Phils Bow to Dodgers

The LA Dodgers scored 3 unanswered runs to come from behind and beat the Phillies last night by a score of 4 - 3. This loss, coupled with wins by the Mets and the Marlins, cuts the Phils' lead in NL East to a game and a 1.5 games, respectively.

The Phils jumped out to a 1 - 0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a home run from Chase Utley. Cole Hamels gave that run back in the bottom of the 1st, but the Phils battled back to go up 3 - 1 after 3 innings on the strength of a Cole Hamels RBI single and a Pat Burrell sacrifice fly.

The Dodgers, however, chipped away at the lead, scoring in the 6th off of Hamels, in the 8th off of Chad Durbin, and finally, in the 9th off of JC Romero. It is unclear to me why Romero was in the game, as Lidge is supposedly OK to pitch after taking last weekend off. Regardless, Romero gave up the game winning hit to Andre Ethier, scoring Russell Martin.

The Phils will try to bounce back tonite, with Joe Blanton going up against Brad Penny at 10:10 pm.

NOTES:

- Yet another tough luck outing for Hamels: 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 K's and a ND.

- Shane Victorino was pulled from the game because of back issues.

- Anyone notice Manny Ramirez glaring at Chad Durbin after Durbin hit him with a pitch? What has Ramirez done that everyone thinks he's so tough? I'd love to see him actually charge the mound once and have some pitcher give him the Robin Ventura treatment.

- The lineup was a bit different last night, with Shane Victorino leading off and Jimmy Rollins batting 3rd. I'd even consider batting Utley at leadoff and Rollins second until they can, somehow, get Rollins (1 for 4 last night) going.

- Speaking of Utley, he made a tremendous diving grab of a Russell Martin line drive to save further damage in an inning where the Dodgers had already scored and were threatening for more.

- Because of elbow and arm problems, Tom Gordon is likely done for the year and probably, his Phillies career.

Phils Waste Hamels Stellar Outing

Phils reliever Tom Gordon gave up a walk-off grand slam to the Marlins' Dan Uggla in the bottom of the 9th to give the Marlins a 6 - 2 win.

The loss overshadowed a great pitching duel between Cole Hamels and the Marlins' Andrew Miller. Cole Hamels made two mistakes the whole game. The only problem is that both of them ended up as Jorge Cantu homers. The Phillies could only cobble together one run off of Andrew Miller, who kept the Phillies off balance all night. Miller was so good, he got Utley out twice via strikeout before Utley touched him up for an RBI single in the 7th inning.

Down 2 -1, the Phils managed to scratch out a run off of Marlins closer Kevin Gregg. The money play in the inning was a steal of 3rd by pinch runner Eric Bruntlett on an attempted sacrifice. From there, Bruntlett scored on a Chase Utley fielder's choice to tie the game at 2.

In the bottom of the 9th, Tom Gordon promptly loaded the bases on two walks and a single (from Cantu) before serving up the game ending meatball on a 3 -1 BP fastball to Uggla.

The Phils will look to salvage the last game of the series with Old Man Moyer going up against Scott Olsen. CSN-TV....7:10pm.

Did You Notice?

- Hamels retired 17 straight batters between Jorge Cantu's homers in the 1st and 7th innings. Hamels was truly dealing last night, striking out 13 and walking only 1. Hats off to Andrew Miller, who also pitched a helluva game.

- Know what I could have done without last night? The post game interview with Jorge Cantu. In high definition, no less. Yikes! Cantu had more craters and acne than the 15 year old on the french fry machine at the McDonald's on Rt. 70. Cantu seemed like a nice, upbeat kid, but get him some Proactiv or something.

Cantu's facial issues reminded of that story where someone asked a young Larry Bowa to describe what Mike Schmidt looked like and Bowa replied that it looked like someone was using Schmidt's face for an ashtray. Ouch.

- The rare 3-6-1 double play the Phils turned in the Phils? Nice play by Hamels getting over to first to complete the play.

- This was the 2nd straight game where Victorino lined out sharply into a double-play. I wonder if that frustration played a part in Victorino arguing balls and strikes in the 9th inning of the game last night.

Kendrick, Phils Beat Rockies

The Phils continued their offensive prowess yesterday, beating the Rockies by score of 7 - 4 in a rain soaked game at Citizen's Bank ballpark. Kyle Kendrick gave up only 2 ER in 7 1/3 innings of work for his 4th win on the season before giving way to an incredibly shaky Tom Gordon with 1 out in the 8th.

