Phillies Beat Dodgers; Advance to World Series!

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the LA Dodgers by a score of 5 - 1 to win the NLCS and earn their 6th National League pennant in their 126 years of existence.

Jimmy Rollins quieted the crowd right out of the gate by slamming a lead off homer to give the Phils the early lead and the early momentum.

The Phils extended their lead in the 3rd, when with one out, Jimmy Rollins singled and stole second. After a Jayson Werth strikeout and a Chase Utley walk, Rollins scored on a Ryan Howard basehit. Pat Burrell plated Chase Utley with a single of his own, giving the Phillies a 3 - 0 lead.

The Phils extended their lead in the top of the fifth. With Howard on 1st and Utley on 2nd with 1 out, Pat Burrell hit a nubber to Rafael Furcal. Furcal booted the ball, and Utley, seeing Furcal lose the ball, ran hard all the way around 3rd and came home safely to extend the Phillies lead to 4 - 0. Furcal was also charged with a throwing error in a vain attempt to throw out Utley at home, allowing Burrell and Howard to advance. The Phils were able to get Ryan Howard home on yet another Rafael Furcal throwing error with two outs to make it 5 - 0.

Cole Hamels, meanwhile, went 7 strong innings giving up 1 run and striking out 5. The only run he gave up was to (who else?) Manny Ramirez on a solo home run. Hamels turned it over to the bullpen, which meant Ryan Madson in the 8th inning and Brad Lidge to close matters out in the 9th.

Notes:

- Because David Boreanaz announced the Phils starting lineup for Fox, Channel 6 weatherman Dave Roberts, who is Boreanaz's father, got a shout out from announcer Joe Buck during the telecast.

- Good to see Scott Boras in the crowd last night. How does he hide his Satan horns and where does he keep his pitchfork?

- Great turn by Jimmy Rollins on that double play the Phils turned in the 5th inning.

- Tremendous running catch by Burrell on Ethier's drive in the bottom of the 6th. Did not think Burrell would come up with that ball.

- Why wasn't Russell Martin thrown out after vehemently arguing balls and strikes with the home plate? Loved the Fox replays of Martin slamming his equipment after the discussion. If Martin could hit with the same aplomb that he threw equipment around in this series, the Dodgers might still be in the series.

- Can't believe that Dodger fans cheered when they thought Victorino got hurt sliding back into first on a pickoff attempt late in the game. I've written it in comments over at 700level.com and I'll write it again: if that had happened in Philly, the announcers would have made a point to mention it and it would have been a much bigger deal. The stories about Dodger fans in this series have not been good ones.

- Great diving grab by Chase Utley on Furcal's shattered bat shot in the bottom of the 8th.

- Lidge gave us a couple of "moments" in the 9th; both "moments" disappeared into the glove of Shane Victorino, deep in center field.

- NLCS MVP: Cole Hamels.

Phils Thumped by Dodgers

The Phils dropped Game 3 to a highly motivated Dodgers team by a score of 7 - 2. Even with the loss, the Phillies are still up in the NLCS 2 games to 1, with Game 4 this evening.

Phils starter Jamie Moyer did not come out and have the kind of 1st inning the Phillies were looking for. Moyer gave up 5 runs on 5 hits and generally did not look sharp. Even as semi-interested in sports as an LA crowd can be, even that crowd was cheering pretty wildly and giving the Dodgers the boost they needed.

The Phils were able to respond in the top of the 2nd, with Pedro Feliz delivering an RBI single, scoring Ryan Howard, who had doubled and advanced on a Jayson Werth fly out.

Moyer was pulled, however, in the 2nd inning after giving up a home run to Rafael Furcal. He was relieved by Clay Condrey, who, while pitching to Russell Martin, threw one high and tight during an at-bat that Martin ultimately grounded into a double play on. Martin, furious because he had been hit (weakly) by Jamie Moyer in the first inning, threw a hissy fit in the dugout.

Upsetting the catcher virtually guarenteed a Phillie would be thrown at the next inning and sure enough, Dodger starter Hiroki Kuroda threw over Shane Victorino's head in the next inning. Victorino eventually grounded out during the at-bat, but after Victorino exchanged words with Kuroda, the benches emptied. Most of the pointing and shouting was done by the coaching staffs, but it was funny to watch Manny Ramirez attempt to push through a crowd to get at a Phillie.

