Rays Even Series with Phils

The Tampa Bay Rays held the Phillies offense in check last night en route to a 4 - 2 victory in Game 2 of the World Series. The Rays' victory evens the World Series at 1 game apiece as the Series heads to Philadelphia for the next 3 games.

The Rays jumped on the Phillies early in the first. Phils starter Brett Myers, in a continuing theme of having early game troubles, allowed the first two batters of the ballgame to reach base. Both of these batters ended up scoring on groundouts to give the Rays an early 2 - 0 advantage.

The Rays struck again in the 2nd inning, loading the bases with 2 outs for BJ Upton. Upton singled home Dioner Navarro, but fortunately for the Phils, RF Jayson Werth was able to gun down Rocco Baldelli at the plate to stop the bleeding and keep the score at 3 - 0.

The fourth Rays' run was scored on a safety squeeze whereby Jason Bartlett laid down a sacrifice and Cliff Floyd, on third after singling to lead off the inning, scored once determining the bunt was successful.

The Phils offense, meanwhile, continued to be stymied by a combination of bad luck and good pitching. Rays pitcher James Shields pitched well, but the Phils were able to run deep pitch counts on him. What the Phils were unable to do, however, was to get timely basehits to score runners. The Phils had leadoff baserunners in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th inning while Shields was in the ballgame, but like Game 1, they were unable to capitalize on their opportunities.

The Phils did not score until the 8th inning when Eric Bruntlett, pinch hitting for DH Greg Dobbs, hit the first pitch he saw from David Price over the left field wall to give the Phils some hope. The Phils threatened again in the 9th, with Carlos Ruiz stroking a double to lead off the inning and coming home after Evan Longoria booted a Jayson Werth shot, allowing Ruiz to score from 2nd base. The threat died, however, after Chase Utley struck out swinging and Ryan Howard grounded out meekly to 2nd, ending the ballgame.

The series continues (maybe) on Saturday, with Jamie Moyer facing Matt Garza at 8:20pm.

Notes:

- The last time I was this frustrated as a fan watching my team play in a Championship game was when the Eagles were wasting time during Super Bowl 39 and not running a 2-minute offense. The Phillies were consistently getting men on base, but just could not break through. This game was there to be had; instead, the Phils now have a dog fight on their hands.

- I know the Phils wouldn't be in the World Series but for the pinch hitting skills of Greg Dobbs, but Dobbs embarrassed himself in his first two plate appearances last night. He struck out his first time up and never took the bat off of his shoulder. He struck out again in the 4th inning, taking feeble cuts all the while. Maybe a change of scenery to Citizen's Bank Ballpark will help Dobbs, but the fact is, the Phils' DHs in the first 2 games are a paltry 1 for 7 in the series.

- Phils batters left a combined 24 runners on base last night. Pedro Feliz left 6 runners on by himself last night.

- Chooch Ruiz was the only one who could seemingly find his bat last night, getting two doubles and walking twice. He also performed a text book block of home plate to enable the Phillies to get Rocco Baldelli at the plate in the 2nd inning.

- What in the hell was Jayson Werth doing in the 5th inning allowing himself to get doubled off of first base? Inexecusable.

- Jimmy Rollins is now 0 for 10 in the World Series. His reputation for coming up big in big spots is looking unearned in the first two games.

Phils Take Game 2

Brett Myers: Dangerous Offensive Weapon?

That might be exactly how we need to start thinking about Myers. Amazingly, he was the Phillies' best offensive weapon last night in the Phillies' 8 - 5 triumph over the LA Dodgers. The Phillies lead the best of 7 series 2 games to none, with the series shifting back to Los Angeles.

It all started with Myers in the second inning, where, with the game tied 1 - 1, Myers stroked a single with 2 outs, scoring Chooch Ruiz from second base to put the Phillies ahead 2 - 1. Myers would eventually come around to score in that inning courtesy of a Shane Victorino 2-run single.

Myers did it again in the 3rd inning; this time with 1 out and the bases loaded. With the Dodger infield in a bit at the corners, Myers laced a single down the right field line, scoring 2 runners and putting the Phillies out in front by a score of 6 - 2. Victorino eventually drove in Myers (and Ruiz) with a 2-run triple making the score 8 - 2.

In terms of his pitching, the best that could be said of Myers was that he hung in there for 5 innings. He had an interesting moment in the first inning, when a ball "slipped" out of Myers' hand giving the appearance that he was throwing at Manny Ramirez. Ramirez eventually got payback for the pitch in the 4th inning, hitting a liner out to left that landed in the flower box, cutting the Phillies lead to 8 - 5.

After the 4th inning, both teams' bullpens took over and Brad Lidge closed out the game for the Phillies.

There was a moment in the 7th inning, where every Phillies fan's heart skipped several beats. With two on and two out in the 7th, Casey Blake sent a drive to deep center field (roughly the same part of the park where Manny hit his double in Game 1)) that sent Shane Victorino feeling his way towards the fence and warning track before he finally made a leaping catch in front of the wall to preserve the lead.

The series picks up again tomorrow night, with Jamie Moyer facing Hiroki Kuroda at 8:22pm EST.

Notes:

- Myers is the story of the game, but Shane Victorino was amazingly clutch both at the plate and in the field. Shane went 2 - 5 with 4 RBI.

- Chase Utley was 0 for 1 with 4 walks.

- Pat Burrell's night was a bit rough....1 for 4, with 3 Ks and 4 men LOB.

- Interesting reference today in the LA Times from TJ Simers....he mentions towards the end of the piece that the local Philly fans might "burn the place down" if the Phils win the World Series. I guess if anyone would know if a local populace might riot, it would be a writer from Los Angeles.

