Liberty Ball

You have to feel for Jamie Moyer.  He pitched his heart out but the Phillies just couldn’t put anything on the board.  Three hits isn’t going to win you many ball games but the fact that the Phillies were in this game until the end goes to show how well the pitchers kept the Phillies in this one.

And it’s hard to win when your big bats don’t produce.  Jimmy Rollins had the one good game and that’s it while Chase Utley and Ryan Howard were held in check. 

Now we can look to the off season.  The Phillies have their share of holes, and then there’s the Ryan Howard contract situation that’s looming.  Although at this point, Cole Hamels might be the guy to lock up next.  There will also be more Pat Burrell trade talks but we should be used to that.

Enjoy the of the playoffs.  The Phillies may be done, but there’s only a couple of more weeks of baseball.  I’m hoping to get in as much more as I can.  Go Diamondbacks :-).

The Phillies quest for their second World Series win in the franchises history could come to a rather abrupt end as they’re now forced to win three straight just to advance to the NLCS after losing their second straight game to the Rockies.  Kyle Kendrick was shelled for five runs and he didn’t make it through the fourth inning.  The pen didn’t help out either as Kyle Lohse, Jose Mesa and Clay Condrey all gave up runs in relief.  Jose Mesa was particularly hit hard and he gave up three runs while getting just one out.

Jimmy Rollins tried to put the team on his back but it was enough.  He tripled, homered and drove in four runs.  Ryan Howard had a solid game as well and he went two for four with a run and an RBI.

It’s all up to Jamie Moyer on Saturday.  The Phillies hitters will go up against Ubaldo Jimenez.

Things got off to a rough start as the Phillies dropped game one in their NLDS series to the Rockies in a 4-2 game.  Cole Hamels had a tough inning in the second and he gave up three runs before coming out in the seventh inning.  Tom Gordon was also tagged for a run when he gave up a solo homer to Matt Holliday.

The Phillies managed just four hits but two of those went over the fence.  Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell belted back to back solo homers in the fifth inning but unfortunately, that’s all the Phillies could manage.  Burrell was the only hitter to reach base twice with the solo homer and a walk.  Chase Utley had a particularly tough game with four strikeouts.

Hamels took the loss despite giving up just three hits.  He walked four and struck out seven.  Bret Myers struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning but it didn’t end up meaning anything.

Game two is tomorrow afternoon.  Kyle Kendricks will get the start and he won’t be the only rookie on the mound.  The Rockies have Franklin Morales throwing.

The Phillies are down, but they’re definitely not out in 2007.  It’s a little disappointing because you would have thought they’d be contending with the Mets, just getting into the playoffs is the primary goal and after being eliminated on the final day in 2004 and 2005, the Phillies could find themselves once again going right down to the wire as they fight for that Wild Card.

Their primary competition at this point are two NL West teams.  The Padres are on top with a 1 1/2 game lead while the Dodgers are tied with the Phillies for first place.  The surprising Rockies are also in the mix a game back of the Dodgers and Phillies.

And just when we didn’t need it, the Phillies start a tough three game series with the Mets.  And if you look at the pitching matchups, I don’t like any of the three so it’ll be up to the bats I think.  They do have seven games left against the Nationals though and that could play a huge part in where the Phillies end up when the dust clears.

We need Cole Hamels back, that’s for sure.  Without our ace, it’s hard to be too optimistic.  Once you get past Hamels, none of the Phillies starters have an ERA below four and their workhorse, Jamie Moyer, has an ERA above 5.00. 

What can you say about Chase Utley?  He’s come back and produced after breaking his arm on that pitch.  He’s still going to end up with 100 RBIs and with a strong finish, the Phillies could have a second baseman with an OPS above 1.000.  Ryan Howard has struggled the past week or so but I’m looking for him to finish strong as well.

So at least Phillies fans have something to watch these next couple of weeks.  If they can get it done against the Mets, they should be able to keep their head above waters until they play some lesser competition like the Nationals.  Of course we also have to hope the Dodgers, Padres and Rockies lose some games along the way.

You wonder if the Phillies season just got flushed down the toilet when Chase Utley got hit on the hand.  More details to follow, but I can guarantee that none of them will be good.

