Fire Charlie Manuel

Why Ryan Howard Will Be MVP

2008-09-22T10:26:00.000-04:00

Ryan Howard has had what could be considered one of the best offensive starts to a career that has ever been seen. In only 566 games a Philadelphia Phillie, Howard has racked up a whopping 175 home runs, 494 RBIs and a .533 slugging percentage. Most importantly though is Howard's production in the late months of the season. In his short career, he has 42 dingers in the months of Sept/Oct with 106 RBIs. Which only slightly bests his August numbers of 33 HRs and 100 RBIs.

Clearly Howard is turning into a clutch player down the stretch for the Philadelphia Phillies and he has homered his way into talks now for the NL MVP. Fortunately for him though it might be easier than he thinks to win the award for the second time.

Most of his critics argue that he is only hitting .249 on the season and that his defense is less than desirable even at this point in his career, but can we discount the fact that he single handily has put this team on his back and carried them to what appears to be a playoff berth.

Howard is currently hitting .348 in the month of September with 9 homers and 27 RBIs. Not bad in 69 at bats.

His contenders for the MVP award on the other hand, might have much better overall numbers but they are struggling to stay in contention if not out of it already.

Albert Pujols is having a stellar year. Hitting .349 for the season with 34 home runs and 106 RBIs. How can we dismiss the fact though that his team in a mere 5 games over .500 and out of the playoff hunt sitting 14.5 games back.

Carlos Delgado is having a monster end to the season as well. Hitting .361 in the month of September with 7 homers and 17 RBIs, he has managed to come up big in some clutch situations for the Mets as they continue to fight for a playoff spot.

David Wright is another name that looms in the MVP race. Hitting .297 on the season, Wright has a respectable 32 home runs and 118 RBIs but will probably fall short once again because his numbers aren't as glaring as Delgado's at this point in the season.

So why will Howard win the MVP?

Ryan Howard should and will win the MVP for the following reasons.
1. Howard leads the league in Home Runs by 8 and by the end of the week could break 50.
2. Howard's 141 RBI's is 23 higher than any of the MVP contenders.
3. Despite Howard's poor batting average, he has managed to turn it on when his team needed and is hitting .282 since July 1st.
4. Howard has picked his entire offense up and carried them towards what appears to be a NL East title baring the outcome of the last 6 games of the season.
5. Finally Howard continues to be a team player despite the fact that the foolish Philadelphia ownership refuses to acknowledge the lasting potential of this offensive phenom. Howard has continued to play the good guy as Philadelphia Execs have yet to extend his contract.

Manuel Losing His Team - Phils Lose Lead.

2008-07-25T09:49:00.004-04:00

Since July 1st the Philadelphia Phillies have had a busy month. They've played nineteen games in 25 days which included a four day break for the All-Star game. Even with the four day grace period they only managed to post a 10-9 record. After the most recent series with the New York Mets, they also saw their 1st place lead slip out of their hands. Those same Mets have posted a 15-6 record including a 10 game win streak that allowed them to pick up the 5 games on the Phillies that they trailed at the beginning of the month. The Mets now sit atop the NL East with a 1 game lead.

What's Wrong?

Well in the midst of an All-Star break, the Phillies acquired Joe Blanton from the Oakland Athletics, demoted and then brought back up starter Brett Myers, and shaken up the lineup on more than one occasion to try to spark the offense. Unfortunately none of this has worked so far.

Chase Utley has all but disappeared from the lineup with a .243 batting average and only 5 RBIs this month, it looks like the MVP three peat could be in jeopardy if he doesn't snap out of it quick.

Jimmy Rollins is slowly becoming a poor MVP as he was benched for the second time this season because of his inability to take the game seriously. Especially after being ridiculed heavily for his inability to score from first in Sunday's loss to the Marlins.

Manager Charlie Manuel has managed to get his team in such a funk that they seem to be disinterested in competing. At this point he appears to be over-managing the games in hopes of getting lucky. Unfortunately for the fans, Manuel isn't all that good at managing regularly, so the idea of over-managing is scary.

He's appears to be so lost that after benching Rollins for the game on Thursday, he had him pinch hit against Billy Wagner who Rollins has never connected off of. If he was planning on using Rollins at all as a pinch hitter, the appropriate time would have been in the eighth against Aaron Heilman with two men on instead of Jason Werth who struggles against right handed pitching.

Manuel is floundering at this point and appears unable to motivate a team that appears to have let MVP awards and a first place lead get in their heads. The Phils need to snap out of it quick, and it's up to Charlie to make it happen.

The only bright spot would be Ryan Howard who has officially swung his way out of his slump. With a .308 BA so far in July, Howard has hammered 9 home runs and 20 RBIs, bringing his season average up to .234.

Needless to say, this weekend's series against the Atlanta Braves is key to getting the team back on track. With the Mets heading to St. Louis and Florida over the next week, the Phils should have the opportunity to take back the NL East lead, but they will have to earn it. Anyone who is banking on another Mets collapse is out to lunch and should probably come back to reality.

Only time will tell..

Phillies Spiraling. Who's To Blame?

2008-07-09T08:24:00.003-04:00

The Philadelphia Phillies entered the 2008 season as the team to beat in the National League East, and right now that's just what they've become, a team to beat up on.

After a pitiful showing at the end of June against the American League teams. The Phils hoped to bounce back from their 3-9 interleague stint and looked forward to getting back to playing National League teams. Last week they amazed us with a strong showing in Atlanta, sweeping the Braves in convincing fashion. Friday night continued to run as they took the first game from the Mets in their four game series. Then things turned once again.

The Phils have lost four straight after last night's shutout loss to the Cardinals. That game marked the third time the Phils had been shutout in their own building this season. Losing ground in the standings to both the Marlins and the Mets, the Phils now cling to a 1.5 game lead in the NL East over both Florida and New York.

So what is the problem in the City of Brotherly Love?

On June 1, the Phils had a commanding lead in the NL East with a record of 33-25. Eight games over .500 and looking dominant over divisional rivals. A little over a month later, they stand at 48-43, only 5 games over .500 and watching their control of the division slowly slip away.

Is it lack of control by the manager?

Charlie Manuel seems to have been unable to control not only Brett Myers pitching but also his mouth, as he spouted off about not being committed to starting after being sent to the minors. Manuel seems to have lost something with the players as well this season. As the team seems to be in la-la land most of the time and not truly having fun as the game should be played.

And who can forget the hypocritical move he made this week by packing it in against the Mets on Monday, and pulling his all-star second basemen in the sixth while down by eight. Unfortunately the Phils came one run short of tying that game maybe Manuel should bench himself for giving up, just as he did with his MVP earlier this season.

Is it the players?

No one thought that Chase Utley would be able to maintain the numbers that he was posting at the beginning of the season all year. After a long hitless streak, he seems to have worked out whatever ailed him in June and looks to be back to form in July.

The rest of the team though seems to be leaking like a siv.

Pat Burrell's number have slowly started to drop off as the season progresses. At the end of April Pat stood with 25 RBIs and has only 29 in the 2 plus months since.
Jimmy Rollins seems to be stuck on the idea of being the MVP and not focusing on what got him there. While his steals are remaining steady. His average and power numbers are down from last season, and has only 29 RBIs thus far.
Ryan Howard seems to be the all or nothing player for the Phils. His average is up from earlier in the season, and his on base percentage is climbing back but he is on pace to destroy the strikeout record as he has 124 a week before the break. Howard appears to either strikeout or score runs, no middle ground.

Is it the GM?

Phillies fan love to point fingers at the General Manager in these types of situations, especially this close to the trade deadline so it's not possible to let Pat Gillick off without a second look.

The Phils in obvious need of another starter have send C.C. Sabathia and now Rich Harden, both get dealt to teams before the All Star break. This race for starting pitching will only heat up as the trade deadline draws near and if Gillick doesn't do something soon, the Phils could wind up with another third or fourth starter on their team instead a solid two to back up Hamels.

There are many things that we can look to for the Phils recent struggles. A collection of all isn't going to win any championship and is now threatening to stop them from winning the division. It's time to right this ship, and the All Star break couldn't come at a better time.

Phillies: Interleague Recap

2008-06-23T13:02:00.003-04:00

In the Philadelphia Phillies second round of inter league play this season they showed that it will take more than National League numbers to win a World Series.

Opening up their week against the AL East leading Boston Redsox proved only that the have one prominent pitcher in their five man rotation as Cole Hamels shut down the Red Sox offense. Hamels allowed 8 hits and 2 runs as the Phils offense hit early and often and put up 8 runs against Bartolo Colon who had to leave the game after four innings because of back spasms caused by a ridiculous looking at bat. Rollins connected for a first inning home run and Howard connected for two in the 6 run rout of the AL leading Bosox.

Tuesday night, the Phils faced one of the Red Sox top young pitchers in Jon Lester and it proved to be to much for the Phightins. The Phils managed 7 hits off Red Sox pitching but no runs. Boston on the other hand managed to score 2 runs off starting pitcher Jamie Moyer and tacked on one more run later in the game to cap off a 3-0 win to tie the series at one.

The Phils would send Kyle Kendrick to the mound on Wednesday to try and win the series. Kendrick though wouldn't bring his best stuff to the afternoon rubber match. Boston managed to tag Kendrick for four runs in the first and after allowing two more runs in the third, Kendrick was pulled and the rout was on. The Phils managed to fight back just a bit, but fell short and lost the series and the game by a score of 7-4. Chase Utley played all three games of this series and went without a hit.

The Phils would have on off day on Thursday and would host the Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim. Unfortunately for the Phils they seemed to be in space throughout the weekend as the dropped all three games to LA. The Phils only managed to score five runs in the series and allowed 15. This week has proven that the Phils will need to look to the trade market to improve if they will look to win a World Series against one of these AL opponents.

In losing five straight the Phillies have managed to continue to cling to a one run lead in the NL East. The head on the road for the rest of their inter league stint and they visit Oakland and Texas. The Phils will have to have a positive west coast road trip, as they head down to Atlanta before the come back to Philly to face the Mets for four games over fourth of July weekend.

Phillies-Red Sox: Phil's lineup pounds the nation

2008-06-17T07:58:00.003-04:00

I find it only fitting that I return from a short hiatus to document the invasion of Red Sox nation into Philadelphia so that it can be accounted first hand.

Last night the "Nation" invaded it's latest city as the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox opened a three game set of inter-league play in Philly on Monday night. The game featured the Phils ace, Cole Hamels against an obviously out of shape Bartolo Colon.

The Sox have been facing the injury bug as of late and entered the series without Big Papi, Daisuke, Curt Schilling and Kevin Youklis so the idea that the Phils were facing the "real" Sox would be brought up numerous times throughout the night.

Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the Phils offense put everyone's mind to rest as it took off right from the get go.

Jimmy Rollins started the game off quick with a lead off home run that quieted many of the visiting Red Sox fans who tried to out cheer the Philadelphia natives. Three batters later, Ryan Howard hit an opposite field shot to extend the lead to 3-0 before the end of the first. The Phils would add another run in the third inning off Ryan Howards second home run of the night.

Hamels proved to be a strong ace for the staff and didn't allow a run to the Sox potent offense until the fifth inning when Dustin Pedroia and JD Drew went back to back bringing the score to 4-2. That would be all the Sox would muster against Hamels though who went 7 strong innings for the Phils.