- By the way; if Manny Ramirez had entertained thoughts of rushing the mound after Myers' "mistake" pitch in the first inning, he was smart to reconsider those thoughts considering Myers' amateur boxing experience.

Deep Thoughts on the Phils' Game 2 Win

Couldn't get a post done earlier this AM, as my boss did the one thing I will never do myself as a boss: call an 8AM meeting. What's worse, is that he called the meeting and was 15 minutes late. After that meeting, I was caught up all AM in other people's drama. God, I hate work.



Some Thoughts on the Phils and the NLDS series so far....

- So far, so good for the Fightins. If I had a criticism offensively, so far, is that they have only scored in two innings of this series so far. It just so happens that when they scored in those innings, the aggregation of runs was such that it rattled the Milwaukee starter and whomever the Phils were starting made that big inning stand up.

What I am getting at here, is that it would be nice once the Phils got into the other team's bullpen that they would actually score some runs when they got baserunners. They seem unable to put the kill shot to Milwaukee when they get men on base. I am hoping that this is a function of a good Milwaukee bullpen and not some weird state we are getting into with this Phillies lineup.

- Thank you, Brad Lidge, for not killing me in game 2 the way you killed me in game 1. If I was anywhere near a bar, reputable or otherwise, watching game 1, I would have gotten hammered just during Lidge's ninth inning, let alone from the previous 8 innings of play. He threw only 12 pitches last night, and should certainly be available on Saturday.

- Brett Myers' ABs in Game 2 of this series will go down in Phillies lore as two of the greatest ABs to not produce a hit. What they succeeded in doing is making CC Sabathia, pitching on 3 days rest for seemingly the last three months, work much harder on what should have been automatic outs. Myers worked a 9-pitch walk that kept the Phillies big inning going in the 2nd inning and later, in the 4th inning, made Sabathia throw 10 pitches before eventually flying out to center. The 19 pitches Sabathia threw to Myers represent almost 20% of the pitches Sabathia threw for his 3 2/3 innings he could stay in the game. Sure, Shane Victorino was the offensive star of the game for his grand slam, but don't overlook Myers.

- Was it me, or do the Brewers just not look comfortable trying to be patient (passive?) at the plate? They look like they're going up against pitchers like Myers and Lidge with a game plan of being patient, but they looked slow once Myers and Lidge eventually started pounding the strike zone instead of nibbling around.

- Chase Utley did not look good at the plate yesterday and neither did Ryan Howard. They struck out a combined 6 times and collectively left 6 runners on base.

Phils Drop Series to Braves; Mets Lose too

This Phillies team does not want to make it easy on themselves or their fans.

The Phils dropped the rubber match of their final 3 game set with their personal whipping boys, the Atlanta Braves, by a score of 10 - 4. But because the Mets lost to the Cubs last night, the Phils' magic number managed to get down to 3.

It was obvious from the first inning that starter Brett Myers did not have his best stuff. He gave up 2 early runs and struggled with the location of his fastball through his entire time on the mound. He did not make it through the 5th inning, and ultimately, he was charged with 6 runs, 2 of which were not earned because of a throwing error by....wait for it.....Ryan Howard.

The bullpen was not of much help last night either. Chad Durbin was only able to get one out last night and Scott Eyre came in and gave up a 3-run bomb to Chipper Jones.

Offensively, the Phils hung in the ballgame until that fateful fifth inning. They got on the board after being down 2 - 0 on a Pedro Feliz RBI single. Down 3 - 1, the Phils got solo homers from Chase Utley in the 3rd inning and Ryan Howard in the 4th inning to even the score at 3. The Phils got an excuse-me run late in the game, when Pat Burrell scored from 3rd on a passed ball.

The Phils have an off day today to think about how they are driving the entire Delaware Valley to drink and start with their last series of the year against the Washington Nationals.

Pitching Matchups:

Friday: Joe Blanton vs. John Lannan
Saturday: Jamie Moyer vs. Odalis Perez
Sunday: Cole Hamels vs. Shairon Martis (hopefully, they don't need to win this game and they can rest Hamels)

Notes:

- Anyone hear that in-game interview with Davey Lopes? Tom McCarthy, Sarge, and Davey Lopes were talking about Shane Victorino's outfield defense and Lopes intimated that the Phils would bring in a centerfielder in the offseason and move Victorino to right field and Jayson Werth to left field. You might recall that Pat Burrell is the current left fielder and a free agent at year's end. Did Lopes just tip the Phillies hand for this offseason last night or was he just speculating?

- There was a gathering of players late in the ballgame in the 8th inning, when Shane Victorino was leading off of 3rd and, because of a defensive shift, no one was holding Victorino on. Braves reliever Julian Tavarez, obviously not bright, decided with a 6 run lead, to chase Victorino back to third base himself. Victorino said something to Taverez (probably questioning his intelligence in that situation) and the benches cleared and players milled about for a few minutes before order was restored. Despite his diminutive stature, doesn't Victorino strike you as one of those little guys you just wouldn't really want to eff with?

Photo: Yahoo.com....(Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

Marlins Take Series From Phils

In a game that strangely started when we were all trying to escape from the hell that is work, the Phils dropped a game, and the series, to the Florida Marlins by a score of 7 - 3. These two losses in a row have managed to drop the Phillies to 3 1/2 games back of the Mets in NL East with 16 games to play.

The Phils were flummoxed by the pitching of Ricky Nolasco, who in 3 outings against the Phils, has a 2.75 ERA with a .197 batting average against him. Nolasco went 7 1/3 innings in this game to give the Marlins all they needed off of the mound.

