Philadelphia Phillies - Eaton Alive

     Last night Adam Eaton who was 5-0 and a 3.29 ERA against the Mets was pulled after 2-2/3 innings.  Eaton gave away 8 runs off of 10 hits in his short outing yesterday in the Phillies’ 3rd loss to the Mets.  There were some heroics in the game with Chase Utley (25), Pat Burrell (22), Ryan Howard (24) and Geoff Jenkins (7) all belting homeruns.  R.J. Swindle celebrated his 25th birthday last night by pitching 3 innings in relief for Clay Condrey and the fallen Adam Eaton.  Swindle administered 3 strikeouts, 1 walk, 2 runs on 4 hits with one of those hits being a solo wake-up call by David Wright.

     Tonight the Phillies try to shake-off their failed home campaign against the Mets.  The Phightins face-off against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 3 game homestand.  The Phillies ace, Cole Hamels (3.22 ERA) takes the mound tonight against Joel Pineiro (4.52 ERA) in search of his 10th win of 2008 season.

 

Philadelphia	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Rollins, SS	5	1	2	0	0	1	0	.272
Victorino, CF	5	2	2	1	0	0	1	.270
Utley, 2B	3	1	1	1	0	1	1	.294
Bruntlett, 2B	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	.234
Howard, 1B	4	1	2	2	1	1	2	.226
Burrell, LF	5	1	1	1	0	2	4	.277
Dobbs, 3B	4	0	1	0	0	2	2	.322
c-Feliz, PH	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	.264
Werth, RF	3	1	1	0	2	1	2	.277
Coste, C	4	0	0	0	0	3	6	.292
Eaton, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.179
Condrey, P	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
a-Taguchi, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.200
Swindle, P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
b-Jenkins, PH	1	1	1	2	0	0	0	.237
Romero, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	39	9	12	8	4	13	19

Image from phillies.com

     Brett Myers pitched last night against the Louisville Bats accruing his first win since his reassignment with the Iron Pigs.  Myers allowed 3 runs (2 ER) with 7 hits,  3 walks and 7 strikeouts over 7-1/3 innings.

Philadelphia Phillies - July 6th Mets Game Pics

I just wanted to share some pics of my Dad and I attending the July 6th game of the Phillies vs Mets.  The game was awesome until the 8th inning when the thunder showers started causing 2.5 hr rain delay.

 

Philadelphia Phillies - Fireworks At The Bank

   

     Last night the young Phillies phenom J.A. Happ was able to keep the Phightins in the game long enough for their offense to win it.  J.A. Happ pitched against Johann Santana which has lost his past 6 starts with the Mets.  Happ hurled for 4-2/3 innings while allowing 4 walks, 3 hits, 2 runs and striking out 3.  He was pulled in the 5th inning after a poor call was made when Happ had struckout David Wright.  Chad Durbin came in and struckout 6 out of the next 7 that approached the plate.

     The Phillies offense accrued 8 hits over 9 innings with no longballs to manufacture run support.  Some notables were Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth both going 2-4 off of Johann Santana.  In the 9th inning with the score tied 2-2 the Mets brought in Duaner Sanchez that allowed Pedro Feliz to hit a double going into left field.  Next at bat would be Shane Victorino who was hitless all night long against Santana, but was able to connect on a walk-off single hit into right field bringing in Pedro Feliz from 2nd base to score.  This ended the game with a final score of 3-2 with the Phillies once again pushing back on their division rivals to trailing 5.5 games in the N.L. Eastern Division.

     Tonight Jamie Moyer (4.13 ERA) takes the mound in search of his 8th win against John Maine (3.86 ERA).  The ageless Moyer is looking to extend the Phillies winning streak to 5 games.  The Marlins lost again last night against the Colorado Rockies which makes the eastern division look as follows:  Phillies (1st), Marlins (2nd-3.5 GB), Mets (3rd-5.5 GB), Braves (4th-7.0 GB), Nationals (5th-15.5 GB).

