitching 7 innings yet again. He gave up 4 runs, all earned, and struck out 7 on the day.  Brad Lidge picked up another save by striking out 3 in the 9th, keeping his ERA on the season at 0.00.

Jamie Moyer, the oldest pitcher to have a multiple hit game, will take the mound against Tim Lincecum who is 4-1 with a 1.49 ERA. Not only are his numbers this season very good, but he pitched very well against the Phillies in his last start. Although he only threw 6 innings, he did not give up a run and struck out 6 Phillies. The game will start at 4:05 et.

Brandon Webb pitched a complete game victory against the the Phillies today.  The Dbacks won 8-3 with Brett Myers getting tagged for 6 earned runs in 5 innings in his losing effort.  Webb gave up only 2 earned runs and improved his record to an astounding 8-0.  He is only the 7th pitcher all time to get a win in each of his first 8 starts of a season.

Both Shane Victorino and Eric Bruntlett had 2 hits on the day.  Bruntlett raised his average to .250.  That might not look good, but considering where he was at when he first subbed in for Jimmy Rollins (who looks good in his rehab starts, and will rejoin the team in San Francisco this weekend).

Yesterday: The Phillies pulled yet another late game win.  The Phillies scored 2 runs in the 8th inning to take a 5-4 lead that would hold to be enough for the victory.  JC Romero got the win after he came in the finish out the 7th inning for Ryan Madson who was only able to get 1 out and gave up 1 run.  Tom Gordon then came in to hold the 8th inning giving up 1 hit and striking out 1.  Brad Lidge then came in and continued his dominance closing out the game and getting the save without giving up a hit, and striking out 2 of the 3 batters he faced.

The 8th inning rally began when Shane Victorino struck out swinging but made it to first base when the ball got away from the catcher.  Eric Bruntlett then came up to bat and drove in Vic with a double.  Chase Utley was then able to drive in Bruntlett with a single to take the lead.

The Phillies had 7 hits by 7 different players.  And Ryan Howard went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts.  Way to go Ryan.  If it were not for your power and past history, you would have been designated long ago.

…and it was a big fat LOSS.

After Eaton struggled to get through the first inning (he gave up a double, 2 singles and a run), he pitched well in the 2nd and third and had a 2-1 lead going into the 4th inning.  Then Eaton became Eaton.  He gave up 5 runs in the 4th inning.  It started with a walk then a double, followed by another walk.  After a visit to the mound, he got the next batter to fly out to center.  With the bases still loaded, Eaton walked Randy Johnson (yes, as in the Dbacks pitcher) to get one run in.  The next batter grounded out, then Stephen Drew hit a three run homerun to break the inning wide open.  Eaton finished the inning with Eric Byrnes flying out next, but did not make it any further in the game.

Eaton has looked great in some games so far only to blow up in an inning and not be able to make it out of the game.  I remember a game earlier this year when I actually made comment of how well he had pitched through 3 innings only to see him record maybe 1 out in the 4th before he was pulled.

Eric Bruntlett was the man of the day going 2-5 with 3 RBIs.  Jayson Werth 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

The bullpen was once again solid as Rudy Seanez, Tom Gordon, and Chad Durbin combinded to throw 4 shutout innings for the rest of the game.

The Phillies and Diamondbacks play again tonight at 9:40.  Kyle Kendrick (2-2, 5.01) pitches against Micah Owings (4-1, 4.42).  Owings is pitching almost as well as he is hitting this season.  He is 9-21 this season with a double and a pinch hit homerun. 

In case you’re looking to see a great pitching matchup tonight, you should watch the Indians take on the Yankees.  Both Cliff Lee and Chien-Ming Wang are a combined 10-0 this season.  They are the leaders in the AL for the Cy Young race this far into the season.

In what will be the closest series of the season, the Phillies split the two weekend games against the San Francisco Giants.  2 out of the three games in the series went into the 10th inning, and last nights game was won in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs.

Saturday the Giants scored in the top of the 10th inning again.  This time, however, they were able to keep their lead and win the game.  The Phillies had 3 hits the whole game.  Chase Utley had 2, while Geoff Jenkins had 1.  Conveniently, both of them each had solo homeruns which accounted for both runs and RBIs.  Matt Cain and Brett Myers battled as well as two pitchers can.  Each pitched 7 innings and gave up 2 runs.  Cain struck out 8, and Myers struck out 10.  Both got a no decision, obviously.

Rudy Seanez gave up the winning run and was therefore tagged with the loss.  Final score: SF 3- PHI 2

Sunday the Phillies won in the bottom of the 9th inning like I said.  In a fitting fashion for how the Giants defense played all game, the game was run on an error.  5 out of the 6 Phillies runs were unearned.

Carlos Ruiz hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the 8th inning to tie the game at 5 after Chad Durbin gave up 1 run in the top of the inning.

Twice the Phillies scored 2 runs in innings to take the lead only to have Cole Hamels give 2 back in the top of the next inning.  It happened in the 5th/6th when the Phillies scored 2, then Hamels gave up a 2-run homer to Rich Aurilia in the next frame.