Brett Myers went for the Phils and while he pitched into the 8th inning, he did manage to give up 4 runs, including a 3rd inning 2-run shot to the corpse of Luis Gonzalez.

When Myers gave way in the 8th inning, reliever Chad Durbin was uncharacteristically unable to shut the door, allowing a 2 run double to Josh Willingham in the 8th (both were Myers' baserunners that scored). There were more bullpen shenanigans in the 9th inning where Durbin gave up a lead off single, only to intentionally walk Hanley Ramirez (why did we walk Hanley Ramirez again?) . JC Romero came in the game and gave up a 2-run double to Dan Uggla that essentially broke open the game and clearly angered Chris Coste, who could be seen bickering with Romero.

Offensively, the Phils were paced by Ryan Howard's 42nd homer of the year and by Chris Coste, whose 5th inning double cut a Marlin lead to 3 - 2, before scoring on a Jayson Werth single to tie the game at 3 going into the 6th inning.

From here, the Phils take on the Milwaukee Brewers in a 4 game series. The game plan is to pitch a couple of guys (notably, Jamie Moyer and probably Brett Myers) on 3 days rest. This is the most desperate move the team has made all season in a season where desperation was required in the Summer months, when the Phils forgot how to swing the bats.

Notes:

- Didn't write on Tuesday's game, but I'm done with Kyle Kendrick for the year. I like him as a pitcher, but they can't afford another outing where he doesn't get out of the early innings. I'd rather see Happ at this point than Kendrick.

- Pat Burrell was in the lineup and did manage a basehit and a walk in 4 plate appearances.

- From the bickering between Coste and Romero to the lack of hitting on this team right now, the season is palpably slipping away from these guys right now. Anything less than a split with the Brewers and you can put a fork in the 2008 Phillies.

Phils Stun Mets; Back in First

There was a feeling that the Phils HAD to have this game, given that Santana is pitching tomorrow night and has generally pitched well against the Phillies. Who knew the lengths they had to go to in order to accomplish that feat.

The Phils beat the Mets by a score of 8 - 7 in 13 innings, but had to do it by coming from behind and overcoming a 7 - 0 deficit in order to do so. The win catapaults the team a half game into first place in NL East.

The Mets jumped out to a 6 - 0 lead off of Phils starter Jamie Moyer, who had his shortest outing as a Phil. Moyer gave up 2 homeruns; one to 2B Damion Easley, and a more controversial one to Fernando Tatis. Tatis, a few pitches before he hit the homer, hit a fair ball off of his own man, Carlos Beltran, who was leading off of 3B and was in fair territory. By rule, he should have been out and Tatis awarded first. Instead, Moyer continued to work to Tatis, who eventually took him deep to make the score 6 - 0.

From that point, the Phils bullpen put a stopper on things, giving up just 1 run in 10 innings of work.

Offensively, the Phils finally woke up a bit in the 4th, scratching out a run on a Pedro Feliz sacrifice fly. The 5th inning saw the Phils get a lead off double from pitcher Clay Condrey, followed by a 2-run homerun by Jimmy Rollins. After a Chase Utley walk and a Pat Burrell strikeout, Ryan Howard took Pedro Martinez to the opposite field to pull the Phils within 2 runs and Citizen's Bank Ballpark seemed to coming alive.

After threatening in the 6th inning, the Phils scraped together another run via a Jimmy Rollins single that scored Carlos Ruiz to draw them within a run.

The 9th inning called for desperate measures with 2 outs. Jayson Werth kept the game going with a single up the middle that was off of the end of his bat. The next batter, Eric Bruntlett, was the last position player off of the bench and he responded with a double, scoring Werth and tying the game. Werth appeared to almost run over the plate without actually touching it the first time (fortunately, he had time to double back and touch the plate).

In extra innings, the Phils threatened in both the 10th and 11th inning, but to no avail. The Phils bullpen, led in extra innings by Ryan Madson, JC Romero, and Rudy Seanez held down the fort allowing scant opportunities for the Mets outside of a stray walk or basehit, which was left stranded.

In the 13th inning, the game was over for all practical purposes when Shane Victorino led off, shearing a triple to right field. From that point, the Mets loaded the bases by walking Bruntlett and Werth intentionally in order to trigger a double play. After an "interesting" strikeout by PH Brett Myers, Chris Coste sent a 1-0 Scott Schoeneweis offering over CF Carlos Beltran's head to score Victorino and send the Phils into first place.

The 2-game series ends tonite with Johan Santana possibly facing Kyle Kendrick. I say "possibly", because, in this bizarre game, Kendrick was warming up in the bullpen to possibly enter the game. You wonder if the Phils still intend to pitch Kendrick today.

NOTES:

- Jimmy Rollins' offensive numbers: 5 for 7, a double, a homer, 3 RBI, and 3 SBs. This is the type of performance that earned the MVP and it's what's been missing from the Phils offense for most of this season.

- Bruntlett and Coste, entering the game late, ended up going a combined 6 for 6 with 2 RBI, in hitting the game tying and game winning hits respectively.

- Unforgivable slip by Tom McCarthy in the bottom of the 12th, continually referring to CBP as "Shea". Tom, please just head back up the turnpike and tell Scott Graham to please come back.

- Not sure it was possible for Pat Burrell to have a more feeble night at the plate in striking out 4 times in 7 ABs and leaving 10 men on base.

- The home plate umpire, Mike Everitt, had a tough night. By the 12th inning, I had no idea what a strike was and the way he blew that call in the 3rd inning, where Tatis hit a fair ball off of Carlos Beltran, leading off of 3rd base in fair territory, was unconscionable.

