Philadelphia Phillies – Overboard

Last night the Phillies were hanging over the side of the S.S. Citizen’s Bank creating their own chum wake.  The Florida Marlins knocked around Jamie Moyer trying to make up for the previous 10 losses and then proceeded to spank young J.A. Happ just to ensure he does not follow in the elder’s footsteps.  The pain staking 8-2 loss was only over shadowed by the fact that Victorino’s 2 run homerun was actually foul.  So, those of you who are following along that means that the Phightins were actually shutout in my book.

The offense was able to accrue 8 hits last night, but it does not help when all of those hits were spread out over 9 innings.  In addition to the offense failure to make it happen was Ryan Howard’s ground ball that went between his legs.  Let’s put this in perspective . . . . .  If you were to fail this much at your normal everyday job you would probably be fired, but he still is able to keep his job and make 10 million a year.  Would someone please tell Ryan Howard that defense is also part of his job description and Philly does not except a doctor’s note to sit out on the defense.  Oh, thank you Geoff Jenkins for your web gem catch !!

Tonight Krazy “K” takes the mound with his mighty sinker ball trying to get his double digit win bringing him to 10 for the season.  Kendrick (4.59 ERA) will face off against Anibal “Anakin” Sanchez (3.18 ERA) trying to bring down the death star known as the Marlins.  Kendrick – Please do not embarass us !!

 

Philadelphia	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Rollins, SS	4	1	2	0	1	0	1	.266
Victorino, CF	5	1	2	2	0	0	3	.288
Utley, 2B	3	0	1	0	0	0	2	.292
Howard, 1B	4	0	1	0	0	1	3	.242
Burrell, LF	3	0	1	0	1	2	1	.278
Jenkins, RF	1	0	0	0	2	1	1	.244
d-Werth, PH-RF	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.265
Bruntlett, 3B	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	.224
b-Dobbs, PH-3B	2	0	0	0	0	1	2	.301
Ruiz, C	3	0	1	0	1	1	2	.216
Moyer, P	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.114
a-Cervenak, M, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Condrey, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Walrond, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Madson, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
c-Taguchi, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.224
Happ, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
e-Coste, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.277
Totals	32	2	8	2	5	7	22

image from phillies.com

Philadelphia Phillies – Cleaning House In The East

The Philadelphia Phillies won last night completing their sweep of the Washington Nationals.  In addition to their victory the Phightins pushed the New York Mets of of their perch that they held temporarily for the Phillies.  Kyle Kendrick pitched 6 2/3 innings while allowing only 7 hits and 2 runs while striking out 4 on his 9th win of the season.  Kendrick also hit 2 batsmen which in turn had the opposition hit Victorino and Utley.  Both benches were warned by the homeplate umpire after Colome struck Chase Utley and began to approach homeplate as though to get into an altercation with Utley.  Lannan who was the starter for the Nationals tonight was responsible for Chase Utley’s broken hand last year at Citizen Bank Park.

The Phillies offense has remained strong through the series accrueing 31 hits over 3 games.  They were once again vibrant last night with 11 hits bringing the final score to 8-4.  The longball was administered last night by Jayson Werth and Jimmy “The MVP” Rollins.  Rollins was able to take advantge of a foul tip that was not contolled by the Nationals catcher and allow Kendrick to make his way onto base due to a throwing error.  This set-up Rollins for a 2 run blast out into the left field seats.  The Phillies’ Fans were out in droves through the series cheering on their team including the bunch known as the “Flying Hawaiians” on the day Victorino hit a homerun.

The Phils are headed off to St. Louis to face off the Cardinals and add to their current 5 game win streak.  Cole “The Ace” Hamels is looking to rebound from last games 9 run disaster inning against the Braves.  Hamels (3.27 ERA) takes the mound in search of his 10 win against the former Philly Kyle Lohse (3.68 ERA).

