Como Esta? Say Hello to My Little Friend . . .

Yesterday the Phillies unleashed some of their best pitching to date against the Chicago Cubs.  Brett Myers was dominant on the mound once again since his return to the majors.  Myers pitched 7 innings while allowing 2 earned runs on 11 hits.  He also struck out 8 batters and walked none.  The Phillies’ bullpen did not disappoint their fan base yesterday while they pitched 2 scoreless and hitless innings.  The pinnacle of the game was when J.C. Romero entered in the 8th inning with 2 base runners.   He stuckout the 1st two hitters then he allowed a walk to load the bases.  Romero then attacked Geovany Soto for the 3rd strikeout and retiring the side with a little Spanish flare.  This set-up closer Brad Lidge to enter the game in the 9th and strikout 2 of the 3 hitters and acquiring his 32nd save of the year.

The Phightins offense was alive as well yesterday with 10 hits accrued with and no walks.  There were 3 longballs unleashed that were administered by Ryan Howard and 2 by Jayson Werth.  Rollins also went 3 for 5 as well as Werth 3 for 5 with both Utley and Howard getting 2 hits over 9 innings.

Today Jamie Moyer (3.81 ERA) will take the mound against Sean Marshall (3.52 ERA) in search of his 12th win of the season.

 

Philadelphia	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Rollins, SS	5	0	3	0	0	1	0	.270
Utley, 2B	4	1	2	0	0	1	1	.291
Burrell, LF	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.258
Bruntlett, LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.221
Howard, 1B	5	2	2	1	0	2	4	.230
Victorino, CF	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.282
Werth, RF	4	2	3	4	0	1	0	.279
Feliz, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.253
Coste, C	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.280
Ruiz, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.221
Myers, P	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.042
Romero, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
a-Dobbs, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.296
Lidge, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	38	5	10	5	0	7	15
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Philadelphia Phillies: Planked The Scurvy Dogs

Last night Brett Myers had the Bucs walk the plank in his 7 2/3 inning outing sinking the Jolly Rogers with a score of 4-2.  Myers allowed 5 hits, 1 BB, 1 run while striking out 6 Pirates and providing some post celebration fireworks with Manager Charlie Manuel.  Myers had a little scurvy  on the brain by challenging Manuel when he approached the mound to bring in J.C. Romero to finish the inning.  Later there was a confrontation between Manuel and Myers in the dug-out in which Rich Dubee and Milt Thompson were seen holding back Manuel as Myers disappeared into the tunnel.  Later during the press conference Manuel addressed the press by saying that it was just two strong willed people disagreeing and their differences had been worked out.

The Phillies offense were able to cash in on their booty to accrue 10 hits against Pittsburgh.  Although, there were several highlights during the game, the most impressive was Jimmy Rollins.  Short stop Jimmy Rollins went 4-4 last night including 2 runs, 2 singles and an impressive 2 triples.  Rollins was hitting the ball hard last night with those triples just missing for homeruns.  It seemed as though the Jimmy of last year came to pay us a visit with his great defense and his addictive offense.

Tonight Jamie Moyer (3.78 ERA) takes the mound against the Pirates Jason Davis (2.57 ERA) who has recently been moved to the starting rotation from the bullpen.  Moyer will looking to add onto his wins while sinking the Bucs in the final game of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Series.

 

Philadelphia AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Rollins, SS 4 2 4 0 0 0 0 .277 Victorino, CF 3 1 2 2 1 0 1 .289 Utley, 2B 4 0 0 0 0 2 6 .286 Howard, 1B 3 0 1 1 1 0 0 .240 Burrell, LF 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .268   Jenkins, RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .241 Werth, RF-LF 3 1 1 0 1 1 0 .265 Dobbs, 3B 3 0 2 1 1 0 0 .304   1-Bruntlett, PR-3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222 Coste, C 4 0 0 0 0 1 5 .271 Myers, P 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .054   Romero, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000   a-Cervenak, M, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250   Durbin, C, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143 Totals 32 4 10 4 4 5 16     image from phillies.com

Philadelphia Phillies: De-boning The Fish

Tonight the Philadelphia Phillies scaled the Marlins in a 5-0 shut out by hands of Kyle Kendrick.  Kendrick pitch 6 scoreless innings to gain his 10th win of the season while only allowing 4 hits, 5 BB and striking out 4 batsmen.  Chad Durbin came in in the 7th inning only allowing 1 hit over 2 innings with the game being finished off by Ryan Madson pitching another hitless and scoreless inning in the 9th.