The NL East has been in a holding pattern.  While the Phillies have been a good but not great 6-4 in their last ten games, so have the Braves and the Mets so things sit pretty much as they have been the past couple of weeks.  The good news is, at just five games out, the Phillies are definitely still in the mix, both for the division and the wild card.

Chase Utley has simply been on fire.  In 11 of his last 13 games, he’s had at least two hits.  During that time, he’s seen his batting average climb from a nice .324 to a very impressive .339 and for the first time this season, Utley’s OPS has topped 1.000.  Take into account that you’re talking about a second baseman and you could be looking at your MVP if the Phillies make a push and make the playoffs.  Utley also has 41 doubles already and at this point, 60 isn’t out of the question.  Yeah, there’s been a dip in homerun power but his slugging is better then it’s ever been so you can’t complain.

Ryan Howard is starting to pick it up and he has six homeruns in his last eight games.  His OBP is just a touch below .400 and while he’s not hitting 58 homers again, he’s putting together another decent season.  And as Utley reaches base more and more, Howard is going to find himself with more and more pitches to hit.

Cole Hamels has been very good the last few weeks.  In his last five starts, he’s 1-1 with one no decision in the three starts he has where he gave up just one run.  Then he lost one where he gave up three and won one where he gave up four.  His strikeout rate has taken a dip though.  In those five starts, he’s only touched more then five strikeouts once.  The rest of the rotation, and the pen for that matter, needs a ton of work and if the Phillies don’t add a quality arm, those post season chances diminish greatly because Hamels can’t pitch in all of the games.

The Phillies are up on the Padres and it’d be nice if they held to win their third straight game.  Next is three against the Nationals and then three against the Pirates so this is a week the Phillies could gain some ground.

It’s funny because if you had asked me heading into the season whether I’d be happy with a .500 record at the break, I would have said no.  If you would have asked me at the end of April, I would have jumped all over it.  And when the smoked cleared and the Phillies limped into the break, that’s exactly where they stand at 44-44, 4 1/2 games back of the first place Mets. 

There’s little doubt that Chase Utley has been the first half MVP for the team.  You’re talking about a guy who’s flirting with a 1.000 OPS and he plays second base no less.  His homer rate is down, but he’s more then made up for that and he needs just six more doubles to reach his career high of 40.

The disappointment has been Ryan Howard, despite the team leading 21 homers.  Yeah, he’s gone yard and yes he’s put together a nice season but I guess I’m spoiled and I expected more from a guy who belted 58 homeruns last year.

Cole Hamels was by far the best pitcher and he’s someone who will have to built around in the second half.  I’m not sure what kind of magic will be done at the trade deadline, but the Phillies need an arm.  Or two.  Jamie Moyer and Adam Eaton aren’t going to cut it if we want to compete.  I’m just worried the price for starting pitching is going to be super high.

The Phillies have one more day off and they kick off a three game set on Friday against the Cardinals.  Jamie Moyer gets the start and he takes on Kip Wells.  The Mets take on the Reds and the Braves host Pittsburgh so I don’t see the Phillies making up too much ground this week.

June was just what the Phillies needed.  The Mets have gone into an all out collapse and even though the Phillies lost their series this weekend against the Tigers, they still sit just two games back of the Mets.  To think of the Phillies in the mix just one month ago would have been unheard of but they’ve clawed and clawed and now they’re on the cusp of taking over the division lead.

Cole Hamels continues to be a stud on the mound.  He’s now 9-2 and he’s won seven of his last eight starts.  While he hasn’t shut anyone down, he’s been consistent in that he’s kept the Phillies in all of their games.  Throw in a league leading 104 strikeouts and you have one of a handful of Cy Young contenders.

Ryan Howard is also starting to heat up.  His batting average is still a pedestrian .232 but he’s having his best month at the plate as far as overall production.  Anyway, he’s gotten his OPS within striking distance of .900 and you wonder when he’s going to go all out like he did last August when he hit fourteen homers.

You also have to like what Aaron Rowand has done. He leads the team with a .325 batting average and he’s having shades of his impressive 2004 breakout season when he was with the White Sox.  He has an impressive 38/24 strikeout to walk ratio and his .401 on base percentage would be a career high if he finished the season with it.