 

Philadelphia	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Rollins, SS	4	2	2	3	1	0	1	.272
Victorino, CF	4	1	2	0	0	0	1	.289
Utley, 2B	3	1	1	0	1	1	2	.293
Howard, 1B	5	0	2	1	0	2	4	.239
Burrell, LF	3	0	1	1	2	0	2	.279
Seanez, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Durbin, C, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.167
Werth, RF-LF	5	1	1	1	0	3	4	.271
Bruntlett, 3B	5	1	1	0	0	1	2	.232
Ruiz, C	4	1	1	0	0	1	1	.217
Kendrick, P	3	1	0	0	0	2	0	.125
Condrey, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Jenkins, RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.242
Totals	36	8	11	6	4	10

image from phillies.com

Philadelphia Phillies – Stroking The Longball

     The Phillies fought back again today with the longball to win the final game of the homestand against the Atlanta Braves.  The Phils accrued 5 homeruns over 9 innings from Rollins, Victorino, Burrell, Werth and Chris Coste.  There were a total of 14 hits bringing them to their 12-10 victory and 1 game closer to sharing the lead once again with the New York Mets.  The Phillies went through 7 pitchers including Blanton, Eaton, Condrey, Romero, Seanez, Madson and Lidge due to the initial rain delay.  Blanton was once again getting roughed up early in the game and was not getting calls on his breaking stuff including his curve ball.  Brad Lidge was able to come into the game and collect his 24th consecutive save opportunity after the Braves dropped in 5 more runs in the 8th bringing the tie to within 3 runs.

    The Braves may have to concede and look into rebuilding for next year after falling behind 7.5 games in the N.L. East.  Chipper Jones believes he will be headed to the D.L. with his hamstring.  Also, Brian McCann had two collisions at the plate tonight with Utley then with Shane Victorino in which he suffered a concussion and was removed from the game.

The Phillies have tomorrow off for their travels down to D.C. to play the Washington Nationals who are currently 19 games out of first in the eastern division and on a 6 game losing streak.  Brett Myers (5.82 ERA) will take the mound in search of his 1st win since returning from the minors against the righty Collin Balester (5.75 ERA).

 

Philadelphia	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Rollins, SS	4	3	2	1	1	1	3	.271
Victorino, CF	4	2	2	4	0	0	0	.283
Utley, 2B	5	0	2	0	0	2	3	.288
Howard, 1B	5	1	2	2	0	2	1	.237
Burrell, LF	5	1	1	1	0	0	1	.277
Lidge, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Werth, RF-LF	2	2	1	2	1	0	0	.272
Bruntlett, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	2	2	.234
Coste, C	3	1	2	2	0	0	1	.291
Romero, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
d-Dobbs, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.313
Seanez, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Madson, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Jenkins, RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.241
Blanton, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
a-Eaton, PH-P	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.179
b-Taguchi, PH	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.233
Condrey, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
c-Ruiz, PH-C	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	.211
Totals	35	12	14	12	4	7	11

image from phillies.com

Philadelphia Phillies – Hung Up By The Sox

Yesterday the Philadelphia Phillies dropped the 2nd game in the 3 game series against the Boston Red Sox.  Kyle Kendrick was pulled after 3 innings for walking 2 batters and allowing 6 hits along with 6 earned runs.  The Phillies offense was stagnent once again with only getting 6 hits and Victorino, Utley, Burrell, Jenkins, Coste, and Werth being a non factor.  The heart of the Phillies offensive line-up has had it’s recent struggles with a lack luster on base percentage.  The Phils have only been able to win 3 of their last nine games against the Marlins, Cardinals, and the Boston Red Sox.  With the trade deadline approaching fast the Phillies need to asess what positions if any they intend to improve upon.  They obviously have a need for a starting pitcher by removing Myers as well as a left-hander in the bullpen replacing Condrey, Gordon, or Seanez.  Why be satified there when you could improve on the bench with removing So Taguchi or finding a more stable everyday right fielder and replacing Jenkins who struggles at the plate.  There is plenty of room for improvement with July 31st approaching.  The Phillies must know by now that they are a team in contention for their division.  I would be surprised if there are not any changes made by Gillick to solidify this team.