After the "gathering" in the middle of the field, the game settled in, with the Phillies batters seemingly doing everything possible to make Hiroki Kuroda's life much easier by swinging at bad pitches and not working the count. When Kuroda departed in the 7th inning, it was after throwing only 84 pitches.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, managed to tack on a 7th run off of JA Happ in the 4th inning, who came on and pitched pretty well in 3 innings of relief, all things considered.

The Phils did manage to scratch out a second run in the 7th inning, when Chase Utley led off with a double and was eventually chased home on a single from Pat Burrell to make the score 7 - 2.

The series continues tonight with Derek Lowe pitching on short rest against Joe Blanton.

Notes:

- The entire notion that the Dodgers somehow needed to get "revenge" against the Phillies by throwing at Victorino's head was just ridiculous on every level. Even if Myers was throwing at Ramirez in Game 2, did anyone associated with the Dodgers stop to think that it was maybe because Ramirez sat there and preened after he hit that long double against Hamels in game 1? Most players actually do get thrown at for that sort of thing, but Ramirez is consistently allowed to get away with it.

And I don't care what anyone says or how they couch it; Russell Martin embarassed himself with his behavior last night. He got hit on the knee by a guy who was obviously wild in Jamie Moyer. Furthermore, Moyer hit him with a breaking ball and Moyer couldn't break a pane of glass with his stuff even in his younger days. For Martin to pout like he did after getting pitched up and in was a joke.

The fact that the Dodgers seem to think that every inside pitch is an attempt to hit them is in the Phillies favor as it is obviously in the Dodgers' heads. The Phils need to keep pounding the inner half of the plate.

- Could someone let Jimmy Rollins know the NLCS has begun?

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.

Phils Take Lead in NLCS

Chase Utley and Pat Burrell both hit homers and Cole Hamels went 7 strong innings as the Phillies beat the Dodgers last night in Game 1 of the NLCS. The win gives the Phils a 1 - 0 series lead, with the NLCS continuing this afternoon with a Happy Hour starting time.

Hamels struggled a little bit in the early going of this game, giving up consecutive doubles in the first inning to Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez to give the Dodgers a 1 - 0. The Dodgers extended the lead to 2 - 0 in the 4th inning, off a double from Matt Kemp, who was eventually advanced and chased home on a sacrifice fly from Blake DeWitt.

Offensively, the Phillies struggled mightily to do anything with Derek Lowe in the early going. The made some noise in the bottom of the 5th, getting two out singles from Chooch Ruiz and Cole Hamels, before Jimmy Rollins flied out to end the inning. That set the stage for a 6th inning of fireworks from two of the Phillies big guns.

Shane Victorino led off the inning by getting on base via a Rafael Furcal throwing error. Chase Utley then hit the first pitch of his at bat into the first couple of rows in right field, evening the score at 2. Utley's homer revived the home crowd, who was put to sleep by the Phillies pounding the ball into the infield for the better part of 5 innings. The Phillies eventually took the lead in the 6th inning, when Pat Burrell took a 3 - 1 pitch out of the yard to left in what could be charitably described as a flower box shot.

Hamels, meanwhile, got through the 7th inning by striking out two of the three batters he faced and that ended his evening with 8 strikeouts and 2 runs allowed. Ryan Madson pitched the 8th inning and Brad Lidge closed matters with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

As mentioned earlier, the Phils and Dodgers play again today at Happy Hour (4:35pm) with Brett Myers facing Chad Billingsly.

Notes:

- Like you, I thought Manny Ramirez's double in the first inning was out of the park from the bat. Apparently, so did Manny. If he had run that ball out, it would have possibly been a triple and he might have scored on the passed ball incurred by Chooch Ruiz in the first inning.

- TJ Simers is trying his best to take shots at us in his columns of late (today's offering is here). And for the record, I'd much rather live in a passionate and substantive city like "Angryville" than the shallow and fake "Fairweatherville" that is the city of Los Angeles.

- Good offering in yesterday's USA Today on some of the previous playoff clashes between the Dodgers and Phillies. The symmetry of Davy Lopes and Larry Bowa's careers is something I touched on here in the beginning of the season.

