The Phils continued their series with the Pirates tonight. Cole Hamels got the start and although
he' s been struggling lately, there was still the feeling coming into this game that it would be easy pickings for Hollywood against the lowly Pirates. Instead, with some new, possibly ill-conceived mechanics on display, Hamels struggled yet again allowing 5 runs on 7 hits in just 6 innings. Meanwhile Ross Ohlendorf had the Phils looking confused through 5 scoreless innings and despite a 6th inning rally they trailed by 4 heading into the 9th inning. Fortunately at this point order was restored to the universe as the two teams showed why one is last in the NL Central and other is first in the NL East during a 9th inning rally for the ages. Early on everything went the way of the Pirates. In the top of the 1st Garret Jones slugged a solo homer and Delywn Young slammed a 2 run homer. Later in the top of the 2nd Andrew Mcutchen sent another 2 run homer to the seats and just like that in the blink of an eye Pittsburgh was ahead 5-0. From there Hamels settled down and finished his night with a few scoreless innings while the Phils finally got on the board in the bottom of the 6th, on a double by Raul Ibanez, a sac fly Greg Dobbs, and single by Paul Bako to cut the lead 5-3. Chad Durbin couldn't follow the scoring with a clean 7th inning though, and after a bases loaded walk and a fielder's choice the Phils found themselves down 7-3. Thanks to solid relief pitching from Scott Eyre and Tyler Walker the score stayed that way heading into the bottom of the 9th. With the team and the crowd flat, hope was not high for a comeback until Matt Stairs leadoff the inning with a thunderous solo homer that woke everyone up. Seemingly back from the dead the Phils suddenly shifted into high gear. Jimmy Rollins worked a walk and then stole second, Chase Utley singled a couple batters later to put runners on the corners and finally Ryan Howard clubbed a game tying 3 run homer. The crowd erupted in joy and after Raul Ibanez doubled off the wall in dead center just short of homer, Pittsburgh's doom was all but sealed. From there the Pirates decided to load the bases in hopes of an inning ending double play, but the move backfired when Bako dribbled a single to rightfield to score Ibanez for the 8-7 win. Speaking of Raul he actually returned to the Phils yesterday but was only available to pinch hit. To make room on the roster for him, the Phils designated Chris Coste for assignment and he was quickly snatched off waivers by the Houston Astros. While it is sad to see Coste go, it is not all that surprising, considering the Phils already had 2 other catchers in Bako and Carlos Ruiz. Also Charlie Manuel always seems to prefer catchers who are good defensively over those who are better with the bat and of the three catchers the Phils had until yesterday, Coste was probably the worst defensively. He may be gone but Coste will always be remembered as a key member of the 2007 miracle team and the 2008 world champs. One other thing with Coste gone, is that there is room now for John Mayberry Jr to stick with the Phils for rest of the season, unless they decide to call up top catcher prospect Lou Marson and go with three catchers again. After a slow start today Ibanez really came back right where he left off, with 2 doubles an RBI and 2 runs scored. Seriously, is he really that good or is the National league just that much weaker than the American league. I don't know what happened to Cole in the first couple of innings but he made the necessary adjustments and looked like himself again the rest of the way. I guess all pitchers eventually go through times like these where their stuff just stops working for a while, but I see no reason why he can't pitch the rest of the season like he did from the 3rd inning on. Anyway so the Phils move to 47-38 overall and now 4 games up in the NL East.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils welcomed the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Bank tonight to start a weekend series. Joe Blanton got the start tonight and was brilliant again, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits in 7 and 1/3rd innings. Meanwhile, the Phils only managed to score in the 3rd inning, but thanks to Blanton that was enough to win. The Pirates got things started with a bang as Garrett Jones absolutely destroyed a solo homer over the brick wall in center field with 2 outs in the top of the 1st. In the bottom of the 3rd, the Phils countered with their only runs on an error and a 2 run double by Jayson Werth, all with 2 outs. From there after Blanton cruised into the 8th inning, J.C Romero came in to finish off the 8th and Brad Lidge got the save in the 9th after allowing a 2 out solo homer. So the Phils hung on to win 3-2, their 3rd win in a row. Blanton can't possibly pitch any better than he is right now. This his 2nd start in a row in which he has gone into the 8th inning and he's now 6-4 overall. If there is a definite number 2 guy in the Phils rotation right now its Blanton. As it happens Werth was named to NL All Star team after all to replace Carlos Beltran. The addition of Werth thus gives the Phils 5 All-Stars, their first time with 5 All-Stars since 1995(Lenny Dykstra, Darren Daulton, Mickey Morandini, Tyler Green, and Heathcliff Slocumb). Also with Werth all 3 Phils starting outfielders are now on the All-Star team, making them the first team to send all 3 of their outfielders to the All-Star game since the 1995 Indians(Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, and Kenny Lofton). By the way, the hitting coach on that 1995 Indians team was some guy named Charlie Manuel. Anyway so the Phils improve to 46-38 overall and now 3 games up in the NL East.