Vance Worley - MLB.com

The Phillies are heading home after a 10-game western road trip and what a trip it was.  With a 9-1 record, including two sweeps, their only loss was at the hands of SF Giants’ Tim Lincecum…not bad.

They entered Wednesday afternoon’s game hoping to sweep and get their rookie starter Vance Worley his ninth win.  Well, they took care of the sweep albeit took most of the game to accomplish that, but Worley was another story.

He found himself in trouble pretty early on and the struggling Los Angeles Dodgers took full advantage of Worley not having good command.

Worley suffered the second-worst start of his career. He allowed a career-high six earned runs in four innings, surrendering five in the first inning to give the Dodgers a 5-0 lead. Worley simply did not have command of his pitches in the first, although he rebounded and allowed one more run through his next three innings. – Phillies.com

The Phillies were down 6-0 heading into the fourth, when Hunter Pence once again proved what a great addition he’s been.  Hitting his 14th homer of the season, his 2-run shot scored Ryan Howard and got the Phillies on the board.  Then Michael Martinez reached first on an error, and kept going to second.  Worley helped himself out by singling to center field, scoring Martinez.  The Dodgers’ lead was cut in half.

In the fifth, Shane Victorino walked, Howard singled, then Pence got on thanks to a fielding error, scoring Victorino in the process.  Raul Ibanez grounded out, but Howard scored, putting the Phillies within one run. In the bottom of the fifth, Kyle Kendrick replaced Worley.  And the Dodgers answered back by tacking on another run, making it 7-5.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers, the Phillies were relentless and refused to go away that easy.  In the sixth, Ben Francisco pinched for Kendrick and walked.  Rollins singled.  Francisco went to third, Rollins stole second while Victorino was at the plate, then Chase Utley hit a 2-RBI single, tying up the game.  Up next was the big man and boy did he deliver at the right time.  Hitting his 25th homer of the season, Howard’s 2-run shot put the Phillies up 9-7 and deflated the Dodgers’ crowd, well the few that were there anyway.

David Herndon threw a five-pitch sixth inning. Brad Lidge, Antonio Bastardo and Ryan Madson allowed three hits, one run and one walk and struck out two in the final three innings to keep the Dodgers from erasing the Phillies’ efforts. – Phillies.com

Though Madson gave up a run, he still added to his saves by getting his 22nd and Kendrick was handed the win bringing his record to 7-5.

Phillies won 9-8!

Complete Box Score Phillies/Dodgers – 8/10/11 Game

The Phillies have Thursday night off, then begin a 3-game series at home against the Washington Nationals.  I can’t call them “true” National League East rivals because they are so far back, 22 games to be exact.  They aren’t much of a threat, that’s for sure!  Although I’m sure they’d love to throw the Phillies a loss.

 Check out a few side notes, after the jump….

» Continue reading “Phillies Finish Off Dodgers With a Sweep”

Tim Lincecum - Wikipedia

Two nights after Tim Lincecum was originally supposed to start, he entered Thursday night’s game making Phillies’ fans wonder if he was harboring any residual effects from his bout with food poisoning.

In the first inning, he gave up a lead-off double to Jimmy Rollins, and it was a promising start. But although Lincecum did walk four batters, to which the Phillies blew those gems of opportunity, he only allowed three hits, no runs, and struckout six.

The only indication that he was possibly weakened from his illness, was that he only pitched six innings.  Having thrown 101 total pitches, Lincecum’s night was done. But he would ultimately get his ninth victory of the season.

Kyle Kendrick wasn’t horrible and did a good job holding the Giants to two runs until the seventh inning.

Kendrick kept his team in the game, allowing three earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. It was 2-0 in the seventh, but with a steady rain falling, third baseman Michael Martinez mishandled a grounder as Nate Schierholtz broke for the plate. Conceding the run, Martinez then fired high over the glove of first baseman Howard, allowing catcher Chris Stewart to score from first and pinch-hitter Aaron Rowand to reach second. – MLB.com

The Phillies finally scored a run when Chase Utley doubled in the seventh off of Giants’ reliever Ramon Ramirez.  Carlos Ruiz who had a double himself to start the inning, scored.  Giants were then up 4-1.  But any spark that had been lit, was quickly dimmed when the Phillies couldn’t manage a run in the eighth. Then of course it was closer Brian Wilson‘s turn, who quickly struckout Ruiz. He then allowed a double from pinch-hitter Ross Gload, but no worries for the bearded one, he got Rollins to fly out to brand spankin’ new Giant and former NY Met Carlos Beltran, which I’m sure there is some irony in there but I’m too tired to even care. Wilson finished off Michael Martinez by striking him out.  Giants won 4-1.