Phils Advance to NLCS

The Phillies powered past the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 6 - 2 yesterday to win their best-of-5 game series with the Brew Crew 3 games to 1. The Phils advance to meet the LA Dodgers, who swept the Cubs in their NLDS series last night.

Phils starter Joe Blanton pitched 6 strong innings, giving up 1 run on 5 hits and striking out 7. The Brewers hitters continued to be patient, running several deep counts with Blanton, but Blanton was able to get the outs when he needed them. Blanton did come out to pitch the 7th inning, but after two straight hits (one of them a Prince Fielder homer), Ryan Madson came on to relieve Blanton. Madson did give up a run, but at the point of the game that Madson entered, the Phils were up by a score of 5 - 1, so Madson was simply collecting outs to get the game to Brad Lidge.

Offensively, the Phils came out of the gate swinging, getting a homer from Jimmy Rollins to lead off the game. Seeing your team down a run before you even get to your seat can be terribly debilitating to a fan and that is what Rollins' lead off homer was able to accomplish.

The big blow, offensively, came from the bat of Pat Burrell. Burrell, who had been struggling coming into this game, came to bat in the bottom of the 3rd, with 2 on and 2 outs. Burrell took a 2 - 2 offereing from Jeff Suppan and drove it to left center field for a 3-run home run that effectively broke open the game and gave the Phils a 4 - 0. Jayson Werth followed up Burrell's homer with a solo shot of his own to extend the lead to 5 - 0.

As an encore, Burrell hit yet another homer in the 8th inning to close out the scoring.

The NLCS starts this Thursday in Philadelphia, with Cole Hamels facing Derek Lowe.

Notes:

- Can't stop now! I like the matchup against the Dodgers and I'll say why a little later this week.

- If there was an MVP in the NLDS, it would have to be Shane Victorino. Victorino scored or drove in a run in all 3 Phillies victories, including the decisive grand slam against CC Sabathia in Game 2. For the series, Victorino hit .357 with 3 doubles, a homer, and 5 RBI. He also had an OPS of 1.256 for the series.

- Between the Phillies still being in action, the Eagles playing on Sunday afternoon, and the Flyers starting regular season play this Saturday, in addition to all of the college football action, how much marital discord will this coming weekend cause?

Photo: Yahoo.com....(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

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)

Phils Magic Number at 4

Phils rookie JA Happ pitched another fantastic game and Pat Burrell provided late inning fireworks, as the Phils beat the Braves by a score of 6 - 2. Since the Mets lost (again) last night, the Phils now own a 2 1/2 game lead in the NL East with 5 games left in their regular season (the Mets have 6 games left).

JA Happ pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up only 2 runs, with the big blow being a Kelly Johnson homer. If you watched the game, it was apparent that Happ was going to have a tough inning. After putting 2 men on in the fifth, but wriggling out of trouble, Happ walked Martin Prado on 4 straight pitches. The next batter, Kelly Johnson, crushed a ball to right field, tying the score at 2. Happ went on to allow one more basehit to Jeff Francoeur before getting Casey Kotchman to fly out to deep right field on a ball that made me glad the athletic Jayson Werth was in right. Werth had to track the ball to the wall and did a little half leap, having a sort of controlled collision with the right field wall while making the catch.

Offensively, the Phils busted the game open in the 8th inning. Leading 3 - 2, Pat Burrell sent a 3 - 1 pitch over the left field wall for a 3-run homer, giving the Phillies the final margin of victory.

The series with the Braves continues tonite, with Cole Hamels facing Jo-Jo Reyes. As a side note, Johan Santana is going tonite for the Mets against the Cubs.

Notes:

- Chase Utley collected his 100th RBI last night. After watching him in April and May, I would have never guessed it would have taken him this long to get to this point.

- Scott Eyre collected his 5th win last night coming on in relief. It was his 3rd win since he arrived from Chicago on August 7th.

Howard Hauls Phils into Phirst

Ryan Howard is seemingly dragging this team on his back offensively right now.

Trailing by a score of 7 - 4, Howard hit a triple to knock in a run in the 6th inning and hit a 2-run bomb in the 7th inning to lead the Phillies to an 8 - 7 win. The win, coupled with a Mets loss to the Nats, pushed the Phils into first place in NL East by a 1/2 game.