The Phillies have lived and died with the extra base hit.  They’re .439 slugging percentage is good for second in the National League and it’s fourth in all of baseball.  Now if the pitching could get in line with the hitting (only the Reds and Cardinals have worse ERAs in the National League), this team could really get back on track.  Bret Myers should be back soon and that should give the pen a boost and at this point, a trade probably isn’t out of the question either.  I’ve always like Pat Burrell, but Adam Dunn would look really nice in left field down the stretch.

Next up for the Phillies is a tough Indians team.  Hamels gets the start tonight and he’ll square off against Cliff Lee.  Kyle Kendrick gets his second career start tomorrow.  The only pitching matchup I don’t like in this one is in the final with Jon Lieber throwing against C.C. Sabathia.

Alright, just when things were looking bleak, the Phillies pull one (or rather three) out of their hat and sweep the Mets.  Just like that, the Phillies are now just five games back of first place and the Mets have to travel to take on a tough Detroit Tigers team while the Phillies travel to Kansas City to take on a pretty poor Royals team.

Pitching reigned in all three games as the Phillies held to the Mets to two runs in two games and three in the other.  Almost as important, the bullpen picked up wins in two of the three games and with the pen still a question mark, this was very nice to see.

Each of the games saw a different hitting star step up.  On Tuesday, it was Chase Utley.  Wednesday Jimmy Rollins got it done and then yesterday, Pat Burrell stepped up.

The Phillies are back in it.  They just need to keep up the Mo and keep moving up the ladder.

Since the horrible start and then the bounceback, the Phillies have been hovering right around  .500.  And even though the Mets sit with the best record in the National League, the Phillies are eight games back.  That’s a pretty solid deficit, but hardly insurmountable.  And there’s no better time like the present to put a dent in that lead then right now with the Phillies hosting the Mets for three games.

I also think the most important game in this series is tonight’s.  The pitching matchup in the third game probably favors us (Hamels over Maine) and tomorrow’s probably favors them (Hernandez vs. Eaton).  That leaves the veteran matchup of Jamie Moyer and Tom Glavine possibly being the deciding gave and that’s tonight.  Of course anything could happen, but that’s just the way things are leaning.

Chase Utley is just looking to break out.  He has fourteen hits and eight RBIs in his last ten games and his batting average is back over .300. 

Anyway, if the Phillies are going to make up ground, now is the time.  A win tonight would be huge and two of three, or even better, a sweep could push the Phillies right back into this one.

While it may seem odd that a team’s opening day starter would eventually become the closer in the same year, it’s not as odd as at least I thought.  According to this Baseball Prospectus story, there have been eight occasions where an opening day starter logged three or more saves in the same season.  And it’s also interesting the most saves by an opening day starer is none other then Tom Gordon with Boston in 1997.  He saved eleven games that year.

The Phillies have dropped two of their last three games and they’ve lost some ground to the streaking Mets.  In the win on Friday, Jon Lieber had a nice start and the guy he replaced, Bret Myers, saved the game for him.

And since we’re on the subject of Myers, he’s been nothing short of awesome since moving into the pen.  As a reliever. he’s struck out 28 in 18 2/3 innings and he has a 0.96 ERA.  He’s also held hitters to a nice .229/.299/.300 line out of the pen, and that’s despite a .366 batting average against on ball put into play.  I was skeptical at first but if the Phillies get back into contention, this could be one of the moves that got them there.

It looks like I picked the right time to comeback.  Net/hosting problems prevented from hosting for a couple of weeks but I’m now back and just in time because the Phillies are slowly pushing themselves back into contention.  And they’ve done it with three straight wins over a team that had the best record in the National League heading into the series.

The Phillies have a long way to go though because they site 5 1/2 games back.  They have one more against the Brewers and then it’s interleague play when the Blue Jays of all teams roll into town.

Aaron Rowand has been one of the hot batters for the Phillies.  He leads the team with a .340 batting average and he’s almost matched last season’s walk total of 18 with 17 walks on the season.  While you expect top notch performance from guys like Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, having Rowand break out like this is a pleasant surprise.

And then there’s Ryan Howard, who’s sitting on the disabled list.  Maybe holding off on a long term deal was a prudent move by the Phillies.  At least Utley is earning his paycheck.  We just have to hope that when Howard comes back, he’s productive and can give the team a nice boost.

