Liberty Ball

Now that we are done with the latest stretch of interleague play, it is time to reload.  The Phillies started their new look yesterday by demoting Brett Myers to AAA.  Myers has been struggling all year except for 2 starts.  I have been saying for a while that they needed to do something with him.  I wasn’t expecting to see him go to the minors, but that might actually be the best thing for everybody.  The Phillies purchased the contract of RJ Swindle for the time being.  It is unknown how many starts Myers will make for the Iron Pigs, but it should be somewhere close to 4.

The second part of reloading took place last night against the Atlanta Braves as the Phillies won 8-3.  Kyle Kendrick got the win to go to 8-3 by pitching a quality start (6 innings, 3 runs).  The Phillies bullpen got it going again with JC Romero, Tom Gordon, and Brad Lidge each pitching a shutout inning respectively.  Pat Burrell hit his 20th homerun of the year.  Shane Victorino also went yard.

The top 6 men in the lineup (Rollins, Vic, Utley, Howard, Burrell, and Jenkins) each had 2 hits, with Jayson Werth also going 1-1 after he pinch ran for Pat Burrell.  Greg Dobbs did his job by getting a pinch hit for Tom Gordon in the 9th.  Besides the 2 homeruns, and a double by Jenkins, the rest of the Phillies 14 hits were singles.  Paired with 6 walks and a couple throwing errors by the Braves, we had a lot of men on base to get those runs.

The series against the Braves continues right now actually.  In the bottom of the 8th, we are up a couple runs 5-3 after both Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard hit their 21st homeruns of the season.  Hopefully they can add a couple more or just hold off the Braves and get it to Lidge to close it out.

After dropping 6 games in a row, the Phillies beat the Oakland A’s last night 4-0 behind a strong performance from Kyle Kendrick on the mound and Chase Utley at the plate.

Kendrick gave up just 4 hits and struck out 4 in his 8 innings of work before handing the game over to JC Romero for the 9th inning. Kendrick’s record is now a nice 7-3 although his ERA is still close to 5. For how bad Myers and Eaton have been, Kendrick and Moyer (and the bullpen for that matter) have made up for them with their surprising first halves.

Chase Utley hits, the Phillies win. It’s a pretty simple concept. As Utley’s struggles went, so did the Phillies as a team. Charlie Manuel really shook up the lineup and it worked to break out of the losing streak. Here is what the starting lineup looked like:

1. Jayson Werth RF

2. Chase Utley 2B

3. Jimmy Rollins SS

4. Pat Burrell LF

5. Ryan Howard DH

6. Pedro Feliz 3B

7. Shane Victorino CF

8. Chris Coste C

9. Eric Bruntlett 1B

It was very strange to see the lineup get shifted that much after the middle had been relatively unchanged for most of the season. Whatever it takes to win though. Utley went 4-5 on the day with a double and a triple. His average should jump over .300 with a couple hits tonight. Chris Coste gave the needed production from the catcher position (I still think he should be the everyday starter) by going 2-3 with 2 RBIs. Pat Burrell and Pedro Feliz rounded off the production with each having an RBI.

The Phillies have been linked to almost every starting pitcher trade rumor, and I like the fact that they are trying to bring in a big name to be the #2 we need behind Cole Hamels. I wonder if they do get a solid starter, like AJ Burnett for instance, if they designate Adam Eaton or keep him in the lineup and try to put Myers back in the bullpen. Some have said that Myers gets traded, but I don’t feel any team really wants him right now. Also, if you will notice I haven’t been bashing Tom Gordon lately. That’s because he hasn’t pitched due to a “balky shoulder.” He said he is so sore that he sometimes has trouble playing long toss in the outfield with Romero. If the problem persists, look for the Phils to jump into the rumors for bullpen help, especially lefties.

Phillies play at a terrible time for anybody who works during the day (3:30) against the A’s in Oakland. Adam Eaton goes against Rich Harden. I’m going to leave it to I just hope the offense shows up.

