Fightin Phillies - blogging Phillies baseball

Phillies off day: NL East all bunched up and Phils win again

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Baxter) — Thu, 31 May 2012 03:51:38 PDT

The Miami Marlins are in Philadelphia for a weekend series starting Friday night
photo: PMell2293 / flickr

The Phillies are still in last place, despite winning 2 of 3 from the Mets and 3-4 from the Cardinals in the last two series. It sounds worse than it is though, as the Phillies are only 3 GB from first place, despite being only 2 game above .500

The NL East is log jammed, with 5 teams and nearly two solid months of play, all the teams in the division are basically within reach of first place very easily. The Washington Nationals, who have lost 3 straight games, are still in first but the fast moving Miami Marlins are only a 1/2 game away from them. The team that the Phillies just took 2 of 3 from, the New York Mets, are only 1 1/2 games back.

Last night's game was a classic battle, the ending score really wasn't reflective of the whole game, as it was closer during most of the game. Cliff Lee again was turned away from his first win, but he didn't lose either on the night, as the Phils rallied again to break open a 3-3 game in the 8th inning by scoring a run, and then scoring 6 in the 9th to put the Mets away by a final score of 10-6.

Thursday is a much needed rest for this team, the last day off they had was May 10th. The Miami Marlins come to Philadelphia for a weekend series, then the LA Dodgers camp out for a 4 game series in Philly from Monday to Thursday next week. The Dodgers are 32-18 and are playing better than they have in years.

First it's Miami though, the Marlins are hot and bring a 3 game win streak into Philly for Friday night's game. The Phillies starters for the weekend series will be:

Friday: Kyle Kendrick vs. Mark Buehrle
Saturday: Cole Hamels vs. Ricky Nolasco
Sunday: Joe Blanton vs. Carl Zambrano

Phils look to win series tonight with Mets

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Baxter) — Wed, 30 May 2012 04:31:58 PDT

Cliff Lee needs a good nickname, like "The General" perhaps?

He looks for a much needed win for himself and the Phillies tonight

The Phillies have had a great week, not so much with the news that Roy Halladay is going to be out with a shoulder strain (read Zolecki here), but they took 3 or 4 from the St. Louis Cardinals and won the confidence of some back that the Phillies season isn't over.

The Memorial Day game of 2012 was a thrilling game to watch, Ty Wigginton had a career day with 6 RBI, and it just happened to be against an old team of his. Wiggy played 288 games with the Mets, from 2002-2004 (didn't seem that long ago to me), Ty was in a groove and this game (boxscore) will not be forgotten any too soon.

The other thing we can be thankful for is that Cole Hamels is having a great year. Cy Young is a bit premature to say, but with the kind of year that Cole is having so far, we may start hearing that comparison down the road in this 2012 season. After a few seasons of having run production issues, it is great to see Cole have a nice year again. His run support so far is astonishing. In 5 of Cole's 8 wins, the Phillies have scored 6 or more runs for him.The other 3 wins for Cole, the Phillies have scored 3-5 runs. It's not to long ago that the Phillies weren't hardly scoring any runs for Cole's starts.

It would be great to see Cliff Lee get his first win of the season tonight against the Mets. Lee hasn't won a game for the Phillies since September 26, 2011 in Atlanta. Since that September win game, Lee has had 5 no decisions, and 2 losses. It's easy to see that he is overdue for a win tonight. It seems that Cliff Lee has assumed Cole's old tough spot in the rotation when it comes to run scored by the offense. So far this season, the Phillies offense has 4 of Lee's 7 starts in which they have scored 0-2 runs per game. Lee's ERA is 3.00, with a combined 24 strikeouts and allowing 10 runs in all 4 of those games, so you can see it's more of a problem with the Phillies offense when he is on the mound.

The Mets have a 2012 batting average of .217 against Cliff Lee this season, in the two starts that Lee already has against them, not including tonight. Lee also has a combined 13 strikeouts over those two starts. One of the starts on 4/13 ended in a loss and the other on 5/9 ended in a no decision for Lee, but the Phillies lost that game by a score of 10-6.

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Phillies Talk Podcast: Phillies and Mets Musings

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Baxter) — Tue, 29 May 2012 08:47:25 PDT

It's Memorial Day 2012 for this show and it's the Mets vs. the Phillies at Citi Field. Cole Hamels wins his 8th game of the year, courtesy of Wigginton's 6 RBI's, and I am talking with Gary McDonald from the Mets Musings Podcast about the terrific turn around the Mets have had, the 2013 All Star Game coming to New York, and Citi Field.

Find the Phillies Talk Podcast right here on the FightinPhillies blog, and a new place on the internet called BaseballPodcasts.net. You can also find Mr. Gary McDonald along with Barry and their show called Mets Musings Podcast.

Phillies Talk is proud to be associated with Audible.com
Sign up for a trial today, via this link, and start listening!

