Hamels Hammers Nats
The Phillies were in serious need of a win last night after dropping the first two games of the series with the Nationals. And they had exactly the man on the mound who could get the job done.
Through eight innings, Cole Hamels allowed only one run on five hits. He also showed his team he wasn’t afraid to get his delicate hands dirty by drilling rookie Bryce Harper with a pitch in the 1st inning. After the game, Hamels told the media, “I was trying to hit him.” Hamels was not looking to injure, but the message was sent.
Of course, Harper sent a message of his own by stealing home that same inning, which was the only run the Nats would score. Then Hamels was hit with a pitch in his first at-bat in retaliation, which Hamels fully expected.
In addition to the hit by pitch, Hamels also earned a walk and a single in the game, doing damage at the plate as well as from the mound. He could be seen in the dugout between innings laughing and joking with teammates.
The lighter mood finally rubbed off on his teammates who scored 3 runs in the 4th and then exploded with 6 runs in the 9th. Placido Polanco lead the team with 3 hits and Hunter Pence collected 4 RBI on 2 home runs, finally showing some power.
The Nats “Take back the Park” campaign wound up being a big joke. Phillies fans still showed up in droves. At least in the final game, they were rewarded for their efforts.
Another downer for the Nats was watching ex-Phillie Jayson Werth go down with a broken wrist in last night’s game. It is the same wrist that Werth injured back in 2005 that almost ended his career. Werth will be out for at least 6 weeks and miss the May 21-23 rematch with the Phils.
The Mets are up next, starting tonight at 7:05pm in Philly. Welcome home, Phils!
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Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography
Nagging Nats Pound the Phillies
As if Friday night’s gut wrenching loss was not enough, the Phillies stunk up Nationals park again today. With only 5 hits in the game, the lone RBI came off a sac fly from Carlos Ruiz in the 4th inning. If you fell asleep after that, you missed nothing.
By the 5th inning, I found myself wishing I had taken a nap instead as pitcher Vance Worley had his first really bad outing of the year. The Nats pounded him for 5 runs on 11 hits and 2 walks over 6 innings. The worst damage was done by former Phillie Jayson Werth who touched Worley up for a 3-run homer. Werth sure did look a lot better in a Phillies uniform…
Joe Savery added 2 more runs in the 7th as the Nats kept on hitting. Gio Gonzalez pitched for the Nationals and went 7 innings allowing just the one run. Gonzalez is a former Phillies prospect that got traded away for Freddy Garcia before the 2007 season. We all know how that trade worked out…Garcia won a single game and sat out the rest of the year enjoying the $10 million the Phillies paid him.
As most of us suspected earlier this season, the Phillies are in real trouble here. Now 5.5 games behind the Nationals, if they fall too far behind, they may never recover. And the Nats show no signs of going away anytime soon.
Game 3 starts at 8:05pm Sunday night. Cole Hamels will pitch.
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Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography
Umpires Rob Phillies of a Run Who Lose In 11 Innings
When the umpires become the big story of a game, something is very wrong. But that is what happened in tonight’s Phillies – Nationals game starting immediately in the first inning of an eventual 4-3 Phils loss.
With the Nats 19-year old newbie at the plate in the 1st, the home plate ump gave him a walk on a check swing that was not a check swing. Even without replay, you could see that Bryce Harper’s bat did cross the plate.
Understandably, Charlie Manuel was upset. Because not only was the strike obvious, but there was NO umpire at third to call it due to Joe West being ill. As a result, the remaining 3 umpires were on the defensive right away. Manuel had barely yelled a few words from the dugout when the home plate umpire tossed him from the game without hesitation.
So the Phillies lost their manager in the 1st inning and the umpire disgrace rolled further downhill after that. With Shane Victorino on 2nd base in the 7th, Carlos Ruiz smashed a ball right over the 3rd base bag that should have been an RBI double. But again, with NO umpire at third, it was ruled a foul ball. Seconds later, Victorino stole 3rd base and was called out even though he was never tagged. Remember, there was NO umpire to see this so I guess they just tossed a coin.