The Phillies lost to the Los Angeles Angels last night 6-2 to run their losing streak to 4.  Once again the offense was shut down getting only 5 hits.  Jayson Werth homered and Pedro Feliz drove in Chris Coste in the 7th inning to tie the game at 2.  The Angels then scored 2 runs off of starter Brett Myers in the 8th before he was pulled, and another 2 off of Chad Durbin in the 9th inning.  Myers was terrorized by the long ball giving up three in the game.  He is now 3-9 with an ERA of 5.51.  So much for him being an “ace as a #2.”

One good thing is that Chase Utley’s average did not go down any in the game…Eric Bruntlett got the start at 2nd and Geoff Jenkins actually pinch hit for him in the 9th.  This does not bode well for the what was unanimous All-Star.

It’s very difficult to win a game when you only get 2 hits in 9 innings.  That’s what happened yesterday as the Phillies lost the opener to the Angels 7-1.  Shane Victorino and Chris Coste were the only Phillies to tally a hit, and Victorino and Ryan Howard each drew walks.  The Phillies were even helped out by 4 Angels fielding errors, but could only make them count for 1 run (RBI Chase Utley).

I said Ervin Santana was good and he did not let me down.  He went 7 innings giving up the 2 hits and unearned run all while striking out 9 Phillies.  His counterpart, Adam Eaton, was not nearly as impressive.  Eaton gave up a whopping 12 hits, and 6 runs (all earned) in just 5 innings of work.  I had a feeling it was going to be a rough one when Vlad Guerrero went yard in the first inning with a man on.

As many of you might know, there are a lot of starting pitchers who either are, or are expected to become available for trades.  Since Day 1 we have known that starting pitching was a weak point for us.  That was even with the assumption that Brett Myers might be able to pitch a little.  Jamie Moyer has been more than a pleasant surprise while Adam Eaton has done what I expected.  Adding another #1 or 2 guy to go along with Cole Hamels could be huge for the Phillies.

So far the Phillies have asked about CC Sabathia (CLE), AJ Burnett (TOR), Bronson Arroyo (CIN), and Jarrod Washburn (SEA).  I think that whoever reported Washburn made a mistake.  Most likely they were looking into newly available Erik Bedard.  Washburn is terrible.  The problem is that the Phillies don’t really have the farm system to go out and get guys.  They have Carrasco and Bastardo and that’s about it.  To get a guy like Sabathia, Burnett, or Bedard, they would most likely have to give up both those guys.  Sabathia could still become a free agent at the end of the season so it would be stupid to give up the farm just for his arm for a couple months.

I say we go after a lower profile guy who wouldn’t cost as much and just try to better the rotation in a whole by strengthening the bottom of it.  But don’t be surprised if the Phillies make a move in the next week.  I have heard that Ryan Freel (OF) is being looked at by many teams, Phillies included.  Also Tim Redding (SP, WAS) might be a name to consider.

Kyle Kendrick gave up a 3-run homerun to Boston’s JD Drew, and then gave up a solo shot to the next batter, Mike Lowell.  The Phillies added a run of their own in the bottom of the inning, but after Boston put up 2 runs in the 3rd, the game basically became out of reach.  Final score Red Sox 7, Phillies 4.

Boston is a very good team.  I personally feel they are the best in the AL.  Although I wish we would have played them tougher, especially after the first game win, I’m not too upset to lose 2-3 to them.  I am upset that it happened at home though.  The Red Sox are 18-22 on the road.

What’s most alarming about the game is that Chase Utley went hitless again.  It’s not too long of a streak, but he is 0 for his last 20 atbats.  His BA is now under .300 at .294.  It’s just like I said earlier in the season, the whole lineup doesn’t hit at the same time.  For awhile it was Chase and Pat Burrell doing all the damage, then it was Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, or Shane Victorino and Geoff Jenkins, or Jayson Werth…you get where I’m going.  It seems like 2 guys are on together while the rest of the team coasts for a little bit.