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils completed their series with the Reds tonight. Jamie Moyer got the start and was okay allowing 6 runs on 8 hits in just 5 innings. So he needed the Phils bats to pick him up a little with some late runs and for the bullpen to be lights out the rest of way, in order to get the win in this one. Fortunately his teammates were up to the task on this night. It didn't look so good early as the Cincinnati wet up 3-0 in the top of the 2nd on a triple by Edwin Encarnacion and a sac fly by the pitcher Micah Owings. In the bottom of the 3rd Chase Utley reenergized the stadium and his teammates with a inside the park homerun, after hitting a line drive that took a crazy bounce off the wall in right field. Jayson Werth followed a couple batters later with an RBI double to cut it to 3-2 and the Phils were right back in it. In the top of 4th, Encarnacion quieted the crowd again with a solo shot to make it 4-2. In the bottom of the inning "the Flyin Hawaiian" Shane Victorino knotted it up at 4, with a single off the glove of Brandon Philips at short. Philips redeemed himself in the top of the 5th, crushing a 2 run homer to push the Reds ahead one last time, 6-4. In the bottom of the 5th, the wheels came loose for Cincinnati. Pedro Feliz blooped a 2 run single, Paul Bako beat out a double play with the bases loaded to allow a run to score, Jimmy Rollins slapped a 2 out RBI single, and finally Bako scored on a wild pitch to put the Phils ahead for good 8-6. Later in the bottom of the 6th, Jayson Werth obliterated a solo homer(his 7th homer in the last 12 games) to dead center to push the lead to an insurmountable 9-6. From there Chan Ho Park completed an impressive 3 scoreless and hitless innings(6th-8th), before Brad Lidge got the save in the 9th to clinch another home series win for the Phils, and their 6th win in their last 7 games. With his homer today Werth becomes 4th member of the Phils this season to reach 20 homers and 50 RBIs before the All-star break(Utley who also hit is 20th tonight, Ryan Howard, and Raul Ibanez are the other 3). This makes the Phils just the 2nd team in MLB history to produce four players with 20 homers and 50 RBIs before the all-star break after the 2000 Toronto Blue Jays(Carlos Delgado, Tony Batista, Raul Mondesi, and Jose Cruz Jr). Park is really turning into an important asset for the Phils. He just fits into any spot in the game to come in for 3 innings or more, one inning, or even one batter. The MLB All Star game is next week, and 3 Phils were named to the NL team last weekend actually,(Utley and Ibanez were voted in as starters by the fans, while Howard was selected as a reserve by NL manager Charlie Manuel). Joining those 3 will be Victorino who was announced the winner of the final chance fan vote today with a record 15 million votes to his name. Werth also has an outside chance of being added to the team to replace the injured Carlos Beltran who was voted in as the starting centerfielder. Anyway so the Phils improve to 45-38 overall and remain 2 games up in the NL East.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils continued their series with the Reds tonight. Rodrigo Lopez made his 2nd start for the Phils and was pretty sharp again allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits, before being forced to leave after the 5th inning with a muscle strain, which hopefully was only a minor tweak and nothing serious. Anyhow, while Lopez pitched well, the Phils could only get him one run and seemed destined to lose again, before tying it up in the 6th. So it would come down to some late heroics to decide this one, something the Phils haven't really displayed at home thus far this season. Cincinnati got it all started in the top of the 4th, as Lance Nix slapped a 2 run single. The Flyin Hawaiian, Shane Victorino, answered in the bottom of the inning, singling, stealing 2nd and scoring on a single by Ryan Howard. Later in the bottom of the 6th, Jayson Werth slammed a 2 out solo homer to knot it up at 2. From there after Ryan Madson pitched perfect 8th and 9th innings, the Phils finally put together another rally in the bottom of the 9th. Pedro Feliz led off with a single, Jimmy Rollins worked a walk to move Feliz to 2nd, and Victorino blooped a single to right field to score Feliz with the winning run to cap off the 3-2 Phils win. Madson looked to be back to his old unhittable self again in those two innings today which is a great sign for the Phils bullpen. Werth is tearing the cover off the ball right now, with now 6 homers in his last 11 games, which somewhat makes up for Raul Ibanez not being in the lineup. It was nice to see Victorino come through in the 9th. He was probably the Phils most clutch hitter late last season, so to see him get another clutch hit today, could be a sign of the good things to come for the Phils. Anyway so the Phils move to 44-38 now and still 2 games up in the NL East.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils continued their series with the Reds tonight and all I can say is what a difference a day makes. While the Phils racked up another 10 hits, they could only come up with 3 runs this time around, good enough for a 3-0 lead. However, J.A Happ couldn't make it hold up, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits in 7 innings. So it came down to a battle of the bullpens, and unfortunately the Phils came out on the wrong side of it. The Phils started fast, as Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth smashed back to back homers in the bottom of the 2nd and Chase Utley slapped an RBI double in the bottom of the 3rd. The Reds rallied back with 2 in the 4th on a 2 run homer by Brandon Phillips and 1 in the 6th on a solo homer by Philips. Then in the 9th with the score tied at 3, Joey Votto slapped a leadoff double off Brad Lidge and then scored the eventual winning run on a single by Ramon Hernandez. The Phils, totally flat since the 3rd inning, then failed to score in their half of the 9th and the Reds got the win 4-3. I am not sure what happened to Brad Lidge today, but he always seems to struggle a bit when he pitches with the score tied or the Phils behind, so I wouldn't worry too much. I don't understand how you can score 22 runs one night and then just 3 the next night. I mean they did have 10 hits, so perhaps it was just bad luck. You have to think though that they'll get on track tomorrow night. You can't really score 22 runs in the first game of a series and then lose it can you? Anyway the Phils actually got lucky as the Marlins also lost tonight, thus allowing the 43-38 Phils to remain 2 games up in the NL East.