Philadelphia's offense would all but put the game away in the sixth as the Phils put four more runs on the board against Mike Timlin and capped off a series win in what many are calling a potential World Series Preview.

Although the Phillies probably won't face the "real" Red Sox during this home stand as many of their stars face injuries, they are making a strong statement for their push to the playoffs. Of course they still have two games left against the Sox and then take on the Angels in the weekend series, so time will tell if this team has what it takes.

Phils Weekend Recap: Regain Control Of NL East

2008-06-01T19:49:00.005-04:00

After missing an entire week of baseball due to the birth of my new daughter, I have made it back just in time to recap the Phils weekend series with the Marlins as they regained, lost and regained again the lead in the NL East by a half a game.

Friday night, the Phils not only continued their offense streak from the week that saw them average 12 runs a game against Rockies, but also saw a shed of light from pitcher Brett Myers. After giving up three runs in the first inning to the Marlins, Myers settled down nicely and pitched eight strong innings striking out 11. The Phils offense managed 10 runs against the Marlin's starter Mark Hendrickson, and two more against the pen. Friday moved the Phils into first by a half game over the fish. Unfortunately the lead would only last a day.

Saturday, Cole Hamels looked to recover from potentially his worst start of his career the earlier in the week, in which he only went four runs. The Marlins had other plans and in five and two thirds innings of work scored seven runs off Hamels. The Marlin's Ricky Nolasco became the first pitcher in a week to hold the Phils offense in check and only allowed two earned runs in six and two thirds. The Phils would only manage one more run and dropped their first game in five and relinquished the NL East lead once again.

Luckily for the Phils, Sunday would prove to be a step back in the right direction. Jamie Moyer took the mound for the Phils as they honored Mike Lieberthal at Citizen's Bank Park, who became a Phillie for one more day, just long enough to retire. Moyer, struggled early for the Phils and by the third innings was in a 5-1 hole. The Phils managed to crawl back into the game though with home runs by Chase Utley, who now extends the league lead to 20, and Geoff Jenkins who hit his fifth dinger of the season. It was in the seventh inning though that Pat Burrell's two RBI double would score the eventual game winning runs and secure first place once again for the Phils.

The Phils will host the Cincinnati Reds this week for four games. Ken Griffey Jr. comes in with 599 home runs as he looks to break into the 600 club, while Chase Utley leads all NL Allstar vote getters and looks to continue his home run lead.

Phillies Weekend Recap: Split With 'Stros

2008-05-26T10:15:00.003-04:00

The Philadelphia Phillies finished off a four game set against the Houston Astros that ended in a split of the series. After Thursdays big win to lead off the series the Phils struggled through games two and three.

Although they managed to get solid starting pitching out of both Adam Eaton and Brett Myers, the offense couldn't muster more than three runs a game.

Friday, Eaton went deep into the game and it cost the Phillies as he pitched 8 innings giving up two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth after earlier coughing up a fifth inning home run to Hunter Pence. The Phils offense managed to come within one run in the top of the ninth, but Shane Victorino flied out to end the game with runners on second and third.

Saturday's game ended in even more disappointing fashion as Brett Myers gave up four runs to the Astros again only going six innings for the Phils. For the second night in a row the Phils struggled to crack the pitching but in the ninth inning managed to plate two runs to bring the game within one run. Unfortunately for the Phils, the game ended with another Victorino fly out, except this time it was with only one out but Pedro Feliz attempted to score the tying run on the fly out and the game ended in a double play off a excellent throw by Darin Erstad.

Fortunately for the Phils, the offense showed up on Sunday. With Cole Hamels on the mound, the game appeared to be a lock as Hamels was ridding a 19 inning scoreless streak. Hamels though didn't bring his best stuff to Houston and was rocked for six runs in four innings. It looked like there would be no way to crack this Houston team until the fifth inning as the Phils started an eleven run two inning rally and piled on 15 runs total. The bullpen pitched strong, not allowing another Astro to score thus completing the series for the Phils with a 15-6 win.

Monday the Phils head home and face the Colorado Rockies for three games. The Rockies have placed key players on the DL as of late, including just recently Matt Holliday.

The Phils now sit 2.5 games back in the NL East still tied for second with Atlanta behind the surprising Florida Marlins.

Phillies-Astros: Howard Back to MVP Form

2008-05-23T08:18:00.004-04:00

Thursday night opened a four game set between two National League contenders as the Philadelphia Phillies headed to Houston to take on the Astros. The story of both of these two teams has pretty much been the same all year. Good offense, shaky starting pitching, solid bullpen that has managed to keep them in games this year. Both teams fighting to regain the top spot in their division. Luckily for the Phillies, their starting pitching has been on a bit of a run as late and would look to Kyle Kendrick to continue their bid for first.

Kendrick's start was a bit rocky for the Phils as he allowed a run in each of the first two innings. The first off of a Lance Berkman double to bring home Miguel Tejada, and the second off a sac-fly from Brad Ausmus to plate Hunter Pence.

Thankfully the Phils did expend all their offense in the 12-2 route of the Nationals the night before and managed to put of 4 runs in the first three innings against Roy Oswalt who was on the mound for the 'Stros.

Carlos Ruiz singled in the second inning to bring home Ryan Howard to get the game started for the offense. In the third the Phils posted a 3 spot win RBIs from Howard, Pedro Feliz, and Geoff Jenkins to take a 4-2 lead after the third.

Neither team managed a run in the fourth and in the fifth, Ryan Howard led off the inning with his 13th home run of the season, his third in two games and this third hit of the night for the Phils.

Kendrick though ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning. After plunking Carlos Lee, he allowed Hunter Pence to single, who was followed by a Ty Wiggington double to bring home the two base runners. Kendrick was yanked from the game with a 5-4 lead, but that would be quickly erased as Geoff Blum would single to left allowing Wiggington to score to even up the game.

Both teams turned the game over to the bullpen and it would be up to the relievers to determine the outcome of this game.

Fortunately for the Phils, the Astros pen was a little more off then they were. In the top of the eighth, Pat Burrell led off the inning with a pinch hit home run to take the lead and supply the eventual game winning run. The Phils would tack on one more in the eighth on an RBI single from Chase Utley, and Brad Lidge came on to secure his 12th save of the season.

Friday night, the Phils send Adam Eaton to the mound against Brandon Backe. Ryan Howard is 6-10 in his last two games with 3 home runs and 6 RBIs, and is finally looking to be back in MVP form.

Phillies-Nationals: Hamels In Top Form

2008-05-21T08:02:00.003-04:00

Cole Hamels entered Tuesday nights game against the Washington Nationals having come off a complete game shut out last week against the Atlanta Braves. His first shut out of his career and third complete game.

The Phillies entered the game as a whole looking for a spark, as they struggled to find offense against the Nationals on Monday night and were looking to put an end to their three game losing streak that found them dropping to third in the division. Coming off the 4-0 loss on Monday gave the Phils a record of 1-3 against the Nat's this season, and they needed to find a way to win against their division rival.

Hamels appeared to have the answer. For the second straight game, the Phils ace pitched 7 shutout innings striking out 11 and only allowing four hits. Hamels was taken out in the eighth inning though after throwing 110 pitches. He tossed 130 in his complete game last week and was likely on a count this week so as to not wear out his arm.

In true competitive form, Jason Bergmann for the Nationals also managed to pitch 7 scoreless innings keeping the Phils off the board for 16 consecutive innings in this series. As both teams turned the game over to the bullpen in the eighth it would be a battle of relievers. Luckily for the Phils, they won the battle.

In the top of the ninth, after a lead off double from Pedro Feliz, Gregg Dobbs singled on a line drive to center and brought home the eventual winning run. Brad Lidge entered in the bottom of the ninth and collected his 11 save of the season for the Phils.

Wednesday they send Jamie Moyer to the mound to try to win the series against the Nats and climb back to the top of the division.

To Boo Or Not To Boo, That Is The Question

2008-05-19T09:52:00.006-04:00

Merriam Webster dictionary defines the word fanatic as "marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion". In the City of Brotherly Love, uncritical is not in our nature.

I live in Philadelphia and have been a sports fan for as long as I can remember. A die hard Eagles and Phillies fan, I have been through thick and thin with these teams. Becoming a true sports fan off the bat of Joe Carter in 1993 and with the legs of Rhonde Barber in 2003.

I believe in Booing, it's in my nature. I have booed on opening day, I have booed in the midst of a Super Bowl run. It's what we do.

As a sports fan I usually attempt to be as objective as possible when it comes to Philadelphia sports. Looking at all the angles to determine the right opinion is a difficult thing in a town like this one. With the loss of the Flyers this week, Philadelphia sports are about to incur 100 combined years without a championship. It has created a bitter group of hateful fans towards anything remotely negative and unfortunately for this town right now that negative is Ryan Howard.

In 2004, Philadelphia was graced with a new ball park and the hopes of a new future for its Phillies as they looked to rebuild and become a contender. They brought in names like Millwood, Wagner, and Thome. Brought up prospects like Floyd, Madson and Geary. None of which gave the fans the answer they were looking for.

Four years later, things are a bit different. Now Utley, Rollins and Howard have the spotlight. Hamels, Lidge and Romero bring us hope and yet Philadelphia has found something to boo. But are they directing their attention in the right spot.

Sure Ryan Howard is in the biggest slump of his short career, looking to break his own personal and major league record of strikeouts in a season which currently stands at 199. He is currently on pace to achieve 228 strikeouts this season as he sits with 64 Ks in 45 games. His average has not been over .200 since the first week of the season. Yet he has amount 10 home runs in the span which puts him on pace for 35 for the year. Not bad for a slumping season. But is it worth the $10 millions Howard is being paid this year?

How quickly fans forget the fact that Howard is the quickest player ever to reach 100 home runs and has amounted more homers in the previous two seasons than any other player. All while making the rookiee maximum of $300,000 a year. He has accomplished a feat which only two other players have in baseball history in becoming the Rookiee of the Year and MVP in consecutive seasons. In 2006 he single handily carried the Phillies to their 86 wins and brought life back to the ball park with his all time Phillies home run record.

Yet does all that give him a free pass? Unfortunately for Howard, fans in this town have a short memory. "What have you done for me lately?" seems to be the motto of this town.

How quickly we forget that Pat Burrell practically stole $60 million from this franchise, only really starting to play now that his contract is up. Burrell has consistently been booed on opening day for the past four seasons. Yet for the first time I can remember talk of All-Star ballots run through the stadium every time he steps up to the plate. How does he all of the sudden get a free pass? He has the same number of home runs as Howard and just 7 more RBIs. Does that wipe away 4 years of sub-par play?

And yet we have players like Aaron Rowand who literally bled for this town for two seasons. A hard working attitude and no concern for his body made him a fan favorite throughout the Phillies push to the playoffs in 2007. What did he get in return? A standing ovation when coming back to town as an opponent a year later.

This town is a difficult place to play any sport. A town with a short memory for some and a good memory for others. We still boo J.D. Drew when he visits town and cheer Jim Thome. Either perform or suffer the consequences, no matter what your past record has been. Booing is a choice, in this town it's a tradition.

How fanatical this all seems...