 

Philadelphia AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Werth, RF 4 1 2 0 0 1 0 .273 Utley, 2B 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 .299 Rollins, SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .272 Howard, 1B 4 0 2 1 0 1 1 .223 Burrell, LF 4 0 1 1 0 1 1 .278 Feliz, 3B 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .266 Victorino, CF 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 .265 Coste, C 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .310 Happ, P 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000   Durbin, C, P 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .167   a-Bruntlett, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .237   Madson, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000   Lidge, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 34 3 8 3 0 8 8

Image from phillies.com

Philadelphia Phillies - Atlanta Not So Brave

    

     The Philadelphia Phillies brought down the tee-pee in the Atlanta Braves series last night.  The Phillies defeated the Braves in a 4-1 victory while displaying their prowess in their division by sweeping the Braves both times they met this year in Atlanta.  Cole Hamels showed his ace status by pitching 8-2/3 innings while allowing 5 hits, 1 run, 2 walks and administering 7 strikeouts.  The Phillies offense also showed up for the 3rd consecutive day placing 8 hits on the board with 3 of those hits being homeruns from Chase Utley (24), Ryan Howard (22) and Pedro Feliz (10).  Some other notables are Pat Burrell going 2-4 and Pedro Feliz 3-4 while both of these players are breaking through a hitting slump.  The Phillies are hoping for the reversal of the overall offensive slump that they accrued after sweeping the Braves the 1st time.  Sweeping them the 2nd time around should place them back on track to dominating the N.L. Eastern Division once again.

     Tonight starts the 4 game series with the Phillies hosting the Mets at Citizen Bank Park.  J.A. Happ the rookie sensation will pitch tonight away from his normal home at Coca Cola Park and the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.  Happ (3.54 ERA) which had started for 1 game last year against the Mets is hoping that his new bag of tricks will help defeat his rival Johann Santana (3.01 ERA) which he faces on the mound tonight.  J.A. Happ has proven himself at the AAA level with 3.54 ERA, 38 BB, 104 strikeouts over 101.2 innings pitched.  You can check out more J.A. Happ stats as well as Kris Benson and Brett Myers here.

 

Philadelphia	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Rollins, SS	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	.276
Victorino, CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.265
Utley, 2B	4	1	1	1	0	1	1	.300
Howard, 1B	4	1	1	1	0	1	1	.219
Burrell, LF	4	1	2	0	0	1	0	.278
Werth, LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.268
Jenkins, RF	4	0	0	0	0	2	2	.239
Feliz, 3B	4	1	3	2	0	0	0	.267
Ruiz, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.208
Hamels, P	3	0	0	0	0	2	2	.279
Gordon, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	34	4	8	4	1	8	11

Image from phillies.com

Inter-Divisional Rivals Face-Off Questions

 I was approached by Dave Doyle of the metsreport.com with a crossblogging opportunity.  We presented questions to one another about each of our respective teams.  I have posted my questions below along with his answers.  You can view my answers to his questions about the Philadelphia Phillies at metsreport.com.

With the firing of Willie Randolph does there seem to be a change in the Mets club house?  Will the Mets finish the remainder of the 2008  season with Jerry Manuel at the helm?  If not, are they seeking out a new skipper?

  Jerry Manuel has been told by Omar Minaya that he’s the manager for the entire season. No doubt about it. They very well may seek out another manager at the end of the year though. Early rumors are that they’re interested in Yankees third base coach Tony Pena for 2009. There’s also been some radio talk show banter about bringing in Larry Bowa. But if Manuel makes it to the playoffs, he’s pretty much guaranteed to return next year and beyond. There has been a change in the clubhouse. You’ll see a few tangible things this weekend. Randolph ran a really tight ship, and Manuel has relaxed the rules for the players. Now the players can have facial hair. They couldn’t under Randolph. Also, Manuel started a new thing where pitchers that get pulled from the game wait on the mound and hand the ball to the incoming pitcher as a show of support. Manuel doesn’t take the ball from the pitcher. The Mets used to do pre-game stretching within their small groups (relief pitchers, starters, infielders, etc.) and Manuel changed that so everyone stretches together. There are little things like that to promote team unity. Manuel also isn’t averse to calling out veterans in the media that aren’t performing. He’s had plenty of comments about Luis Castillo and his inability to play every day.