Ruiz singled right after that, but no run scored because Victorino had been called out erroneously. Essentially, the umpires robbed the Phillies of the same run twice!
With 3 huge blown calls, the manager ejected and an RBI taken away from the Phillies, the umpires were not done yet. Because during the next 1/2 inning, the idiot who called Victorino out was seen vehemently defending himself to Victorino as he ran out to center field. He actually appeared to be yelling at Victorino as he waved his hands around for emphasis. Seriously? YOU blow a bunch of calls and have the nerve to yell at the player? Disgusting.
Calls started going against the Nationals too, although not game-changing. With the exact same situation as the 1st inning and Harper at bat again, he was called out on a check swing in the 7th. This time, he actually did not swing.
My question is this: WHY can MLB not afford an extra umpire for when this happens again? If someone gets sick, you have a replacement. If not, he can sit in the booth and HELP by watching replays on close calls. Give the umpires earpieces or radios and have the 5th ump call down with the correct call.
Because isn’t the most important thing to get the call right? Or does MLB think catering to umpire egos is more important? And if they don’t like the 5th umpire idea, then you HAVE to allow replay. Blown calls should NOT be affecting the outcome of a game in the modern era. Was no one paying attention when Jim Joyce cost a kid a perfect game with a blown call?
I hope these idiot umpires go back and watch film of this game and see everything they screwed up. But I guarantee you this; none of them will feel anywhere near as badly as Joyce did after his blown call. That man at least had the class and humanity to admit his mistake. But aside from Joyce, when no one is held accountable for their actions, this will never change.
Granted, you cannot put all the blame for this loss on the umpires. The Phillies offense squandered chances. But they should have had a 4-3 lead going into the 8th inning. Instead, they took a 3-3 ballgame 11 innings, blew out their bullpen and lost the game once reliever Michael Schwimer had gone 3 innings and his arm was ready to fall off.
There is always tomorrow, of course. But that does not make this one suck any less.
Game 2 – Saturday, 1:05pm.
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Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography
Blanton Channels Halladay In Complete Game Shut-Out
Since Roy Halladay was unable to perform like Roy Halladay on Wednesday night, Joe Blanton decided to step in and give it a try. Blanton did such a great Halladay impersonation that he managed to shut-out the Braves in a 3-hit complete game for a 4-0 Phillies win.
But maybe Blanton was not channeling the spirit of an ace pitcher at all; maybe this is just who Blanton is when he is actually healthy. Either that, or maybe Blanton just needs to take every other year off and only play baseball during even-numbered years?
After a few tough years, Blanton has finally gone from an average Joe to an ace. And after the previous night’s 11-inning 15-13 disaster that blew out both team’s bullpens, the Phillies pitchers really needed the boost from Blanton’s complete game.
The offense provide just enough offense to sneak out of Atlanta with a series win, 2 games to 1. Shane Victorino and Laynce Nix both homered in the game and Hunter Pence added a sac fly.
The Phillies begin a 3-game series with the first place (gulp!) Nationals on Friday night. Stephen Strasburg will pitch against Phillies fill-in extraordinaire, Kyle Kendrick (double gulp!). Game time is 7:05pm…let the fun begin!
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Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography
Doc Disassembled: Roller Coaster Game Ends in Disaster
After a 4-2 win over the Braves on Tuesday night, the Phillies felt good entering Wednesday’s game. The offense was finally starting to score runs and they would have ace pitcher Roy Halladay on the mound. Even better, they took a 6-0 lead into the 5th inning.
Placido Polanco just kept getting hits and Shane Victorino road his coat tails. Then Laynce Nix smashed a bases-clearing, 3-run double in the 3rd. Things were going very, very well.
Then the impossible happened…Halladay got hammered. If you try saying out loud, “Halladay blew a 6-run lead,” it may actually seem like you are speaking Greek. Add to that, “Halladay gave up 8 runs in less than two innings,” and you now have the equivalent of an extra-terrestrial language never before spoke on planet earth.