Phils Drop Soggy Game To Blue Jays

2008-05-18T20:09:00.002-04:00

The Philadelphia Phillies entered Sundays' game with the Toronto Blue Jays hoping to win their first inter-league series of the season. Unfortunately, the weather didn't agree with their plan and caused a few rain delays and alot of soggy baseball.

The Phils sent Kyle Kendrick to the mound on Sunday who has struggled in this early season and was looking for some semblance of stability entering the summer months. Kendrick though only pitched one inning of Sunday's rubber match due to a rain delay in the top of the second. The Phils offense managed to strike before the delay as Ryan Howard lifted a ball over the center field wall for two early runs. After the delay, Carlos Ruiz managed to add another run in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single.

The Phils Chad Durbin had shut down the Jays after the delay, but they managed to break through in the top of the fifth. Lyle Overbay single handily tied the game with a three run home run to right to bring the game to 3-3.

The bullpen woes continued for the Phils as Rudy Seanez allowed three more runs in the sixth off a two RBI double by Shannon Stewart after an intentional walk to Matt Stairs, and Rod Barajas continued his stellar weekend with an RBI single to give the Jays a 3 run lead.

The Phils tried to work their way back scoring a run in the sixth off a Chase Utley RBI double and one again in the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run from Pat Burrell. The Phils would come up short though and dropped the game 6-5 to the Blue Jays.

The Phillies currently sit in second place of the NL East and head on the road to visit divisional rival Washington Nationals.

Barajas Almost Matches Werth's Big Night

2008-05-17T23:36:00.006-04:00

Saturday night's game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays played out much like Friday nights game. Rod Barajas came back to Philadelphia after a difficult season trying to become the Phils starting catcher, but struggled and lost the job to Carlos Ruiz. Friday, Barajas got some payback.

After a solid first inning from Adam Eaton to start off Saturday's game, Eaton hit a batter and allowed two hits before Barajas smoked a ball over the right field fence for a grand slam and a four run lead.

Eaton would seemingly settle in with the hopes of allowing the Phils offense to battle back, but the home team struggled to get their offense going against A.J. Burnett.

In the fourth inning, Gregg Dobbs managed to get the Phils on the board with an RBI double off Burnett. The Phils added two more runs in the seventh and came within one run after a two RBI double from Jimmy Rollins.

After a scoreless eighth inning, Rod Barajas struck again and led off the top of the ninth with a solo shot to make it a two run lead again. The Blue Jays tacked on another run on a Hector Luna single and Toronto's closer, B.J. Ryan came in and shut down the Phils for the save.

The rubber match between these two teams will feature Kyle Kendrick for the Phils and Shaun Marcum for the Jays.

Myers Struggles Early and Often

2008-05-15T08:10:00.003-04:00

Wednesday nights match up between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves pitted the ageless Tom Glavine against the reeling Brett Myers. Glavine was looking to obtain his first win since returning from the DL earlier this season, and Myers was still trying to obtain his starting form, as he has struggled all season to get games in the win column.

The Braves offense started up early for the second night in a row, putting a two spot on the scoreboard in the first inning with home runs by Yunel Escobar and Chipper Jones. They tacked on another in the second when Kelly Johnson hit a home run of his own. The barrage continued in the third with a two out, two RBI double off the bat of Brian McCann in the third for a 5-0 lead.

Myers was finally pulled in the fifth inning after giving up three more earned runs. Myers loaded the bases in the top of the fifth and after Brian McCann brought home one run, Ryan Madson was brought in to stop the bleeding, but allowed two more to cross the plate off a ground ball by Gregor Blanco.

The Phils finally got to Glavine in the sixth with an RBI double from Jimmy Rollins, and fielders choice RBI from Shane Victorino and a two run home run off the bat of Chase Utley.

Unfortunately for the Phils though, the damage was done, and even though the bullpen held the Braves offense off the board after the fifth inning, they could only muster two more runs in the game. Ryan Howard hit a solo home run for his eighth of the year in the eighth inning and Jimmy Rollins had an RBI single in the ninth to bring the game to 8-6.

The Phils send Cole Hamels to the mound on Thursday to try to win the series for the Phils against Chuck James.

Werth's Bat Carries Phils

2008-05-14T09:30:00.003-04:00

Tuesday nights game between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies featured a divisional rival that poses an interesting story. An aging Braves team that spent a decade atop the NL East as the Phillies, Mets and Marlins looked up hoping for a Wild Card spot. Now the tables have turned on the Braves and they are the team striving to compete for the number one spot in the division. As the Phillies, Marlins and Mets flourish this season, the Braves are looking for a spark to get rolling. Tuesday they were looking for that spark, but unfortunately for the Braves, Jason Werth showed up in rare fashion.

The Phils sent Kyle Kendrick to the mound on Tuesday to face the Braves JoJo Reyes as Kendrick looked to bring stability to the back of the Phils rotation. Kendirick however took some time to stabilize.

In the top of the first the Braves came out firing on all cylinders. After the first two batters reached base, Chipper Jones singled to center bringing home a run. three batters later though, Jeff Francoeur hit a 2 out 2 RBI single to right giving the Braves a 3-0 lead after the first. Luckily for the Phils though, Kendrick would settle after the shaky start and began to shut down the Braves offense.

It took until the fourth inning for the Phils to put up some runs. In the bottom of the inning, Chase Utley led off with a single and was moved to third on a long double to center off the bat of Ryan Howard. Two batters later, Jason Werth hit a single up the middle and brought both Howard and Utley home to make it a one run game.

The Phils added two more in the fifth inning off an RBI single from Ryan Howard and another from Jason Werth. Werth would continue his stellar 4-4 night with a RBI single in the seventh that would bring home the eventual game winner.

Four of the five Phillies runs came off the bat of Jason Werth which helped to erase a difficult play in the bottom of the ninth when Werth allowed a ball to sail over his head and bring home a run. Luckily for Werth, Brad Lidge kept his composure after allowing the run and closed out the game for his tenth save of the season.

With the Phils win and a loss by the Marlins, the Phils are now only 1.5 games out of first in the NL East. Wednesday's match up features Brett Myers for the Phils and the ageless wonder Tom Glavine to the Braves. Jason Werth has more than likely secured himself a spot in Wednesday's lineup with a 4-4 performance, and the Phils Ryan Howard finally had a solid night going 2-4 with an RBI.

Phillies Weekend Recap: Giants Stomp Phils

2008-05-12T09:13:00.003-04:00

Friday night the Philadelphia Phillies opened a three game set in San Fransisco with the hopes of edging the Giants in a series for the second time in a week. The Phils were riding high after their first four games in the road trip saw a split with the leagues best Arizona Diamondbacks, and although MVP front runner Chase Utley and the surprising play of Pat Burrell had cooled off, Jimmy Rollins would be back in the starting lineup for the first time in a month.

In Friday's game, the Phils sent their young ace Cole Hamels to the mound looking to increase his record to 4-3 on the year against the Giants Pat Misch. After the first six innings it appeared that this series would play out like the previous weekends in which every game came down to the last inning, including two extra inning games. Unfortunately for the Giants though the Phils managed to score three runs in the eighth giving the Phils a 7-4 lead and the win to start off the series, Hamels took the win and in his first game back, J-Roll hit a two run shot over the left field wall for his third dinger of the year.

Saturday's game however wasn't so bright for the Phils, as they faced Tim Lincecum the young right hander who went into the game with a 4-1 record. The Phils managed to score first in the second inning with a lead off home run by Ryan Howard, but Lincecum and the Giants offense would prove to be too much for the Phils. Jamie Moyer had another poor outing and gave up 6 earned runs in 4 innings and the Giants took the second game of the series by a score of 8-2.

Sunday's rubber match to determine the series winner would feature Adam Eaton on the mound for the Phils against the Giants Jonathan Sanchez, another young pitcher in the organization. Eaton who had been steady throughout the first month of the season had struggled in his last few outings and needed to get back on track to help the Phils in their winning ways. Eaton pitched well enough to win again on Sunday, giving up only 2 runs, but only going 5 innings after getting into trouble in the sixth. JC Romero however gave up 2 when the Phils had a 3-2 lead in the seventh and the Phils dropped the third game and the series to the Giants.

The Phils head home on Tuesday for a series against the Atlanta. They look to put behind them a losing road trip in which Chase Utley went 4 for 24 with 4 walks and Pat Burrell went 2 for 18 with six walks.

As long as Howard continues to struggle, Utley and Burrell will have to get back on track to keep up with the surging Florida Marlins who took a 3 game lead in the division as the Phils dropped to 2nd place, tie with the Mets.

Webb Too Much For Phils

2008-05-08T19:52:00.004-04:00

Thursday ended the four game set between the Phillies and the Diamondbacks and in order to win the series the Phightins would have to defeat the 7-0 Brandon Webb. Webb is obviously the number one candidate for the NL Cy Young in this early season and has won every outing of the year so far. Unfortunately for Brett Myers, he hasn't had the same luck. Before Thursday, Myers had posted a 2-2 record, far from the classification of the Phillies "ace" as his ERA hovers around 5.

The Phils managed to get to Webb early in the first and scored the first run of the contest on a one out sac-fly by Chase Utley.

The Diamondbacks however continued to pour on the runs and scored two in the bottom of the first with a two run home run off the bat of Chris Young.

It wouldn't take long though for the D'backs to break open the game. In the bottom of the fourth, Myers walked the first two batters and then allowed a single off the bat of Mark Reynolds to load the bases with no outs. Chris Snyder doubled on a line drive to left bringing home Justin Upton and Stephen Drew. Chris Burke then singled bringing home Reynolds making it a 5-1 game. The D'backs would tack on one more in the inning off a sac-fly by Augie Ojeda bringing home Snyder and extending the lead to 6-1.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Diamondbacks added another run to their lead when Mark Reynolds singled with one out bringing home Stephen Drew making it a 7-1 game. They struck again in the seventh with a lead off home run by Justin Upton.

The Phils managed to get two back in the top of the ninth, but it would prove to be to much as Webb pitched a complete game for his eighth win of the season. The Phils managed to split the series with Arizona who had the best record in baseball going into the week. They now head to San Fransisco to take on the ailing Giants and try to regain control of the NL East.

Phils Battle Back Late In The Desert

2008-05-08T13:20:00.002-04:00

Wednesday nights game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Philadelphia Phillies featured two young prospects in the teams rotations. Kyle Kendrick took the mound for the Phils looking to bring his record to 3-2 on the year while Micah Owings went for the D'backs with a substantial 4-1 record. The big talk of the year has been Owings ability with the bat and his potential to play when not pitching.

The D'backs struck first against Kendrick who struggled in the inning and allowed a two out run on a Stephen Drew single to left bringing home Augie Ojeda.

The Phils struck back in the third with a run of their own with a one out single by Shane Victorino bringing home Carlos Ruiz tying the game at 1.

Despite throwing almost 40+ pitches in the first two innings, Kendrick managed to settle down and it took until the 5th for the D'backs to strike again. Chris Young led off with a home run to left and after a triple by Augie Ojeda, Conor Jackson was able to bring home their third run on a ground out.

The Phighting Phils wouldn't go quietly and tied the game up again in the top of the 5th when Pedro Feliz hit his fifth home run of the season bringing in Geoff Jenkins with him.