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers have successfully signed newly acquired defenseman Chris Pronger to a 7 year contract extension worth 34.45 million, that will keep him in Orange and Black through 2017, assuming he doesn't retire before then. Also after this season even though he'll be making 7 million per year, Pronger's contract will only count as 5 million towards the Flyers salary cap, leaving them ample room to sign other players when needed. So ultimately, this extension at least vindicates the deal Paul Holmgren made to get Pronger in the first place since having Pronger for 7 seasons is worth about as much as all the Players the Flyers traded for him.
Monday, July 06, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils welcomed the Cincinnati Reds to the Bank tonight in the first of a 3 game set. Looking to get back on track after some recent struggles, Cole Hamels got the start and went 7 strong innings while allowing just 1 run on 3 hits. However, his was not the impressive performance on the night, that goes to the Phils offense which racked up an unbelievable 22 runs and 21 hits. Johnny Cueto alone, who came into tonight top 5 among starters in the NL in ERA. and opponent's batting average, was beat up for 9 runs on 5 hits, all in the first inning, which he failed to get out of. Honestly Cincinnati never really had a chance. The Phils went up 10-0 in the first inning and the Reds never recovered. All told in the that inning, Shane Victorino and Greg Dobbs each slammed a 2 run homer, Hamels himself slapped a 2 run double, Jimmy Rollins doubled in Hamels, and finally Chase Utley crunched a 3 run homer. The Phils weren't even closed to finished though. After Johnny Gomes tomahawked a solo homer in the top of the 2nd to give the Reds their only run, a single by Carlos Ruiz in the bottom of the 2nd and a sac fly by Jason Werth in the bottom of the 3rd upped the lead to 12-1. In the 4th inning, a double by Victorino, singles by Utley and Ryan Howard, and an error produced 4 more runs and a 16-1 advantage. Finally in the 8th inning the Phils added 6 more runs, on a single by Victorino, a double by Eric Bruntlett and a grand slam by Werth for a 22-1 lead. Scott Eyre then retired the side in the 9th to end the 22-1 massacre, er victory. It was nice to see Cole Hamels pitch like Cole Hamels for a change. Of course it helps when you have a 10-0 lead just an inning into the game, but Hamels pitched well regardless, throwing 61 strikes to just 31 balls. Atfer the way played at home earlier this season it is hard to believe that they have now won 4 in a row at the Bank. Here's hoping they keep it going. Anyway so the Phils move to 43-37 overall and now back to 2 games up in the NL East.
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils completed their series with the Mets this afternoon looking for the sweep. Joe Blanton got the start and was brilliant allowing just 4 hits over 7 and 1/3rd scoreless innings, just good enough to best Johan Santana who allowed 2 runs on 3 hits over 7 innings. Both runs came on solo homers, the first by Jimmy Rollins to leadoff the bottom of the 1st inning and the 2nd by Chase Utley with 2 out in the bottom of the 6th. The Phils didn't score again, but wouldn't have to. Chan Ho Park and J.C Romero combined to get the game to the 9th and there Brad Lidge struck out side impressively, to complete the shutout and series sweep of the Mets. Jimmy Rollins continues to be hot, after apparently tweaking his batting stance, as he compiled another 2 hits and an RBI. If it is possible Brad Lidge actually looked better today then he did yesterday. The Phils defense had as much to do with the shutout today as did their pitching. The Phils turned 3 double plays in crucial situations to get out jams. Ryan Howard turned an unassisted double play in the 4th inning with 1 on and 1 out, David Wright was doubled up with 1 out and the bases loaded in the 6th inning and Fernando Tatis bounced into a double play in the 8th inning with 2 on and 1 out. In other good news Raul Ibanez will start making rehab starts tomorrow and hopefully he'll be ready to go in a week or so. So anyway the Phils move to 42-37 overall, but remain just 1 game up in the NL East.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
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