Phillies Poem:

So you didn’t win the World Series, in fact you didn’t even come close

But that’s okay, I forgive you, though I can’t say the same for most

What started off as the team to beat, you ended up being on the side of defeat

Lee, Halladay and Hamels too, with that rotation, who thought you’d lose?

Ruben did a good job, bringing new blood to the fence

The best being of course, Hunter “Let’s Go Eat” Pence

More than once and going with the flow, the rookies Stutes and Worley stole the show

Hello Kitty backpacks, pink boas and red specs too, crazy stuff didn’t faze those two

We discovered Valdez can throw a pitch or two, got the Phils out of a jam, WOW who knew

Polanco started off strong and in demand, only to end up injured…damn

Back in May, I thought Raul stunk up the place, but boy did he do a complete about face

It seemed like forever for Utley to come back, but by the middle of June he was picking up the slack

Oh Howard, what can I say about you?  You didn’t make it easy for the fans NOT to boo

Rollins with tons of swagger and personality to boot, can you please stay in Philly, even if its for less loot

Sad to see Madson go, but look what we got in return, a Papelbon from Boston, oooh that has to burn

The Flyin’ Hawaiian Shane as always was a delight, one to never go down (in San Fran) without a fight.

Mayberry Jr was a pleasant surprise, Martinez too, Bastardo continued to shine, almost on cue

Can’t forget Charlie who is the best in my eyes, thank god the Phillies have you instead of that LaRussa guy

And yes I know he won the whole thing, Charlie still has his 2008 World Series ring

So as I say thanks to the Phillies and close this out

My prediction:  They will win the World Series next year, without a doubt!

Have a safe and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

PHI Cole Hamels & STL Jaime Garcia

The series is tied 1-1 and tonight’s Game 3 is in St.Louis.

Ryan Howard usually tears it up at Busch Stadium, playing in front of his hometown family and friends, so hopefully tonight and tomorrow are no exception.

John Mayberry, Jr. who has had good success against lefties, will most likely start in place of Raul Ibanez.  Mayberry is 3-for-6 against St. Louis southpaw Jaime Garcia, with a double and RBI.

“I don’t think anybody feels real comfortable against him,” said Mayberry about his success against Garcia. “He’s a real good pitcher. I guess I’ve been fortunate in the past.” – Phillies.com

One of the biggest keys to beating the Cards is the offense staying hot.  So far lead-off batter Jimmy Rollins has done his job effectively.

Rollins is hitting .485 with two doubles, two home runs, four RBIs, three walks and three stolen bases in his last eight games, including the first two games of the NLDS. – Phillies.com

So has Chase Utley who at times struggled going down the stretch.

Utley is hitting .500 with two doubles, one home run, two RBIs, four walks and one stolen base in his last four games, including the first two games of the postseason. – Phillies.com

As good as those two have been, both have not fared well against Garcia.  In their careers, Rollins is 1-for-11 and Utley is 0-for-6.  Not very good stats, but this is the playoffs and the mindset is completely different.  If Rollins gets on base, right out of the gate, he sets the tone for the rest of the game.

Tonight, we finally get to see Cole Hamels in the postseason. He finished off the regular season with 14 wins, nine losses, and a 2.79 earned run average.

“I know that being able to have good starting pitchers in the postseason is supposed to be sort of the way of success, but at the same time, in the postseason, everything is different no matter what you did during the regular season — how well you did, how well you didn’t do,” Hamels said. “You can have your big games in the postseason, but at the same time, it takes a whole team.” – Phillies.com

Check out tonight’s Game 3 preview after the jump…

» Continue reading “NLDS Game 3 Preview: Phillies/Cardinals”

Hunter Pence - Photo credit: Steve Trapani

My apologies for being missing in action the past couple of days.  Unfortunately, I’ve been under the weather and from the looks of it I felt as bad as the Phillies have been playing.

I will be honest, I only caught bits and pieces of the last four games, and completely understand that a lot of the starters hadn’t been playing much in favor of giving the younger guys a shot to see what they can do, but still, being on a 5-game losing streak kind of stinks.

But let’s see what has happened in the past couple of days.

Hunter Pence hurt his knee, I won’t say “injured” because according to reports, Pence himself won’t call it an injury.

Pence had a MRI exam Wednesday after he started limping in Game 1 of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies said Pence has a mild strain of the patellar tendon and is day to day.
He is expected to play sometime this weekend against the Mets in New York. – Phillies.com

Ryan Howard received a cortisone shot in the left bursa sac of his left ankle on Monday.  He said he’s feeling better since the shot but hasn’t played.  Charlie Manuel feels Howard should be back in the next series.

