I know many of you missed the ending of last night’s game.  (Ok, so many of you may have missed even the beginning.  That’s the problem with West Coast games.)  And when you went to bed, the Dodgers were up 2-1.

That’s when 2 miracles occurred.

1) It took 39 chances for it to happen, but last night it finally occurred.  In 2011, it was occurred in the first game of the season, not so this season.  For the first time in 2012, the Phillies came from behind to win the game.

Yes, you read that correctly.  39 times before the Phillies were trailing after 7 innings, and all 39 times, they lost.

Last night in LA, that all changed.

» Continue reading “Phillies Had A Night Of Miracles! (Can We Have More?)”

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”

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”

Today, the Phillies and Marlins will be playing a day/night doubleheader.  These two games are makeups from two postponed games thanks to our good old friend Hurricane Irene.  She’s long gone, thank goodness but that doesn’t mean Mother Nature doesn’t have more up her sleeve.  That’s right, today there is rain/thunderstorms in the forecast for the Philadelphia area.  But with absolutely zero time to make these games up…they will be playing come hell or high water (pun intended).

Obviously the Marlins have NO shot of seeing the postseason so for them these games mean nothing, except maybe to prolong the Phillies claiming the National League East title.  But with the Phillies’ magic number being four, the odds are very good they will reach that goal sometime in their last 16 games of the regular season!

Phillies Notes:

Last night,  Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs lost Game 2 to the Columbus Clippers by a score of 4-1.  The series is now tied at 1-1 as it shifts back to Allentown, Pennsylvania where the IronPigs host Games 3 thru 5 (if necessary in the best-of-five series).  Thursday night’s game is at 7:05 pm EDT.  Box Score can be found here.

Check out the Phillies/Marlins doubleheader preview after the jump….

» Continue reading “Thursday Doubleheader for Phillies/Marlins”

Cliff Lee - Photo credit: myWPHL17.com

The Phillies put their Joe West/Florida Marlins debacle behind them (though they still are protesting that game) and just obliterated the Atlanta Braves by a score of 9-0.

Monday night was the Phillies 192nd straight sell out at Citizens Bank Park and the 45,000 + fans were treated to a gem.

Cliff Lee pitched his 6th shutout this season. And also threw his 200th strikeout, first time ever in his career.  He allowed just five hits, no runs, and struck out six in nine innings of work.  In Lee’s last six starts, he has a 0.37 ERA and has only allowed two runs.  He was definitely in a zone Monday night, which was great for the Phillies, not so great for the Braves.

He also had a great defense behind him and help from the offense as well.  Hunter Pence was 2-for-4 with three RBI’s, Placido Polanco was 2-for-4 with an RBI, Chase Utley was 2-for-5 including a triple, Carlos Ruiz and Shane Victorino each had two RBI’s, and Ryan Howard hit his 31st home run of the season.  Even Lee himself singled and scored a run.

The Phillies team that played Monday night, looked much more like the team we Phillies fans know they can be.  And let’s face it, Cliff Lee was on the mound…doesn’t get much better than that!

Complete Box Score Phillies/Braves – 9/5/11 Game

Phillies News:

This past weekend, Kyle Kendrick and his wife, Stephenie welcomed their first child, a daughter named Sophia. Congratulations!  Kendrick was on paternity leave but was back with the team on Monday night.

Right-handed pitcher Joe Blanton was activated off the 60-day disabled list on Monday.  Blanton has been out since May 23rd, with right elbow inflammation.

Blanton, who made one rehab appearance with Class A Lakewood on Friday (one scoreless inning without allowing a baserunner), is 1-2 with a 5.50 ERA in six starts for first-place Philadelphia. – Phillies.com

Check out Tuesday night’s game preview after the jump…

» Continue reading “Two Words For You…CLIFF LEE!”