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!”

It’s Opening Day everyone!!!  It should be a National Holiday, but alas, the powers that be do not agree.  Instead, it’s just a Thursday on the everyday calendar, but in my mind, it is one of the most exciting days of the year.

To get started for the year, let’s look at some questions that face our foes within our division:

Nationals (by Keara Dowd @kgdowd):

1. Bryce Harper. Unless a tsunami hits Syracuse and his legs get crushed by the water, he will be making his big league debut at some point this season. Nats fans (and the entire baseball world) will get to see what this kid can do. He likely won’t be blowing everyone away at first, but if his bat is steady enough, he could help the Nats make a push into a playoff spot.
2. New Rotation. The Nats brought in a lot of new pitching during the offseason with Gio Gonzalez and Edwin Jackson. These additions mean that the Nats don’t just have a chance to win once every 5 games (as they did briefly with Strasburg in 2010) but should get a chance to win every time they step on the field. The new guys should be able to help the rotation find consistency and overall improvement.
3. Rebounding Werth. Jayson Werth had one of the worst seasons of his career statistically in 2011. The “fart in the wind” as he described it, can’t happen again with his salary. Also, without his bat, the Nats are going to have a really hard time getting enough runs to win games. Now that the pitching staff is set, it’s important for the position players the Nats already have to step up at the plate and bring the run support.

» Continue reading “NL East Preview”

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Well, here is my recap. On Thursday evening, the Phillies were swept by the Washington Nationals and are now on a 6-game losing streak.

It is what it is!

Roy Oswalt threw 7.2 innings, gave up seven hits and six runs.  Though three of those runs were courtesy of a 3-run blast by Mike Morse in the eighth.  Charlie Manuel had gone out to the mound before Morse batted, making us think Roy’s night was done.  Well, Charlie decided to let Oswalt who was at 104 pitches at the time, stay out there.  The score was 3-0, two men on and two outs, so at that point I figured, Oswalt is either going to get the guy out or give a up a run or two.  Obviously it was the latter.  I really can’t say I was surprised, not that I felt Oswalt pitched poorly, its just kind of the way things have been going for the Phillies.  They lost 6-1!

Complete Box Score Phillies/Nationals – 9/22/11 Game

I agree with View’s writer Karilee Jeantet, that right now winning or losing doesn’t mean anything, that October 1st is when it does.  Read her take here:  What’s Wrong With The Phillies

However, it’s not fun watching them lose.  In fact its downright depressing, but not in a suicidal-let’s-jump-off-the-Walt-Whitman-together type of thing.

I had a conversation with my Dad before the game came on and he was stating how the Nationals are going to be a team to contend with next season.  And I agree.  They already have a group of guys who hit very well and their pitching is decent.  Add one Stephen Strasburg to that mix and possibly a young and hungry Bryce Harper, they are gonna be a force.  The signs are there now and they have played the Phillies tough all season long.  Guess now shouldn’t be any different.

Tonight, the Phillies head to the Big Apple for a 3-game series against the NY Mets then head south to Atlanta to finish out the regular season against the Braves for a 3-game series.  I REALLY hope they end the regular season on a high note then go into the playoffs with tons of momentum. Keeping the fingers crossed.

Check out Friday’s game preview after the jump….

» Continue reading “Yes Its True, Phillies Were Swept By Nats”

Jimmy Rollins who strained his right groin in Sunday’s game against the Nationals, has been placed on the 15-day disabled list. He will be eligible to come off the DL on September 6th.

Placido Polanco will be in the lineup tonight.

Polanco was originally placed on the DL with a sports hernia on Aug. 16 (retroactive to Aug. 7). In 89 games, he is batting .275 with 40 RBIs. Polanco missed 19 games in July with lower back inflammation.

According to various reports via twitter, Raul Ibanez is also dealing with a sore groin (not a good trend I might add) so John Mayberry, Jr. will be starting in left-field tonight. And with the way Mayberry has been tearing it up, him being in the lineup isn’t a bad thing.