- Carlos Ruiz played 3B last night; the first time he has done so in the Majors.

- Can you imagine trying to keep score of this game?

- Big outfield assist from Jayson Werth in the 11th inning on a hit by David Wright. The ball kicked off the stands just right, Werth was in the right spot to pick up the ball, and gunned out Wright, who appeared to injure his hand on the play. It'll be interesting to see if Wright, who earlier fouled a ball off of his foot, will play tonite.

- Myers' AB in the 13th inning was comical. He did a bunch of posturing, as if he was going to take his hacks, when in reality, it seems he was just sent to stand there and maybe draw a walk with no outs and the bases loaded. The strategy almost worked. Myers went to 3 - 2, before he struck out looking.

Pic from Yahoo.com ((AP Photo/Tom Mihalek))

Phils Complete Sweep of Dodgers

Brett Myers' star crossed rollar coaster ride of a season continued last night and Jimmy Rollins awoke from a long offensive slumber to lead the Phillies to a 5 - 0 shutout win over the Dodgers last night. The victory completed a 4-game sweep of the Dodgers and allowed the Phillies to remain within a half-game of the Mets, who also won last night.

The offense last night was paced by Jimmy Rollins, who went 3 for 3, including a 2-run single that opened the scoring for the Phillies. Also providing a crucial offensive spark was Jayson Werth, who not only drove in Ryan Howard (lead-off double) in the 7th inning, but scored from 2nd base on a Chris Coste ground-out. Werth was actually running on the play, which was a high bounding ball to the 2nd baseman who had to wait for the ball to come down. Werth was able to get a good read on the ball and went hard around 3rd to score the 5th and final run of the ballgame.

Brett Myers' return to form continued last night, as Myers did pitch with men on base (12 baserunners on 9 hits and 3 walks), but he managed to keep the Dodgers from scoring. He also struck out 8 and lowered his season ERA to 4.49, which is impressive, considering his ERA was approaching 6 when the Texas Rangers knocked him around back on June 27th.

The Phils open up a crucial 2 game series against their archrival New York Mets this evening at Citizen's Bank Ballpark. The pitching matchups:

Tonite: Jamie Moyer vs. Pedro Martinez

Tomorrow: Kyle Kendrick vs. Johan Santana

Notes:

- Pat Burrell left 6 runners on base last night. As for the Dodgers, between Jeff Kent and Manny Ramirez, they left 13 men on base.

- You won't see a smoother doubleplay started by a 3rd baseman than the one Pedro Feliz started in the 6th inning, when he went to his left, calmly scooped up the Casey Blake grounder and fired to Utley, who turned the doubleplay. Feliz made it look easy. His aggressive bat wasn't the only thing the Phils missed during his stint on the DL.

Photo from yahoo.com: (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Myers, Phils Shutout Nats

Brett Myers threw a complete game shutout as the Phils blanked the Washington Nationals by a score of 4 - 0.

The story of the game was the mercurial Myers, as he threw his first complete game since 2006, which was also the last year he spent as a full-time starter. Myers struck out 9 batters and walked only one. He did have some early inning trouble, allowing multiple baserunners in each of the first two innings, only to get bailed out of trouble either through an outfield assist (courtesy of Pat Burrell) or via the strikeout (Emilio Bonifacio in the 2nd).

Offensively, Greg Dobbs, starting at 3b, hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to give the Phils a 3 - 0 lead. Jayson Werth also knocked in a run in a fifth inning that could have been even bigger, had Jimmy Rollins not gotten caught stealing on a play where he overslid second base.

The series continues tonite with Jamie Moyer facing Tim Redding at 7:05pm.

Notes:

- Yes, Rollins was still getting booed, but the booing lacked a certain vitriol. I'm getting to the conclusion that gauging the booing of a crowd is like judging a fine wine or a good cigar.

- Chase Utley had 2 base knocks hitting the ball to the opposite field. Why is this a big deal? Teams had begun shifting infielders to the second base side of the diamond on Utley as they do with Ryan Howard. Utley seems to evolved into a dead pull hitter (like Howard) because of his early season power binge. Utley is too good of a hitter to be that one-dimensional, which is a conclusion I would hope Ryan Howard would come to as well. Both players adjusting their stroke to defeat the shift can only make defenses play both players a little more honestly.

- Brett Myers' curve ball was his big pitch last night and it was the rare at-bat where he pitched behind in the count. From Myers' perspective, I wish this game could be bottled and enjoyed at a later date.

- Anyone know what the Phillies were trying to do in the 8th inning with Chris Coste trying to steal second with Brett Myers trying to lay down a bunt? Obviously, Coste got nailed. Why did Coste run? I think the Phils got a little too cute there, in an attempt to get a man on 3rd with 1 out.

Photo: (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Phils Swept; Out of First Place

The Phillies were ignominiously swept out of Chavez Ravine by the Dodgers last night by a score of 3 - 1. The loss, coupled with another Mets win, puts the Phils 1 game behind the Mets for 1st place in NL East.

The story of the game was the inability of the Phillies to solve Dodger starter Hiroki Kuroda, who pitched 7 innings of 2 hit ball. The Phils' lone run came from the bat of Ryan Howard, whose sacrifice fly scored Jayson Werth, who had doubled to lead off the 7th inning. This game was just another in a long string of games where the Phils played lifeless offensive baseball. They continue to occupy the basement in the NL in in team BA (.206) and hits (86) in the month of August.

The lone bright spot came from perhaps the Phillies' biggest pain in the ass. Brett Myers pitched 7 effective innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 5 hits and striking out 8. Myers has now gone 7 innings in 3 of his last 4 starts and appears to be gaining confidence down the stretch, in direct contrast to some of the Phillies' offensive "stars".