Ryan Madson came in to pitch in the seventh inning to protect, but after allowing a one out single to Eric Byrnes, and then a stolen base, Conor Jackson hit his sixth double of the season and collected his 2nd RBI of the night.

Things looked tied up for the Diamondbacks after taking the lead right back from the Phils but when Shane Victorino reached base on a passed ball third strike, the Phils gained new life. Eric Bruntlett came up and double to left field bringing home Victorino from first to tie the game back up and Chase Utley singled to center allowing Bruntlett to score the eventual game winning run.

The Phils collected an important win as they face the hottest pitcher in baseball, Brandon Webb on Thursday. The Phils will look to hand Webb his first loss of the season and leave Arizona on a high note before heading to San Francisco for a three game set.

Eaton Struggles In The Desert

2008-05-07T07:52:00.003-04:00

Adam Eaton took the mound on Tuesday night with the hopes of obtaining his first decision of the year. Having previously started 6 games this season, Eaton had yet to get a decision despite the fact that the Phillies had won 4 of the 6 games. For the D'backs, Randy Johnson looked to stop the bleeding from back to back losses of crucial errors in the ninth inning.

Arizona struck first in the bottom of the first inning. A lead off double to Chris Young was followed two batters later by a throwing error on the part of Pedro Feliz on a ball hit by Eric Byrnes allowing Young to reach 3rd. With one out, Connor Jackson hit a single to center bringing home Young and putting the Diamondbacks on the board.

The Phils struck back in the third against Johnson. Adam Eaton decided to help himself a bit and hit a lead off double to the gap in left center. Shane Victorino laid down a sac-bunt to move him over to 3rd, and with one out Eric Bruntlett smoked the first pitch he saw from Johnson over the left field wall taking the lead 2-1.

Although Adam Eaton had not gotten a decision in this young season, his strength has been keeping his team in the game enough to win. Unfortunately, the D'backs didn't play up to that and in the bottom of the fourth blew the doors open with a 5 run inning. Justin Upton lead off the inning with a walk and was moved to third on a Mark Reynolds double. Miguel Montero came to the plate next and Eaton walked the bases loaded. Luckily Eaton managed to get Augie Ojeda to fly out to center without allowing a run to score, but did allow the next batter, who just so happened to be the pitcher, to walk on four pitches bringing home the tying run. Chris Young followed with a ground out that allowed and run to score, and Stephen Drew took care of the rest with a three run home run to cap the 5 run inning leaving the Phils in a 6-2 hole.

The Phils tried twice to get a rally going, once in the fifth after a one out walk to Victorino, Eric Bruntlett doubled bringing Shane home. Then again in the sixth Jason Werth hit a lead off home run to get the score to 6-4. That would be all the Phils could muster and for the first time this season Adam Eaton got a decision, unfortunately it was in the wrong column.

The Phils dropped to 19-15, and with a Florida win now share first place in the NL East. They send Kyle Kendrick to the mound on Wednesday night to try to bounce back from the tough loss.

Offense Explodes In Arizona

2008-05-06T09:59:00.004-04:00

The Philadelphia Phillies set out on Monday night to take on the league leading Arizona Diamondbacks. The D'backs have the best record in baseball so far with a 21-10 record after a tough loss on an error in the 9th to lose to the Mets. Eerily similar to how the Phils managed to sneak away with a win on Sunday as well against the Giants.

The Phils sent Jamie Moyer to the mound who has been consistent through the first month of the season but has struggled to get run support and has limited his ability to last past the sixth inning. Arizona on the other hand sent 24 year old Max Scherzer to the mound who had his first start of his career.

The Phillies offense started early and kept the heat on, scoring a run in the first inning after a lead off double by Shane Victorino who latered scored on a sac-fly by the struggling Ryan Howard. The Diamondbacks got it back quick though scoring a run off an RBI triple by Stephen Drew in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 1.

Unfortunately for Scherzer, the Phils brought their bats to Arizona and they opened the game up in the top of the third. Chase Utley doubled with one out, followed by a walk by Ryan Howard and the two out rally began after Pat Burrell struck out swinging. Geoff Jenkins singled to center bringing home Utley to take the lead. Howard moved to 3rd on a wild pitch and was later brought home when Pedro Feliz reached on a fielding error by Stephen Drew. Jenkins scored the teams fourth run on a single to center by Carlos Ruiz, and Jamie Moyer helped himself with a line drive double to left scoring Feliz and making the score 5-1.

That would conclude Max Scherzer's outing for the night and Arizona brought in Edgar Gonzalez to stop the bleeding. Gonzalez managed to keep the Phils off the board for three straight innings, but in the top of the seventh the Phils got back to work. Geoff Jenkins lead off with a single, and two batters later Ruiz singled to right and Jenkins advanced to third. Jamie Moyer laiddown a sac-bunt to move Ruiz to second and the Phils second two out rally of the night was on.

Gonzalez intentionally walked Victorino to get a better matchup with Bruntlett but the Phils shortstop won that battle with a base clearing triple. Utley then walked bringing up the struggling Howard who singled on a ground ball to right to bring home Bruntlett for a 9-1 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Chris Snyder homered off Jamie Moyer to get the score to 9-2, but the damage was all but done. Moyer left the game in the eighth and turned the game over to the bullpen to hopefully secure his second win of the season.

The Phils tacked on two more runs in the eighth and ninth. The first off a sac-fly by Gregg Dobbs bringing home Feliz, and the second on another fielding error on a ball hit by So Taguchi allowing Utley to score.

With the score 11-2, Charlie Manuel turned the game over to Clay Condrey, whose 7.45 ERA has made it difficult for him to get innings, so this was the perfect opportunity.

After three singles to lead off the bottom of the ninth, and a throwing error by Jenkins, allowing Miguel Montero to score, it looked like the D'backs were about to start a rally. Condrey managed to get it under control and only allowed one more run to score off a ground out by Chris Burke. The Phils finished with an 11-4 win against the league leaders and look to take the second game on Tuesday night.

The Phils expanded their lead in the NL East with a win on Monday by 1.5 games.

Phils Offense Comes Up Big Late Again

2008-05-04T17:48:00.004-04:00

Sunday's rubber match between the Phillies and the Giants featured the Phillies true ace Cole Hamels and the Giants best pitcher Tim Lincecum. The Phillies offense has struggled through this series as they have through the rest of the season to score runs that haven't come off the long ball. Leading the league in that category with 47 going into Sunday, they needed to find a way to play small ball and put some runs ton the board.

Both pitchers came out smoking the ball as it took until the end of the 3rd inning for either team to make a dent. Shane Victorino led off the inning by reaching 1st on a throwing error, Eric Bruntlett followed that up with a ground ball single into right. After a 1 out fielders choice by Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell struck again and hit a line drive double to left bringing home Victorino and Bruntlett to make the score 2-0.

It would only be a half inning later though when the Giants offense cracked Hamels. Emmanuel Burriss led off with a line drive single to right, three batters and two outs later, Jose Castillo lined one to center bringing home Burriss. Rich Aurilla doubled on a line drive to center, bringing home Castillo and tying up the game at 2.

Just an inning later the Phils would take back the lead when Victorino led off the inning again with a single, and Eric Bruntlett reached on the Giants second error of the day. Lincecum walked Howard to load up the bases and during Pat Burrell at bat, threw a wild pitch bringing home Victorino. After an intentional walk to Burrell, Geoff Jenkins hit a sac-fly to bring home Bruntlett to extend the Phils lead to 4-2.

The top of the sixth, the Giants struck again, when after a one out single by Aaron Rowand, Rich Aurilla hit his third home run of the season to tie the game back up at 4.

Both offenses took the seventh inning off, but were right back at it in the eighth when after a two out single by Aaron Rowand, Jose Castillo tripled off a ball over Geoff Jenkins head bringing home Rowand and taking the lead for the Giants for the first time in the game.

Unfortunately for the Giants though, Carlos Ruiz was not up for losing the rubber match, and in the bottom of the eighth, hit his first home run of the season over the left field wall to tie the game up once again at 5.

Charlie Manuel brought in Brad Lidge in the top of the ninth of a tie game for the second night this series and luckily it panned out as Lidge held the game to a tie.

In the bottom of the ninth, Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard drew two out walks. Geoff Jenkins came to the plate and hit a slow rolling ball to Eugenio Velez who missed the play and on the third error of the game, Ryan Howard scored from second winning the game for the Phils.

The Phillies head on the road on Monday to face the MLB best Arizona Diamondbacks and look to hold their lead atop the NL East with a record of 18-14.

Phillies Can't Repeat Extra Inning Rally.

2008-05-03T23:20:00.005-04:00

Saturday nights match up between the Phillies and the Giants looked eerily similar to Friday's game. Both starting pitchers came out firing, both offenses went yard and the game ended in the 10th inning, just the outcome was different.

Brett Myers took the mound against the Giants Matt Cain looking to continue to find his rhythm this season as doubts about his ability to return to the starting rotation loom in the distance. In the first inning, Myers got into trouble after a lead off walk to Fred Lewis. After Lewis stole 2nd, Randy Winn came to the plate and singled allowing Lewis to score handing over the lead to the Giants early. Finally after allowing the bases to load, Myers struck out the final two batters to end the threat. In the first four innings, Myers only allowed the single run to the Giants offense, striking out 7 in a strong start.

It took until the bottom of the fourth for the Phils to crack Matt Cain, and as if it is a regular occasion, Chase Utley went yard to put the Phils up 1-0. Utley's league leading 13th home run came after being named the NL Player of the Month for April. The Giants answered right back in the top of the fifth inning with one out home run off the bat of Fred Lewis giving the Giants the lead.

The lead wouldn't last long though as Geoff Jenkins muscled a ball against the wind over the right field wall to tie the game back up.

After seven strong innings from both starters, the game was turned over to the bullpens. With the game tied 2-2, the game entered the 10th inning for the second straight night. And for the second straight night, a Phillies reliever with a 0.00 ERA gave up a run in the 10th. Rudy Seanez came in for the Phils, and after allowing a single on a ground ball to Randy Winn and a steal, Bengie Molina doubled scoring Winn and taking a 3-2 lead. For the second night in a row, the Phils looked to crack Brian Wilson, but came up short.

Sunday afternoon the Phils send Cole Hamels to the mound against the Giants Tim Linecum. The Phils will be looking to take the series before heading out on the road to meet the hot Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

Burrell Bat Remains Hot With Walk Off Win.

2008-05-02T22:40:00.005-04:00

Friday night's series opener between the San Fransico Giants and the recently crowned 1st place Philadelphia Phillies. The series was a homecoming for last years iron man Aaron Rowand who moved to San Fransico in the off season as a free agent.

The Phillies sent Kyle Kendrick to the mound against Pat Misch in the series opener. After a pivotal series win against the Padres it would be important that the Phils build on their lead and maintain atop the NL East. The Phils struck early with a one out single by Jason Werth followed up by a 2 run home run off the bat of Chase Utley for his lead leading 12th home run of the year.

The Giants manufactured a two out run in the fourth off a double by Aaron Rowand and a RBI single by John Bowker to take the lead in the top of the fourth. The Phils answered right back when Pat Burrell walked to lead off the inning and Pedro Feliz took advantage of the wind to left and managed to hit a ball into the seats to extend the lead to 4-1.