Cole Hamels has definitely established himself as the team’s ace.  70 strikeouts in 62 2/3 innings is quite a mark and he’s done it while keeping his walks down.   The eight homers are a concern but you can’t argue with the 6-1 record.  And Bret Myers has done really well out of the pen. While you’d hate to pay a guy that much as a middle reliever, he’s done the job and he has 45 strikeouts in 33 innings.  In fact I’m hoping to take a look at Bret Myers a little more closer here this week.

The only downer is that Adam Eaton has hardly lit it up since he got his chance in the rotation.  He has had two nice starts in a row though so hopefully that’s the new trend.

Anyway, just getting back into it and you should be seeing more regular posts here from here on out since the problems are fixed.  I’m also hoping to make some more progress on the Mike Schmidt retro but that’s kind of stalled.  Go Phillies.

Jamie Moyer was extremely sharp in his third win of the season.  He gave up just two hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 7 1/3 shutout innings.  Bret Myers struck out the only two batters he faced and Antonio Alfonseca gave up the only run of the game in the ninth.

Jimmy Rollins went two for five with two stolen bases and he scored two runs in the 6-1 win.  Jason Werth drove in two runs and Jamie Moyer even helped out his own cause with two hits.

So after spending some time in the cellar after the early tough stretch, the Phillies have pushed into a tie with the Marlins for third place.  They’re still just 11-13 and they are 4 1/2 games back of the Mets and Braves, but when you start things off this bad, you just take it a series at a time.  And there’s no better way to make up some ground then against one of those first place teams because they kick off a three game series against the Braves tomorrow.  Jon Lieber gets the start and he’ll face a solid Tim Hudson.

Adam Eaton had a tough time in the Phillies 11-5 loss to the Marlins.  He took the loss and dropped to 2-2 and he gave up seven runs on ten hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.  Francisco Rosario was also hit hard and he gave up three runs in 1 2/3 innings.

Rod Barajas went yard in the loss and he finished with two hits.  Chase Utley drove in two runs and Aaron Rowand went one for four with two runs.

Jamie Moyer gets the start tomorrow in the rubber game.  Hopefully Moyer can do a little bit of a better job then what happened tonight.

The Phillies took the lead back in this game on three different occassions and the third time was the charm as they topped the Marlins 6-5.  The game winner was a walkoff RBI single by Carlos Ruiz.

Freddy Sanchez had a tough time and he gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings.  Oddly, for as roughed up as he was, he struck out an impressive eight hitters.  Tom Gordon blew the save when he gave up a run in the ninth but then he picked up the win when the Phillies won it.

Aaron Rowand went four for five with a solo homerun.  Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley each went yard as well in the win.

Don’t look now, but the Phillies have moved into a tie for third place with the Marlins.  The Mets lost too, although it looks like the Braves will win.  It’ll be Adam Eaton against Dontrelle Willis tomorrow in a nice pitching matchup.

The Phillies had a nice run but they just ran out of gas today.  Their best starter, Cole Hamels even dropped his first game of the season.  He gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.  The pen got it done though and three relievers combined for 3 2/3 perfect innings.

Wes Helms had two hits and Aaron Rowand hit his fourth homerun of the season in the 4-2 loss.  It’s tough to win with only seven baserunners though (five hits and two walks).

Next up is three against the Marlins, who sit just a half ahead of the Phillies.  Freddy Garcia gets the start in the opener and hopefully he can start a new winning streak.

It’s about the time the Phillies started rolling and they extended their winning streak to four games with a win over the Nationals tonight.  Jon Lieber threw six solid innings and he picked up his first win of the season.  He gave up two runs on five hits with five strikeouts in six innings.

Chase Utley had a huge game in the 9-3 win.  He was a perfect five for five and he drove three and scored one.  Ryan Howard hit homerun number three and Jimmy Rollins scored three times and hit his eighth homerun of the season. It’s been a pretty good month for Rollins.

Cole Hamels gets the start tomorrow as the Phillies go for the sweep.  Shawn Hill will be on the mound for the Nationals.

Don’t look now, because the Phillies are on a winning streak.  They won back to back games for the first time two days ago and they extended that streak to four games tonight against Nationals. 

Jamie Moyer was touched up for three runs in his six innings of work and when he left the game, the Philles were down.  Fortunately, they weren’t out as Aaron Rowand hit a solo homer in the seventh to tie and then Wes Helms singled home Chase Utley in the eighth for the game winner. 