The Phillies' battan death march out west continues tonite in San Diego, where they have a ballpark that fly balls go to die. A Geritol matchup is on tap with Jamie Moyer going up against Greg Maddux.

(Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)

Myers, Phils Beat Nats

Brett Myers pitched 7 of the strongest innings he's pitched all year and Chase Utley hit his first home run since July 7th to beat the Washington Nationals by a score of 2 - 1.

This was, far and away, Myers' best outing of the year. He pitched into the 8th inning and probably could have gotten through the inning, if not for a Chase Utley error on a ball that was a dead double play ball. He only struck out 2, but was consistently ahead in the count against most of the hitters he faced. His slider to right handed hitters seemed particular effective last night.

After Utley's error in the 8th inning left the Nats with runners at 1st and 2nd with nobody out, Manuel brought in a combination of JC Romero and Chad Durbin to limit the damage to only 1 run. Brad Lidge came on in the 9th inning to notch his 25th save on the year.

Offensively, the team was, again, somewhat dormant. Chase Utley finally got off the schneid with respect to hitting the long ball and he even got an "excuse me" basehit on a half-hearted swing in the eighth inning. Pat Burrell also chipped in with 2 base hits.

The series continues tonite with Old Man Moyer facing Tim Redding at 7:10pm.

Notes

- The Braves traded Mark Teixera to the Anaheim Angels for Casey Kotchman and a prospect. That effectively ends the Braves' thoughts of contention this year. Now, it's just the Mets and Marlins to worry about.

- Brett Myers managed to hit 2 batters during the game, but fortunately, he was able to force the next batter to hit into a DP both times.

- What a stupid, dumb, ridiculous base running mistake by Ryan Zimmerman in the 7th inning after Milledge pounded the ball off of Eric Bruntlett's glove. After the ball hopped away from Bruntlett, Rollins picked the ball up, noticing Zimmerman had taken too wide of a turn off of 2nd. The ball was quickly thrown to Utley at 2nd, who tagged out Zimmerman out. Just. Dumb.

- Before the game, Pedro Feliz was put on the 15 day DL for back issues. Bruntlett and Dobbs will reportedly split time at third base in the meantime.

- Apparently, Greg Maddux has no interest in pitching for Philly, according to CBS sportsline's Scott Miller.

Photo: Yahoo.com (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Phils Send Eaton To Minors

Post is a little late today...had an early meeting today that I called and chaired, so I needed to concentrate on work. Stupid work......

In a move that is stunning only because it didn't involve an outright release, the Phillies and Adam Eaton have agreed that it's best for the highly maligned pitcher to work his issues out at the Triple A level.

The Phils have called up JA Happ to take Eaton's roster spot.

What is not immediately clear is that if there is another shoe to drop here. What could potentially occur here is that this move could open up what other fans (not me) have been clamoring for all along: moving Myers back to the bullpen.

Theoretically, Happ could slide into Myers' spot in the rotation and Myers could slide back into a bullpen role, albeit, not as the closer. On some level, this would make sense; the bullpen, while a bulwark in the first half of the season, has faltered lately.

Another shoe that could potentially drop here is a trade; either of Happ or of Brett Myers. There were rumors involving Myers, and his unhappiness, during his minor league stint. With the July 31st non-waiver move trade deadline approaching, maybe the Phils are looking to accomodate Myers.

Meanwhile, Happ and the Phils will start a 3-game set in Washington against those pesky Nats. The Phils are only a 1/2 game behind New York, courtesy of a Mets loss to the Florida Marlins. If the Phils take care of the Nats, they could make some hay in the standings as the Mets and Marlins beat each other up.

The pitching matchups are as follows:

Tonite: Myers vs. Balester; 7:10pm
Tomorrow: Moyer vs. Tim Redding (who has owned the Phils this year); 7:10pm

Thursday: Kendrick vs. Lannan (the guy who hit Chase on the wrist last year); 7:10pm

Photo: (Tom Mihalek, Associated Press / July 7, 2008)

Phils Lose; Tied for First

The Phils fell in Flushing last night by a score of 6 - 3. The loss dropped the Phils back into a first place tie with the Mets in the NL East.

The game marked Brett Myers' first start since a June 27th loss to the Texas Rangers. Myers managed to go 5 shaky innings and was lucky to have only given up 3 runs. He started off on a bad foot, walking the first 4 guys he faced. Myers managed to settle down somewhat, but could not consistently locate his fastball.

The pivotal inning in the game, however, was the 6th inning, when the ball was handed to reliever Ryan Madson. Madson gave up two hits and, after an aborted sacrifice, coughed up a 3-run bomb to Jose Reyes. Reyes then managed to perform about a dozen celebratory handshakes and gestures enroute from home plate to the dugout. I thought Reyes was having some sort of epileptic seizure, but apparently seizures are not a symptom of assholery.

Offensively, the Phils could only manage a couple of a solo homers (Victorino and Jenkins) and an RBI double from Rollins. Can anyone remember the last hit of consequence from Chase Utley?

The series concludes tomorrow at 12:10pm, with Jamie Moyer taking the ball against the Mets' Oliver Perez.

Notes:

- I liked the move to pull Myers after 5 innings. Let him leave without the possibility of taking a loss. He wasn't great, but it could have been worse.

- Please someone tell Chase Utley the second half has begun.

- Ryan Howard was not charged for an error on that ground ball in the first inning that he should have caught to start a double play (which would have prevented a run), but he should have been.

- Ryan Madson. Not good.

