It was a gorgeous weekend in Philadelphia, one that concluded with the Phillies looking like the Phillies of old.

Photo Credit: BJ Wilson

All weekend, the team that had the best record in baseball last year decided to show up.  Just like they have done since the trade deadline.

Friday, Kyle Kendrick pitched beautifully.  (Yes, I said that.)  Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard came through with some big hits.  The bullpen pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball. (Ok, so Charlie Manuel completely went Tony LaRussa on the bullpen by using 6 pitchers, but it worked, so whatever.)

For the first time, in a long time, they looked like a relaxed team that would win.

Saturday, it was Roy Halladay’s turn to dazzle on the mound.  This game, Halladay looked like Halladay.  It was the third time in four games that Doc pitched magnificently and it was amazing to see.  When he is on, watching him pitch is a thing of beauty.

John Mayberry Jr came up with a big homerun in the 6th off of Gio Gonzalez.  Gonzalez knew it was gone as soon as Mayberry hit it and didn’t even look behind him, but quickly asked for a new ball.

Chase Utley had the most Utley game ever.  He singled in the first to plate the first run of the game.  In the 8th, Utley was hit by a pitch.  He then preceded to steal second and third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Mayberry.  The only thing that would have made this perfect was if he hit a homerun somewhere during the game.

» Continue reading “How Sweep It Is! Cliff Lee Wins At CBP!”

Like almost everyone, I wear many hats: teacher, sister, daughter, aunt, leader, counselor, disciplinarian, friend, writer and probably more that I can’t think of right now.  One of my newest titles is coach.

This past spring, I finished my second season as a high school softball coach.  And I have learned a lot.

Softball field that I coached at this past spring.

For one thing, the starting pitcher almost always finishes the game.  Very, very rarely do relief pitchers enter the game.  The game is pretty much in the hands of the starting pitcher.  About the only time that a relief pitcher is used is if the game goes into extra innings.

With that in mind, my dad said to me a while back that he is curious about what would the Phillies record be if the game ended after the 5th inning and before the Phillies bullpen became involved.  I took that idea and expanded it with my knowledge of softball.

The parameters that I am working with are:

1) The game ends in the 7th inning.

2) If the score is different, I will explain how that happens.

3) If the score is tied after 7, I will be using the Softball International Tiebreaker Ruler.  (Mainly because I think it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.)

The International Tiebreaker Rule

Starting with the eighth inning, the offensive team begins the inning with the ninth hitter in the batting order placed on second base.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/428245-rules-on-international-tiebreakers-in-womens-fastpitch-softball/#ixzz1unsbzURj

4) I will assume that the 8th inning plays out exactly as it did in real life.  The only difference is that there will be a runner on second.  I also assume that runner on second will be able to score on a single, unless it’s an infield single.  In that case, he moves to third.

That’s it.  Those are the entire requirements.

» Continue reading “If The Phillies Played By Softball Rules…”

Cole Hamels - Photo credit: Steve Trapani

Sorry but I have to admit, Cole Hamels giving 19 year-old Nationals phenom Bryce Harper a sweet yet painful welcome to the majors, was classic.  And I know Harper went on to steal home on Cole, but I bet Harper’s lower back was still feeling the sting.

What’s even better…Cole ADMITTED he intentionally hit Harper with the pitch.

“I was trying to hit him,” admitted Hamels, who allowed one run over eight innings to improve to 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA. “I’m not going to deny it. I’m not trying to injure the guy. They’re probably not going to like me for it, but I’m not going to say I wasn’t trying to do it. I think they understood the message, and they threw it right back. That’s the way, and I respect it. They can say whatever they want.” – Phillies.com

I know Harper is a great ball player and definitely has the goods to back it up, but he’s young and full of attitude, maybe he needed to be knocked down a few pegs.  And since the game was on ESPN, meaning we have to endure the ESPN announcers, hearing them gush over and over and over about Harper, I wholeheartedly agree with Cole’s decision.

Another positive note about last night was that the Phillies avoided being swept by the Washington Nationals, thanks to Cole’s pitching and the Phillies offense stepping up.  Hunter Pence alone had two homeruns and four RBI’s, while the offense had a total 13 hits.  The final score was 9-3 and Hamels collected his fourth win of the season.

On a sad note, in the sixth inning former Phillie Jayson Werth broke his left wrist after sliding to catch a ball.  His wrist (gloved-hand) hit the ground and bent back very awkwardly.  As much as I disliked Werth’s jump to the Nats for the bigger bucks, I certainly don’t wish the guy to be injured.

Werth left the game after breaking his left wrist in the sixth inning. He is expected to be out for at least six weeks. It’s the same wrist he broke as a member of the Dodgers in 2005. He ended up missing all of 2006 because of the injury. – Phillies.com

Complete Box Score Phillies/Nationals – 4/6/12 Game

Tonight the Phillies are back home and hosting the New York Mets. Game time is 7:05 m EDT and can be seen on ESPN (for the second night) and on Philadelphia’s Comcast Sportsnet.  Roy Halladay is back from his brief leave and will be on the mound tonight.

To read Keara’s take on last night’s game, check out Aerys Sports Win For Teddy.

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

Heather Carnassale is Contributing Phillies Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at viewfromsection116@gmail.com, or follow her on twitter @heatherc531 and @viewfromsec116.