Results tagged ‘ Cardinals ’
Halladay Finds His Mojo Against the Cards
The Roy Halladay we have all been waiting to see returned last night in an 8-2 win over the Cardinals. It began with his last start against the Marlins and then Friday night, he continued to improve in an impressive 7-inning effort.
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The game was called due to rain after the 7th, so this will go in the books as a complete game for Halladay. He allowed only 2 runs, both solo homers.
But the really encouraging part was seeing Halladay get angry. Not the fiery red-faced, frustrated sort of anger; this was his old competitive fire, finally burning once again. He got mad in situations that most would just shrug off; for example, Ben Revere made another amazing catch in center field, but Halladay was visibly annoyed that the batter was able to hit the ball that hard, even though it turned into an out.
Halladay also had no issues trying to intimidate first-year major league umpire, Alan Porter, by staring him down or barking at him when he didn’t get the call he wanted. Porter had blown a fair/foul call the day before that put the Phillies in a hole, so no one was sad to see Roy giving him a hard time.
Seeing Halladay back to his old, grouchy self is a very positive sign. For some pitchers, this might mean the guy is getting frazzled; but for Halladay, being grouchy means he is on his game, ready to compete. When good is not good enough for the Doc, you know he is feeling confident.
Just as exciting as seeing Halladay find his mojo again was seeing the Phillies offense finally get some hits. The Phils busted out for 5 runs in the first inning, which was triggered by Chase Utley drawing a 2-out walk. And thank goodness someone walked, because I was getting beyond tired of hearing every single sports reporter whine about the lack of walks. Now they can all get back to whining about Ryan Howard…
Howard did not play last night due to a sore groin and he is day-to-day. Kevin Frandsen filled in at 1st base and drew the 2nd walk of the game for the Phillies and scored twice. Freddy Galvis started his second consecutive game in left field and made one of the weirdest diving catches you will ever see. His hand actually did a 360-degree turn on the ground, with the ball in the mitt. Of course, I cannot find a video of it anywhere…but it does look like we may have another outfielder. This guy looks like he can play anywhere…amazing.
So the real question tonight is will the Phillies offense come to play two days in a row? Cliff Lee hopes so; he takes the mound at 7:05pm tonight.
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Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography
An Emotional Offseason
A recent Sports Illustrated article graded the Phillies offseason moves a “D.” They summarized it by saying, “Though the trade for Revere gives the Phillies a cost-controlled centerfielder to grow on, they’ve taken steps backward with most of their other moves, and are more likely to repeat last year’s middling showing than contend in a division where the Nationals and Braves have upgraded in impressive fashion.”
Ouch.
This assessment, however, may or may not be totally off-base. I decided to rank some of these moves for myself using not grades, but my emotions about each event. Roger Ebert once said, “Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you.” Let’s see if he is correct:
Happy: The trade for centerfielder Ben Revere. He is cheap, young and has room for improvement. My instinct says he will be a pleasant surprise.
Nostalgic Joy: Re-signing RHP Chad Durbin. Durbin is a solid human being and he had a great 2012 with the Braves. Plus he helped the Phillies collect their 2008 World Series championship.
Cautiously Optimistic: Signing Michael Young to play third base. Young seems like another solid human being with a true passion for the game. The question is whether or not he can still play defense. I feel that a guy with this much experience and motivation should be able to work it out.
Conflicted: Adding Chase Utley-hater and lefty John Lannan to the starting rotation. Obviously with the departure of Vance Worley, the Phillies needed a starter. Lannan is cheap, but how well he will perform and his attitude are, at least for me, big question marks.
Confused: Signing outfielder Delmon Young. This guy is a problem child who is also still recovering from offseason ankle surgery. His defense is awful and he has been, not without cause, labeled an anti-Semite with a bad temper. I get the low-risk, high reward school of thought here. What I do not get is why the Phillies would rather mess around with this guy than finally give Domonic Brown a full-time shot at one of the corner outfield spots.