Rowand finished the game two for four with two RBIs and a run.  Chase Utley and Wes Helms each scored two runs in the 6-3 win and Antonio Alfonseca pitched a shutout eighth to pick up the win.  Tom Gordon did his job in the ninth and he picked up his fourth save of the season.

Jon Lieber gets the ball tomorrow as the Phillies take on John Patterson.  Four straight?

The Phillies picked up eleven runs on twenty hits in an 11-4 blowout win in a rain out make up game against the Astros.  Just about everyone was a hitting star in this one and all nine starters had at least a hit.  Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley hit homeruns and Rollins led the way by going four for five with two RBIs and four runs.

Adam Eaton coasted to an easy win.  He improved to 2-1 and he gave up four runs on seven hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in six innings.  The pen was also pretty suprisingly good.

Jamie Moyer gets the start tomorrow in the first game of a three game series against the Nationals.  I like the matchups in all three games in this series so hopefully the Phillies can keep this going.

Yes, it’s two wins in a row.  For the first time this year, the Phillies have won back to back games and this one was a no-doubter as they blew out the Reds 9-3.  Ryan Howard hit homerun number two and he drove in three runs while Chase Utley went two for three with a walk, an RBI and three runs. 

Freddy Garcia picked up his first win as a Phillies with five solid innings.  He gave up two runs on four hits with three strikeouts.  Bret Myers gave up a run in the ninth and Antonio Alfonseca had another solid outing with a perfect eighth inning.

Adam Eaton takes on the Astros tomorrow in a makeup game from last Sunday.  Then it’s three against the Nationals.  This might be the week where the Phillies make a push to come close to the .500 mark. 

What a start by Cole Hamels.  He goes the distance and he strikes out fifteen in a 4-1 win over the Reds.  He gave up just a single run on five hits with two walks.

Chase Utley provided most of the offense.  He homered and finished with three RBIs. The other run was driven in by Aaron Rowand on a solo homerun and Scott Victorino finished with two hits and a run.

Things are so much better when the Phillies win.  They go for their first two game winning streak tomorrow with Freddy Garcia taking on Matt Belisle.

Sometime, fact can be stranger then fiction and I swear, you can’t make this stuff up.  John Lieber and four relievers held the Reds to just a single hit in eight shutout innings.  In the meantime, the Phillies put a run on the board in the fifth on an error by Brandon Phillips.  So all Tom Gordon has to do is come in to pitch the ninth and get three outs.  No problem, right?

Gordon served up a solo homerun to Scott Hatteberg and then in the tenth, he gave up a run after loading the bases to lose the game 2-1 in ten innings.  Sigh.

The loss drops the Phillies to 4-11 and this is just getting ugly.  Cole Hamels will hopefully get it done tomorrow.  If not, all bets are off in this series.

The Phillies finally won their fourth game and while the ninth was a bit scray, Tom Gordon hung on and didn’t blow it.  Jamie Moyer had a very nice start and the Phillies jumped on John Patterson early and the end result was a 4-2 win.

Moyer gave up just two runs on four hits and four walks with five strikeouts in eight innings.  He did pitch into the ninth but as it turned out, that was probably a mistake as Tom Gordon had to come in and stop a Nationals rally.  When the dust cleared though, Moyer had his second win and Gordon his third save.

Scott Victorino went three for five with a run and an RBI and Aaron Rowand hit a solo homerun.  Carlos Ruiz also had a nice game with two doubles and a run.

Next up is three against Cincinnati, who like last year, are exceeding expectations.  I like our chances in this one though as the Phillies will miss both Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang, and the Reds back end of their rotation isn’t all that great.  Maybe it’ll be our first series win.

Sigh, the ship is definitely sinking.  You have the overreaction of sending Bret Myers to the bullpen of all places and then there was the Charlie Manual blowup at the radio guy.  I don’t live in Philly so I don’t even know who the guys were but this is getting a big ridiculous.

In last night’s game, the Phillies came back from a 4-1 deficit to tie it, then they lost it in the thirteenth in a tough game.  Greg Dobbs had a big two run double to make it a one run game and then Carlos Ruiz drove home the tying run in the ninth on a ground out.  Earlier, Adam Eaton tried to help out his own cause with an RBI double and that put the Phillies on the board.

