Saturday, June 09, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Thanks to Jon Lieber the Phils are back on track again. Lieber, pitched a complete game shutout, allowing just 2 hits the entire night while striking out a career best 11. Not surprisingly, this game lasted only about 2 hours, and featured only 2 innings in which runs were scored, all of course going to Phils. In other words, there is not a whole lot talk about, but just in case you were wondering how the Phils scored their runs on the night here goes. Greg Dobbs singled in Aaron Rowand for 1-0 Phils lead in the 2nd inning, and in the 4th inning Dobbs, Pat Burrell, and Rod Barajas all produced RBI doubles off Royals starter and losing pitcher Gil Meche, who didn't pitch too badly himself, allowing just those 4 runs on 8 hits while striking out 8 in 7 innings of work. So there you have it the Phils won 4-0 and are now back to within 5 games of the first place Mets. Thus, life is beautiful again. Oh and one more quick note, before I forget. Remember ex Phils closer Jose Mesa, their all-time and single season saves leader, well he's back with the Phils as he signed with them yesterday as a free agent, obviously in the hope that he can somehow bolster their beat up bullpen, with Brett Myers and Flash Gordon both on the DL.
Friday, June 08, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Coming into tonight's game the Kansas City Royal's owned the major league's worst record, but they played more like they owned the best. In the first inning Ryan Howard hit a two run shot. Greg Dobbs then hit a solo shot in the 2nd and the Phils appeared to be off an running with a 3-0 lead. Unfortunately at that point Freddy Garcia's arm left him, as he allowed 6 runs on 7 hits in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Two of those 7 hits were two run homers by Mark Grudzielanek and Mike Sweeney, and so not surprisingly Garcia never even made it out of the inning. The Phils could then do little to mount a comeback, as their only other run came on yet another solo homer by Rod Barajas. In the end, the Royals bullpen blanked the Phils for the final 4 innings of the game, while the Phils bullpen allowed a further two runs. So KC won 8-4, which means they no longer have the worst record in the ML, just the next to worst record instead and the Phils are still inconsistent at 31-30, back to 6 games behind the Mets for 1st in the NL East. Thus, life sucks again.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils went for the sweep of the Mets tonight and not surprisingly with Cole Hamels on the mound, despite a wild 6th inning, they did just that. JROLL quieted the fans again with a two out RBI single in the 3rd inning, and Ryan Howard added an RBI single in the 6th as the Phils lead early 2-0. Meanwhile, Cole Hamels rolled along through 5 innings, blanking the Mets on 7 hits, then in the bottom of the 6th it almost slipped away. Carlos Delgado, David Wright, and Paul Lo Duca combined to hit back-back-back homers in the inning as New York went ahead 3-2. Hamels managed to hang on for one more inning, finishing the night having allowed 3 runs on 10 hits while striking out 5. After that it looked for a while as if the Phils would not get their sweep, but the old Met killer, Pat Burrell led off the 9th inning for the Phils, and he took hated former Phil Billy Wagner deep, and suddenly it was all tied up at 3. Then In the 10th, Chase Utley doubled in a run to put the Phils up 4-3. Later, Aaron Rowand added an RBI single, and Burrell all but sealed the deal with an RBI double, to give the Phils a 6-3 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th. There, Antonio Alfonseca recorded his 4th save of the year giving Mike Zagurksi ,who pitched a scoreless frame in the 9th, his first major league win. So the Phils improved to 31-29, just 5 games behind the Mets for 1st in the NL East, and 1.5 games behind Atlanta for 2nd. Thus, life is still beautiful.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
How sweet it is. That's all I can say about tonight's game. Once again it began as a pitcher's duel, but this time only for 6 innings. Adam Eaton tossed 6 stellar innings for the Phils allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits while striking out 4. Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez was just a touch better though blanking the Phils in 6 innings of work, allowing just 3 hits, while striking out 3. So through 6 innings it was 2-0, as Carlos Beltran hit a solo homer in the 4th and Endy Chavez who later left the game with a bad hamstring, manufactured a run in the 6th. The Mets could have actually had more but later in the 4th inning, after the homer, Carlos Delgado was gunned down by Shane Victorino trying to tag up and score on flyout. Thus, When the Phils put runners on 2nd and third with only one out in the 7th all they needed was a single to forge a tie. First up, was the once designated Met killer Pat Burrell, but all he could do was strikeout weakly. Then up stepped the designated most hated man in New York, Jimmy Rollins, for whom the fans began cheering as he quickly fell behind in the count, against reliever Aaron Heilman. JROLL got his revenge a couple pitches later though, as he slapped what wound up being a game winning 3 run homer down the line in right, putting the Phils ahead 3-2, and sending the crowd and the Mets into a stupor from which they would never recover. Aaron Rowand later singled in a run in the 8th to put the Phils up 4-2 and just like last night, that's how it ended. The much maligned Phils bullpen pitched 3 scoreless frames, as Geoff Geary, Ryan Madson, and Antonio Alfonseca combined to close it out. So the Phils are now back above .500(30-29), and within 6 games of the Mets for first in the NL East, and 2.5 of the Braves for second. Life is beautiful again and like I said how sweet it is.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Tonight was another pitcher's duel between ageless wonders. This time it was Jamie Moyer going for the Phils and Tom Glavine for the Mets. Through 7 innings both Moyer and Glavine allowed 2 runs on 8 hits, but Glavine was just a touch better with 4 strikeouts to Moyer's 1. Still, with both teams getting blanked in the final two innings, it would be the Phils who would get the last laugh in the 11th inning. Chase Utley, who already had a pair of hits and had knocked in the Phils 2 runs, led off the top of the inning with a solo homer off Pedro Feliciano to put the Phils up 3-2. Later in the inning Abraham Nunez singled in another run to put the Phils up 4-2 and that would be all they would need. Antonio Alfonseca closed it out in the bottom of the inning, for his second save of the season and the Phils walked away with a big win. So the Phils are back at .500(29-29) and even more importantly are back to within 7 games of the Mets for first in the NL East. Accordingly, life is beautiful again.