Nervously Nauseous: I am just a wee bit sick to my tummy about the 2-year, $12 million deal the Phillies gave to RHP Mike Adams to be the 8th inning guy. I like Adams if he is healthy. However, he is recovering from thoracic outlet surgery. This is the same surgery that Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals had and his career looks like it may be over. That is a little scary.
Utter Disappointment: Carlos Ruiz’s 25-game suspension for using a banned substance. He did not use steroids, which is a relief. But still, getting caught with ADHD meds when he was forewarned about it after a previously positive test is very disappointing. He knew he’d probably get caught again and did it anyway. *Sigh.*
Sad: Losing Vance Worley in the Ben Revere trade. I wish him luck in Minnesota!
Indifferent: Everything else. A lot of minor moves were made, mostly involving minor league deals and guys past their prime. Unless someone makes a real impact in camp, I cannot imagine there will be much to say about these miscellaneous people.
And my final emotion of the day…
Elation! Spring Training starts tomorrow!
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Howard’s 300th; One Win and a Loss Against the Braves
The Phillies won their 4th straight game Friday night in the opener against the Braves that included a pre-game salute to Chipper Jones. Jones will retire after 19 years with the Braves after this season. The Phillies gave Jones a painting of one of many home runs he hit in Citizens Bank Park.
Jones received a number of salutes while the Braves traveled to away games this year. And to thank the Phillies, Jones went 0-for-4 in the home teams’ 6-2 win over his Braves. Thanks, Larry. And Happy Retirement ;o)
However, the tables were turned on Saturday afternoon. The Braves found their bats and Roy Halladay hit another brick wall. Clearly, not all is well with Halladay as he claims. He has had only a few good starts since coming off the DL; the rest have been very un-Doc like.
This afternoon, Halladay did not even make it through 2 innings. His final line had 7 earned runs in 1.2 innings on 5 hits and 3 walks. It was ugly. Charlie Manuel looked on in disbelief before he finally ran out to the mound to lift Doc from the game.
With the Cardinals win today, the Phillies could ill afford any more losses. But the offense was weak today against the Braves pitching. The only excitement came when Ryan Howard hit a milestone home run; it was the 300th of his career, putting him in 2nd place behind Mike Schmidt all time for the Phillies.
Howard has now hit a home run in 4 straight games. Seeing his bat wake up again is a pleasant site. However, the Phillies are still in a dire situation as far as the playoffs are concerned. The loss today knocks them back to 4 games out of the Wild Card behind 3 other teams with only 10 games to go.
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Howard head shot by Jenn Zambri Photography
Phillies Annihilate the Mets in Finale of 3-Game Sweep
On Thursday night, the Phillies gave the Mets a spanking and then some. It was an outright stomping to the tune of 2 touchdowns and a safety. If you are not a football fan, that is the baseball equivalent of 16 runs.
The 16-1 pummeling began with an 8-run 1st inning. The Phillies went all the way through the line-up, batters 1-8, before a single out was recorded by the Mets. The starting pitcher was lifted from the game 7 batters in and his final line read 7 earned runs and zero innings pitched…ouch. The next pitcher who came in hit Erik Kratz with a pitch to force in another run.
This was the first time the Phillies had their first 8 batters reach base to start a game since 1975. It was also the first time since 1912 that they scored at least 8 runs in the 1st inning while on the road. Know what else happened in 1912? The Titanic sank.
For the Mets, this was a game to forget, if they can. For the Phillies, it was a nice opportunity to bump up their batting averages and stats. Here are those than benefitted the most from the Mets’ ineptitude:
That is a lot of hitting.
With 2 outs in the 9th the night before, Ryan Howard hit a 2-run homer to win the game. And with 2 outs in the 9th last night, Howard smashed a Grand Slam home run, adding insult to injury for the Mets. The Phillies scored 7 runs in that final inning.