Starting pitcher Jamie Moyer struggled to get through 5 2/3 innings. Moyer lacked command on his pitches; most notably in the 3rd inning, where he hit one batter, walked another, and generally ran some deep counts en route to giving up 3 runs on 3 hits in the inning. He settled down in the 4th and 5th inning, but had problems in the 6th inning that he was unable to overcome when he loaded the bases on a couple of walks and a single. Chad Durbin was of little help, in allowing Moyer's inherited runners to score and giving up a run of his own.

In addition to Howard's heroics, Jayson Werth continued his amazing season by going 3 for 4 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI. Werth hit his 23rd homer in the 3rd inning to give the Phils what was, at the time, a 3 - 0 lead. Shane Victorino (single), Chase Utley (double), and Carlos Ruiz (homer) also knocked in runs for the Phils.

The series continues tonite, with JA Happ taking Kyle Kendrick's spot in the rotation against the Braves' Jair Jurrjens.

Notes:

- Rollins dropped a throw from Carlos Ruiz in the 3rd when the Phillies had Josh Anderson dead to rights at second base. Anderson, naturally, went on to score.

- Speaking of that 3rd inning, the Phillies seemingly had about 10 mound conferences. It was obvious that Moyer did not have his best junk last night.

- In the month of September to date, Ryan Howard is hitting .354 and slugging an astounding .917. And yes, he continues to lead the NL in both HR and RBI.

- Pat Burrell....0 for 5 with 5 strikeouts. Should. Be. Platooned.

Phils Sweep Brewers

The Phillies swept a day-night doubleheader from the Brewers yesterday and in doing so, moved into a tie for the Wildcard lead with the Brewers. Additionally, the Mets ended up losing to the Braves yesterday, which means the Phils are now 1 game back of the Mets for the lead in NL East.

Game 1 of the doubleheader saw the Brewers jump out to an early 2 - 0 lead on Phillies starter Joe Blanton in the first inning. Blanton did manage to settle down and allowed only 3 runs over 7 innings of work.

The Phillies overcame a 3 - 1 deficit when, the sixth inning, Ryan Howard hit a 2-run homer to tie the game. They went on to take the lead for good in the 8th inning on a Pat Burrell single and a Shane Victorino 3-run homer to make score 7 - 3, which the bullpen made stand up.

Game 2 was the Brett Myers show. Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter was (rightfully) the top baseball story yesterday, but Brett Myers pitched pretty well in his own right. Myers gave up only two hits en route to a 6 - 1 complete game to finish the series and doubleheader sweep of the Brewers.

Offensively, the Phillies jumped on the Brewers early, scoring 1 in the 1st and 3 in the 2nd inning. One of the run scoring hits was by Brett Myers himself, who singled to score Pat Burrell.

Jimmy Rollins was on base in all 5 plate appearances in this game, going 2 for 2, with a single, double and 2 walks. Shane Victorino also contributed 4 hits and Pat Burrell hit his 31st homer of the year.

The Phils now go on to play the Atlanta Braves in a series that starts on Tuesday.

Notes:

- Chase Utley was hit (again) with a pitched ball in game 1, making it 26 on the year. This needs to be addressed next year.

- Jimmy Rollins was caught stealing in game 2 for only the 3rd time all year.

Phils Chug Brew; Gain Ground

The Phillies jumped on the Brewers early and captured a 7 - 3 win in front of 45,000 folks at Citizens Bank Ballpark. The win, coupled with a Mets loss to the Braves, puts the Phils 2 1/2 games behind the Mets in NL East and only 2 games behind the Brewers in the Wild Card race.

The Phils wasted little time in this one, sprinting out to a 3 - 0 lead in the first inning on the strength of run-scoring hits by Chase Utley, Jayson Werth, and Shane Victorino. They struck again in the 2nd inning on a Ryan Howard 2-run single, giving Cole Hamels an early 5 - 0 lead.

Cole Hamels, while not dominant, pitched more than well enough. He had baserunners on in every inning but the 2nd and the 6th, but managed to strand most of the men he put on base. The 2 runs he did give were ultimately preventable, in that the ball that Jason Kendall hit to left to score the first 2 Brewer runs should have been caught by Pat Burrell. Burrell misjudged the fly ball, took a bad angle, and allowed the ball to get over his head.