Tonight the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim come into town to play at 7:05.  25 year old Ervin Santana gets the start for the Angels.  You can go ahead and add his name to the list of very talented YOUNG pitchers.  He is 8-3 with an ERA of only 3.40.  A few years ago I was actually worried because it seemed like all the good pitchers in the league were getting old.  Luckily all these young guys have come through in the last 2 years and have shined.  Cole Hamels, Edinson Volquez, Tim Lincecum, Santana, Cueto, Justin Verlander…the list goes on but I can’t think of any more off the top of my head (if anybody says Joba Chamberlain they are stupid).  I leave Chamberlain off because he is only seen as “good” because he plays for the Yankees and ESPN loves the Yankees.  The dude has not done well as a starter, and how many middle relievers become stars?  Honestly.  I don’t care if he didn’t give up a run in 20 innings.  Brad Lidge did almost the same and he is in a position that is vital to his team.

Well Boston definitely responded in yesterday’s game.  When a game gets handed over to Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon with a lead to close out the last 2 innings of a game, things don’t look good for the opposition.  Sadly, the Phillies were in that position last night as Red Sox starter Jon Lester handed a 3-0 game over to their bullpen to seal the deal.  The Phillies, who put up 8 runs the previous night had only 8 baserunners on 7 hits and 1 walk.  4 batters combined for the 7 hits.

Jamie Moyer picked up the loss giving up 2 runs in 5 innings of work.  Lester shut down our prolific offense by hammering the strikezone.  Out of his 99 pitches, 68 were for strikes.  That’s when it is key to get the ball in play and hope to find holes.  The scariest thing about the Sox is that their starting rotation goes about 8 quality guys deep once they all return.  Or so it seems.

The Phillies beat the Red Sox 8-2 last night.  Ryan Howard plowed the way going 3-5 with 2 homeruns and 4 RBIs.  Now I respect the Red Sox and how they play, but I sure don’t like them.  I hardly ever saw anybody wearing a Boston ballcap until they won the World Series a couple years back.  Out of nowhere everyone was jumping on their bandwagon claiming to have been cursed and been lifelong fans.  Yeah right.

Cole Hamels got the win (his seventh) and Chad Durbin pitched the final 2 innings giving up just 1 hit and without walking anybody.  Jimmy Rollins also went yard completing a stat line of 3-5 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI.

The most surprising hits of the game were two triples.  Now with Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins at the top of the lineup, it’s not surprising to see a triple or 2, or 3 in a game, but neither of them contributed.  The two who legged out triples were none other than Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell, the two slowest Phillies minus the pitchers.  Way to get out there an hustle.  That’s the mentality this team needs to keep up throughout the long summer months.

So I think it should be a rule that Tom Gordon should not be allowed to pitch in the 9th inning or later of a game.  Granted tonight’s loss, 7-6 in 10 innings, is not all his fault.  There were two errors in the inning that led to Rick Ankiel scoring for the Cardinals.  One was charged to Chase Utley, the other to Gordon, but it was Utley’s poor throw that gave Gordon his error.

Brett Myer’s got knocked around pretty good again giving up 6 runs in 6 innings.  The bullpen pitched a scoreless 3 innings before Gordon came in.  Ryan Madson, JC Romero, and Chad Durbin each pitched an inning in the effort.

Ryan Howard had another big day going 2-4 with 4 RBIs.  I just cannot get a good read on him this year.  He has been the most inconsistent player in the majors.

The Phillies face another tough matchup tomorrow as they begin a series with the best team in the AL, the Boston Red Sox.  Cole Hamels takes on Bartolo Colon in his first start against Boston.  I’m done making predictions on games.

