The Phils continued their series with the Orioles tonight. J.A Happ got the start and was pretty good allowing just 2 runs on 10 hits in 6 solid innings. Unfortunately the Phils again couldn't provide any run support. However, down just 2-0, they were finally able to get on board and take the lead in the 7th inning. In the end though Ryan Madson was not able to hold the lead in the 9th and the Phils lost their 5th in a row. From the beginning the Phils were a bit shorthanded as Ryan Howard came down with the flu and was deemed unavailable for the game. So it was not surprising when Aubrey Huff doubled in a run in the 5th inning and Brian Roberts sac flyed in a run in the 6th inning and worked a bases loaded walk in the 7th to give Baltimore a 3-0 lead through 6 and 1/2 innings. A dramatic bottom of the 7th then nearly saved the day for the Phils. First Chase Utley doubled in a run and Greg Dobbs singled in a 2nd run. Finally with 2 on and 2 out, the flu-ridden Howard managed to drag himself to the plate to pinch hit and in a scene reminiscent of Kirk Gibson in the 1988 world series, slammed a dramatic 3 run homer to put the Phils up 5-3. That set the stage for Ryan Madson to get the save in the 9th, but he could not. First Greg Zaun slammed a solo homer, and then with 1 on and 2 out ,Roberts broke the Phil's hearts with what turned out to be a game winning 2 run homer. Final score Baltimore 6 Phils 5. So the Phils are now just 13-21 at home as they lose yet another series at the bank. Oops, it seems Jimmy Rollins is not out of his slump yet after all, as he is now 0 for his last 6. While Howard did pinch hit today, he didn't stay in the game afterwards and the jury is still out on whether he'll back in the lineup tomorrow or not. I hope to god he is, because otherwise the Phils will struggle to score runs big time. With or without him they really need to figure out how to win tomorrow otherwise they'll suffer an embarrassing 2nd sweep in a row at home no less. So anyway the Phils drop to 36-30 overall now, but they remain 2 games up in the NL East, because the Mets also lost again.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils welcomed the Baltimore Orioles to the Bank tonight to begin a weekend series. Antonio Bastardo got the start and was fairly decent allowing 4 runs on 5 hits in 7 solid innings. Unfortunately the Phils couldn't give him much support with just 2 runs on 5 hits. In the end the Phils were never able to add to those 2 runs and they and Bastardo went on to take the loss again. The Phils actually had the early 2-0 lead after Jayson Werth slapped a 2 run double in the bottom of the 1st. In the top of the 2nd the Orioles took the lead on a 2 run double by Matt Wieters and an RBI single by the pitcher Rich Hill. In the top of the 6th Aubrey Huff doubled in a run for a 4-2 lead. Finally in the top of 9th Nolan Reimold slammed a solo homer and Nick Markakis slapped a 2 run double to push the lead to 7-2 and avert any hopes of a Phils comeback. So the Phils drop to 13-20 now at home and they have now lost 4 in a row. That's just awful and I just don't know what they can do now to turn that around. John Mayberry Jr looked pretty good again today as he went 2 for 4, but he struck out the one chance he had to knock in some runs. Still, I think he might be alright after all, but the Phils aren't right now. The only hope for the Phils now is to somehow take the last 2 games of this series and then they go back on the road and can start another winning streak. Anyway so the Phils drop to 36-29 overall and are now just 2 games up in the NL East.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils completed their series with the Blue Jays this afternoon on yet another wet and dreary day. This time they played a little bit better but it still wasn't good enough. Joe Blanton got the start and lasted just 5 and 1/3rd innings while allowing 4 runs on 9 hits. Meanwhile, the Phils were able to take advantage of the fact the Toronto starter Brad Mills lasted just 3 and 2/3rds innings, just enough to take a lead into the 7th inning, but everything fell apart from there. The Jays took the early lead 2-0, on a 2 run homer by Chavez in the 2nd inning. Jayson Werth answered with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning to cut it to 2-1. In the top of the 3rd Vernon Wells doubled in a run for a 3-1 lead. In the bottom of the 3rd Werth sac flyed in a run to cut it to 3-2. In the bottom of the 4th Jimmy Rollins slugged a 2 run homer to put the Phils up 4-3. In the bottom of the 5th John Mayberry Jr (playing in place of the injurted Raul Ibanez) slammed a solo homer for a 5-3 lead. In the top of the 6th Adam Lind lined a solo homer to cut it to 5-4. In the top of the 7th Scott Rolen doubled and scored on a single by Alex Rios to tie it at 5. In the top of the 8th Wells ,and Rolen each knocked in another run for a 7-5 lead, and then Mayberry Jr gunned down Wells at plate to prevent a 3rd run. In the bottom of the 8th the Phils battled back one last time, as a solo homer by Greg Dobbs, and a 2 out RBI single by Shane Victorino tied it up again at 7. Finally in the top of the 9th, behind 0-2 in the count, Rod freaking Barajas clubbed a pinch solo homer for an 8-7 Jays' lead and at last that proved too much for the Phils to overcome. So the Phils drop to 