Memorial Day in New York vs. the Mets

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Baxter) — Mon, 28 May 2012 05:31:49 PDT

Memorial Day Commemoration 2008 (Photo credit: davidyuweb)

I doubt the Phillies got the best rest last night. After their afternoon game on Sunday in St. Louis, the team packed up and headed east to New York for a 1:10 PM Memorial day game this afternoon at Citi Field.

It's Memorial Day 2012, a day to remember the veterans that served our country and help keep us free.

The Phillies are currently one game above .500 and just 5 GB from the first place Washington Nationals. The New York Mets are rejuvenated and only 2.5 GB from first place, and currently sitting in second place. The NL East is bunched up, and no one is really pulling away from the field with a big lead in this division.

Maybe it's time to play Mike Fontenot a little more. He's been one of the Phillies hottest hitters since he's come to the team. He's been in 10 games and has 8 hits for a .444 BA so far. He is making the most of his play time with the Phillies.

Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz, and Juan Pierre (along with Fontenot) have have the best success overall in the past week with their offensive production. These players are starting to get hot, and the Phillies offense is starting to churn a little more despite yesterday's loss to the Cardinals.

Phillies on a big slide would include: Jimmy Rollins currently at .225 BA, in his last 7 games, Rollins is batting .190. John Mayberry is also on the 'slide list', currently at .231 BA, in his last 7 games, Mayberry is batting .083. The Mayberry experience is not going well, he's got no power with only 1 HR in 48 games now, and he's had plenty of time to prove it. Mayberry looks like he can hit the ball out of the park, but just can't get the job done.

This is the start of an important time in baseball, it's about 6 weeks to the All Star Game. Hovering around that is the trade deadline that takes place on July 31st, only about 8 weeks away. We're gonna see what shape this team is in towards the deadline, will the Phillies actually deal Cole Hamels away? Or will they make him an offer he cannot refuse now that Halladay is injured? Is there someone else, GM Ruben Amaro has on his 'ship out' list? Yes, things are about to get a whole lot more interesting for the Phillies.

Halladay injured, bad sign for beleaguered Phils

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Baxter) — Sun, 27 May 2012 15:58:49 PDT

Roy Halladay (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Roy Halladay doesn't normally pitch poorly. Lately though, Roy has been pitching somewhat poorly. Halladay burst into the 2012 season with 3 wins in a row for his first three starts. Roy's last win in those first three games was April 16th, 2012 against the San Francisco Giants. Since that start, Halladay has had 8 more starts including today. During that stretch, Halladay has just 1 win and 5 losses, and the Phillies ended up losing the other two games that Roy didn't have a decision in.

Today in St. Louis, it was hot. Halladay normally hasn't been his best in the heat lately. Early in the game, Halladay gave up a Grand Slam in the first inning, and was taken out of this game after 2.0 innings with what has been reported as 'shoulder soreness.'

Unfortunately, the Phillies haven't been exactly forthcoming with injury information this year. Further tests are probably needed to say what exactly is the problem with Halladay.

Ryan Howard is continuing his rehab, though little is being said about how he is making strides to getting back on the field.

Kendrick pitches complete game shutout, Phils poised to sweep

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Baxter) — Sun, 27 May 2012 08:12:35 PDT

ST. LOUIS, MO - MAY 26: Starter Kyle Kendrick #38 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on May 26, 2012 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Kyle Kendrick hasn't been looking to great as a starter this year. He's been hit around and hasn't won a game prior to last night, but last night would be different. Not only would Kyle get his first win of the season, he'd also pitch his second ever Complete Game ( his first was in 2010) and first ever CG shutout. KK scattered 7 hits on the night, while striking out 4 for the victory against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals had been riding high atop the NL Central before the series started with the Phillies, but now they have slipped a bit and have fallen into 2nd place in their division.

Photograph taken by Googie Man 02:47, 6 April 2007 . . Googie man . . 1151×1500 (1,295,094 bytes) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Phillies have shown that they aren't as bad as the recent stories you've been reading about in the papers and online would suggest. The team is not out of it yet, and even though the Phils are still in last place, a few more winning streaks like they are getting into here, and they'll be climbing back toward the top again.

Ryan Howard tweeted out, "Nice job fellas..." after the win with Cliff Lee on the mound on Friday night, and with Howard's addition to the team, the Phillies may be on the way to much better things. We haven't heard anything Howard's progress, even since the Inquirer reporter, Bob Brookover, was practically thrown out of Brighthouse Network Field down in Clearwater (read the story here) for even caring to see how Howard was doing down in Florida. Even Howard himself chimed in, "It's not Spring Training...what are you doing down here." Well excuse us for caring.

This year's Phillies team has shown us some bright spots even though it isn't the team that we envisioned coming out of Spring Training. It's almost June now, I would expect this team to be joined by two players that have been out for a long time now. Ryan Howard and Chase Utley really should have been back by now. Howard is going on 7 full months since the last day of the season last year, and Utley is as well. When are these two coming back?