With 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell walked.  With Howard on second, Geoff Jenkins hit a grounder to the second baseman who let it get under his glove.  Howard scored when the catcher couldn’t hold on to the throw from the rightfielder.  Brad Lidge got the win after retiring 3 batters in the top of the ninth.  With the three hitters all making contact, the ball went a combined 70 feet with Ruiz making to putouts, and Lidge the other.  Pat Burrell was 2-3 on the day with 2 doubles and 2 RBIs.  Both Eric Bruntlett and Shane Victorino scored twice in the game.

Today the Phillies travel out to Phoenix to take on the Diamondbacks.   45 year old Jamie Moyer (1-2, 4.50) takes the hill against 23 year old Max Scherzer.  This will be Scherzer’s first career start and only his 2nd game compared to Moyer’s 557th career start.  Scherzer made his debut and only major league appearance on April 29th.  He pitched 4 1/3 innings in relief and struck out 7 batters without giving up any hits or walks.

Arizona has the best record in the league but just lost 2/3 to the Mets at home.  Hopefully we can have the same fortune in our series.

Jim Salisbury at the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote an article dealing with with future of the Phillies GM.  He comments on how Gillick’s contract is up this fall and he will probably retire.  Meanwhile, the Yankees are struggling and that means that Cashman’s run there might come to an end.  Apparently Cashman liked Philly when he was looking for a job when he was in between contracts before.  Personally I can’t see the higher-ups getting Cashman to run the team.  I do like that he is starting to develop prospects rather than buy free agents, but I don’t see the ownership letting him spend Yankee type money for this team.

Ryan Howard struck out yet again in his first atbat of tonight’s game. This brings his season total to 43 strikeouts! Coming into tonight, he had 42 strikeouts in 30 games. More importantly he has only had 108 recorded atbats (walks do not count as an atbat). This equals a 39% strikeout rate! With all of his atbats, walks included, he strikes out 1 out of every 3 trips to the plate. He is not a great fielder, even if his fielding percetage is .997. He is a slow first basemen who does not have to get to anything, and doesn’t have the opportunity to make many errors.

He is on pace to strikeout 226 times this season. He only has 19 hits and his batting average is an atrocious .176. He clearly needs more time off to figure out what is wrong with his swing. The one good thing that comes from this is that now Howard is losing ammunition for a big contract fast. At the beginning of the season he was thinking that he is worth Miguel Cabrera type money (8 years, $183 million). If he keeps this up, he won’t even be valuable enough to trade before his contract is up.

Chase Utley was named the National League Player of the Month.  Some people argued for Chipper Jones, but Utley has been hitting on a torrid pace, and the honor is well deserved.

With the game tied 4-4 at the end of the 9th inning, the Phillies and Giants went into extra innings last night.  JC Romero came into the game to pitch and gave up a leadoff homerun to one time Phillie Aaron Rowand.  Romero struggled but got through the rest of the inning without allowing any more runners to cross.

The Phillies came up in the bottom of the 10th inning down by 1 run.  Jayson Werth struck out swinging to get things started.  Then Chase Utley, who had already hit a two-run homerun in the 1st inning, came up and singled.  Ryan Howard then struck out to take his stat line to 0-5 with 3 strikeouts and 5 men left on base.  He argued the call and got ejected accordingly.  Good game, Ryan.  So with 2 outs, and one man on, Pat “the bat” Burrell stepped into the batter’s box.  Burrell saw 5 straight fastballs from Giants pitcher Brian Wilson.  The result of those 5 pitches was a full count.  So with a full count and 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th, with a runner on, down by 1, Wilson fed Burrell yet another fastball.  Burrell launched it into the leftfield bleachers for a walkoff, game winning homer.  Phils win 6-5.

Utley, Feliz, and Burrell each homered in the game.  Burrell’s 2-run game winner put him in a tie for the league lead in RBIs.  Chase Utley has now reached base safely in 29 out of 30 games this season.

JC Romero got the win even though he allowed the homer to Rowand.  Kyle Kendrick, who started the game, pitched 6 innings, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits, and striking out 6 without walking any.  Ryan Madson gave up the other SF run.  Tom Gordon and Brad Lidge combined for scoreless 8th and 9th innings.

The Phillies take on the Giants at 7:05 tonight.  Brett Myers (2-2, 5.11) takes on Matt Cain (1-2, 4.41).  Chase Utley is 4-9 lifetime against Cain with 2 homeruns.  I don’t want to make any implications, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he continues his amazing beginning of the season.

After Adam Eaton gave up another first inning 2-run homerun to Adrian Gonzalez, it looked like the Phillies might be in line for the same thing that happened last night.  However; 2 RBI doubles in the 3rd by Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell tied up the game.  Howard then broke the 2-2 tie in the bottom of the 8th inning with a solo shot.  Brad Lidge entered for the ninth and mowed down the Padres 1-2-3 to get his 7th save of the season.  Tom Gordon got the win by pitching a scoreless 8th inning.

The bullpen once again did not give up any runs.  Adam Eaton only gave up that one homerun in the first inning, and then continued to pitch 6 strong innings giving up only 5 hits.  Ryan Madson and JC Romero combined for a shut out 7th inning, then turned it over to Gordon and Lidge.  Final score: 3-2 Phillies win.