But that is exactly what happened. The Braves disassembled the Doc like he was a faulty robot that short circuited. The beating even included a Grand Slam, just to add a little more salt to the wound. Ouch.
Halladay has not looked like his old self in a few games now and the questions about his health are bound to pile up like a mound of steaming dog poo. Whatever is going on, it does not smell good.
If you think about the way the Phillies offense has played so far this year, just as unthinkable as Halladay getting hit for 8 runs is this team coming back after those 8 runs.
And yet, the temporary reassembly of this Phillies game began with a 3-run homer off the bat of Carlos Ruiz in the 7th inning. Chooch was determined to get his pitcher off the hook, because in the 8th inning, he added 3 more runs with a bases-clearing double. That gave him a total of 7 RBI on the night. Insane.
With a 12-8 lead in the 8th, the insanity was not yet over. As hard as Ruiz worked to get the Phillies ahead, the bullpen seemed to work just as hard to blow it. By the time Jose Contreras was pulled, he had allowed a run and loaded the bases, thanks in part to a huge error by Jimmy Rollins.
Michael Schwimer came in to pitch and walked in a run on 4 pitches. And of course, the next batter singled in 2 more runs to tie the game…again. This time, it was 12-12. But that did not last long. Schwimer gave up a sac fly and Braves took a 13-12 lead.
You could not have scripted a weirder game. And I could not have shouted any more cuss words at my TV. Not because I could not think of any…because I lost my damn voice. If you ever find yourself asking the question, “How do you blow a huge lead…multiple times?,” just watch a replay of this game. Disgusting.
Think the Phillies had a second comeback in them? Well, they did tie it up…again…13-13 in the 9th, sending the game to extra innings. But relief pitcher Brian Sanches, on the roster for David Herndon who is on the DL, gave up a 2-run homer to Chipper Jones in the 11th. The walk-off win for the Braves wasted the only solid offensive effort from the Phils all year. Just sickening.
If you can stomach it, game 3 with the Braves starts early on Thursday at 12:10pm.
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Photoshopping by Jenn Zambri Photography
Phillies Hit The Road on a Positive Note
In the finale of a 4-game series with the Cubs, the Phillies got off to a hot start with 4 runs in the first inning. Having already lost 2 games in this series, it was imperative for this team to get going quickly. But after those 4 runs, the offense went to sleep again.
Vance Worley pitched 7 strong innings while the offense napped. He allowed only 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks. The Phillies took the 4-1 lead into the 8th inning as the bullpen took over.
Sadly, no lead seems very safe with this team. Such was the case as Antonio Bastardo and Chad Qualls combined to blow the 3-run lead. Bastardo walked his second batter and Qualls gave up a single to score that run and then added a 2-run homer shortly after.
With the game then tied, the Phillies needed that sleeping offense to wake up. But the way things have been going lately, it seemed unlikely. It was going to take a small miracle…or at least a clutch hit.
When you find yourself cheering because the first batter of the inning, Juan Pierre, got hit by a pitch, you know things have not been going well. And when you begin to hope that maybe the pitcher will hit the next 3 batters so you can score a run, things have gone from bad to worse.
But instead of getting hit, the Phillies actually got a few hits. With 2 outs and Pierre on first, Jimmy Rollins singled to move Pierre to third. And then the real hero stepped to the plate and proved he has still got the bat to go with his glove. Placido Polanco smashed a double to left that scored both Pierre and Rollins. It was the first time this year that the Phillies were able to take a lead in their final at-bat.
The Phillies went on to a 6-4 victory, thanks to Polly’s timely hit. Even better, it does appear that Polanco is healthy again after 2 hernia issues the previous year.
Going back on the road against the Braves and Nationals, who are leading the division, it was important to start on a positive note. With any luck, the Phillies may be able to start digging themselves out of this hole and April’s losing record.