Lee boils over at Victorino with fielding blunders

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Baxter) — Sat, 26 May 2012 09:43:09 PDT

Phillies postgame reporter from CSN, Ricky Botallico, breaks down the argument with Lee and Vic

What went on in the dugout is part of a baseball season. Cliff Lee needed to get a win for the Phillies last night, and a win for himself, as he hasn't won a game yet in 2012. When Shane Victorino lost sight of a baseball last night, then watched it roll away from him was all Lee needed to see to make him a little upset.

English: Shane Victorino (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fast forward to the dugout when the inning was over. Lee seemed like he asked a question to Victorino, but Shane had nothing apologetic to offer Lee, he just seemed like he didn't even have a problem out there and offered no reason. Certainly there was no reason for him not to chase the ball after it hit off the wall in center.

Later in the game, Hunter Pence and Victorino had a problem in the field seeing the ball. Oddly enough, though no one else did all night.

What did happen in this game though is that the Phillies had a lot of heart in this game. They didn't lie down and play dead, made a couple of good plays and got a little mad along the way. Nothing wrong with that, these players should be more mad at themselves for being in last place, and if a little motivation from Lee was needed last night, so be it.

See the plays here that started the Lee / Victorino squabble:

Victorino and Lee argue a little in the dugout over this in the video of the plays

Game 3 of this important series continues tonight with Kyle Kendrick on the mound for the Phillies. They crossed the .500 barrier again, and continue to play better.

Rally Kings: still life as Phils rally all night

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Baxter) — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:25:44 PDT

Phillies pitcher Joe Blanton warming up before a game. May 9, 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Phillies showed they still have a lot of fight left in them. Last night, they rallied many times to overcome a surging Cardinal offense that just wouldn't stop. The Phillies threw up a comfortable 6-0 lead early, but just couldn't hold onto it and found themselves in a 7-7 tie by the end of the 5th inning.

Joe Blanton didn't look sharp as the Cardinals pounded their way back to gain a tie by the bottom of the 5th. Charlie Manuel didn't take Blanton out until the game was tied up, so Blanton was not the winner in last night's game.

The Phillies could have rolled over and played dead, just like we've seen a lot of the games go recently. This night was different though. The offense kept putting on pressure and scoring to answer the Cardinals push to win this one.

In the end, there would be a combined 33 hits with 2 errors by both teams, and the Phils rallied to preserve this win 10-9.

The Phils showed that they still have life in them. Despite being in last place, somewhere we didn't anticipate this team being, the Phils haven't called it a season yet.

I could sight statistics to support that this team hasn't been playing well. We all know that, and it would serve a good purpose. What made them play better last night against the Cardinals? This team needs to string a 10 game winning streak to give some confidence that there is still hope.

Can they go into St. Louis and make a statement, that there season really isn't over as we head into the Memorial Day weekend? Stay tuned.

Phils losing testing fan strength of faith in team

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Baxter) — Wed, 23 May 2012 04:15:27 PDT

Phillies team logo starting in 1976, with "Philadelphia Phil and Phillis" as the team mascots. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was listening to a local sports radio program on the Philadelphia sports scene yesterday afternoon. A long time fan of the Phillies and sports jock announced that 'he was done.' No, he wasn't retiring, he announced he was done being optimistic about this year's Phillies team.

That is what fan's are saying more and more, as the Phillies have been losing with more regularity than we've seen them lose for many years now.

Things looked brighter for the Phillies when they were reeling off 6 wins in a row. Now, the team has dropped 4 in a row since Saturday. If nothing else, this season is going to test your faith as a fan in this team. Being a great fan of a team means you stick by them no matter what. If you're just aboard for the good times, then this is when you start think about getting off the bandwagon.

Here is a snap shot of numbers produced so far by the Phillies:

Sports Stats

Lets take a look at the most strikeouts pitched in a game this season, no there are no Phillies on this chart, but we can see who is doing the best in this around the league:

Sports Stats

Schilling next to go bust?

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Baxter) — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:56:41 PDT

Photograph taken by Googie Man. 13:24, 25 October 2007 . . Googie man . . 796×1000 (664 KB) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The early 90's Phillies are not doing so well. Since the days when Lenny Dykstra, aka 'Nails', went bankrupt and ended up in jail for financial dealings that had gone wrong, now comes word that another famous ex-Phillies is in a bit of trouble himself.

Curt Schilling was a Phillies ace pitcher, but recently he's been in the new for not being able to meet payroll at his software company which makes video games.

Schilling ended up on the website, Deadspin, and there was the story telling all about Schilling's financial dealings. Read the story here

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Fightin Phillies - blogging Phillies baseball

Phillies off day: NL East all bunched up and Phils win again

Phils look to win series tonight with Mets

Phillies Talk Podcast: Phillies and Mets Musings

Memorial Day in New York vs. the Mets

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