It was just the second time this season the Phillies lost back-to-back games at Citizens Bank Park. It was also the first time they lost back-to-back games since June 3-4 at Pittsburgh and the first series loss since June 17-19 at Seattle. – MLB.com

It is what it is, get over it and regroup.

Complete Box Score Phillies/Giants – 7/29/11 Game

Next up is a 3-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, check out Friday’s game preview after the jump…   » Continue reading ““Freak” Show in Philly”

Last night the Phillies lost 2-1 to the San Francisco Giants and right away everyone is saying that this match-up is a precursor to the post-season.

With Tim Lincecum still under the weather, the Phillies had to face righty Matt Cain, which ended up not being a good thing. The offense struggled as Cain only gave up four hits total and one unearned run.

Cain actually drew a little inspiration from last October to beat the Phillies. He said he studied video of Game 3 of the 2010 National League Championship Series, when he allowed just two hits in seven scoreless innings to beat the Phillies at AT&T Park. – Phillies.com

Cole Hamels didn’t do too badly either however a costly error by Domonic Brown in the seventh allowed the Giants to score the go ahead run.  Cain got the win, and closer Brian Wilson recorded his 32nd save on the season.

And seriously if that game was an indication of what the post-season holds, the Phillies better find a way to hit the Giants’ rotation.

Complete Box Score Phillies/Giants – 7/27/11 Game

Phillies Notes:

• Right-hander Roy Oswalt who’s been on the disabled list since June 24th, due to issues with his back, pitched four innings in Lehigh Valley last night for the Iron Pigs.  He threw 72 pitches, allowed one hit, one run, and struck out four.  The Phillies want Oswalt fully stretched out and to get at least one more rehab appearance before returning to the team.

• Right-hander Joe Blanton will most likely not be returning this season.

Blanton has nerve inflammation in his right elbow. He will try to play catch Thursday. He said there is a chance he could pitch out of the bullpen this season, but Blanton said if the nerve does not recover he will require surgery. – Phillies.com

Yesterday, Carlos Beltran was traded from the NY Mets to the SF Giants, and tonight he will be at Citizens Bank Park.  Check out the game preview after the jump…

» Continue reading “Phillies Lose Against Cain, Tonight They (finally) Face Lincecum”

I am taking full advantage of having this outlet to give props to my son’s baseball team.

Matt is 11 years-old and SO very proud of him and his team.  They won the Southern NJ Cal Ripken 11 Year-Old (46/60) 2011 State Championship game last night.  All the boys played great and though not an easy game by any sense of the word, they won deservedly as they never gave up and have played fantastic all season long.  They now move onto the Regionals which are in Pennsylvania, on August 5th.  They will represent Southern NJ against teams from New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and the Northern NJ representative.  Good luck to Matt and to the rest of the team!

2011 Southern NJ State Champs - Photo credit: Carnassale

Okay now onto the Phillies game in which we actually had tickets for, but my son’s game was just a tad more important. Which actually the timing worked out perfect, because though Matt is a huge Phillies fan, he’s also a fan of Tim Lincecum.  And since Lincecum ended up not starting due to being under the weather, Matt wouldn’t have seen him anyway.

Rookie Vance Worley is just pitching fantastic and making a serious case for Rookie of the Year.  The young guy just gets out there and does his thing.  He didn’t look the least bit fazed that he was facing the World Champs.  Plus it was the first meeting the two teams have had since the Giants beat the Phillies in the 2010 National League Championship Series to advance to the World Series.

Shane Victorino was asked if beating the Giants would be redemption.  Victorino replied that bringing the World Series trophy back to Philly is redemption for them, not just beating the Giants in a regular season game.

Worley pitched his first complete game in the majors and collected his seventh win on the season.  Barry Zito spot started for the Giants after Lincecum fell ill.  Zito gave up six runs and six hits, which included three home runs.  One of those homers was a rare in-the-park shot by Chase Utley.  The other two was a 3-run homer by Raul Ibanez and a solo by John Mayberry, Jr.