Rookie pitcher Tyler Cloyd quietly had a great game in between all the offensive fireworks. Cloyd gave up only 1 run on 3 hits over 8 innings. He was the only starter in the game who did not get a hit for the Phillies, but since he pitched well, he is forgiven ;o)
Despite the sweep of the Mets though, the Phillies are still 4 games out of the Wild Card race as the Cardinals keep winning. They are running out of games quickly.
Of the 12 remaining games, the next 3 are at home against the Braves. Game time tonight is 7:05pm.
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Walk-Off In Extras Nails Series Win for Phillies
The Phillies annual Alumni Weekend came to an end today with a huge series win against the World Champion Cardinals. The 11-inning, 8-7 walk-off win was the cherry on top of a great weekend at Citizen’s Bank Park.
Vance Worley took the mound again, despite needing elbow surgery for bone chips. The injury appears to be taking a toll on the Vanimal who struggled again, going 5 1/3 innings with 4 runs allowed.
The Phillies offense started off strong with 3 runs in the 1st on a triple from Chase Utley. In the 4th, Ryan Howard added a solo homer. But each time the Phils scored, the Cardinals answered and they took a 4-4 tie into the 8th.
With 3 errors in the game, the Phillies still had some nice defensive plays, and others that fell short. The play at the plate below where Matt Holiday is called safe was a real bummer:
More disappointment was to follow as Michael Schwimer turned a 4-4 game into a 7-4 deficit for the Phils in the 8th, allowing the 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk.
But just when it looked like the game was over, Erik Kratz got up to his new-old tricks again. With 2 runners on and 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th, he smashed a home run to left to tie the game up again.
But Kratz was not done yet… In the 11th, he started off the inning with a double. Sadly, the double was erased when Jimmy Rollins, who had the day off prior pinch hitting in the 8th, hit into a fielder’s choice. J-Roll later redeemed himself by stealing 3rd, which turned out to be the key to winning the game. Juan Pierre hustled down the 1st base line to beat out an infield single which scored Rollins for the walk-off win!
Pierre has been one of the few bright spots for the Phillies this year. It is hard to imagine not resigning him in the offseason, but that drama will play out later…
As for the Alumni in attendance, they had a lot of fun, especially Mike Schmidt who shot hot dogs into the crowd. You will have to see it to believe it:
There were many other appearances as well, including John Kruk announcing the line-ups, Dick Allen and Tony Taylor changing bases, and eight former Phillies, including Larry Andersen, Gary Matthews, Ricky Jordan, Ricky Botallico and Von Hayes singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” on the field during the seventh-inning stretch.
Botallico, always an amazing sport, even wore the Phanatic’s jersey to entertain the crowd.
Here is the full Photo Album from the game.
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Photos by Jenn Zambri Photography
The Doc Operates on the Red Birds
It seems like a very long time since we have seen a really good Phillies game. But with Roy Halladay on the mound last night looking like the ace that he is, it felt like old times again.
After a year of struggles and injury, Halladay appears to be at 100% finally. Against the World Champion Cardinals Friday night, he pitched 8 innings and allowed only 2 hits, one of which was a solo homer. That would be the only run of the night for the Cards.
The Phillies are in the process of finding out exactly what they have for next year. Halladay’s performance was a huge boost in that regard. They also tooled around in the outfield, moving guys here and there like a roulette wheel to see which one might hit the jackpot.
As a result, Nate Schierholtz played center field for the first time in his MLB career. Domonic Brown started in right and then both guys got shuffled around later in the game. Even with all the changes, everyone held their own pretty well.
Brown knocked in the first run for the Phillies with a single in the second that scored Ryan Howard. The other 2 runs scored on an 8th inning 2-run homer from Chase Utley. He hit the ball so hard it went into the upper deck of the bullpen in center field. It looks like Utley has also found his groove again.