- Can't believe I'm about to say this: Chris Wheeler made an excellent point to Tom McCarthy during the broadcast about Carlos Beltran. Beltran, a player who makes $18.6 million dollars a year, laid down a sacrifice bunt with nobody out during the 8th inning last night. That was, as Wheeler said, a dumb baseball play. A hitter of Beltran's calibre (and payscale) should be swinging away in that situation.

From the Weekend

- The Phillies continue to make life on themselves difficult. Sure, yesterday's game was close, but they desperately needed a series win within their division. This series against the Mets this week will be intense, and they will be throwing Brett Myers right from the minors and into this series. Yes, I am concerned.

- Another of the Eagles' divisonal rivals got better over the weekend. This time, it was the Redskins, who traded for Jason Taylor. Yes, I am concerned.

- Because of the soaring temps yesterday, I took my son to the Flyers' rookie "scrimmage" yesterday as it was held in an air conditioned hockey rink. BORING! They didn't actually scrimmage, so much as just do drills for the session I attended. I enjoyed the air conditioning, but I essentially wasted my time. My son, however, enjoyed the arcade area.

- As of this AM, I'm still on child care duties, but I should have a book review later in keeping with the start of NFL training camp.

Phils 2008 2nd Half Begins

The Phils begin the 2nd half of their season by playing their divisional foes. They go on the road to play Florida and New York. They come home for a weekend series with the Braves and then head down to DC for a mid-week series with the Nats.

Now is a good time to think back about what happened in the first half of the season and a couple of predictions on what it is to come.

1st half MVP: The Phillies bullpen. Possibly a bit of a cop out from selecting a single, individual Phillie to represent their team MVP, but you can find some sort of inconsistency with just about every player on the roster (including our beloved St. Chase of Utley).

The bullpen as a unit, on the other hand, is probably the biggest reason why the Phils are in a tie with the Mets for first place today. The bullpen ERA of 2.71 leads all of Major League Baseball

The fact is, despite the Phils being tied for first place, I don't think we've seen the best baseball, offensively, from this team yet.

Biggest 1st half disappointment: Brett Myers. His status as "staff ace" was scoffed at by the fanbase in the beginning of the season and Myers then went on to show the fans how right they were. His 3 - 9 record is bad enough. Couple that with his brutal ERA (5.84) and he has single handedly assisted in killing the Phillies once every 5 days.

Personally, I still can't believe the way Myers came out and pitched this season, as if he was unprepared for the mental and physical rigors of starting pitching. Hopefully, his little trip down to the minors helps him get his mind and body back into starter mode for the second half, either with the Phillies, or as part of a trade to another team.

Predictions:

1.) I know the Mets are playing good ball right now and have won 10 in a year. I think with this winning streak, coupled with how inconsistent the Phils have been to date, is about as close as the Mets are going to get this year. Once the Phils start hitting (which history says will happen in the 2nd half), this division race will be over.

2.) Ryan Howard will get his average up around .260 for the year.

3.) There will be hue and cry for Shane Victorino to lose his starting job as his numbers drop as the season wears on. I do not like Victorino's future as a starter.

4.) Cole Hamels will win 20 games.

5.) Because of the Joe Blanton trade, Brett Myers will be traded in a deal that will help the Phillies plug the hole in their outfield caused by the departure of Aaron Rowand. And yes, I do believe the Phils miss Rowand FAR more than the front office would like to admit.

6.) Jamie Moyer will be within 15 points of Carlos Ruiz' batting average by the end of the year. Other than Victorino, there is better than 50% chance that Carlos Ruiz will either lose his job or lose significant playing time.

Phils Trade For Joe Blanton

The Phillies, in a deal that's been rumored for a couple of days, have traded 3 minor leaguers to the Oakland A's for SP Joe Blanton. The minor leaguers sent to Oakland are 2B Adrian Cardenas, RP Josh Outman, and OF Matt Spencer.

My initial gut feeling on this trade is that the Phillies overpaid for Blanton. Blanton is 5 - 12 with a 4.96 ERA. Before this season, he had records of 12 - 12, 16 - 12, and 14 - 10. He ERA last season was a full run lower than it is right now. Another interesting stat: He has thrown almost 600 innings in the last 3 years.

I can't help but wonder if the decline in his numbers is due to some sort of breaking down due to overuse. There have been no reports of injury, but he seems to have fallen off of a cliff, statistically.

Furthermore, both Cardenas and Outman have been highly thought of in terms of potential down the road. Even if the organization had no plans for these guys with the Phillies because of other players in their way (especially in the case of Cardenas), you wonder if these guys wouldn't have been better utilized as trade bait for a better talent. I mean, is Joe Blanton really the best we could do for Cardenas, a .300 hitter with speed at single A Clearwater, and Outman, a lefty reliever many believe is ready for the majors now?

There is no doubting that the Phillies needed some starting pitching help, but I really would have liked to have seen it come from within in the form of JA Happ or Carlos Carrasco.

Also: is there another shoe to drop from this trade? Will either of Adam Eaton or Brett Myers get packaged in another deal? Myers has been rumored to be unhappy now that he is no longer the closer, and won't be in the immediate future, with Brad Lidge singing a 3-year deal.

Photo: Yahoo.com (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Back from Vacation

- Back from a brief respite downashore. Did manage to mess my back up pretty good on Saturday afternoon playing on the beach with my son, and that pretty much prevented me from posting on Sunday or yesterday despite having every intention of doing so.

- Is it OK yet to panic on the Phils? Dropping 3 of 4 to the Mets, at home, over the weekend should not put any Phils fan in a good mood, no matter how hard they came back in a couple of those games. The All-Star break cannot get here fast enough for this team.