Hamels ultimately gave way to the bullpen in the 7th inning.

Offensively, the Phillies were led by their catalyst, Jimmy Rollins. Rollins, in addition to getting on base and scoring in both the 1st and 2nd inning, hit a 2-run homer to put the game out of reach in the 6th inning, when it looked like Hamels was tiring a little and the Brewers seemed to be getting a little frisky. Chase Utley also went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.

As a result of Friday's rainout, the Phils and Brewers will play a day-night doubleheader. For the Phils, it's their second Sunday in a row playing a doubleheader and for a Philly fan, it's just as well as the Eagles don't play till tomorrow night anyway.

Pitching matchups:

Day game: Joe Blanton vs. Dave Bush
Night game: Brett Myers vs. Jeff Suppan

Notes:

- I was critical of Cole Hamels when he lost that game against the Mets on 3 days rest; this game is probably the biggest game that Hamels has won in his young career. Contrary to what I read in some outlets describing Hamels as "sharp", I would contend that Hamels can pitch much better. All in all, though, the outing was a positive step in Hamels' development as a big game pitcher.

- With Pat Burrell's struggles, there is no way he should be batting 5th as he did yesterday. Right now, I'd put him no higher than 6th. I'd even rather see Pedro Feliz or Victorino batting 5th right now. Burrell and Ruiz were the only starters to not get basehits yesterday.

Photo from Yahoo.com....REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES)

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 Filet Fish

Jimmy Rollins had 3 hits and 3 steals and provided the offensive spark needed to drive the Phils to an 8 - 6 win over the Florida Marlins. The win put the Phils within 1 1/2 games of the Mets in NL East.

Joe Blanton had the ball last night for the Phils and was not very good in his 5 innings of work. He gave up 4 earned runs during the start, but he seemed all over the strike zone. He had real control problems in the 2nd inning, walking the first two batters, both of whom went on to score. The frustrating part of this is that the Phillies had just tacked two runs up on the Marlins and Blanton's lack of control put the Phils right back to square one.

After the Phillies put up 3 more runs in the 2nd inning (one of them thanks to a Joe Blanton SF), Blanton walked Hanley Ramirez to lead off the 3rd and was made to pay for that walk when Mike Jacobs hit a big fly to cut the Phils lead to 5 - 4. Blanton was eventually lifted after 5 innings for Chad Durbin, who turned in his usual stellar effort.

Offensively, the Phils were paced by their leadoff man, Jimmy Rollins, who knocked in a run and scored 2 more runs to go with his 3 hits and 3 steals. Jayson Werth hit a 3-run bomb that gave the Phils an 8 - 4 lead that they would not relinquish.

The Marlins did manage to get 2 runs off of JC Romero before Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge closed them out.

The series continues today with Chris Volstad facing Kyle Kendrick.

Notes:

- Pat Burrell was not in the lineup last night, nor should he be. He's got 8 strikeouts in his last 22 ABs and he's hitting .222 over that stretch. A pennant race is no time for being sensitive to a players feelings; Werth is playing well right now, so he has to be in the lineup.

- You could tell by watching JC Romero that he was going to give up that homer to Cody Ross. Anytime Romero nibbles around the plate with his pitches, you can tell he's not confident. Romero needs to pound the strikezone to be successful.

- The 6th inning was closed out by the Phils with a pretty 3 - 6- 1 double play, with Durbin covering first base.

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)

Dodgers Walk Off on Phils. Again.

For the second night in a row, the Phils jumped out to a lead on the Dodgers. And for the second night in a row, they couldn't hold the lead and lost on a hit in the bottom of the 9th. The Phils dropped their 3rd straight to the Dodgers by a score of 7 - 6 on a Nomar Garciaparra walk-off homer. The loss dropped the Phils back into a tie with the Mets in NL East.

Like with Tuesday night, the lineup featured some new twists, with Jayson Werth batting second and Greg Dobbs starting at 3rd. Both of these moves paid off as both players hit a 2-run home run to help the Phils get out to a 6 - 1 lead after 2 innings. Ryan Howard supplied the other 2-run dinger.

