Ben Francisco - Photo credit: Steve Trapani

Phillies won Game 3 but it wasn’t easy.  The Cardinals put up a fight and Ryan Theriot‘s bat was hot tonight.  In fact, he is now referred to on twitter as ‘Cody Ross Theriot‘ thanks to last year’s playoffs where San Francisco Giant Cody Ross was a major thorn in the Phillies’ side.

And to make matters worse, Cole Hamels threw WAY too many pitches early on.  I won’t say he did poorly, because he didn’t, its just the Cardinals’ offense made him work.  He pitched six innings, gave up five hits, no runs, walked three, and struck out eight.  And though he didn’t go as deep into the game as he would have liked (his pitch count was at 117) he still got the win.

The game was scoreless until the seventh inning.  That’s when Shane Victorino lead the inning off with a single then stole second base.  With two outs, St. Louis lefty Jaime Garcia intentionally walked Carlos Ruiz then had to face pinch hitter Ben Francisco.  That’s when I said to myself, “It’d be a great time to hit one out Ben!”  He must have heard me because he delivered a 3-run shot to left-center field, putting the Phillies up 3-0.

Reliever Vance Worley replaced Hamels in the seventh and gave up three hits and one run.  Antonio Bastardo threw in the eighth and gave up a hit to Theriot, then Brad Lidge replaced Bastardo and gave up singles to both Matt Holliday and Rafael Furcal.  Ryan Madson was brought in to get the Phillies out of the eighth and he accomplished that by getting Allen Craig to ground into a double play.

In the top of the ninth, the Phillies had a chance to add to their lead.  With Placido Polanco on first, Carlos Ruiz hit a shot to center where center-fielder Skip Schumaker made a slide and catch.  His glove was on the ground and the ball did in fact land inside of the glove, even though initially Ruiz was called safe at first.  Schumaker argued and the umps converged.  They unanimously agreed that Schumaker caught it, therefore Ruiz was out and the Phillies momentum was quickly snuffed.

Bottom of the ninth brought nervousness and almost panic to the millions of Phillies fans watching as Madson gave up a lead-off double to Albert Pujols.  Madson did retire the next two batters but then allowed an RBI-single by Yadier Molina.  The Phillies lead was cut to just one run and who was up at the plate?  Well you know it had to be none other than ‘Cody Ross’ Theriot.  And would he go 5-for-5???  HELL NO…he grounded out (thank goodness)!  Game over, final score 3-2.

Madson got his first save of the postseason.  And the Phillies now lead the series 2-1.  Game 4 tomorrow night.

Complete Box Score Phillies/Cardinals – Game 3 of NLDS (10/4/11)

Photo courtesy of Steve Trapani – Flickr Follow him on twitter: @Trap_33

Cliff Lee - Photo credit: Steve Trapani

After watching the Philadelphia Eagles blow their game on Sunday afternoon, I for one was hoping the Phillies game would be less frustrating and have a better outcome.  *sigh*

The game began with Rafeal Furcal leading off the with a triple.  And right away I was thinking, “here we go again” BUT Cliff Lee and the Phillies kept Furcal stranded and went on to dominate the bottom of the first by scoring three runs off of Chris Carpenter.  And that all started with a lead-off double by Jimmy Rollins, who in my opinion has really stepped it up.  Chase Utley then walked, then Hunter Pence did as well.  With bases loaded and no outs, Ryan Howard hit a 2 RBI-single.  Raul Ibanez brought Pence home with a single and the Phillies reversed roles with the Cardinals from Saturday night, by having a 3-run lead in the first.

And in the second, Rollins hit his second double of the game and ended up stealing third before Utley was walked.  Pence came up and hit Rollins home.  Phillies were up 4-0.

At that point, Lee had been doing well.  Even with an occasional hit or walk, he had struck out five and kept the Cards scoreless.  That is until the fourth inning when Lee uncharacteristically imploded.  A lead-off walk to Lance Berkman then a single by Yadier Molina, was capped off by a Ryan Theriot double, scoring Berkman.  Then John Jay and Furcal each had an RBI-single, giving the Cards three runs.  The Phillies were still up but by only one.