Howard has had soreness in the ankle for weeks, and the hope is the shot has him feeling his best for the postseason. – Phillies.com

Wednesday’s night game against the Washington Nationals went pretty much like the previous had been going, the Phillies lost.  Though the offense hit a little more and John Mayberry, Jr. did well, going 3-for-4, including a 2-run homer, scored three runs, and had a stolen base, they just can’t seem to win these days.

Complete Box Score Phillies/Nationals – 9/21/11 Game

After clinching the National League East and thanks to the Milwaukee Brewers losing, the Phillies have claimed home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, many might say the Phillies don’t have much to play for at the moment.  And supposedly the time to start kicking it up a notch is the last five games of the regular season heading into the postseason.  At least that’s what I’ve heard.  And I guess if they need to slump, now would be a good time to do it, get it out their system BEFORE the postseason starts.

The Phillies play the Nationals again tonight, which is the Phillies last regular season home game this year. Check out the game preview after the jump…

  » Continue reading “Phillies: Late Season Losing Skid”

Magic Number is 1

I knew the St. Louis Cardinals were going to be tough.  They have no choice not to be, as their postseason appearance is not guaranteed.  So the Phillies not winning last night though disappointing, wasn’t entirely surprising.

Vance Worley threw six innings, allowed six hits, one run, walked three, and struck out five.  The one run that Worley gave up, came when the bases were loaded.  He actually walked in the run which is never a good thing.

But the Phillies got on the board in the second courtesy of an RBI-double by John Mayberry, Jr.

Reliever David Herndon replaced Worley in the seventh with the score tied 1-1.  And it looked dicey to say the least when Herndon had bases loaded, but the Phillies got out of that inning unscathed.

Antonio Bastardo took over in the eighth and gave a up a solo home run to Yadier Molina, giving the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.

Bottom of the eighth, Shane Victorino walked then advanced to second on a wild pitch while Chase Utley was at-bat. Utley hit a dinker to the pitcher and was out at first.  Then Hunter Pence slammed a shot to right-field…but it was foul and he ultimately struck out.

Brad Lidge pitched the top of the ninth and at one point had two men on.  Thankfully he was able to get the third out before the Cards tacked on any more runs.  The Phillies were still down 2-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth where they would be facing St. Louis closer Jason Motte.  Placido Polanco lined out to right field, then Mayberry, Jr. struck out.  Next up was Ryan Howard* in the pinch hitting role and he delivered a hit to right field, that turned into a double by Howard’s aggressive base running. He was promptly pulled in favor of a pinch runner, Michael Martinez.

Carlos Ruiz then hit to right field, and St. Louis right-fielder Corey Patterson almost had it but couldn’t quite get hold onto to the ball.  Martinez scored as Ruiz ended up with an RBI-double.  The Phillies tied it 2-2. The Cardinals took out Motte and put in Arthur Rhodes, who struck out pinch hitter Ross Gload.

» Continue reading “Phillies’ Magic Number Down to One”

Phillies Magic Number

Cliff Lee ALMOST had his 7th shut-out of the season.  I emphasize almost because in the top of the ninth, with two outs, Florida’s Jose Lopez hit a solo shot to left field, tying the game 1-1 and killing Lee’s potential shut-out. And my exact words when the ball flew over Raul Ibanez‘s head and into the stands, “OH SHIT!”  Sorry, sometimes my truck driver mouth cannot be contained.

Lee had struck out 12 and was just cruising along.  And though that one run lead that came from John Mayberry, Jr. homering in the sixth appeared to be enough, it wasn’t.

The Phillies failed to score in the bottom of the ninth so it was onto extra innings.  Lee’s night was done and reliever Michael Schwimer took over and kept the Marlins scoreless in the 10th.

Florida reliever Burke Badenhop walked Michael Martinez to begin the bottom of the 10th, then Ryan Howard who was apart of a double-switch stepped up to the plate for the first time Thursday night.  Howard had been 0-for-15 and was slightly overdue. So when he worked a 3-1 count, I was hoping he would at least draw a walk. But I was pleasantly surprised when he did even better, he smoked a double to left-center field scoring Martinez and giving the Phillies their 97th win!

Cliff Lee threw his 1,300th career strikeout in Thursday night’s game and it was his ninth game this season with double-digit strikeouts.

Michael Schwimer got his first win in the majors.

Complete Box Score Phillies/Marlins – 9/15/11 Game 2

Image courtesy of:  davidwain.com