From that point, the Dodgers chipped away at the Phils with homers from Manny Ramirez and Andre Ethier. Neither pitch was a pitch where you figured the opposing player would crush the ball, but on the other hand, it seems the Phils can't generate offense unless the opposing pitcher gives up a cookie, so perhaps we're not used to seeing that type of hitting.

From there, Jeff Kent hit a 2-run double off of the oft-used Chad Durbin to tie the score at 6, setting the stage for Garciaparra's heroics.

The series concludes tonite with Brett Myers going against Hiroki Kuroda at 10:10pm.

Notes:

- Phils could have salted this game away for good in the 6th. Burrell struck out with the bases loaded against Chan Ho Park, a pitcher I could have hit a couple of years ago.

- Greg Dobbs' error in the 7th....guh! The ball went 5 hole on him. When will Pedro Feliz be back again?

- Nomar Garciaparra? Are you kidding me? I thought he died or something.

- Chase Utley was hit twice. Looking forward to a key Dodger eating one tomorrow night against Brett Myers.

- The homeplate umpire was terribly inconsistent last night for both sides, I thought.

- Good catch by Werth in the 8th with 2 on and no one out. Even though Kent came on to eventually tie the game, that catch was big at the time.

- Can we agree that Chad Durbin has been overused? I can see the duct tape on his arm from my couch.

- Once again, no Brad Lidge last night. Thanks Clint Hurdle!

Phils Complete Sweep of Nats

The Phils went down to DC and did what a team that is allegedly a contender is supposed to do. They kicked the snot out of a weaker sister for 3 games.

Behind the pitching of Kyle Kendrick and Jimmy Rollins' 3 RBI, the Phillies beat the Nationals last night by a score of 8 - 4. The win put the Phillies a full game ahead of the idle Mets in the NL East.

Kendrick pitched a pretty ballgame to earn his 9th win, going 6 2/3 innings and giving up on 2 earned runs. The Phils' bullpen, with a couple of exciting moments from Rudy Seanez, got the Phils the final outs they needed to complete win.

Offensively, the Phils hung 3 runs on John Lannan in the 2nd inning on a Jayson Werth solo home run, a Jimmy Rollins ground out, and a Ryan Zimmerman throwing error. The offense further produced on the strength of a 2-run home run from Jimmy Rollins in the 4th inning and in the 6th inning where the Phils strung together 5 hits to score 3 more runs.

Now that this series is over, the Phils travel for 3 games in St. Louis. Probable starters:

Fri: Cole Hamels vs. Kyle Lohse; 8:15pm

Sat: Joe Blanton vs. Braden Looper; 7:15pm

Sun: Brett Myers vs. Todd Wellemeyer; 8:05pm

Notes:

- Great hustle by Jimmy Rollins in the 6th inning, scoring from 2nd base on Shane Victorino's infield single and Rafael Belliard's throwing error.

- Rudy Seanez has given up 8 hits in his last 6 appearances. He has given up earned runs in 2 straight appearances. Weak.

- Victorino getting caught stealing 3rd base with 2 outs in the 4th inning with Pat Burrell at the plate defies all logic. He's got to sit down a game for that one. It erased the good will built up on the picture perfect bunt he laid down to get on base to begin with.

Moyer, Bats Dumps Nats

Jamie Moyer pitched craftily for 6 innings in the DC heat and the bats came alive last night for the first time in awhile as the Phils beat the Nationals by a score of 8 - 5. With this win, and last night's loss by the Mets, the Phils are in first place by a half game.

The Phils jumped out to a 2 - 0 lead in the 1st inning thanks to a Pat Burrell 2-run single. The Nats did manage to go out in front in the bottom of the first inning, however, touching up Moyer for 3 runs. But that was all the light hitting Nationals would get from Moyer, as the old guy kept the Nationals off balance before giving way to the bullpen.

As for the moribund Phils offense, it came around against a pitcher who had given them fits in previous outings this year. Tim Redding seemed to be getting into the groove after a rough first inning, until he got to the fifth inning. That's when the Phils put together 4 hits to score 5 runs. The biggest blow came courtesy of Chase Utley, who hit a 2-run bomb to left center. Utley went 2 for 4 in the game and has now homered in consecutive games.