Monday, June 04, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils finished off their series with the Giants with a business person special, unfortunately it wasn't so special for them. Jon Lieber rolled through the first 4 innings of the game, then in 5th it all fell apart. There Lieber was touched up for 5 runs on 10 hits, including a three run homer by Ryan Klesko and neither he nor the Phils ever recovered. Lieber was pulled from the game after the inning was over, but the Phils could manage only one run all day, leaving 12 men on base, including 8 left in scoring position and although Lieber's replacement Mike Zagurski pitched a scoreless 6th inning, Zagurski's replacement Yoel Hernandez didn't fare so well, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits, including a 2 run homer by Ray Durham. Thus going into 9th the Phils trailed 8-1 and that was about all she wrote as San Fran won easily by the same score. Oh and just to point out the futility of the Phils offense on the day, as if I haven't already, their lone run came on a slow rolling ground out by Jayson Werth in the 5th inning with runners on second and 3rd and nobody out. So, yeah life sucks again.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Today's game was rainy, wild and in the end arguably the best of the season. Early on San Fran led 2-0 as Randy Wynn homered in the 1st inning and Bengie Molina homered in the second off Freddy Garcia. The Phils came back in the 4th inning with a solo homer from Chase Utley and two run blast from Aaron Rowand off young fireballer Tim Lincecum, to forge a 3-2 Phils lead. San Fran came right back to score 3 runs in the 5th inning, and 2 in the 6th inning, chasing Garcia from the game after allowing 7 runs on 9 hits while striking out 5. So entering the 7th the Giants and Lincecum had what appeared to be a safe 7-3 lead, but it wasn't so. After allowing a leadoff single to Aaron Rowand and a double to Carlos Ruiz, a tired Lincecum served up a pinch RBI double to Wes Helms to cut the lead to 7-5. Lincecum then struckout Jimmy Rollins and retired Shane Victorino before leaving the game after having thrown 101 pitches, while allowing 6(we'll get to that last one in a moment, just remember that when he left he was still responsible for the runner on base, Wes Helms) runs on 7 hits, and striking out 6. Jack Tarschner then replaced him and promptly made a huge mistake walking Chase Utley in front of Ryan Howard. Howard came up with 2 out, 2 on, and the Phils down 2, and delivered a dramatic 3 run homer, to put the Phils ahead at least momentarily 8-7. Geoff Geary and Ryan Madson somehow combined to get through the 8th inning lead with the 8-7 lead intact. Madson then stayed in to pitch the 9th and well, he didn't quite close it out. He recorded one out, then walked the next two batters and was subsequently pulled from the game in favor of veteran Antonio Alfonseca. Alfonseca didn't fare much better allowing an RBI single to Scott Frandsen, the first batter he faced. Somehow though, he got out of the inning without further damage, as he forced Bengie Molina to ground into a double play. With the score now tied at 8 going into the bottom of the 9th, the stage was set for a storybook finish. Jimmy Rollins struck out again to lead off the inning, then up stepped Shane Victorino, on Victorino hula figurine day, and he delivered a deep blast to left field which kept going until it was outta here! and the Phils had won dramatically 9-8, sending home happy the 100 or so fans stupid enough to still be sitting in their seats in the middle of a rain storm. So Victorino proved to be the hero on his figurine day, and the Phils are back at .500(28-28) and of course, life remains beautiful.
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