Ryan Howard hit one as well in the eighth off of Giant reliever Guillermo Mota.  Worley retired 11 batters in a row until former Phillie Aaron Rowand homered in the top of eighth. Victorino referred to Worley as the team’s 5th ace!

So last night, the offense and Worley’s stellar pitching contributed to the 7-2 victory over the Giants.

Complete Box Score Phillies/Giants – 7/26/11 Game

Looks like Tim Lincecum is scheduled to start tonight as long as he feels better, check out tonight’s game after the jump…

Update July 27th 5:10 pm:  Tim Lincecum is still under the weather so Matt Cain is starting instead.

» Continue reading “Phillies: Pitching & Homers Dominate in Win Over Giants (update)”

Hard to sweep a team in a 4-game series, but on the other hand when you send Cliff Lee to the mound, you might just think your odds would increase.

Well you would have been wrong.  Lee was yanked after the fourth inning, after throwing a total 82 pitches.  He wasn’t very Lee-like at all.  A shot of him sitting on the bench after his early exit showed a sullen Lee, pondering what the hell had just happened.  A question most Phillies fans asked themselves as well.

But just like I’ve stated before, when Cole Hamels has a bad game or when Roy Halladay suffers heat exhaustion, it only proves one thing.  That they are human like the rest of us.  And they won’t complete every game, nor will they win everyone.

Lee started Monday’s game having not lost at home since May 6th. He had a .095 earned-run average in his last seven starts at home.  And rarely exits a game before the sixth inning.

The Phillies entered Monday’s game with a 10-game winning streak against the San Diego Padres but all good things must come to end, as the Padres walked away with a 5-4 victory.  Even after the Phillies jumped out in front in the bottom of the first with an RBI-double by Shane Victorino, the momentum quickly shifted in the top of the second.

Padres’ Jesus Guzman doubled, then Rob Johnson also doubled, allowing Guzman to score. And then it got worse.  Chris Denorfia singled, Johnson scored, then Denorfia stole third base while Jason Bartlett was batting. Then here’s what happened:

Lee looked in and got the pick-off sign from Carlos Ruiz. He turned, saw Jason Bartlett wasn’t running from first and lobbed the ball to first baseman Ryan Howard.  It didn’t cross Lee’s mind that Chris Denorfia might take off from third base until it was too late, and Denorfia stole home with two outs in the second.  “That’s the first time that’s ever happened,” Lee said after Monday’s 5-4 loss to the Padres. “I didn’t even consider that as a possibility. Obviously, next time I’m in that situation, I need to make more of a firm throw to first and not allow that to happen.” – Phillies.com

Padres were up 4-1.  By the fourth inning, Lee gave up four more hits and another run.  His day was over after giving up a total five runs on ten hits.

There was slight hope, after the Phillies offense turned it on in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to Raul Ibanez‘s 20th double of the season.  With him on base, Dominic Brown tripled (his first in the majors) scoring Ibanez.  Then Carlos Ruiz hit an RBI single to cut the Padres lead to 5-3.

Welcome Back, Brad! - Photo credit: Steve Trapani

Reliever Andrew Carpenter took over for Lee in the fifth and pitched two innings allowing only one hit. Then in the seventh, Brad Lidge entered the game.  This was Lidge’s first appearance this season after spending most of spring training and half of the season on the disabled list, because of a strained right posterior rotator cuff.  Lidge looked great, throwing 11 pitches, nine of which were sliders.  His fastball reached 90mph and kept the Padres hitless and scoreless in the seventh.  Lidge was introduced to loud applause, and when he walked off the field after his 1-2-3 inning, the sold-out Phillies crowd made sure they let Lidge know, that they hadn’t forgotten him and were happy to see him back.

 ”In some aspects, the butterflies I had today were like my big league debut,” Lidge said. “It wasn’t quite there, but it was close.” – Phillies.com

 Complete Box Score Phillies/Padres – 7/25/11 Game

Tonight the 2010 World Series San Francisco Giants are in town for a 3-game series. Check out the game preview after the jump….

» Continue reading “Phillies Can’t Pull Out Sweep”