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Photoshopping by Jenn Zambri Photography
The Phillies Team-Wide Recession
The nicest thing I can say about today’s Phillies – Cubs game is that the weather was beautiful. Unfortunately, that is where the joy ends.
Even the Phillie Phanatic’s birthday celebration was toned down from previous years. There were fewer mascots, no Zooperstars except a generic monkey and the cake was less than half the size it usually is. See for yourself…it appears the recession has finally reached the Phanatic birthday bash:
In fact, maybe the entire organization is suffering from a recession. They accidentally give away runs to other teams for free and cannot score any of their own. That is a recipe for going broke fast.
Today’s match-up featured Kyle Kendrick vs. Matt Garza. Guess who won?
Garza sucked what little life was left in the Phillies offense and spat them out like garbage. The only action the Phillies bats saw was a parade of foul balls:
Jimmy Rollins got a hit to start the game and that was it for the whole team until the 9th inning when Hunter Pence added a bookend hit. The only run they scored was also in the 9th and came from a bases-loaded walk.
The defense was just as awful. Here is Laynce Nix impersonating a really bad first baseman:
I say impersonating because he is an outfielder who played a total of 9 games at first base in a 9-year career before joining the Phillies.
And Pence added to the mayhem by overrunning another ball in right field which led to a run for the Cubs. That is 3 straight games that Pence has made the same mistake. I am confused by this…how about you?
And here is a play at the play where, according to my photo, it appears Brian Schneider tags the runner about a foot before the plate. I did not see the TV replay, so maybe the photo is deceptive, but who knows:
Either way, it was just one more crappy moment in another crappy Phillies game. This was officially one of the worst Phillies games I have ever seen in person. The 5-1 loss also guarantees the Phils a losing record in April after dropping 2 out of 3 games so far to the second WORST team in the entire national league. Depressed yet?
No worries…there is always tomorrow (please note my sarcasm here). Feel free to add your own sarcastic comments as well. At least we can all vent together ;O)
Here is the full Photo Album from today’s game. I assure you, my photos are more entertaining than this team is right now. You’re welcome.
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Photos by Jenn Zambri Photography
Chooch Gets The Phillies Train Chugging Again
Carlos Ruiz has very quietly been one of the best catchers in baseball over the past several years. Calling games for guys like Roy Halladay, catching no hitter’s and backing his team with key hits, Chooch never seems to get the credit he deserves.
But Phillies fans know that Chooch is the man. Last night Ruiz helped pitcher Joe Blanton get through 7 1/3 innings, allowing just two runs and striking out 8 batters. Blanton looked really sharp and Ruiz was his usual, awesome self.
Leading the team with 3 RBI in the 5-2 victory over the Cubs, Ruiz also showed his toughness. After getting nailed in the knee with a foul ball in the 6th inning and writhing in pain, only minutes later, Ruiz smashed a home run to left to add an insurance run for the Phillies. There is nothing this guy would not do for his team.
The 2 hits by Ruiz were key in the game, as the Phillies had only 4 other hits for a total of 6 in the game. 3 of the remaining 4 hits were doubles, including a 2-run shot by Jimmy Rollins. After an awful start to the season, we can only hope that hit gets J-Roll rolling again.
Manager Charlie Manuel shuffled the line-up last night with Rollins in the lead-off spot. But aside from the 1 hit, the change of scenery did not help much and Juan Pierre is doing very well in that spot. Pierre will likely return to the top of the line-up today. But do expect several more line-up shake-ups as Manuel tinkers to find something that works for this offense.
Also of note last night was Jim Thome leaving the game early with back soreness. Batting only .111 in 18 at-bats so far, this is going to raise more questions about whether or not Thome can still be a productive player this late in his career. Currently, Thome is listed as day-to-day.
Game 3 with the Cubs starts this afternoon at 1:35pm. See you at the game!
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Ruiz Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography
Back to Bad
It looks like the run explosion from the Phillies offense in Arizona was really just a desert mirage after all. Because against the Cubs tonight, they went right back to their losing ways.