The Phillies’ offense were able to accrue 9 hits and 5 walks including Ryan Howard’s 32nd homerun of the season tying him with Adam Dunn for MLB most HR’s of the year to date.  Mike Cervenak had his first major league hit tonight as well as his first RBI.  The Phils had 5 doubles hit tonight as well as Eric Bruntlett’s 9th stolen base of the year.

The Phightins will meet up at the bank tomorrow to close the door on the Marlins as Cole Hamels takes the mound in search of his 10th win.  Hamels (3.37 ERA) has struggled as of late, but intends to right the ship against the Fish’s Chris “farfignugen” Volstad (3.25 ERA).  The Phillies will then roll right into the series against the Bucs for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Series.

 

Philadelphia AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Rollins, SS 4 0 2 0 1 0 0 .269 Victorino, CF 4 1 0 0 1 1 5 .285 Utley, 2B 4 0 1 1 1 1 4 .292 Howard, 1B 5 1 2 1 0 1 4 .244 Burrell, LF 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 .275   Werth, LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .265 Jenkins, RF 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 .241 Coste, C 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 .278 Bruntlett, 3B 3 1 2 1 1 0 0 .231 Kendrick, P 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 .119   a-Cervenak, M, PH 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 .333   Durbin, C, P 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .143   Madson, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 34 5 9 5 5 4 20

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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

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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

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Philadelphia Phillies – It’s Alive

     The Phillies won last night 10-9 after dropping the 1st game to the Braves in the 3 game homestand.  Cole Hamels in a unusual outing was pulled after 3 2/3 innnings.  Hamels allowed 9 runs on 6 hits in the 4th inning crushing all hopes of the Phillies being able to move up in the N.L. East standings.  However, the Phillies offense decided to show up as though Dr. Frankenstein had put life back into once viable corpse.  The Phils were able to follow-up the 4th inning debacle with a 7 run 5th inning pushing past the Braves and holding on to the lead through 9.  Hopefully yesterday’s glimmer of hope won’t fade away as though it has done time and time again over th past 2 months.

     Today the newly acquired Joe Blanton (5.08 ERA) will take the mound in his 2nd start with the Phillies.  Blanton will face off against Jorge Campillo (2.83 ERA) in search of his 1st win in the red and white pinstripes.

 

Philadelphia	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Rollins, SS	5	1	2	0	0	0	3	.268
Victorino, CF	5	2	2	0	0	1	2	.280
Utley, 2B	3	1	1	1	0	0	1	.287
Howard, 1B	3	2	1	2	1	1	0	.235
Burrell, LF	3	1	1	1	0	1	0	.278
Ruiz, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.209
Werth, RF-LF	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	.270
Bruntlett, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	0	2	.238
Coste, C	4	1	3	3	0	0	0	.285
Lidge, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Hamels, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.260
Seanez, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
a-Taguchi, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.222
Eaton, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.179
b-Dobbs, PH	1	1	1	3	0	0	0	.315
Madson, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Durbin, C, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.167
Romero, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
c-Jenkins, PH-RF	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.241
Totals	32	10	12	10	3	4	11

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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

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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.

Philadelphia Phillies – Building a Boomtown

The Phillies are turning Philadephia into a Boomtown . . . . The Philadephia Phillies are still leading Major League Baseball in homeruns.  The Phils are currently at 77 longballs so far for 2008 with their impressive offensive line-up.  That comes out to 1.43 dingers each game until tonight.  Their boomsticks are not limited to only homeruns since they are currently 6th place in MLB in hits and 7th in batting AVG.  Check-out the following Phillies stats here.  Go Phightins !!