The pitching was excellent for both teams, but the Utley homer won the game for the Phillies who walked away with a 3-1 victory. Game 2 starts tonight at 7:05pm. Cliff Lee will pitch and try to keep pace with the Doc’s amazing performance.
And a quick congratulations to former catcher Mike Lieberthal who was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame last night! Lieby looked both humbled and honored as he accepted the award and thanked the fans for their support. Congrats to him…a well deserved honor!
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Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography
Phillies Pitching Frustrating Once Again
The Phillies lost in spectacularly bad fashion by a score of 12-6 against the Braves last night, losing the 3 game series. Kyle Kendrick went only 3 1/3 innings while giving up 6 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. Kendrick looked like he was sleepwalking through the game. He was awful.
The only thing worse than Kyle Kendrick’s pitching was his post-game interview. Nearly all of Kendrick’s stammerings after games give off an uncalled for air of righteous indignation, which is infuriating. Last night, he dropped this gem on the press: “I guess that’s how it is with me. It’s been, ‘What have you done for me lately?’.”
Aww, poor baby. Are those mean people picking on you, Kyle? Seriously? His reaction to totally sucking is to point out that people are unhappy when he sucks? Please excuse me while I vomit…
The most irritating part about Kendrick is that we all know he can pitch. We have seen him do it. But when he goes bad, he goes really bad and it almost seems as if he could care less. And so continues our ongoing frustration with Kendrick.
But even after those 6 runs, the Phillies battled back. Jimmy Rollins led the game off with a homer. Kevin Fransden had 2 hits and some nice plays at 3rd base. And Ryan Howard mashed a 3-run homer in the 5th to tie the game up.
However, mega frustration #2 showed up again after that: Antonio Bastardo. This kid should NOT be pitching in the 8th inning anymore. He clearly has lost whatever mojo he had last season. Bastardo gave up 3 more runs and then Josh Lindblom, newly acquired from the Dodgers, tacked on 3 more. Disgusting. Especially after the offense battled back like that, this was a serious kick in the gut.
The Phillies will have the day off today to wallow in this sickening loss before having to face the World Champion Cardinals on Friday. We can only hope that series will be better than this one.
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Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography
Phillies All-Stars Contribute to NL Shut-Out Win Over the AL
In an 8-0 win over the American League, 3 Phillies All-Stars made big contributions for the National League. Cole Hamels pitched a perfect 7th inning, probably driving up his free agent value a little bit more. Carlos Ruiz caught the final 4 innings and had one at-bat, a fly-out to left field. And Jonathan Papelbon recorded the final out of the game, sealing the NL victory.
Here are a few MLB photos from the game:
And this next set of MLB photos show Ruiz holding his glove and then the glove R.A. Dickey gave him to use in order to catch his crazy knuckle balls. That glove is almost as big as Chooch! There is also a nice shot of Papelbon and then more adorable Chooch getting a hug from the Nationals teenage rookie, Bryce Harper:
Melky Cabrera of the Cardinals got the MVP award for the game. He had 2 hits, including a homer, and 2 RBI. Some rare events occurred during the game, including 3 triples, 5 rookies playing in the game, and the first shut-out during an All-Star game since 1996, when the game was played in Philadelphia.
The biggest blunder of the game came from 19-year old Harper who lost a routine fly ball in the outfield, which eventually landed behind him. He also got caught leaning too far off base in a fielder’s choice and was tagged out.
So now we wait until the Phillies return on Friday to see if they have any gas left to rescue their dreadful season. Roy Halladay will make a rehab start tomorrow so, hopefully, that means he will be back very soon.