After a few quite innings, Kendrick was began to get tired, and the Giants took advantage of his struggles. Jose Castillo started off the inning with a single to center followed up by a bunt single by Emmanuel Burriss. Kendrick was lifted for Ryan Madson to hold on to the lead. Unfortunately that would not be the case. Eugenio Velez singled on a line drive to center, which loaded the bases with no outs. After a strikeout to Fred Lewis, Ray Durham singled on a ground ball to right field and Castillo and Burriss scored. Randy Winn singled on a line drive to left, and Bengie Molina grounded out, allowing Velez to score and tie up the game.

With the game tied 4-4, Tom Gordon managed to pitch out of a bases loaded no out situation in the eighth and Brad Lidge pitched a scoreless 9th for the Phils giving them a chance to win in the bottom of the ninth.

In the top of the tenth, JC Romero came in to pitch and on the first pitch, Aaron Rowand hit a ball out of the park to center field to take the lead. Romero managed to escape the inning with no further damage but it would require a rally by the Phillies to get the win.

Brian Wilson came into the game for the Giants to get the save and after going 3-0 to Jason Werth managed to strike him out. Chase Utley singled on a line drive to right field, followed by Ryan Howard striking out and being ejected for arguing the call. Pat Burrell came to the plate with the hottest bat in the Phillies lineup and after getting a 3-0 green light and taking the count to 3-2, hit a moon shot to left field. The walk off home run won the game for the Phils with the score of 6-5.

Burrell continues to swing a hot bat, along with Chase Utley who still leads the MLB with 12 home runs.

The Phils send Brett Myers to the mound tomorrow night in hopes of getting the series win.

Howard Powers Phils To First Place

2008-05-02T08:19:00.003-04:00

Ryan Howard has spent the month of April in the kind of slump that all power hitters fall into from time to time. With a .172 batting average and 38 strikeouts, Howard still managed to muscle 5 home runs and was thankfully carried by the smoking hot bat of Pat Burrell. Thursday night began a new month and hopefully a new season for Howard.

Thursday nights rubber match between the Padres and the Phillies brought an ex-Padre and an ex-Phillie on to face one another. Adam Eaton squared off against Randy Wolf, both looking to lead their team to a series win. For the Padres things started off much as they did the night before.

In the first, after a single by Tadahito Iguchi with one out, Adrian Gonzalez got his 2nd homer in as many games and for the second consecutive night gave the Padres a 2-0 lead in the first.

It would take till the bottom of the third for the Phils to make some noise. With a leadoff double by the returning Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard came to the plate after strikeouts by Utley and Werth, and bombed a doubled to center field allowing Victorino to score. Burrell followed Howard's RBI double with one of his own and managed to tie up the game.

Both Wolf and Eaton settled in nicely and it wouldn't be until the eighth inning that the Phils would strike again. Ryan Howard led off the inning with a towering fly ball to the right field stands. Giving the Phils the lead and eventually the win. For the first time this season, the Phils lead the NL East. And as the rest of the teams are struggling to get good pitching, the Phillies bullpen appears to be the hottest of the season so far.

Friday the Phils open their series against the visiting Giants and look to build on their newly found lead in the division.

Moyer Can't Overcome Long Ball

2008-05-01T08:00:00.005-04:00

Wednesday night was Jamie Moyer NL East Bobble Head Night at Citizen's Bank Park as the Phillies hosted the second game of their three game set against the San Diego Padres. The Padres sent Chris Young to the mound who had been struggling this season to find any kind of rhythm and had not recorded a win since April 1st. Moyer had been solid so far this season, posting a 1-1 record, and although not pitching deep into games, is known for keeping the opposition to a minimum to allow his team to win. Wednesday's game featured another outing for Moyer that was good enough for the win, apparently, the Phils offense didn't agree.

The top of the first inning was riddled with poor defense for the Phils, as Tadahito Iguchi managed to reach on a ball hit to SS Eric Bruntlett that should have been ruled an error. Adrian Gonzalez followed up the play with a line shot to the right field stands, putting the Padres up 2-0 early. The inning also featured two errors, one by Ryan Howard on a difficult throw from Bruntlett and a dropped ball by Jason Werth in center. Luckily, Moyer was able to keep his composure and get out of the inning without any more damage.

In the bottom of the 1st, Eric Bruntlett managed to muscle a single to left with one out and Chase Utley came up and tied the game up with a moon shot of his own to tie the game at 2 and continue sole possession of the MLB home run lead with 11.

After a quiet second, Kevin Kouzmanoff led off the Padres inning his second home run of the year taking back the lead for San Diego. The Phils bats unfortunately remained quiet, making the Padres Chris Young look like a staff ace.

In the sixth Moyer continued to let the Padres offense get to him, as Josh Bard doubled to lead off the inning on a ball over Pat Burrell's head. Chris Young sac-bunted Bard to third, and Moyer gave a free pass to Brian Giles. Moyer was pulled for Chad Durbin who allowed a single by Tadahito Iguchi allowing Bard to score bringing the score to 4-2.

That would be all the Padres would need. Chris Young and the bullpen shut down the Phils offense past the first and Trevor Hoffman came in to get the save to even up the series at 1.

The teams meet again on Thursday as the Phils Adam Eaton will face the ex-Phil Randy Wolf in the rubber match.

Hamels Goes Deep, Maddux Fails at 350

2008-04-30T07:35:00.003-04:00

Tuesday nights series opener between the Padres and the Phillies featured two kinds of pitchers. One, a 42 year old right-handed finesse pitcher, trying to defy age in Jamie Moyeresque style and attempting to obtain his 350th win for the second time this season. The other, a 24 year old left handed changeup pitcher who relies on change of speeds and pitch location to strike out batters. The question would be which offense could strike often enough to win the battle.

Fortunately for Hamels, the Phils brought just enough offense. They struck early, after a walk to Eric Bruntlett, Ryan Howard came through with a clutch two out hit for the RBI and the early lead. Then again in the third, with one out, Jason Werth tripled off a ball to right field, followed by Bruntlett whose bat has been coming along lately and managed to muscle a ground ball the opposite way allowing Werth to score.

It wasn't until the 5th that the Padres finally managed to get on the board when with two outs, Scott Hairston hit one out on a fly ball to left field bringing the score to 2-1. Maddux pitched well, keeping holding the Philllies lineup to 2 runs, a lineup that is averaging 7 runs a game in the early season. The seventh inning became to much for Maddux, both physically and emotionally. After allowing a one out single to Carlos Ruiz, Cole Hamels managed to muscle a hit allowing Ruiz to reach third. Maddux was obviously upset allowing a hit to the opposing pitcher, and was pulled from the game for Cla Meredith. The Phils managed to tack on another run with a sac-fly by Jason Werth extending the lead to 3-1.

The eighth proved to be the end of Hamels night. After a leadoff double to Hairston, and a close play at third by Chase Utley that allowed Hairston to move to third,and a walk to Tony Clark Hamels was taken out of the game and replaced with JC Romero. Romero walked Brian Giles loading the bases and was immediately yanked for Tom Gordon. Gordon managed to invoke a ground ball from Tadahito Iguchi, but only managed one out from the play that allowed a run to score. Gordon got Kevin Kouzmanoff to ground out as well ending the inning and the Padres rally.

The Phils had a rally of their own, tacking on four runs in the bottom of the eighth to pad the lead for the bullpen. After a leadoff double by Utley, two batters later, Burrell was intentionally walked, and after a fly out by Shane Victorino, the two out rally began. Pedro Feliz hit a ground ball through the hole to right allowing Utley to score and move Taguchi, who came in to run for Burrell, to third. Feliz advanced to second on the throw home to try to get Utley. Carlos Ruiz doubled to right-center and both Taguchi and Feliz came home, immediately followed by Gregg Dobbs who hit a double of his own bringing home Ruiz and extending the lead to 7-2.

The Padres managed to get two back in the top of the ninth off a two run homerun by Scott Hairston, but Ryan Madson held on to keep the lead and secure the Phils first winning April in 5 years.

As though of you know, who check out my blog, I am tracking our beloved managers record throughout the season to determine just how many games Uncle Charlie blows for us. He is currently 0-2. Charlie though will get this win tonight for sticking with the hot bat in Jason Werth and for his offensive substitutions that seem to continue to work out. Keep up the good work Charlie, maybe we shouldn't get you fired after all.

Myers Struggles Again, Maholm Stops Sweep

2008-04-28T08:13:00.002-04:00

Sunday's game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies provided the opportunity for the Phils first three game sweep of the season. Brett Myers took the mound hoping to find some sort of rhythm this season, his opponent, Paul Maholm, was looking to build of his last outing which provided his first win of the season. The Phillies headed into Sunday with a three game win streak and were pushing hard to climb to the top of the NL East standings before heading home to face the Padres on Tuesday.

Myers and Maholm both started the day strong. After Myers gave up a lead off home run to Nate Mclouth to begin his day, he settled in nicely through the first three innings. In the fourth, Myers managed to get the first batters out, but after allowing a single to Adam Larouche and a wild pitch in the next at bat allowing him to reach second, Jose Bautista singled to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead. In the fifth, Myers walked Maholm to lead off the inning, and Nate McLouth struck again, hitting a two run shot over the wall in right field. Myers appeared to be struggling once again.

Maholm on the other hand had the Phils number holding the Phils without a hit until the 5th. Pat Burrell doubled off Maholm with one out and two batters later Eric Bruntlett singled on a line drive to center allowing Burrell to score.

Myers was finally lifted in the top of the sixth and Rudy Seanez was brought in to keep the Pirates at bay. Adam Larouche led off the sixth with a single and Jose Bautista followed with a single allowing Larouche to reach third. One batter later, Luis Rivas grounded into a double play allowing Larouche to score bringing the score to 5-1.

Maholm would go on to shut down the Phils for the remainder of the day, allowing only the two hits, with only two strikeouts and four walks in a complete game win. The Pirates managed to avoid a sweep and potentially find a gem in their rotation on the day when veteran pitcher Matt Morris was released.

The Phils head home and after a day off on Monday open a series with the Padres and a six game home stand. Sitting in third in the NL East at 14-12, the Phillies have to find an answer to their rotation as Myers continues to struggle with both his velocity and his control.

Howard Back In Lineup, Offense Beats Up Morris.

2008-04-26T21:07:00.006-04:00

For the first time in two games Ryan Howard was in the Phillies starting lineup Saturday night against the Pirates. Kyle Kendrick took the mound against the cross state rivals opposing Matt Morris who, like Kendrick, has struggled this season. Both starters were looking to try to turn their seasons in a positive direction.

Things looked to be starting off well for Morris, getting Jason Werth and Gregg Dobbs in order. Chase Utley came to the plate and hit a line drive single to right, bringing Ryan Howard to the plate.

Howard had taken the last two games off to try to clear his head in hopes of getting out of his early slump in which his is hitting below .200. Howard did appear as a pinch hitter in both games.

After fouling off three consecutive pitches by Morris, Howard hit a bomb of a home run right over the center field wall for his fifth of the season making the score 2-0. Pat Burrell singled on a line drive to Jason Bay, and Geoff Jenkins knocked him in on what was scored a error on Xavier Nady when Jenkins hit a ball over Nady's head that bounced out of his glove. Chris Coste was up next and after three pitches was hit by Morris to give the Phils 1st and 2nd with two outs. Eric Bruntlett singled on a ground ball to center field bringing in Jenkins and moving Coste to 2nd, and in what seemed to be a never ending nightmare for Matt Morris, Kyle Kendrick reached base when SS Brian Bixler booted a ball into center field brining in Coste. Finally, after allowing six runs to score, Jason Werth flied out to end the inning.