Losing a series on the road 2 games to 1 against a good team is never fun. The thing to remember is that the road team is supposed to lose. It’s called a home-field advantage for a reason. Just look at the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. These two teams have the best record in the AL and NL respectively. Boston is 14-20 on the road while the Cubs are 14-16. The Phillies are actually one of just 3 teams to have a winning road record. Both the Angels and Cardinals are also above .500 on the road. The good news is that even with dropping two games to the second place Marlins, we still lead them by 3 games in the NL East.

Tuesday:

As I said in my dialog with The South Florida Fan last time we played the Marlins, Brett Myers tends to give up homers in the first inning. Well that’s exactly what happened Tuesday. It’s always hard to fight out of a 3 run hole after your starter gives up 2 homeruns for 3 runs in the bottom of the first inning. Myers later gave up another 2-run shot in the 5th inning. Homers from Pat Burrell and Jimmy Rollins weren’t enough to overcome the original lead of the Marlins as the Phils lost 5-4. Myers, who had been pitching better of late, picked up the loss to run his record to 3-8.

Wednesday:

What a way to spoil a fantastic start by Cole Hamels, Tom. Hamels pitched 8 innings, gave up 2 solo homers and struck out 13! Yes, THIRTEEN! After the Phillies tied the game at 2 in the top of the 9th, Tom Gordon came into the game to preserve the game to give us a chance in extra innings. Gordon did record an out. That ends the good things that he did in the game. He also gave up a hit and walked 2 to load the bases for Dan Uggla. With one out, bases loaded, tie game in the bottom of the 9th, one of the top power hitters this season at the plate, and Tom Gordon pitching, I was not optimistic about the outcome. Uggla ended the game in grand fashion, literally. He crushed the ball for a walk-off grand slam. I figured he would at least get a sac fly to win it, but not that.

Yesterday:

Would you believe me if I said that our best starter is the oldest man in baseball? Well with the Phillies 3-0 win over the Marlins last night Moyer moved to 7-3 on the season. He has been quietly having a very nice first half. He has been able to utilize his offspeed junk to set up his “fast” ball. I might as well just call it a straight ball. The key for Moyer is location which he has been spot on with. He is a pitcher who really works hard to miss opposing teams bats, and hopefully as teams see him for a second and third time this season they don’t start to key in on him.

Moyer pitched 8 innings of shutout ball. He only gave up 2 hits and 1 walk. The Marlins have to be glad to see him leave town. The Marlins are now 0-9 in games that Moyer starts against them. Brad Lidge struck out 2 in the 9th for his 18th save.

Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, and Pedro Feliz all had 2 hits in the game. Ryan Howard is getting back closer to .200. By going 0-5 he is back to batting just .204. That is simply unacceptable for a major league player no matter how many homeruns or RBIs he has. Another player who has not been performing this season is catcher Carlos Ruiz. He is batting just .217 with only 2 HRs and 16 RBIs. Personally I would play Chris Coste over him. I think a lot of you would agree with me seeing as he is outperforming Ruiz, and he is a fan favorite across MLB.

Today:

The Phillies move to the STL to take on the Cardinals tonight at 8:15et. Both teams are 40-28 so it looks to be another good, tough series. Kyle Kendrick gets the start against the surprising Todd Wellemeyer. Wellemeyer made 11 starts last season and they were his first starts in his career. He has started 13 games for the Cardinals this year and is posting a 7-1 record with a ridiculous 2.93 ERA. The Cards, however, are without annual MVP candidate Albert Pujols who strained his calf coming out of the box the other day. Hopefully he can make a fast recovery for them. Look for another low scoring game tonight with the final score being 5-4. I would say that Brad Lidge can finally face his demons and pitch against Pujols in the bottom of the 9th for the save, but that’s not going to happen. He still gets the save though.

Shane Victorino went 3-5 on Sunday against the Braves, scored 3 times, and drove in a run of his own.  Ryan Howard, who is still above .200, was also 3-5 with all three hits being doubles.  He drove in 4 Phillies, mostly Victorino, on the way to a 6-3 victory.