In the meantime, here is a fun blast from the All-Star past. These are a few of my favorite All-Star photos from 2008. The top one will never get old…it is Dan Uggla goosing Chase Utley to the surprise of many around them, as you can see by my marker edits. Below that is Utley and Brad Lidge, who appear to be trying to club David Wright. And then there is Mike Schmidt standing up in a moving vehicle (next to Utley) during the All-Star parade to point me out and say hello. I was one Phillies jersey in a sea of Yankees jersey’s so I was easy to spot and he was clearly excited to see a Phillies fan! Utley yelled out to me right after that as well. And yes, that was one of the highlights of my simple existence ;o)
By the way, I am hoping to have my video interview with Ryan Howard posted in the next few days, so stay tuned for that!
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2012 photos by MLB; 2008 photos by Jenn Zambri Photography
Career Day for Wigginton Leads to Phillies Win
After a rough day on Sunday with a loss to the Cardinals and Roy Halladay pulled early due to shoulder soreness, the Phillies needed a serious lift. Seeing Carlos Ruiz scratched from today’s line-up with a sore hamstring was also not the good news this team was looking for.
But with Cole Hamels on the mound, you had to think the Phillies had a shot against the Mets. Hamels delivered again with 4 runs allowed in 8 innings. Technically Hamels’ worst outing of the season, this would have been a great day for most other pitchers.
Still, 4 runs has been no small challenge for this Phillies team and their up and down offense. But one guy came through in the clutch; Ty Wigginton. With a career high 6 RBI in the game, including a 3-run homer and a double, Wigginton put the team on his back and carried them to a victory. Wiggy was also walked twice and went 3-for-3 overall, putting him on base in all 5 at-bats.
John Mayberry Jr. also had a multi-hit day with a single and a 2-run homer. Wiggy and Mayberry combined for all 8 of the Phillies runs in the 8-4 win.
Going forward, the starting rotation still has some question marks. Halladay will be examined when the team returns to Philly later this week. And Vance Worley, although still on the DL, appears to be making progress.
Joe Blanton is another question mark as he has allowed 13 runs in his last 2 starts. If he can bounce back Tuesday night against the Mets, that would be a big relief for everyone concerned about the starting pitching right now. Game time is 7:10pm.
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Photoshopping by Jenn Zambri Photography
From Extreme Highs to Extreme Lows
This has been an up and down year so far for the Phillies; feast or famine. And we never know which one is coming and when. They win 6 in a row, lose 4 in a row and then win 4 in row. Up, down, up down…repeat…
Someone needs to stop the roller coaster and let me catch a break. This has been exhausting.
On Saturday, another extreme high occurred when Kyle Kendrick pitched his first career complete game shut-out for a 4-0 win over the Cardinals. Kendrick’s season has mirrored the team as a whole; some ups and some downs.
But after winning that 4th straight game, Sunday brought on another extreme low. Roy Halladay got blown up in the first inning against the Cards with a grand slam, putting the Phillies in a quick 4-0 hole. But worse than that, after just 2 innings of work, Pete Orr suddenly appeared in the on-deck circle to bat for Halladay. This left many scratching their collective heads…
As it turns out, Halladay was pulled for having “right shoulder soreness.” There has been no word yet on what exactly this means or how serious it may be. However, one can surmise based on Halladay’s last several outings, that this is not a new issue. Halladay has not looked right for some time now.
After a 1.95 ERA in the month of May, Halladay pitched to the tune of a 6.11 ERA in May. Obviously, something is going on. But with the cloak and dagger routine the Phillies brass has employed this year in regards to injured players, like Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, we may never know the full truth.
And as if that was not enough drama for one day, Utley got hit with a foul ball while sitting in the dugout during the 7th inning. It appears to have hit his hand and then knocked his sunglasses off his face. No one looked terribly concerned afterwards, so we shall assume for now that he is fine….aside from 2 bum knees, of course.
The Phillies walked away with an 8-3 loss today, although they did win the series 3 games to 1, which is the good news. But as has been the case all season long, what lies ahead next is anyone’s guess.
A 3-game series with the Mets begins tomorrow in New York. The Memorial Day game time is 1:10pm; Cole Hamels will pitch.
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Photoshopping and head shots by Jenn Zambri Photography
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