It didn't take long for the Phils to tack on another run, when in the top of the 2nd inning, Chase Utley singled, Ryan Howard walked, and two batters later Eric Bruntlett singled to left to bring home Utley.

The Pirates finally made some noise in the third after Kendrick hit Brian Bixler with a pitch. Two batters later, Nate Mclouth hit a line drive center field to bring home Bixler, and Freddy Sanchez doubled to right bringing home Mclouth.

The Pirates pen appeared to have been keeping the Phils offense in check until the sixth inning. Brian Bixler recorded his second error of the game of a hit by Eric Bruntlett and after back-to-back doubles by Jason Werth and Pedro Feliz, the Phils tacked on two more runs to their lead.

The Pirates got one back in the seventh as Doug Mientkiewicz singled to center, Ronny Paulino attempted to move over Mientkiewicz and hit a slow dribbler that was fielded by Kendrick, but because of the rushed play, was thrown away. Mientkiewicz advanced to third on the error and was brought home on a ground out by Bixler.

Kendrick pitched into the eighth inning, but after giving up a leadoff home run to Nate Mclouth and allowing a single to Freddy Sanchez, Kendrick was pulled for Rudy Seanez who managed to get out of the inning without allowing any more runs. Ryan Madson came in for the Phils in the ninth and was able to close it out for an 8-4 win for the Phils

The Phils send ace Brett Myers to the mound on Sunday hoping to get their first three game sweep of the season.

Phils Coste Past Pirates

2008-04-25T21:50:00.004-04:00

The Phillies opened their last of three series in their three city road trip on Friday night against state rivals, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Adam Eaton took the mound hoping to build off his unexpected good start to the 2008 season against the Pirates Zack Duke. The Phils poured the runs on early and often.

In the first, Jason Werth and Chase Utley managed back-to-back walks before Chris Coste doubled a ball off of Duke left field bringing in both runners. In the third Jason Werth hit his fifth home run of the season to right-center field. Pat Burrell doubled to left field and was knocked in by Coste who hit a single to center-field for his third RBI of the night. The Phils tacked on two more runs in the fourth after Eric Bruntlett led off the inning with a single. Brad Harman came to the plate and got his first hit, and RBI of his major league career with a double to left field. Harman would score his first run of his career two batters later thanks to a single by Jason Werth.

The bottom of the fourth was when things started to get sticky of Eaton. The Phils starter managed to get Freddy Sanchez swinging to start off the inning, but followed it up with a long ball to Jason Bay. Ryan Doumit doubled to right and Xavier Nady hit a double of his own to knock in Doumit. Two batters later, Paul Mientkiewicz doubled to right field and Nady came in to score cutting the Phils lead in half. After a walk to Brian Bixler, Chad Durbin was brought in to replace Eaton and managed to get out of the inning without further damage.

In the bottom of the fifth, Durbin managed to get the first two batters out, before serving up a walk to Jason Bay. Ryan Doumit hit his second double of the game giving the Pirates 2nd and 3rd with two outs. Nady came to the plate and sliced a ground ball to left field and both Doumit and Nady came in to score.

Durbin managed to keep the Pirates off the board in the sixth, which became important because of the Pirates bullpens ability to shut down the Phils offense after the fourth inning. Tom Gordon pitched a near flawless 7th, followed up by another fantastic outing by JC Romero in the 8th, and the Phils Brad Lidge came in in the ninth and closed the game out with strikeouts to both Nate Mclouth and Jason Bay.

The Phils send Kyle Kendrick to the mound on Saturday night who look to build on their 13-11 record and end this road trip strong.

Burrell Pulls Through For Phils, Split Series

2008-04-24T20:46:00.002-04:00

The Philadelphia Phillies sent Jaimie Moyer to the mound Thursday afternoon in Milwaukee against Jeff Suppan. The Phils hoped for a solid outing from Moyer who went into the game with a 1-1 record and seemed to be having some difficulty following Hamels in the rotation.

The Brewers struck early against Moyer after he walked Rickie Weeks and allowed him to score on line drive single by Ryan Braun.

The game became a pitchers duel, between the two veteran pitchers. It wasn't until the sixth inning that the Phils finally tied the game up with a Jason Werth home run.

In the eighth inning the Brewers went to their bullpen and the Phils were able to take advantage. David Riske walked Gregg Dobbs and allowed a single from Chase Utley before Pat Burrell hit a line drive double over the head of Ryan Braun allowing both runs to score with two outs.

The Phils were able to close out the game with strong outings by Tom Gordon, JC Romero and Brad Lidge who came in for his 5th save of the season. Gordon managed to get out of a 1st and 3rd, no out jam in the seventh inning to keep the lead for the Phils.

The Phils head out to Pittsburgh for a three game set as they sit at 1 game over the 500 mark and in third place in the NL East.

Long Ball Can't Carry Phils Past Brewers

2008-04-23T22:49:00.002-04:00

Wednesday nights match up between the Phillies and the Brewers featured Cole Hamels against Milwaukee's Dave Bush. Hamels struggled early in the game giving up 3 runs in the first. Hamels allowed a leadoff double to Rickie Weeks, an RBI single to Gabe Kapler, followed by a home run courtesy of Prince Fielder.

The Phils chipped away though with a third inning home run by Chase Utley, who has an extra base hit in nine straight games. Then in the 5th inning, Gregg Dobbs stroked a ball to right field after Hamels led off the inning with a single. The Phils tacked one more on with a home run by Pat Burrell in the sixth.

Things were smooth sailing for the Phils, as Hamels pitched into the eighth, but got into trouble after a lead off double to Ryan Braun followed up by Prince Fielder's second home run of the night.

Derrick Turnbow came into the game in the ninth and despite allowing So Taguchi to reach on a walk and advance to third on a throwing error, closed out the game after getting Jason Werth to strike out and Pedro Feliz to ground out.

The Phils close out their short set with the Brewers on Thursday night and send Jaimie Moyer to the mound.

Burrell Blasts Phils Past Rockies, Over 500

2008-04-23T11:42:00.003-04:00

Tuesday night the Phillies looked to win their first series of the season against the Colorado Rockies. Although it was just a 2 game series, the Phils had a chance to move over the 500 mark while keeping their momentum going to Milwaulkee.

The game featured Brett Myers against Jeff Francis in what continues to be a inter-conference rival since last years Wild Card Playoff series. Chase Utley continued to deliver early and in the 3rd inning smacked a two run double to center field to get the Phils on the board early. The Rockies struck back right away off Brett Myers with back-to-back doubles by Todd Helton and Matt Holiday. In the 4th, Jeff Francis helped the Phils tack on to their lead by walking in a run to give the Phils a 3-1 lead.

The lead didn't last long though as Myers started to struggle against the Rockies lineup, giving up a leadoff triple to Brad Hawpe. Jeff Baker singled to bring in Hawpe. Two batters later Jeff Francis bunted over Baker to move him into scoring position. Willy Tavares came to the plate and doubled to center field bringing in Baker and tying the game at 3. The Rockies took the lead in the 5th off a Matt Holliday homer run, and the Phils Jason Werth tied it back up with a homer of his own.

In the bottom of the seventh things blew up on Brett Myers after a walk to Matt Holliday, Garrett Atkins homered on a line drive to left field giving the Rockies the lead again. In the top of the eighth Pedro Feliz doubled to left field and was knocked in by pinch hitter Gregg Dobbs bringing the Phils within one.

In the top of the ninth, the Rockies brought in Manny Corpas to close out the game. The Phils had yet to score a run off Corpas in his short career, but were up to the challenge of changing that stat.

So Taguchi led off the inning with a single past Todd Helton. Chase Utley came to the plate two batters later and hit a line drive centerfield in which Taguchi moved to third base and Utley got to second on the throw. Corpas intentionally walked Ryan Howard to load the bases to try and force the double play. Pat Burrell came to the plate with the hottest bat on the team, and potentially in the league. With the count 2-2 Burrell hit a bomb to left-center field, but because the Rockies were shading towards right field, Willy Tavares couldn't get there in time and the ball fell in for a base clearing double. The Phils took the lead 8-6, and in the bottom of the ninth Brad Lidge came in for the save.

The Phils moved over the 500 mark for the first time this season and now head to Milwaulkee to face the Brewers in a two game set.

Utley Continues Streak, Phils Win.

2008-04-22T15:53:00.004-04:00

Chase Utley took his four game, five home run streak into Colorado on Monday night in hopes of building off the important win in the final game against the Mets on Sunday. The Phillies were also looking to get some other offense going since they have been thriving off the long ball so far this season. They went into Monday's game against the Rockies with a league leading 31 home runs.

Monday nights match up featured the Rockies Mike Redman against the Phils Kyle Kendrick. Kendrick has been struggling a bit this season. Being a contact pitchers requires getting good defense from the rest of the team and the Phils have been struggling in the field, more so since the lost of Jimmy Rollins.

Kendrick allowed the Rockies to get on the board early in the second off a three run home run by Yorvit Torrealba.

The Phils looked like they were going to continue to struggle to score runs, until the fourth inning when Ryan Howard reached on a single and Pat Burrell crushed a ball for his seventh home run of the season.

It didn't take long though for the Rockies to add to their lead as Kendrick allowed a two run homer by Garrett Atkins bring the game to 5-2.

The Phillies came right back in the top of the sixth when Jason Werth managed an inside-the-park home run off a ball hit to center field, followed by Chase Utley's 6th home run in 5 games.

With the score 5-4 and the Rockies readying their closer in the bullpen in the top of the eighth, the Phillies managed to score two runs off of plays other than home runs for the first time in two games. Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Pedro Feliz all reached base which brought up Carlos Ruiz with the bases loaded and 2 outs. Ruiz smoked a ball down the right field line for a double allowing Howard and T.J. Bohn, who came in to run for Burrell, to score.

With the lead going into the ninth, the Phils looked to tack on some insurance runs. Geoff Jenkins led off the ninth with a single to right field and Chris Coste was hit by a pitch. Jason Werth came up to the plate and hit a line drive to right field for a double which allowed Jenkins to score. After Utley and Howard went down, T. J. Bohn came to the plate and hit a line drive to left field allowing Coste and Werth to come in to score.

Although they had the a four run lead, Brad Lidge came in to end the game and after striking out Troy Tulowitzki and Matt Holiday, the Phils closed out a well fought 9-5 win.

The Phils send Brett Myers to the mound on Tuesday to face Jeff Francis. The Phillies are at the .500 mark for the fourth time the season and will be looking to get over the hump.

Utley Blasts Phils Past Mets, Avoid Sweep

2008-04-21T15:38:00.005-04:00

Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN featured the "teams" to beat in the NL East, as the Phillies and Mets squared off in the final game of their weekend series. The Phils sent Adam Eaton to the mound to face off against Mike Pelfry. Eaton has had a surprising start to the season, keeping opponents in check all year and providing the offense with an opportunity to win the games. Sunday night was no different, except the Phillies brought their "secret" weapon.