St. Louis reliever Fernando Salas replaced Carpenter in the fourth and retired all three Phillies batters. Lee had a quick fifth with two strikeouts and a pop out.  But Salas had the same result in the bottom of the fourth.

With two outs in the sixth, Theriot struck again with his second double then Jay hit him home.  The score was tied 4-4.

Octavio Dotel relieved Salas in the sixth and he too retired the Phillies in order.

Lee continued to be un-Lee like when Allen Craig tripled in the seventh, then Albert Pujols hit an RBI-single.  The Cards went up 5-4 and Lee’s outing was done!  In six innings of work, Lee gave up five runs on 12 hits, walked two, and struck out nine.  Relievers Brad Lidge, Antonio Bastardo, and Vance Worley collectively held the Cards hitless and scoreless.  Ryan Madson allowed just one hit, but though it helped defensively, the Phillies offense neglected to even it up.  Therefore, they lost 5-4 to the Cards and the series is now tied at 1-1.

When asked after the game what happened, Lee stated that he had a four run lead and should have done better.  “I take full responsibility,” Lee said.

Complete Box Score Phillies/Cardinals – Game 2 NLDS

The series now shifts to St. Louis for Game 3 on Tuesday night.

Photo courtesy of Steve Trapani – Flickr Follow him on twitter: @Trap_33

I stated a couple days ago how the Phillies were either going to be the Atlanta Braves’ worst nightmare or their dream come true, well I think its pretty clear which one the Phillies are.

The Phillies 7-1 victory over the Braves, put to rest any doubt people had (myself included) on whether they could finish out the regular season on a high note after hitting a bad streak.  But I refrain from being too ecstatic for fear of being a j**x.  Look at that, I won’t even spell it out!  And for those that know me and my track record at Phillies games this year, I have NO tickets for any of the post season games.  So everyone can breath a sigh of relief.  I will watch from the comforts of my home in southern New Jersey, approximately 30 minutes from Citizens Bank Park, I think that’s a safe enough distance!

In regards to Tuesday night’s game, I can’t stress enough how absolutely wonderful it is to see the offense show up and make the other team’s pitchers work.  Especially when you have a guy like Derek Lowe on the mound.  Let’s face it, the dude has been struggling.  The Phillies would have been crazy not to take full advantage of Lowe’s current lack of pitching prowess.

Roy Oswalt - Photo credit: Steve Trapani

Chase Utley started it all off with a solo home run in the first.  Hunter Pence had 3-RBI’s on the night, thanks in part to a 2-run homer in the fifth.  Pence has 96 RBI’s on the season, just four shy of a 100.  Jimmy Rollins hit another solo shot after hitting one in Monday night’s game.

Righty Roy Oswalt pitched well by going six innings, only giving up three hits, no runs, and struck out four.  That was enough to give him his ninth win of the season.  Rookie Joe Savery relieved Oswalt in the seventh and had a one-two-three inning including a strikeout.  Then Antonio Bastardo pitched the eighth and I’ll be honest, my faith in him has been teetering.  But he looked good, also having a quick inning, retiring all three batters.

Kyle Kendrick threw in the ninth and though gave up a homer to Martin Prado, he retired all three batters afterwards.  Game over!

With Tuesday night’s win, manager Charlie Manuel reached 645 wins (2005-2011) as the Phillies skipper.  Tying him with Gene Mauch for the Phillies franchise record.

The Phillies’ win on Tuesday was their 101st victory of the season and that ties them with the 1976 and 1977 Phillies for the franchise record.

Complete Box Score Phillies/Braves – 9/27/11 Game

After the jump, check out Wednesday’s game preview which is the Phillies final regular game of the season!!!!

» Continue reading “Phillies = Buzzkill For Braves”

Roy Halladay - Photo credit: Steve Trapani

Once again it took a Doc to cure the Phillies of whatever was ailing them.  Oh and the offense wasn’t bad either!  In fact they had a total 19 hits and had scored nine runs by the fourth inning.