The game started out promising with runners on first and third with no outs. But that short, 5 minute elation was squashed quickly by two straight pop-ups from Jimmy Rollins and Hunter Pence plus a ground out from Shane Victorino. Those three hitters, the core of the Phillies current line-up, combined to go 0-for-12 on the night.
And that first inning set the tone. The only run the Phillies scored was a solo homer from Ty Wigginton. If you had told me at the start of the season that Wigginton would be the Phillies best hitter, I would have said that this team was in really big trouble. Wigginton was acquired to be a bench guy. But because he is the only one hitting, he is now a starter, batting .327 with a 12-game hitting streak.
And that is where the good news ends.
Roy Halladay had a little trouble tonight, but he still only allowed 3 runs over 7 innings. It was certainly enough for a win.
By the ninth inning, down 3-1, the Phillies defense added to the disaster as well. Pence over ran a ball, allowing a Cubs run to score. Then Rollins followed suit, missing a ground ball and another run scored. Knowing this offense was already dead in the water, those plays sealed the deal and the Phils lost by a 5-1 score.
This is such a disheartening loss that I cannot imagine what to say at this point. So, I will go with….Go Flyers! Yeah, it is that bad. I have resorted to hockey. *Sigh*
Game 2 with the Cubs: 7:05pm Saturday.
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Happy Bunny by Jim Benton
Phillies Offense Finally on a Roll…
In the last two games, the Phillies have scored a total of 15 runs. Since the start of the season, it did not look like that sort of run production was ever going to happen. But Wednesday’s 7-2 win over the Diamondbacks may actually signal the awakening of this offense.
Cole Hamels certainly helped the situation with another great start, putting the Phillies in position to win. Through 8 strong innings, Hamels allowed only 2 runs on 4 hits and struck out 7 batters. He also lit things up at the plate with a 2-run single in the 6th inning.
This game was a real team effort, with everyone in the line-up contributing, even if it was just a sacrifice to move runners. The biggest stand-out though was Placido Polanco who looked like the player of old. He was on base after every at bat with 3 hits, 2 walks and an RBI.
Carlos Ruiz also had a 3-hit game and Hunter Pence collected 2 hits. Now if the Phillies can just get Jimmy Rollins going, this might actually be a descent line-up again.
Thursday is an off-day with a 4-game home series beginning with the Cubs on Friday. You know what the cure for a suffering offense is? That’s right…the Cubs. Cross your fingers…
Injury Updates:
As you may have heard, relief pitcher Mike Stutes is on the DL. He has not looked the like the vibrant pitcher he was since about the final month of last season. While this is concerning, his replacement, Michael Schwimer looked very sharp in Wednesday’s win.
As for Ryan Howard, he is still taking it easy. But his wound is finally healing which means he may be able to start real baseball activity within the next week.
And my favorite topic of discussion, Chase Utley: Reportedly, Utley is feeling no knee pain while batting and some pain while fielding. He took batting practice in Arizona with the team and many were encouraged by his swing. However, here is a word of caution about all the optimism…
As a person with chronic knee issues, worse that what Utley has, I can tell you this; I also feel no pain while swinging a bat…ok, in my knees at least ;o) The joint rotation does not bother me. However, running and anything involving impact, like chasing ground balls, is a whole other story.
I have not been able to play serious baseball since I was 16 years old after blowing out both my knees. But it was not because I could not still hit; it was because I could not run. All these years later, I can still hit, but I still cannot run and never will. Are you following my thought process here?
Granted, I have worse issues that Utley. But my point is, yes, he looks good hitting. But the real test will be impact movements, like running. The fact that Utley still has some pain while fielding is not a good sign. Running is generally more strenuous than fielding due to the repetition of the impact on the knees. So if it is hard to field, running will only make that worse.
I am a huge Chase Utley fan and I would love nothing more than to see him get better and back to his old self. However, all of this makes me very nervous. If he comes back too early, he can do more damage to his knees. But we all want him to come back sooner than later and I am sure he does as well.
So be optimistic; but be cautiously optimistic.
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Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography
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