Chase Utley had homered in each of the Phillies loses in the series against the Mets and it appeared that it was going to take more than one to get past their heated rivals. It took two. Utley hit a solo home run in the first inning to get the Phils on the board early. Pelfry seemed to keep the rest of the Phillies offense in check until the 5th inning, when Chase Utley powered a second ball into the stands with two men on to make the lead 4 for Eaton. Unfortunately though, Eaton struggled in the 6th inning and the Mets managed to battle back to score 4 runs of their own and tie the game up, sending the Philly crowd running for cover.

Lucky for the fans though, they only had to wait until the next inning when Pedro Feliz came into to pinch hit for Gregg Dobbs against Pedro Feliciano. Feliz managed to get the best of the match up sending one over the wall and supplying the winning run for the Phils.

Brad Lidge came in to get the save, and although he allowed the first to batters to reach base, he managed to get out of the game on a stellar play by MVP Shortstop Jimmy Rollins replacement, Eric Bruntlet.

The Phils head to Colorado on Monday to face the Rockies.

Reyes, Wright Continue To Punish Phils

2008-04-19T22:28:00.002-04:00

For the second straight night the Mets bats out did the Phillies both early and late to score the second win in the weekend series. The ageless Jamie Moyer took the mound at Citizen's Bank Park against Oliver Perez on Saturday night and got into trouble early. In the first inning Jose Reyes and David Wright continued to punish the Phils and managed to score two runs early.
The Phillies bats however were ineffective against Perez until the seventh inning, but by then they were down 4 runs off the two run shot by Reyes.

The Phils managed to get a run on the board in the bottom of the seventh off a solo home run by Chase Utley. In the eighth, in what seems to be plaguing the team early in the season, the Phillies managed to get bases loaded with one out and only score one run, after Aaron Heilman came in to strike out Geoff Jenkins and Jason Werth.

Ryan Howard continues to struggle going 0-5 and tacking on 3 more strikeouts to his total for the season as he leads the league with 26. Jimmy Rollins came into pinch hit for the fourth time in his 10 game absence from the starting lineup and the effects of him missing from the lead off spot are starting to show. The Phils will try to salvage a win in this series Sunday night before they head to Colorado for a rematch of last years Wild Card Playoff series.

Phils Rally Late But Fall Short

2008-04-18T22:43:00.003-04:00

The most anticipated game of the season so far between the Mets and the Phillies featured quite possibly the two best left handed change-ups in the game. Johan Santana and Cole Hamels went head to head in the opener of the second series between the two teams. Santana had struggled in his last outing, while Hamels had pitched strong, but at times lacked the run support so far this season.

This Mets struck early against Hamels scoring a run in each the first and third innings off the Phillies ace. David Wright who usually struggles against the young lefty went 4 for 4 in the game, coming a home run shy of the cycle. The game turned into a pitchers duel, which displayed Santana's strike out capability. By the eighth inning, Santana had racked up 10 strikeouts while only allowing one run off a solo home run by Chase Utley in the 7th. Both Hamels and Santana got into trouble in the eighth as Hamels left the game with the bases loaded and 1 out, followed by JC Romero who allowed three runs to score.

In an interesting move, Charlie Manuel brought Chris Coste out to pinch hit in the eighth with two on to set up a favorable match up with Santana. Willie Randolph, however, replaced Santana with Aaron Heilman, and in turn Manuel used a second bench player and brought out Greg Dobbs to pinch hit. Dobbs hit his first pinch-hit home run of the season to make it a one run game. Heilman managed to settle down after the homer and got Jenkins to fly out to deep center, a ball that hit to any other part of the park would have tied the game, and got Jason Werth out to allow for Pedro Felliciano to come into the game to face Utley and Howard. Feliciano managed to get Utley to strike out, and kept hold of the one run lead.

In the ninth, Manuel brought in Brad Lidge to pitch having not gotten any work in the last few games, and after getting into trouble, Lidge allowed a run to score after an error by Howard allowed the Mets to load the bases. The bottom of the ninth featured former Phillies closer Billy Wagner, who although couldn't strike out and Phillies, secured the win for the Mets.

Long Ball Carries Offense Past Houston

2008-04-17T19:51:00.005-04:00

The Phillies bats came alive Thursday afternoon in the final game with the Astros. The rubber match between the two teams featured Brett Myers and Brandon Backe. Backe was the one who struggled though giving up runs early and often to the Phils offense.

Backe allowed 3 runs in the first after allowing the first two batters to reach base and the Phillies offense never looked back. Howard, Utley, Burrell and Chris Coste all hit homer runs in the 10-2 route of the Astros. The team had 16 hits in all and if nothing else, the Phillies showed that their bench players can step in when needed and provide offense and solid defense. Both So Taguchi and Jason Werth went 2 for 5 in the game and scored three of the teams 10 runs in the game.

Myers pitched seven strong innings with 8 strikeouts and only allowing one run on a solo home run to Miguel Tejada in the 4th inning.

The Phils needed this win as they head into the weekend against the Mets and Johan Santana faces Cole Hamels in the first game of the series.

Phils Bats Don't Come Through For Kendrick

2008-04-16T22:01:00.002-04:00

The Phils were looking for late inning heroics again on Wednesday night, but things fell short as the Astros managed to hold off the offense.

Kyle Kendrick took the mound and pitched in what appeared to be his first solid outing of the season. Kendrick gave up two runs early in the game, both which were scored by Michael Bourne who appeared to have the pitchers number. Kendrick pitched 7 strong innings, only giving up 2 earned runs and striking out 5 hitters giving the offense plenty of chance to take the second game in the series.

Unfortunately though the offense never got going. The Phils only managed a single run in the first inning off Houston's Roy Oswalt. Not surprising, Houstons manager elected to bring in Doug Brocail to close the game as opposed to allowing the Phils another hack at Jose Valverde who blew the save on Tuesday.

The only bright spot of the game had to be Jimmy Rollins pinch hit in the 9th off Brocail. Hopefully Jimmy will be returning to the lineup soon.

Phils Bats Come Alive Late

2008-04-15T22:04:00.003-04:00

Adam Eaton took the mound in the opening game of the Phillies series against the Houston Astros. Eaton had another strong outing but pitched 6 innings to another no decision, giving up three runs striking out three. The Phillies bats remained silent though as they struggled to get runners in scoring position all night. The Phillies bullpen continue to amaze as they held the game to three to nothing through the ninth in hopes of giving their offense a chance.

In the bottom of the ninth the game changed in the Phillies favor. After Shawn Chacon pitched 8 strong innings, keeping the Phillies offense in check, Houston brought in their closer Jose Valverde. Unfortunately for Valverde the Phils woke up in the ninth. Chris Snelling came up swung at the first pitch and hit a home run to right field bringing the Phils withing two. Valverde then hit Chase Utley with a pitch and then struck out Ryan Howard for the first out of the inning. Pat Burrell came to the plate and remarkably, hit a home run to the opposite field to tie the game at 3. Geoff Jenkins struck out swinging, but due to Brad Ausmus not being able to hang on, the passed ball allowed Jenkins to reach first. That brought up Pedro Feliz who stroked a ball to the left field corner and Jenkins went from first to home to win the game.

This game showed that the Phils offense can not be counted out and that the Phils bullpen might not be as bad as critics thought going into this season. Only time will tell. The Phils send Kyle Kendrick to the mound on Wednesday against Roy Oswalt.

Charlie Gets Tossed, Phils Drop Late Inning Game.

2008-04-13T19:10:00.004-04:00

Sunday's rubber match between the Phillies and the Cubs featured Jamie Moyer against Jason Marquis and represented the Phillies first chance to bring their record above .500 for the first time this season. Moyer struggled in his third start of the season and ended up being taken out after 5.

The momentum of the game shifted from the Cubs to the Phils in the top of the 6th inning when Mark Derosa hit a fly ball to left field and in a poorly called play by the third base umpire the ball was called a home run when it was clearly a foul by the replay. The stadium erupted as Pat Burrell raced in from left to argue the call claiming that the ball was obviously foul. After a quick meeting of the umpires the ball was ruled a home run and the fireworks began.

Charlie Manuel stormed out for the dugout to argue and in a game in which the Phils were down 3-1 already, the only option was to back his left fielder and got tossed over the call. Manuel was eventually tossed from the game and stormed off the field to a parade of cheers from the fans. Moyer was pulled from the game and replaced by Chad Durbin who continued to be a strong bullpen presence, pitching 2 strong scoreless innings.

With the Phillies up 5-4 in the 8th, the Cubs managed to chip away at Tom Gordon and JC Romero for a run and tied the game up. Unable to score a run in the 9th despite having 1st and 2nd with one out, the game entered extra innings.

In the top of the 10th, Rudy Seanez walked Roddy Cedeno to start the inning, Ryan Theriot bunted him over and Geovany Soto walked. In a surprising move, Carlos Zambrano pinch hit for Kerry Wood and after hitting a ground ball to Eric Brunlett, Chase Utley forced the throw to Ryan Howard and the ball ended up in the bullpen allowing Cedeno to score what would be the winning run.

If the Phils had managed to win this game, Charlie would have managed to win his first managerial game of the year, by firing up the team when they were down and backing up his players. Unfortunately though, the team couldn't pull off the win.

In an interesting footnote, for the first time in remembrance, the Phils successfully executed a double-switch.... it just so happen the Charlie Manuel had already been tossed..

Phils Rolling Minus Rollins

2008-04-12T21:57:00.003-04:00

Cole Hamels took the mound Saturday night looking to build off his first outing of the year and hoping to get the run support needed to put it away. Likewise, the Phillies were trying to get themselves back to .500, and attempting to win their first series of the year. Hamels came out strong and managed to allow only one hit through seven strong innings while striking out 5.

The Phils offense came out strong as well striking early in the second with a 2 run home run by Pedro Feliz. The Phillies tacked on 3 more in the 5th including a two run shot by Ryan Howard for his third of the year.

It wasn't until Ryan Madson came on in the 8th, that the Cubs managed to strike for a run, but their efforts were quickly diminished only managed that sole run in the game.

It looks as though the Phils are faring well without their MVP shortstop who remains day-to-day on the Phillies roster with a sprained ankle. Despite an abismal first game with the club, Eric Bruntlett is proving to be a solid defensive back up shortstop. Although he doesn't appear to be getting the job done at the plate, his defensive skills are keeping the Phillies where they need to be until Rollins can rejoin the team.

The Phils send Jamie Moyer to the mound on Sunday in hopes of their first sweep of the season against Jason Marque. Hopefully the back to back change up pitchers doesn't give the Cubs an edge and the Phils can put this series away and look towards the Astros to continue their solid homestand.

Finally On All Cylinders.

2008-04-11T21:18:00.003-04:00

Friday night the Phils opened a weekend series with the Chicago Cubs, pitting Brett Myers against the fiery Carlos Zambrano. Myers along with the rest of the Phillies were aiming to right the ship as both the teams and Myers last two outings have been less than favorable.

The game started off with a bang as both Derrick Lee and Aramis Ramirez hit bombs off Myers in the first putting the Phils behind early. Myers though managed to gain his composure and keep the Cubs under control allowing for the offense to catch up off a fourth inning 2 run homer run from Pat Burrell.