 How do the Mets fans feel about Jose Reyes?  He has enormous potential to be an oustanding shortstop and a large contributer to the team, but has his level of maturity affected his game

  Mets fans have had a lot to say about Reyes’ outbursts on the field. Jerry Manuel has made it a point to address those situations immediately with him. Randolph benched Reyes in Houston last season for one of his outbursts and their relationship wasn’t very good after that. Manuel has taken a more big brother/fatherly type of role with Reyes. We’ll see what happens with that. But Mets fans generally haven’t liked what they’ve seen from Reyes when his childish tantrums erupt on the field. Manuel has made it a point to try to get Reyes to keep his head in the game when things go wrong for him but that’s a work in progress. I wrote a post on my blog about this topic. He’s such a talented and dynamic player that these behavioral indiscretions are tolerated much more than if anyone else did it.

 Do the Mets have anyone in mind as the trade deadline approaches?  If so are they seeking pitching or a position player to replace Castillo or Alou?

  You’re right on with that. The Mets have been hurt badly by Moises Alou’s absence this season. He’s an incredible hitter when he’s in the lineup but he’s hurt so often he’s like a ghost for the Mets. The Mets would love to get their hands on a right-handed hitting outfielder that can also play some first base. They talked to the Tigers about Marcus Thames before the season but couldn’t agree on a deal. Mets fans really want Xavier Nady back. He was a fan favorite in his short time here and would be a perfect fit for the Mets this season.  Don’t get me started about Luis Castillo… But we’re stuck with him for the next three and a half years. He’s not going anywhere unfortunately. Damion Easley has played a good second base off the bench though. We’ll be seeing plenty of him in the lineup. Castillo’s contract is consistently discussed by Mets fans as evidence that Omar Minaya hasn’t put together the right players for this team.  Starting pitching could be a need as well. Pedro Martinez has been terrible since he missed two months with a hamstring injury. Oliver Perez has struggled badly for most of the season as well. The Mets have been linked to Freddy Garcia would could be ready to play next month. They’ve already had multiple starts from Nelson Figueroa, Claudio Vargas, and Tony Armas, Jr. Those aren’t pitchers that you want to see on the mound in the second half of the season. I guess they’re still holding out hope that El Duque will be back at some point but I think that’s a long shot.

 Have the players rebounded from last year’s meltdown?  They seem to play as though something is weighing heavily on their mind.  Not sure if it was last year or the departure of Willie Randolph?

  ”The Collapse” has absolutely carried over into this season. The daily speculation about Willie Randolph’s job security was a distraction as well. Randolph consistently said that “The Collapse” was behind the team. But Jerry Manuel has said that it’s impacted the team into this season and the only way to get the monkey off their backs is to win. The home fans have boo’d the Mets excessively at times this season, even Johan Santana in his first start. To me, that’s the carry over from last season. Since the debacle occurred at the end of the year, we didn’t get to completely express our displeasure. So it’s being displayed this season. We may be beyond that now. But it was clearly evident for the first two months of the season. Randolph was boo’d mercilessly in his last few weeks as manager. His firing was a major step in the direction of letting go of last season.

 Is there any sadness about the loss of Shea Stadium?  or are the Mets fans just looking forward to the new Citi Field and all of it’s ammenities? 

 That’s a great question. I think most Mets fans, myself included, have some terrific memories of Shea. The ‘86 team and for some older fans the ‘69 team are the top of the list. Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry electrifying the stadium in the 80’s as well are unforgettable. But let’s face it. Anyone that’s been to Shea knows that it’s the worst stadium in baseball now that RFK is gone. Everyone is curious to see how Citi Field is going to play though. Nobody wants it to play like Citizen’s Bank Park. I’m not sure how Phillies fans feel about that. But Mets ownership has publicly said they want Citi Field to be a pitchers park like Shea is. That was a major factor in their design of the stadium.

Philadelphia Phillies - Brother In Arms

     The Philadelphia Phillies won last night against the Atlanta Braves in their return to the National League schedule.  Kyle Kendrick pitched his way into the 8th win of the season at Turner Field.  He allowed 3 runs over 6 innings while accruing 6 hits 2 strikeouts and 2 walks.  Kendrick received his usual run support from the Phils with them administering 14 hits and shutting down the Braves on their 1st game of a 3 game homestand.