13-19 at home now and I mean things really can't any worse than that can they? Actually with Ibanez on the DL for at least 2 weeks due to a strained groin, things could easily get a whole lot worse. The Phils just have to hope Mayberry Jr can fill the void while Ibanez is out. He is a very good outfielder and has legitimate power to all fields, he's just a little raw right now and a bit of free swinger, so hitting coach Milt Thompson has his work cut out for him. Speaking of hitting, its official now, the slump is over, JRoll is back. He had 3 more hits today, including a homer and appears to have to returned to all-star form. Anyway, so the Phils drop to 36-28 overall now , but remain 3 games up in the NL East, thanks team that comes in tomorrow to begin a 3 game series, the Orioles, who took 2 of 3 from the Mets.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils continued their series with the Blue Jays tonight. Jamie Moyer got the start and pitched okay through the first 6 innings, holding the Jays to just 4 runs and keeping the Phils in it. Then in the 7th inning he got a little roughed up and wound up ending his night having allowed 6 runs on 10 hits. Meanwhile, Scott Richmond was Brilliant for Toronto allowing just 1 run on 5 hits, while striking out 11 in 8 innings. In other words the Phils never really had a chance in this one. They fell behind early as Toronto scored 3 runs right off the bat in the 1st inning, on a double by Marco Scutaro, a single by Aaron Hill and a fielder's choice, and Richmond was just too tough the rest of way. The only bright spot for the Phils was a solo homer by Jayson Werth in the 4th inning, which brought the Phils to within 3 at 4-1, but they never got closer. In the end after the Jays added homers by Rod Barajas, Hill, and Scott Rolen, the Phils fell 7-1 on this literally dark and dreary night(it rained lightly through half the game, but not enough to force a delay). So the Phils drop now to 13-18 at home and there's nowhere to go but up from there, hopefully. Moyer has games like these from time to time, so hopefully this was just a slight glich and he'll be fine his next time out. As for the rest of the Phils they just can't seem to get up for games at the Bank anymore for some reason and I don't understand it. Maybe Charlie Manuel should get himself thrown out of the game tomorrow or something, surely if nothing else that will light a fire under these guys. Oh well, so anyway the Phils drop to 36-27 now but remain 3 games up in the NL East.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils welcomed the Toronto Blue Jays to the Bank tonight. Cole Hamels got the start and was steady as usual, surviving a bases loaded jam in the 6th inning to hold the Jays to just 2 runs on 7 hits in 6 solid innings. Meanwhile, the Phils were able to scratch out enough runs to take a lead into the 9th inning. Unfortunately, it was simply not to be for the Phils on this night. The Phils jumped out early as Jimmy Rollins leadoff the 1st inning with a double and scored on a single by Chase Utley for a 1-0 lead. In the top of the 4th Toronto finally got to Hamels as Adam Lind slugged a solo homer and Kevin Millar doubled in a run for a 2-1 Jay's lead. After as mentioned Hamels got out of a jam in the top of the 6th, the Phils rallied ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the 6th, as Jayson Werth slammed a 2 run homer. Both teams put on the pressure on again in the 8th inning, but came up empty, as the Jays left bases loaded again and the Phils stranded 2. In the 9th Ryan Madson came in for the save and you guessed it, loaded the bases with nobody out no less. He too nearly got out of it, before offering up a game-tying walk to Lyle Overbay. Madson then retired the side from there and the Phils failed to score in the bottom of the inning. So once again the Phils would need to win in extra innings. At this point after loading bases 3 times without registering a single hit with the bases loaded, Toronto had stranded 15 runners on base and yet somehow they still managed to tie the game at 3 and force extra innings. So you knew something weird was going on. It only got weirder in the 10th inning as Clay Condrey came in and you guessed it, loaded the bases, but only after allowing Scott Rolen to bloop an RBI single to put Toronto ahead 4-3. Condrey then walked in a run and his night was over. Rookie Tyler Walker, recently called up from AAA, was then left to cleanup Condrey's mess. Unfortunately, Walker wasn't quite up to the task, allowing a sac fly and a bases clearing double by Rod Barajas of all people, for an 8-3 lead. The dejected Phils then went down quietly in the bottom of the inning to finish the 8-3 loss. So the Phils drop to just 13-17 at home now, and with their next 5 games at home(2 more with the Jays, and 3 with the Orioles) they're going to have figure out how to turn that around in a hurry. Seriously, where's the Nationals when you need them? Anyway one thing that does appear to have turned around is JRoll's swing. After crushing a homerun sunday, he went 2 for 5 tonight with a run scored and most importantly no strikeouts. So he's making contact in every at bat and making progress. Anyway so the Phils drop to 36-26 overall and back to 3 games up in the NL East.
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