Shane Victorino capped off the scoring for the Phils when he hit his 9th home run on the season. Victorino went 3 for 5 last night with 3 RBI and pushed a modest hitting streak to 10 games.

The series concludes tonite, with Kyle Kendrick facing John Lannan at 7:10pm.

Notes

- The non-waiver trade deadline is today and the Phils had been rumor grist in recent days as a potential trade destination for Manny Ramirez. Would love to see the Phils get Ramirez and wouldn't care if they included Burrell in the deal, but I can't help but wonder if the best option for the Red Sox wouldn't be to keep Ramirez through the reminder of this year and let him walk in the off-season. I can't imagine them parting with Ramirez without having someone of reasonably comparable ability to replace him so they can still challenge for a World Series this year. My prediction? Manny will stay put in Boston and the Phils may add some bullpen help, but can't imagine the Phillies making a big splash today.

- Another crappy outing last night for Ryan Madson. In his last 4 relief appearances, he has given up 6 earned runs.

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)

Feels So Good! Phils Rally to Beat Mets

For 8 innings, it looked like the Phillies were going to go down meekly against the Mets and the great Johan Santana. The 9th inning almost seemed a matter of course and the Phillies would relinquish 1st place to the hated Mets. Even though the Mets were without closer Billy Wagner, the Phils showed little life all night. Frankly, I was ready to turnover to the "Office" rerun on TBS.

That is, until temporary closer Duaner Sanchez came into the game and the Phillies promptly mowed through the Mets bullpen to the tune of 6 runs in the 9th inning en route to a 8 - 5 win. The win was stunning in light of the Phillies inability to solve Santana.

That the Phils did manage to scratch out 2 runs against Johan Santana is a bit deceiving. Santana cruised for much of the game, with the top of the Phils' lineup (*cough* Rollins and Utley *cough*) not doing much of anything in going 0-for-Santana.

But in the 9th inning, the Phils finally came back to life, stroking 5 hits. The killing blows were delivered by the oft-maligned So Taguchi, who hit a 2-run double to tie the game, and Jimmy Rollins, who hit a 2-run double to give the Phillies the lead. This game and this rally could have been the shot in the arm the moribund Phils' offense has been looking for.

The game marked the debut of the Phils' new starter, Joe Blanton. Blanton, obtained in a deal with Oakland looked OK. He gave up two very damaging 2-run home runs (one to Delgado, the other to Ramon Castro) in going 6 innings, throwing 100+ pitches. All in all, Blanton looked just OK. After the Phils came back in the top of the 9th inning, Brad Lidge came on to record a nerve racking save.

The win puts the Phils alone in 1st place, a game ahead of both the Mets and the Marlins. The series continues tomorrow, with Brett Myers returning from his minor league hiatus to face John Maine.

Did You Notice?

- The Phils' defense recorded 2 big time outs at the plate; one from Werth and one from Pat Burrell (via Jimmy Rollins). Great job on both plays by Carlos Ruiz of blocking the plate. Coincidentally, both times, it was Endy Chavez they got at the plate.

- Speaking of that fucktaster Chavez, what's gotten into him since he's been with the Mets? He hit .215 with the Phils in 2005, but has managed to hit .318 with a .348 OBP against the Phils this year.

- What was Johan Santana staring at when he walked in the 6th inning? It's called "pitching inside", Johan. It's legal; you can look it up.

- I'm sorry, but Carlos Delgado was struck out in that at-bat in the 3rd inning. He did not check his swing and Charlie Manuel rightfully argued the call. Naturally, Delgado managed to hit a 2-run homer in the same at-bat.

- Speaking of arguing balls and strikes, the home plate umpiring left a lot to be desired.

- Horrible play by Reyes in the 9th inning, where he tried to start a 6 - 3 double play on a ball hit by Carlos Ruiz. As he reached for the high bounding ball with his bare hand, he got beat to the 2nd base bag by the speedy Shane Victorino. The failed play at 2nd base allowed Carlos Ruiz to reach first safely. Just a dumb play when your team is up 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning (he obviously should have gone to first on the play). And yes, you could say this play opened the flood gates for the Phils.

- Good game from Victorino; the aforementioned hustle play in the ninth inning and a solo homer off of Santana.