     Tonight Adam Eaton (4.86 ERA) takes the mound in Atlanta in search of just his 3rd win of the season.  He will face off against the Braves righty Jorge Campillo (2.54 ERA).  With the temporary threat of  4 man rotation Cole Hamels will prepare himself for a early start and the Ace position in the rotation tomorrow.  Meanwhile Brett Myers will pitch tonight in Lehigh Valley in his 1st rehab assignment with the Iron Pigs.  There still is no permanent solution for his replacement, but rather a mish-mosh of AA and AAA pitchers including J.A. Happ and Carlos Carrasco.

 

Philadelphia AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Rollins, SS 4 1 2 0 1 0 0 .267 Victorino, CF 5 1 2 4 1 1 1 .274 Utley, 2B 6 1 2 0 0 2 6 .298 Howard, 1B 5 1 2 0 0 1 4 .218 Burrell, LF 3 1 2 2 1 0 0 .275   1-Werth, PR-LF 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .268 Jenkins, RF 5 0 2 1 0 1 4 .243 Feliz, 3B 4 0 0 1 0 3 6 .256 Ruiz, C 2 1 0 0 3 0 2 .213 Kendrick, P 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 .129   Romero, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000   a-Taguchi, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .203   Gordon, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000   b-Dobbs, PH 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .327   Lidge, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 40 8 14 8 6 9 26   Image from phillies.com

Philadelphia Phillies - High Noon In The Lonestar State

    

 The Philadelphia Phillies won last night while hornswaggling the Texas Rangers in a 8-6 showdown.  The Phillies were able to match bat for bat against the Rangers that lead the majors in runs and RBI’s.  Also, Cole Hamels pitched his 8th win of the year while Brad Lidge was able to close the door on 19/19 saves.  Chase Utley and Ryan Howard smoked the longball out of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, TX.  This ties Chase Utley (23 HR) with Dan Uggla (23 HR) from the Florida Marlins with the most homeruns in the majors in 2008.  This surpasses last year’s 22 HR produced by Utley and we are only 82 games into the season.

     The Phillies pull  ahead in the N.L. standings with the eastern division all losing in yesterday’s games.  The Florida Marlins fall back to 2 games behind the Phightins with losing Dan Uggla to an ankle sprain.  The Braves and the Mets fall back to 4 games with the Mets losing the last 2 games during their subway series with the Yankees.  The Washington Nationals bring up the rear of the division with being an inflated 12 games in the defecit.

     The Phils are still trying to determine what they will do with Brett Myers and his starting rotation position.  They have considered moving Chad Durbin into the rotation and placing Myers in the bullpen.  There is always the option of J.A. Happ or Kris Benson that is pitching for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs today in a rehab assignment.  They may even consider to move to a temporary 4 man rotation until a determination can be made.  With those decisions looming veteran Jamie Moyer (4.09 ERA) takes the mound against the Rangers Eric Hurley (4.24 ERA) in the series finale and the end of interleague play for the year.

 

Philadelphia	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Rollins, SS	5	0	1	1	0	0	3	.264
Victorino, CF	5	1	1	0	0	2	2	.275
Utley, 2B	5	1	3	2	0	0	2	.298
Burrell, LF	3	1	0	0	1	1	1	.270
Bruntlett, LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.239
Howard, 1B	3	2	1	2	1	1	1	.215
Dobbs, DH	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	.330
Feliz, 3B	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	.264
Werth, RF	3	0	1	2	1	0	0	.263
Coste, C	3	1	1	0	0	1	1	.314
Totals	36	8	10	7	3	5	13

Image from phillies.com

Philadelphia Phillies - Win Self Epic Battle

     Tonight the Phillies broke the 6 game losing streak with a shut out win of 4-0 against the Oakland Athletics.  The Phils were able to get back into their groove with accruing 11 hits over 9 innings and manufacturing run support for Kyle Kendrick’s 7th win of 2008.  Kyle pitched 8 innings while only allowing 4 hits and no earned runs with 1 walk.  J.C. Romero came in to seal the deal in the 9th while striking out 1 and allowing 1 walk.  The most important offensive break out tonight was from Chase Utley who went 4-5 at the plate.  Chase almost went the cycle with 2 singles, 1 double, and a triple.  Some other offensive notables were Pedro Feliz going 2-5 with an RBI triple and Chris Coste hitting 2-3.  Even though the Phightins stranded 11 runners on base they are showing signs of good base running and advancing the runners at the plate.