- Great move signing Brad Lidge to the 3-year extension. This means Brett Myers' days as a closer are D-O-N-E. You're a starter, Brett. Start acting like one.

- I'm happy that Paul Holmgren received a 3 year contact extension yesterday, but does anyone else believe he hasn't adequately addressed the Flyers' problems on the blueline? We're OK with Steve Eminger and Ossi Vaananen as top 6 defensemen? Really?

- If you grew up in the Delaware Valley during the 80's like I did, you remember the Brigantine Castle, right? And those commercials? Found one on YouTube over the weekend:

Rollins, Phils Best Braves

Jimmy Rollins had 3 hits and scored 2 runs and Ryan Howard hit a 3-run bomb in the 3rd inning as the Phils beat the Atlanta Braves by a score of 7 - 3. The win gives the Phillies their first series win in a month, when they last played the Atlanta Braves.

Adam Eaton started, and went into the 6th inning before loading the bases with no one out and giving way to Chad Durbin, who promptly threw a double-play ball to Jeff Francoeur and got Mark Kotsay looking to clean up Eaton's mess.

Rollins not only made his presence felt with the bat, but also in the field. In the 5th inning, Rollins made a diving stop on ball going up the middle, which should have been a basehit. Instead, Rollins made the acrobatic play, flipped the ball to Utley at second, and Utley made the turn to Howard to complete a very pretty doubleplay that kept the Braves at bay.

Pat Burrell also tacked on his 21st home run of the year and Utley, Pedro Feliz, and Chris Coste all had 2 hits each.

The series concludes tonite at 7pm in a pretty good matchup between Cole Hamels (8 - 5) vs. Jair Jurrjens (8 - 3) that will be on CSN-TV.

Notes/Observations

- I could have done without all of the excitement in the 9th inning, with Ryan Howard botching 2 ground balls and Brad Lidge giving up a very long, very dangerous foul ball to Mark Teixeira that came within a few feet of tying the game in the 9th inning.

- By the way: Howard now has 9 errors at first base. I'm sorry, but that is unacceptable. He is a DH waiting to happen.

- Also: They probably shouldn't have had Lidge in the game two nights in a row in non-save situations, but it's just as well they did with Howard kicking the ball all over the infield. Fortunately, the Phils have Hamels going today, so hopefully, the Phils won't need Lidge's services today.

- Solid work by Chad Durbin last night; 2 innings of hitless, runless relief. Last night's appearance guarentees he's not the starter on Saturday, right?

- Brett Myers started for the IronPigs last night. Meh. He took the loss after working 5 innings and throwing 100 pitches.

Picture: yahoo.com (REUTERS/Tami Chappell (UNITED STATES))

Phils Find Bats, Beat Braves

The Phillies, seemingly unable to get out of their own way during interleague play, returned to divisional play last night and defeated the Atlanta Braves by a score of 8 - 3.

The Phillies came out hitting in the second and third inning, which we should have predicted, since Kyle Kendrick was on the mound last night. Already leading 1 - 0 on a Pat Burrell solo home run, the Phillies strung together 6 straight hits in the 3rd inning off of Braves starter Charlie Morton, including a 2-run Shane Victorino homer, to open up a 5 - 0 lead.

Meanwhile, Kendrick seemed to have runners on base in just about every inning, but was able to wiggle his way out of trouble. His luck ran out in the 7th inning, however, as Braves PH Greg Norton doubled home 2 runs, prompting the hook for Kendrick.

That was as close as the Braves would ultimately come to catching the Phils, as the Phils went on to tack on 3 more runs in the top of the ninth to salt away the win.

The series continues in Atlanta tonite, with Adam Eaton facing Jason Campillo.

Notes and Observations

- Brad Lidge pitching in a non-save situation? Guess he needed the work.

- Great defensive play by the Phils when, in the third inning, Chase Utley tracked a ball down after Ryan Howard dove to his left to field it and still managed to throw out the runner as the alert Kyle Kendrick covered first.

- Another great defensive play involving Utley in the 2nd inning, when he went up the middle to rob Jeff Francoeur.

- You wonder if Brett Myers acquiescing to a minor league assignment provided any sort of emotional lift for the Phils, who probably don't get any more joy out of watching Myers struggle than we do.

- The Phils called up left-handed reliever RJ Swindle from Lehigh Valley to replace Myers.

- The Phils also announced that they signed 1st round draft pick Anthony Hewitt.

Photo: Yahoo.com....(AP Photo/Gregory Smith)

Myers Sent to AAA

Brett Myers, in a stunning move, has agreed to be demoted to the Phillies' AAA affiliate Lehigh Valley.

Myers, who has been nothing short of terrible this season, will continue to be used as a starter at Lehigh Valley. No word on whether any will be called up in his place, but it appears as if Cole Hamels will be moved up to take Myers' start.

This is a real good move that you didn't hear alot about because it was probably never considered a serious option since the player himself had to agree to the move. Not many proven players would agree to such a move and it speaks well for Myers that he agreed to it.

I think it will help Myers to hear a voice other than that of Rich Dubee, who has apparently been unable to straighten Myers out.

No word on how long Myers will be down with the IronPigs......also no word on who will be called up to start in Myers' spot in the rotation. My guess is it would be Happ, who is currently leading the IL in strikeouts.

Phils June 2008 By The Numbers

If you looking for good or cheery news about the Phillies, I'm not sure this is going to be the article you're looking for. It's going to be very tough to find the silver linings in the numbers for a team that has struggled as badly as the Phillies have struggled in the month of June.