I was hanging at my parents’ house flipping back and forth between the Phillies/Mets and Eagles/Giants.  And let me just say, being a Philadelphia sports fan can be both rewarding and frustrating at the same time.

Anyway, the nine runs the Phillies got were plenty enough to win, although I could swear there was a point where they tried to blow it.  The moment reliever Antonio Bastardo was brought into the seventh to replace Roy Halladay, and gave up a 2-run homer to Ronny Paulino, the feeling of dread started to emerge.

I don’t think I could have handled a sweeping by the Mets.

So thankfully the Phillies hung on, won 9-4 and got out of New York via airplane, not a broom!!!

Complete Box Score Phillies/Mets – 9/25/11 Game

Halladay recorded his 19th win in Sunday’s win over the Mets.

Manager Charlie Manuel was pleased with yesterday’s effort.

“We had some real good things happen in the game, but the most important is we got us a win,” manager Charlie Manuel said.

“You can see the difference,” Manuel said. “When we’ve got all of our guys in there we’ve got a pretty good lineup. I like our lineup when we’ve got everybody here, but when you’ve got two or three of them missing we become a different team. It’s very important we keep our guys in there.”  – Phillies.com

The Phillies finish out the season with a 3-game series in Atlanta against a struggling Braves team who are only holding the Wild Card lead by one game.  Which is shocking because a couple weeks ago the Braves had a comfortable lead over the St. Louis Cardinals but are now very close to imploding and watching their postseason bid fade away.

So the Phillies are either going to be the Braves’ worst nightmare or dream come true.  In the words of my dad, “Depends on WHICH Phillies team decides to show up.”  Ain’t that the truth!

Check out tonight’s game preview after the jump…

» Continue reading “99 Wins – FINALLY!”

Kyle Kendrick - Photo credit: Steve Trapani

The Phillies took Game One in the day/night doubleheader with the Florida Marlins.  Final score was 3-1.

Kyle Kendrick got his first start in three weeks and looked good.  He went five innings, only gave up two hits, one run, no walks, and struck out six.  He gave up the Marlins’ lone run in the fifth, courtesy of a Logan Morrison solo shot to right field.  Kendrick was pulled after 78 pitches but not because he was bad, more likely due to the fact he hadn’t pitched for a few weeks.

Michael Stutes replaced Kendrick in the sixth and seventh innings.  He allowed two hits, one walk, and struck out one.  But didn’t give up any runs.  Nor did Antonio Bastardo and Brad Lidge who worked tandem in the eighth.  Combined they gave up two hits and walked two, Lidge did strikeout one.  Ryan Madson came into the ninth to attempt to close it and when he gave up two quick singles, I got a tad bit concerned.  But no worries, in the end Madson got the save, his 31st of the season.  And the Phillies have reached 96 wins!

The Phillies offense set the tone early after Placido Polanco singled in the first. Hunter Pence then hit an RBI-double, which was his 36th double of the season.  Couple batters later, Raul Ibanez hit an RBI-double.

A recap wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention that there was a John Bowker sighting in the game and guess what he did???  He struck out of course. I’m going to keep dissing Bowker until he gets a hit.  That strategy seemed to work for Ibanez when he was slumping.  To be honest though, I have no clue if this is a ‘slump’ for Bowker as I don’t know much about him, except for the fact that he’s yet to get a hit as a Phillie.

Thankfully in the seventh, with Brian Schneider on second and Michael Martinez at first, Chase Utley pinched for Stutes and singled a line drive to center field.  Seeing Utley walk up to the plate was a sight for sore eyes and I don’t care if he was voted 2nd most mean player in baseball (more on that coming soon), Utley getting into the game was a very good thing.  And he’s slated to play in the second game of this doubleheader, even better.  With the bases loaded, Florida reliever Ryan Webb walked Polanco in the seventh, which also walked in a Phillies run.

So the Phillies are 4 wins away from claiming the best record in the National League and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.  The magic number to reign supreme in the NL East is now 3!

Complete Box Score Phillies/Marlins – 9/15/11 Game One

Check out tonight’s game preview after the jump…

» Continue reading “Kendrick Sharp in Game 1 of DBL-Header”