As the guys on TBS said, he looks more confident now and is starting to progress because he is hitting the ball to left field.  During his MVP season in ‘06 Howard showed power to all parts of the field.

The bullpen picked up another win with Brett Myers getting his 17th save.  Adam Eaton had another quality start going 6 innings giving up 3 earned runs.

The Phillies are 15-4 in their last 19 games.  I credit the recent surge to not only the return of healthy Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino at the top of the order, but also to the return of first base coach Davey Lopes.  Since Lopes’ return those two have been on base much more and have been putting pressure on the opposing pitchers and defense all while setting the table for Utley, Howard, and Burrell who each have over 40 RBIs this season.  Only the Texas Rangers can also make the claim of having 3 men with that many RBIs.

The Phillies are up 4 games on the Florida Marlins for the lead in the NL East.  Now I don’t like to say that one game is more important than any other, or that one series is more important…but this one is.  We face the Marlins tonight to start a three game series down in Miami.  A series win here will put us in first place by 5 games.  That is huge no matter what time of the year it is.

Saturday the Phillies beat the Braves, or should I say Chipper Jones, 6-2.  Jones hit a 2-run homerun in the bottom of the 6th inning to then tie the game at 2.  Those would be the Braves only runs in the game.  Thankfully 2-run 8th and 9th innings for the Phillies cemented the victory.

Pat Burrell, Carlos Ruiz, and Jimmy Rollins all went deep in the game.  Rollins hit his in the 9th, while it was Burrell’s 15th on the season.  The Phillies are still barely in front of the Marlins for the league lead in homeruns.  I would like to point out that this game was in Atlanta so the theory that they only hit them in CBP is crap.

Shane Victorino just won the game for the Phillies!  Not only did he score what would be the winning run, but he just won it with a great defensive play.

Brad Lidge came in up 2 runs for the save in the bottom of the 10th inning.  He gave up a week bloop hit, then the Phillies defense had a few lapses.  The next batter reached on a bunt, and the man who was on first went all the way to 3rd as no Phillies covered either 2nd or 3rd base.  Then the man on first stole second without so much as somebody moving to the bag.  This took the inning ending double play out of posibility.  After a strikeout, Yunel Escobar came to the plate.  With two outs, down by 2, with runners on 2nd and 3rd, Escobar singled up the middle to Shane Victorino.  The Flyin’ Hawaiian got to the ball quickly and fired a laser to catcher Chris Coste on the fly to nail Gregor Blanco.  It was one of the best throws I’ve seen this season.  Look for it to be on the top plays in the morning.

Phillies win 4-3.  Lidge did give up a run, but got his 16th save in 16 chances this year.

Well Cole Hamels returned to form last night.  He pitched a complete game shutout for the second time this season.  The Phillies beat the Reds 5-0 to win 3 of the 4 games they played.  Hamels struck out 4, walked 3 and gave up only 3 hits in his 9 innings of work.

The Reds committed three errors that helped the Phillies score 5 runs on only 5 hits.  Geoff Jenkins hit his 6th homerun, a solo shot, in the 6th inning.  Of the 5 runs, only 2 were earned.  The next hopeful young star, Homer Bailey, got the start for the Reds.  He gave up all the runs for the Reds.  It was his first start this season after he has been disappointing in the minors.  It was rumored that he might be the 5th starter for the team after spring training.

Right now the Phillies lead the Braves 4-2 in the top of the 10th inning.  Chris Snelling lead off the inning with a pinch hit double.  Jimmy Rollins then bunted pinch runner So Taguchi over to third.  He scored on a triple by Shane Victorino.  Chase Utley just drove in Victorino with a double of his own.

The Good News:

Brett Myers appears to have fixed whatever was wrong earlier in the season.  After his first inning against Florida in his last start and his start last night, he looks to be much better.  Last night he carried a no hitter into the 7th inning!