The crux of the matter is that the Phillies are built around their offense. As their offense goes, so goes this ball club. They have serviceable starting pitching; it's not great, but it's good enough when they are hitting. The month of June saw many of the Phillies, including everyone's favorite second baseman, run into significant slumps that cost the team opportunities and wins in the month of June, as, amazingly, they are still in first place by a 0.5 game as play begins today in the month of July.

So, without further adieu, onto the numbers for June.....

12

The number of wins for the month of June 2008. Since the series in the beginning of the month against Atlanta, where they swept the Braves in Atlanta, the Phillies have dropped six straight series. While it's true, some of the series were against division leaders such as Boston and Anaheim, dropping series against AL teams like Texas and Oakland should not happen if the Phils were on top of their game.

I've heard and read a good number of items where it was mentioned that there is relief that the Phillies are getting out of the interleague portion of their schedule and I suppose when you're playing as poorly as the Phillies are right now, you'll struggle to grasp any straws that you can. But the fact of the matter is, if they don't right the ship now, it doesn't matter what team they are facing. Furthermore, weren't the AL teams they were facing up against the same lack of familiarity that the Phils themselves failed to adjust to? If the Phils are struggling offensively because of lack of familiarity with the American League, explain to me how the American League has been just teeing off on the NL pitchers at such a prodigious rate? Are the AL advanced scouts that much better? Is it truly that the AL is a better league?

112

The number of runs scored by the Phils in June 2008. That figure puts them at 20th in the majors in runs scored for the month of June. In and of itself, that is bottom half of the league for the month and not good news for a team that is so reliant on their offense.

Take away the June 13th game, when they tacked up 20 runs on the St. Louis Cardinals, the Phils would have scored only 92 runs for the month.....a figure that would have put them ahead of only 3 other teams in the majors. One of those teams, fortunately, is in their division (the Washington Nationals).

.232

The batting average for the Phillies, as a team, for the month of June, better than only two teams in MLB (Cincinnati and Arizona). I usually take an individual and highlight how much that person stood out, good or bad with their numbers. In the case of the Phillies this past month, they've been bad as a team.

Oh, there have definitely been some prime offenders. Geoff Jenkins hit .143 for the month as a semi-regular. You would have thought he would have been a good choice to help the Phils when they went on the road in the AL parks to DH. Not so.

Carlos Ruiz hit a paltry .178. Ruiz should lose some starts to Coste for this reason alone, but how much pressure can you put on a 30 something Chris Coste?

The worst offender, by far, was Jimmy Rollins. The Phils' leadoff man, the MVP of the NL, hit a paltry .217 in the month of June. That wouldn't have been so bad if he was getting on base alot, but is OBP was under .300 for the month. This team seems only as good as it's offensive stars. None of them performed up to standards in the month of June and ironically, they were led into mediocrity by their leadoff man.

3

The number of wins in the month of June acheived by both Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick.

Other then the one bad start Kendrick had against the Red Sox, Kendrick pitched well enough to keep the Phillies in just about every game he's pitched in. Lost in the 20 runs the Phils posted on St. Louis in the June 13th games is that he gave up only 1 earned run in 7 innings. Additionally, Kendrick shut out the Oakland A's, providing a tourniquette to the wounded Phils on their West Coast trip.

Cole Hamels has not had an outing where he's gone less than 7 innings in about a month. What Hamels has missed out on is either run support (losing to the Angels 3 - 2) or bullpen help (Tom Gordon implosion vs. Florida on June 11th).

Unfortunately, for the Phils, 3 is also the number of losses that Brett Myers was saddled with in the month of June. Myers' time in the rotation is probably limited and he might even welcome being skipped after the 2 inning effort he handed in against Texas. The Phils lost every game he started in June (5) and Myers' ERA for the month was an almost satanic 6.67.

0.87

Chad Durbin's ERA for the month of June in 9 appearances. Durbin is a prime candidate to take Brett Myers' spot in the rotation as he does have starting experience. Moving Durbin, however, might upset the delicate balance of a bullpen that has been an absolute rock of gibralter for this club all year.

1

The number of hits Chase Utley got in 20 AB vs. Boston and Anaheim at home. Also of note: Utley is hitting only .250 this season to date with runners in scoring position. This is a full 54 points lower than he hit all of last year in the same situation.

As fast as Chase Utley had gotten out of the gate this year, he has slowed up just as abruptly. Is this something systemic that Utley has to work out or is this a function of Jimmy Rollins being unable to get on base on a consistent basis?

Summary

What a brutal month of baseball this team flopped out there in the month of June. Some of it can be written off to not knowing the AL pitchers they were facing, but some of it is that this team is just not hitting right now. As they open up their schedule in the month of July with divisional opponents Atlanta and New York, the Phillies must decide what type of ballclub they are going to be going down the stretch. They can look at the positive in that they are still in first place despite playing their worst baseball of the year, but this team cannot just snap it's collective fingers and turn the clutch hitting back on.

Furthermore, now is the time to extricate Brett Myers from the rotation. He should be skipped at least one start. The guy to bring up? JA Happ is currently 5 - 6 for a terrible Lehigh Valley ball club, but he's got a 3.54 ERA and leads the IL in strikeouts with 104. He's a relatively young guy of 25 years old. Now is the time to see if this guy has anything. If he helps, it puts the Phils in a better negotiating position when it comes time to deal for another starter around the time of the trade deadline (for the inevitable Adam Eaton meltdown). If he doesn't help, at least you've tried to make it work from within the organization and then perhaps you check to see if Kris Benson is ready for a start or two.

Regardless, this team cannot go into this stretch of games with the status quo intact.