Adam Eaton wasn’t all that great in his start.  He gave up four runs on four hits and a walk with four strikeouts in six innings.  Five relievers then combined for six innings of shutout ball before Fracisco Rosario gave up the game winner.

And that makes loss number ten and the Phillies now have the worst record in all baseball.  Maybe, just maybe, Jamie Moyer will be able to get it done this afternoon in the finale.

3-9.  Sigh and the debut of Freddy Garcia was less the expected as he was hammered by the Mets.  He gave up three runs on eight hits and two walks in just 4 2/2 innings.  He did strike out six though and that was a bit optmistic but he threw 95 pitches in that short amout of time.  Three different relievers all gave up runs as well with Matt Smith getting tagged for three.

The lone run came in the third inning when Ryan Howard drew a bases loaded walk.  Pitchers won’t even throw to him with a base open.  Jimmy Rollins had a solid day at the plate and he had three of the Phillies eight hits.

So the Phillies now sit behind even the Nationals and they’re already 5 1/2 games out.  It’s time to start putting a dent into that as the Phillies head to Washington for two games against the Nationals.  Adam Eaton will throw tonight and hopefully he’ll get it done.

Alright, the Phillies are now 3-8.  Pretty disappointing but it’s better then 2-9.  And they did it today by coming back against the Astros.  Down 4-1, they finished with an 8-5 win.

Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins both homered in the game.  The Astros stayed away from Howard and he drew four walks and both Utley and Rollins drove in two.  Utley finished three for five and he also scored twice.

Cole Hamels had his worst start of the season so far but he picked up his first win. He gave up five runs on eight hits with three strikeouts in six innings.

Freddy Garcia makes his Phillies debut tomorrow.  He’ll go up against Wandy Rodriguez.

The good news is, the Phillies beat up Roy Oswalt, which is no small task.  The bad news is, the Astros hit Bret Myers even harder in the Phillies 9-6 loss.  He gave up seven runs on three hits and five walks with four strikeouts in just 3 1/3 innings.  Two of those three hits just happened to go over the fence.

Ryan Howard and Aaron Rowand had identical lines.  Each went two for four with a walk, a run and an RBI.  Chase Utley drew two walks and he both scored and drove in a run.

Cole Hamels has been the Phillies best starter and he’ll throw tomorrow.  It sure would be nice to pick up that third win.

I guess Jimmy Rollins can’t do it all.  He went two for four with two homeruns and three RBIs as he pretty much was the Phillies offense.  It’s just unfortunate that nobody else could get things going as the Phillies lost 5-3.

Jamie Moyer took the loss.  He gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts in six innings.  Clay Condrey was also touched up for a run in relief.

So the 2-7 Phillies are once again kept out of the cellar by the truly horrible Nationals.  Next up is three against Houston with a great matchup tomorrow.  Bret Myers will face off against Roy Oswalt in a battle of aces.

Adam Eaton gave up just two runs on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts in seven innings last night in the Phillies 5-2 win over the Mets.  Tom Gordon struck out two and he gave up a hit in the ninth to pick up his first save of the season.

The Phillies did most of their damage early when they drew a ton of walks off of Oliver Perez.  In fact all three runs scored without getting a hit.  Wes Helms and Aaron Rowand drew bases loaded walks and Rod Barajas was hit with the bases loaded to drive in the third run.  Rowand finished with two RBIs and Ryan Howard walked twice and scored two runs.

The Phillies can actually win a series if they get it done tonight.  Jamie Moyer is on the mound in a battle of 40+ year olds as he takes on Tom Glavine.

Talk about an ugly game.  The Phillies took a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the eighth and when the Mets were done, it was 11-5.  A solid start by Cole Hamels went to waste and Geoff Gear took the brunt of the Mets offensive attack by giving up five of the seven runs in that inning.  Hamels struck out seven in six innings and gave up three runs on six hits.

Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit their first homeruns of the season and they accounted for the five Phillies runs.  Aaron Rowand drew three walks and Pat Burrell went two for five.

So Adam Eaton will try to get the Phillies their elusive second win.  Oliver Perez is throwing for the Mets so I’m hoping the Phillies can get this done.