The Bad News:

The one hit that Myers did give up happened to be an RBI double to Joey Votto.  Votto hit another RBI double in the 9th off of JC Romero for the Reds second run.  That would be all they needed as they had Edinson Volquez starting for them.  This kid is lights out.  he pitched better than Myers’ 1 hit, 1 run performance.  He only gave up 2 hits through 7 without any runs.  Both he and Myers pitched 7 innings (Myers recorded an out in the 8th) and both struck out 8.  It was definitely a pitcher’s game last night.

Ken Griffey, Jr. did not play again last night which leads me to believe he is hurt more than the Reds lead on.  Jay Bruce is good, but I don’t think he is good enough to take Griffey’s starting spot.  I don’t know who will play in RF for them today as they are both lefties and Cole Hamels is throwing for the Phillies.

Hamels has to get a good start in here today (game is at 1:05).  He has not done well his last 2 times after I said he should be an all-star.  The Reds’ lineup is laden with lefty power hitters so hopefully he won’t get banged up by them too much.  He really needs to get all 3 pitches working to get the job done.  He has to be able to spot his fastball to make his devastating changeup work.

Well I fell asleep watching the game Tuesday night.  I was kind of awake when each team scored a run in the 3rd inning, and then I heard the sweet voice of Harry Kalas proclaiming victory.

The Phils ended up winning 3-2 over the Reds.  Pat Burrell hit a 2-run homerun in the 6th to put the Phillies up 3-1.  The Reds got a run back in the top of the 8th when Edwin Encarnacion scored on a sac fly off of Tom Gordon.  Encarnacion also hit a solo homer in the 3rd inning for the Reds.

Adam Eaton had his second strong outing in a row.  He pitched 6 2/3 innings and gave up only 3 hits, and 1 run on the homer to Encarnacion.  The bullpen once again proved why it is the best in the NL with JC Romero and Tom Gordon each getting holds en route to Brad Lidge recording his 15th save.

Besides Burrell’s blast, Jimmy Rollins was the man of the game.  He was 3-4 with a double, 2 steals, and he scored a run.  Chase Utley picked up the other RBI.  He went 2-3.  Adam Eaton got a hit, and Greg Dobbs once again came through in a pinch hit role with a hit, but nobody else tallied in that column.

Once again KGJ didn’t play.  He drew a walk in a pinch-hit at bat late in the game.

So after what I wrote yesterday, Dusty Baker decided to sit Ken Griffey, Jr.  Luckily the game was not short on homeruns.  The Phillies homered three times while the Reds were only able to clear the fences twice.  Chase Utley hit his league leading 21st longball.  Pedro Feliz and Chris Coste each went deep in the 4th inning, with Feliz’s being a 2-run shot.  Jay Bruce hit yet another homerun in his young career.  He was called up last week and is already 2nd in the running for NL Rookie of the Year in my opinion.  Soto from Chicago is leading now, but it might not be long until Bruce catches him.

Kyle Kendrick picked up the win in the 5-4 game.  He pitched into the 6th inning before being knocked out.  He gave up all 4 runs before the bullpen pitched a scoreless rest of the game.  Chad Durbin, Tom Gordon, and Brad Lidge all pitched very well in order to preserve the 1-run lead they inherited.

I just looked and saw that Griffey is once again out of the lineup tonight!

This is quite possibly the most excited I have been for a 3 game series all season.  Not only are the Phillies in 1st place in the NL East, but I get the opportunity to see arguably my all-time favorite player hit his 600th homerun.

Ken Griffey, Jr.  is sitting on 599 career homeruns as he comes into Citizens Bank Park tonight.  He will face Kyle Kendrick tonight, Adam Eaton, and Brett Myers.  Griffey’s lifetime numbers are pretty good against each of them so hopefully we can see him reach this phenomenal milestone.  It would be great for the Reds if he did it at home, but I know that Philly has some of the most knowledgeable fans of the game and I’m sure they will show their class and celebrate for him.