     With the win tonight the Phillies pull ahead to 2 games in the lead in the N.L. East.  The Florida Marlins’ were the only team in the eastern division to fall tonight with their loss to Tampa Bay.  The Phillies look ahead to gain some ground in their division before the All Star break.

     Tonight Adam Eaton (4.94 ERA) takes the mound in search of his 3rd win against Rich Harden (2.44 ERA) of the Athletics.  Adam has been able to keep his game ERA under 5.0 since May 28th.  If the Phillies offense shows up again tonight we should be ready to take on the Texas Rangers in the upcoming 3 game series.

Philadelphia Phillies - Moyer Hung Out To Dry

 

    The Philadelphia Phillies lost again tonight against the Oakland Athletics in a 5-2 final.  Jamie Moyer pitched an exceptional 1 hit game up to the 6th inning.  He then proceeded to drop another 4 hits in the 6th inning with 1 of those hits being a 3 run homerun.  So, you ask yourself why would would Charlie Manuel allow a 45 year starter who probably pitched some of the best 5 innings of his career to continue?  The Phillies Bullpen is well rested and they also rank # 1 in the Majors for ERA.  The Phillies need a win bad to break through this slump and though Moyer pitched well he is no Cole Hamels with longevity.  Tonight’s DH was Geoff Jenkins since Charlie had another one of his mystical feelings that he was going to do well with his .244 batting average.  Hey Charlie, Here’s a news flash - Jenkins went o-4 tonight . . .

     In addition to the need for starting pitching and a lefty in the bullpen, I hope the Phils are looking to improve upon their catching and right field position.  Carlos Ruiz and Geoff Jenkins are just not playing to the level needed to move us into World Series contention.  I will not reiterate my thoughts on So Taguchi, but I do feel that they are under utilizing Eric Bruntlett.  The Phightins have dropped 6 games in a row and somehow they remain in 1st place in the N.L. Eastern Division.  That says a lot about our competition this year.  Non-Existent . . . . .

Tonight Kyle Kendrick (5.06) takes the mound against Oakland’s Greg Smith (3.51) in hopes of accrueing his 7th win and the Phillies 1st win in 6 games.

Starting pitching on the market

Relief pitching on the market

Catchers on the market

Philadelphia Phillies - Subway Series Philly Style

Shibe Park/ Connie Mack Stadium
Capacity: 33,000
Dimensions: L-334, C-410, R-329
Early Major League baseball park opened in 1909. Renamed, 1953. Home to Athletics, 1909-1954; Phillies, 1938-1970. Site of three Negro League World Series; five A’s World Series victories. Among first to host night games. Razed, 1976. (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission)

 

The struggling Philadelphia Phillies brush themselves off for a renewed series against the Oakland Athletics.  The Phillies will clash with the Athletics whom they kicked out of Shibe Park / Connie Mack Stadium and sent to Kansas City in 1955.  The Phillies have persevered some offensive issues as of late as well as their number one starter finding himself unable to perform.  However, it is inevitable that the Phillies woes will be silenced with the sound of the boomsticks filling the air.  All teams go through slumps during the coarse of a season.  The Phightins should consider themselves fortunate that their slump should come sooner than later unlike last year’s flailing Mets and their historic end of the year collapse.  Even though it is hard to swallow right now Charlie Manuel is right in saying that “We are just too good of a team for this to continue much longer”.  The Phillies are currently sitting on a 20-17 road record which is better than it’s homestand.  Maybe with the day off and them being back on the road the Phightins can kick it into high gear when they match up with their days of ole’ crosstown A.L. competitor the “Philadelphia” Athletics.  The Athletics are currently in 2nd place in the A.L. West with a winning Pct of .547 which is almost equivalent to the Phils .545 Pct.  The Phillies heavily out weigh the competition in the following stats: RBI, OBP, AVG, SLG, HR, SB.  However, the Athletics dwarf the Phillies in pitching in the following categories: SO, ERA and the FPCT.  It will be a test to see if the Phillies bats are able to match-up with A.L. big guns of pitching.  If the Phillies are able to make through this road trip and remain in 1st place in the N.L. East then I will be looking forward to watching them in the post season with my rally towel ready . . . . Go Phightins !