In the bottom of the 5th Gregg Dobbs smacked a double to left-center that was subsequently dropped by Kosuke Fukudome after a collision with left fielder Alfonso Soriano, allowing Shane Victorino to score and the Phillie to take the lead. In the top of the sixth, Soriano blasted a homer run to left field tying the game back up, but only for a short time as the Phils got two more in the bottom of the sixth take the lead for the duration.

Brett Myers had his first solid outing of the season, going 8 innings, giving up 3 ER with 5 Ks. Brad Lidge came on in the ninth and despite a poorly defensed play by Tso Taguchi, Lidge got the save to secure the win at the start of their 9 game homestand.

This was the first "complete" game by the Phillies this season and hopefully will be a solid building block for the remainder of the season. Tomorrow night the Phils send Cole Hamels to the mound against Ted Lilly with the hopes of getting back to .500 for the season.

Extra Innings Game Sets Tone For the Year.

2008-04-11T09:26:00.004-04:00

Thursday nights game between the Phils and the Mets proved to be a long drawn out battle between the two top contenders for the NL East that ended in favor the of the Mets 4-3 in the 12th.

After another strong outting by Adam Eaton, going 6 innings with 3 ER and 5 Ks, the Phils managed to tie the game in the eigth with the help of Pedro Feliz hitting his first homerun in the seventh and then tieing it in the eighth with an RBI out.

The Phils bullpen pitched strong into the 12th, but with the offense unable to put any additonal runs on the board, despite having 1st and 2nd with no outs in the 12th, they began to run short on pitchers. Tom Gordon took the mound in the 12th in which Jose Reyes bombed a double off the Centerfield wall and was brought home by a ground ball hit to Jason Werth in center and was called safe on a close play at the plate.

A tough loss for the Phils after taking the opener to the series and letting it slip away. But if anything this game was a close insight to what fans should expect for the remainder of the year from these two teams.

They will now look towards the series with the Cubs for their first series win and once again try to climb back up to a .500 record.

Phils Miss Allstar Shortstop

2008-04-10T08:04:00.003-04:00

Wednesday the Phils had all the momentum heading into their first night game in the last 4. Sending Kyle Kendrick out to the mound who was looking for a more solid outing than his first of the year, the Phillies hoped to take game 2 from the Mets and win their first series of the season. With the injury to Jimmy Rollins from the night before, Charlie Manuel was forced to replace him with Eric Bruntlett in the lineup. An acquisition from Houston in the offseason to try to fill in some holes on the bench in the infield.

Unfortunately for the Phils, Bruntlett is no Rollins, and it seemed as though not having the allstar at short made way for some sloppy fielding as the the Phils committed 4 errors in the game. Kendrick only managed to pitch 2 1/3, throwing 71 pitches and giving up 7 runs, only 1 earned due to the poor infield play behind him.

The only bright spot in this 8-2 loss to the teams rival, is the solid pitching outting by Chad Durbin. Durbing managed to stop the bleeding by going 3 2/3 innings, giving up no more runs and striking out 4.

Hopefully the Phils can come out strong on Thursday, Eaton is coming of a solid start to the year, and with any luck, J-Roll will be back in the lineup.

PHILS Spoil Mets Opener

2008-04-08T19:37:00.003-04:00

The Phillies played part in the final home opener at Shea Stadium on Tuesday, sending Jamie Moyer out to the mound in search of his first win of the season. Moyer managed to hold back the Mets lineup and only allow 2 runs to score in 6 innings, 1 coming off a 2nd inning home run by Carlos Delgado. Heading into the seventh inning it appeared that the Phils offense was stuck on a bus coming from Cincinnati, but they managed to get into the head of Oliver Perez and with the help of a throwing error by Delgado, busted through for 3 runs and the lead. Managing to tack on an additonal 2 runs in the 8th, Tom Gordon was able to come in and shut down the Mets for an impressive save and a solid opening statement by the defending National League East Champs.

Unfortunately a dark spot on today was the early exit of Jimmy Rollins, for an apparent twisted ankle. Hopefully J-Roll is back in the lineup soon.

Interesting points of the day, Chase Utley reached after being hit three times in Tuesday's game.

Phils vs. Reds, 4/7

2008-04-07T16:37:00.002-04:00

To close out the 4 game series with the Reds, the fighting Phils send Cole Hamels to the mound in hopes of grasping his first win of the season. With the bullpen taking the load of the first week of the season, it was imperative that Hamels goes deep and gives some of the other pitchers a rest. Monday's game started with a bang as J'Roll blasted a homer to start the game and give the Phils shot in the arm, and three more long balls would be all the Phils needed to tie the series with the Reds as they head to Shea. Hamels had a strong outing lasting 7 innings striking out 4, giving him his first win of the season, and Brad Lidge had a Mitch Williamsesqe save in which he loaded the bases with the help of an error from Tso Taguchi, and allowed a run. All in all a solid outing from the Phils and a good start to the week as they head into a tough next six games with three against the Mets and then home for the Cubs.

Opening Weekend in Cincinnati

2008-04-07T11:22:00.000-04:00

After a poor opening series with the Nationals, Charlie has only managed to lose 1 game for us. Hey, one out of three isn't that bad is it? At this rate, he'll only lose 60 games for us, that leaves about 20 or so for the players to lose for themselves.. So lets jump in to the weekend and see what uncle Charlie has in store for us.

Friday Night, Kyle Kendrick's season start was just as anticipated as Brett Myers. Unfortunately for Kyle, his first game ended much like Brett's. 5 innings, 4 earned runs, 2 walks and 1 K. But there was a glimmer of hope in this game. For the second straight game, the bullpen was solid. Going the remaining 4 innings without giving up a run. Fueled by Utley's two homers, the Phils managed their second win of the season, pulling to .500 at 2-2.

Then came Saturday. I have to say that thank God this game was on in the middle of the afternoon and not at night. Hopefully not to many people saw it, or we might have had a mob on our hands. Saturday started as a loss. Every Phillies fan expects a loss every 5 games at the hands of Adam Eaton. So as I sat down on Saturday to watch the first lose of many from the overpaid starter, I was disheartened even more when the game started with a run for the Reds in each of the first two innings. It looked like it was to be a long afternoon. But amazingly something happened, Eaton settled in. This Phils managed to get on back in the third, and another in the sixth, and going into the 8th inning, Eaton was going strong and the game was tied. In the top of the eighth, the mighty giant that is Ryan Howard crushed a bomb that is still going to center field to catapult the Phils to a 3-2 lead. Eaton had done it, he managed to hang on to allow the offense to take over. Brad Lidge, our much anticipated free-agent acquisition was available and it was time for the set up man, Gordon, and the closer to do their work.

Here's where Uncle Charlie decided to wake up from his nap. Bottom of the eighth inning comes and who is trotting out to the mound? ADAM EATON!! What? This can't be! He's pitched a great game, he has the lead in the eighth. Charlie, don't ruin a good thing.... But in his infinite wisdom Charlie allows Eaton to pitch, and to boot doesn't pull Eaton after the home run, but instead waits until the following double, to yank him and bring in your setup man. Way to go Charlie. But wait, he's not done yet.

The ninth inning rolls around and its time to once again put a pitcher in the ninth with the game tied. As if he had thrown a dart at a board, out trots...Chad Durbin. The only one more stunned at this move than the fans, was Chad himself. Apparently Brad Lidge was taking a leak at the time, because Durbin, the guy who's happy with no role on the team, is going to stave off the Reds in the ninth.... yeah...

So when Chad gives up a lead off walk to Dunn, and another to Encarnacion, we are still left scratching our heads. As Norris Hopper successfully bunts over the two runners to give them 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Paul Bako comes to the plate.

My 11 year-old son could have realized that Bako needed to be walked to set up the double-play. Otherwise it would require a miracle play to get a runner out at home, or a strike out and Chad was having a bit of trouble finding the plate. Bako hits a weak grounder to short, Jimmy looks at the runner going home and out of instinct throws to first..... I guess he didn't want to get charged with an error... Run scores, Phils lose. Uncle Charlie strikes again. Phils 2-3 Charlie 0-2.

Sunday's Game, Unfortunately things are not looking well for Brett. Who once again went 5 innings, giving up 4 earned runs, 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. Followed up by a stellar performance by Clay Condrey who allowed another 4 runs in 2 innings. The only plus out of this game was Lidge got some throwing time, and looked solid, although that probably means he won't be available for Monday's game... good thinking...

1st Series vs. Washington Nat's, 2008 Season.

2008-04-07T10:53:00.000-04:00

In hopes of giving Charlie Manuel a chance to make a fresh start with his young talented offense, and his questionable, but somewhat hopeful bullpen, we started out of the gate and fell flat on our faces. In Monday's much anticipated home opener, many questions would be quickly answered. Was Brett Myers ready to start again? Would Feliz and Jenkins fill the necessary holes? Was the bullpen stable enough to compete? Can Utley win the third straight MVP for the Phils? And how many games is our bumbling, stumbling manager going to put in the lose column for us?

So questions one was answered soon enough as Brett Myers struggled to find a rythym only managing 5 innings giving up 3 earned runs with 2 walks and 2 Ks. Claiming he just couldn't get comfortable, the hope was that he would build off this poor start. Unfortunately for Brett, he followed one poor start up with another on Sunday only pitching 5 innings again, this time giving up 4 earned runs, walking 3, striking out 4, but gave up 2 long balls. Hopefully Brett can get his act together.

On the upside, Pedro Feliz and Jeff Jenkins seem to at least be a step in the right direction at this point. Although Feliz hasn't posted any star numbers at the plate so far, he seems to be our best weapon at third and with the inevitable departure of the high touted Wes Helms, it looks like the Phils are making the commitment to Feliz. Jeff Jenkins has had a bit of a better first week at the plate. Posting a .333 batting average, but currently leads the team in strikeouts with 8. Hopefully he can be a bit more patient at the plate.

I want to skip ahead to Utley, so as to not get distracted. Chase is storming out of the gate this year, posting a .519 batting average in the first week. Blasting 3 homeruns already, with 6 RBIs and no strikeouts, it looks like he is well on his way to a MVP canidate year.

The bullpen.....UGH... Whoever decided that Clay Condrey, Chad Durbin, and Tom "Dim Fading Light" Gordon would be solid parts of our bullpen, was smoking some fun stuff.... Eh hem.... Pat Gillick...

This bullpen, spearheaded by great-uncle Charlie, has been nothing short of abismal to start this season.

Game 1, Charlie makes the brilliant move of pulling JC Romero after throwing 12 pitches and strking out two in the 8th inning, to bring in Tom Gordon in a non-save situation. Big no-no. In 1/3 innings pitched, "Flash" gave up 5 hits, 5 earned runs and a walk to blow the game out of the water. Thank you uncle Charlie for losing our first game for us.

Game 2, Debuted our real number one starter Cole Hamels, who pitched a complete gem of a game, minus one long ball to Ryan Zimmerman. Unfortunately, the offense just didn't come to Wednesday's game.

Game 3, The third game featured another poor outing by a starter with the aged Jamie Moyer going 3 1/3 giving up 6 runs, 3 earned on 9 hits. This game has been the highlight of the bullpen so far who managed to go the rest of the game only giving up 1 run in the remaining 6 2/3 innings. This game ended with a gift walk-in run after a stunning bunt in which Rollins managed to go from first to third.