I always want to see the Phillies win, but I might not even care if Griffey gets it done against us.  That’s how much I have loved him over the years.  He has always been a great outfielder (and I love defense), and he has the sweetest swing of all times.

Game tonight is at 7:05.  Also, you can watch the Red Wings go for the Stanley Cup tonight at 8.  It’s always nice to see Pittsburgh lose.  I know I’ll have both games on.

Want to see what thesouthfloridafan has to say about the game?  Well here it is for you.

I had a lot of fun working with the guys over there.  They are passionate about their teams and I love that.  Don’t be surprised to hear more from them the next time these teams get together.  With the Braves losing again today, and the Mets milling around at .500, the Marlins are our biggest competition in the division, so this series and future ones will be very important.

4:15:

And that’s the game!  Lidge blew a fastball right past the youngster.  Like most of the Marlins, he did not shorten up his swing with 2 strikes and took a big hack on a full count fastball down the middle and swung right over it.  Phillies win the series 2-1 with the 7-5 victory.  Dan Uggla went an amazing 1-12 in the series.  Utley only hit 3 homeruns in the series so it was kind of a down series for him too….Now the Phillies are in first place in the NL East.  Big ups to Geoff Jenkins and Pat Burrell for their clutch hits to get us back into this game and win it.

4:12:

Brad Lidge is in to close out the game in the top of the 9th.  He made Mike Jacobs, who had homered twice already in the game, look like a fool with his nasty slider.  Then he let a slider slip to poser boy Uggla.  He hit it hard, but TJ Bohn was able to run under it in left-center for out #2.  Now it’s a full count to youngster Cody Ross. 

3:56:

Well Tom Gordon has walked Luis Gonzalez to start the inning, and is now 2-1 on Ramirez.  It’s not good to put men on base when going into the heart of this lineup.  Good thing they are free swingers (eg. Ramirez’s ridiculous swing on that fastball).  And Gordon struck him out.  I’m still worried that Dan Uggla hasn’t done ANYTHING this series.  He has struck out twice already today, and his BA is now sub .300.

3:49:

Pat “the Bat!”!!! After I said that I wouldn’t be surprised if this game was decided by another homer, Pat Burrell hit a 2 out, 2-run double.  Shane Victorino started off the bottom of the 7th with a single, then moved to second when Tankersley hit Ryan Howard in the ribs.  After another pitching change, the runners advanced on a wild pitch.  They decided to pitch to Burrell rather than walk him with the open base.  Big mistake.  Phillies lead 7-5 going to the 8th with Tom Gordon coming into the game and Jamie Moyer now in-line for the win.

3:27:

Geoff Jenkins hit an absolute bomb to right field in the bottom of the 6th to tie the game up 5-5.  And Ryan Howard just made an amazing play on a botched bunt attempt by Jacque Jones.  Jenkins, who did not start due to lefty pitcher Andrew Miller, pinch hit when the Marlins brought a righty in from the pen.  As the TBS announcers were saying that Jenkins was 0-9 pinch hitting this season, he crushed a deep fly.  The ball went about 30 rows back into the seats, and took about 3 seconds to go from bat to seats.  And Moyer just got Mike Rabello to ground into an inning ending double play, 6-4-3.  We’re heading to the bottom of the 7th with the top of the order coming up.

2:33

So I had a late night last night and forgot that the Phillies were playing at 1:30 today.  Luckily I turned into the game after the Marlins put up 4 runs, with the help of a 3-run homer, in the top of the 3rd.  I did get to see Andrew Miller not catch a ball, and Jimmy Rollins trot home.  It looked a lot like a little league game for a minute.  Then Chase Utley just hit a bomb to right-center for his 20th homerun of the season!  Yeah, 20.

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.