Tonight, the Phillies begin a 3-game series at home against the New York Mets, who were just swept by the Milwaukee Brewers.  While the Phillies are hoping to bounce back after losing a series to the Nationals. 

Check out tonight’s game preview after the jump…

Monday’s Game Preview

Phillies (81 – 44)     vs     Mets (60 – 66)

Game Time:  7:05 pm EDT

Citizens Bank Park – Philadelphia

TV:  CSN – Philadelphia

Radio:  WPHT 1210, WUBA 1480

Weather at Game Time: high 70′s and clear with no rain in sight…FINALLY

Pitching Match-Up

Philadelphia:  LHP Cliff Lee (13-7) ERA 2.82

New York:  RHP Dillon Gee  (11-4) ERA 3.92

Lee continues to deliver for the Phillies. He allowed three hits, two runs, two walks and struck out seven in a victory Wednesday over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park. Lee is a big reason the Phillies have the best record in baseball.

Mixing his pitches better than in previous starts, Gee held the Padres to one run over 6 2/3 innings on Wednesday in San Diego. He’ll need more of the same vs. the Phillies, who tagged Gee for four runs in a five-out relief appearance on April 29. – Phillies.com

I sound like a broken record but Mother Nature is no friend of the Phillies.  As she decided to dump more rain on them AGAIN, putting them in ANOTHER rain delay.  Talk about getting old.

When the delay happened, the Phillies were up 3-2 in the top of the sixth, thanks to a 2-run homer from Carlos Ruiz in the second and a solo shot from Chase Utley in the third. The game was official and if the rain kept the game from finishing, the Phillies would get the win and that was that.  If the rain stopped, that meant the game would resume but the starters would be kaput.

Unfortunately for the Phillies, the rain stopped and Roy Halladay‘s day was done.  So that meant Charlie Manuel had to use the bullpen, opting to go with the guy the Phillies just brought up from Triple-A, Michael Schwimer.  Making his major league debut, Schwimer received a welcome he won’t soon forget, it came in the form of a Danny Espinosa home run.  Which also tied the game.

In the top of the ninth the Phillies regained the lead courtesy of Michael Martinez‘s RBI-single.  Up 4-3 heading into the bottom, Antonio Bastardo took over for Schwimer and what did Bastardo do?????  He too gave up a game tying homerun, this time to Ian Desmond.  Forcing the game into extra innings.

In the tenth, the Phillies neglected to score and it was Brad Lidge‘s turn to try and keep the game going.  Yeah well Lidge pulled a Ryan Madson and blew it.

After giving up a double to Ryan Zimmerman, he intentionally walked Michael Morse.  And shades of Friday night’s debacle started to loom large.  That’s when Mr. ‘$126 million dollar man’ Jayson Werth stepped up to the plate, a guy who had struck out three times prior to that fifth at-bat, picked the right time to single, which also loaded the bases.

Surprisingly Espinosa struck out swinging, so there was one tiny glimmer of hope, but that was shot to hell when Lidge beaned Jonny Gomes and Zimmerman scored the winning run by strolling to the plate.  No replay needed or DVR rewind, I saw it happen right before my eyes and it wasn’t pretty!

Final score was a 5-4 Nationals victory and they won the series as well.  No that’s not a typo…sadly!

Complete Box Score Phillies/Nationals – 8/21/11 Game

Jimmy Rollins left the game in the third inning, with a strained right.  He is currently listed as day-to-day.

Michael Schwimer & backpack - Photo credit: Steve Trapani

The newest rookie on the team is Michael Schwimer and that means he gets the esteem honor of carrying a pink Hello Kitty back pack along with a pink boa during pre-game warmups. The former carrier, Michael Stutes gladly passed it over to the 6-foot 8-inch Schwimer who simply joked that he would have to lengthen the straps.

Side Note:  I was originally going to title this Are You Kidding Me…The Sequel but my 11-year old son begged me to call it Part 2 instead.  So this one is for you Matt! 

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