The Phils came out of the gate as on fire as they've been in the past two games, posting all 7 of their runs in the first 2 innings of the game. MVP Jimmy Rollins led the way with 2 hits, scoring 2 runs and stole his 8th base on the season. Greg Dobbs, playing left field for an injured Pat Burrell, had 2 hits and knocked in 2 runs.

The series with the Rockies concludes tonite with winless Adam Eaton taking on Ryan Reynolds at 7:05pm (CSN-TV).

Did you notice?

- Bad call in the first inning, calling Ryan Howard out at the plate in the 1st inning. Unfortunately, when the throw beats a player, the umpire will just call the running out solely on instinct. Another example of why baseball needs instant replay on any play where the score of the game could be affect and NOT just boundary plays. The game of baseball does not have a clock; why not take the opportunity to at least ensure the integrity of plays that could potentially result in runs on the board?

- Speaking of Ryan Howard, apparently no one ever told him that it's impolite to point.

- Great throw by TJ Bohn, getting Seth Smith out at the plate in the 8th.

- From CBS Sportline.....apparently, the Phillies almost traded the entire fanbase. Oh, I get it! It's because we're tough fans! Wow, what a hoot. Never heard that one before. Jackass.

- Another decent start by Kris Benson in an extended spring training game. One step closer to ridding ourselves of Adam Eaton and having camera shots of Anna Benson at Citizen's Bank park.

Phils Win! Howard Breaking Out?

The Phils beat Roy Oswalt and the Houston Astros last night by a score of 7 - 5. There were several heroes last night, but the first one that should be discussed is the Big Man, Ryan Howard.

Ryan Howard had 3 hits last night, including an opposite field shot off of Oswalt that was reminiscent of Howard's MVP year, when it seemed everything was hit the opposite way. This game for RyHo is on the heels of the game in Washington on Wednesday night, when Howard jacked 2 homers and really looked confident at the plate for the first time in a long time. A confident Ryan Howard will go a long way as the baseball season heads into the Memorial Day weekend (the unofficial start of Summer).

Also of note for Howard: his average is now above the Mendoza line. Howard's average, after two straight 3-hit games, stands at .207.

Want another hero? How about Pat Burrell? Burrell hit a pinch hit home run that broke a 5 -5 tie in the 8th inning.

Pat Burrell? Are you kidding me?

How bad must Burrell want the one more big contract before he goes on permanent happy hour? Maybe that's a bit cynical, because you'd like to think that Burrell could have done the sorts of things he's done this year with a little more consistency in the past.

Want another hero? How about more than one hero? The Phils bullpen pitched 4 scoreless innings after Phils starter Kyle Kendrick gave up 5 earned runs over 5 innings. Ryan Madson, JC Romero, Chad Durbin (who picked up the win), Tom Gordon, and Brad Lidge all combined to hold the Astros down offensively until the bats could wake up and provide the winning margin. Coming back to Houston and picking up a save in a town where he caught a little heat must have been especially satisfying for Brad Lidge. It was his 12th save on the year, and he lowered his ERA to a microscopic 0.43.

The series against Houston continues tonite at 8:05 (televised by CSN) with Adam Eaton facing Brad Backe.

Did you notice?

- Houston's Lance Berkman went 3 for 5 last night and is probably as dialed-in as any baseball player I've seen on another team this year (Brandon Webb, before his loss the other night, comes to mind). He's hitting .388 and was definitely worthy of the hyperbole being heaped upon him by the Phils announcers last night.

- Michael Bourn is hitting for crap (he struck out 3 times last night to go with his 2 hits, but is only hitting .214, with a tiny .275 OBP), but he stole his 21st base last night. The Phils still haven't replaced his speed on the bench.

Cole Hamels Brilliant (again); Phils win.....

Cole Hamels doesn't seem like the type to lack in confidence under ordinary circumstances. How confident must Hamels be now after the game he pitched last night, where he went 7 shutout innings last night after pitching a complete game shutout against the Braves last Friday?

Hamels pretty much mowed through the Washington Nationals last night for a 1 - 0 win as the Phils finally figured out a way to score a run in the Nationals' new ballpark. CMH only gave up 4 runs, walking 2, and struck out 11, and amazingly, he didn't even get the win. The reason for that is that the Phillies offense was flummoxed by the pitching prowess of Jason Bergmann for the Nats. Bergmann matched Hamels as he tossed 7 innings of shutout ball.

The Phils got their run off of substitute closer Jon Rauch in the 9th inning. Pedro Feliz laced a lead off double (then lifted for PR Eric Bruntlett), was sacrificed to third by Carlos Ruiz, and was knocked in by a timely pinch hit single from the bat of Greg "The Natural" Dobbs. If not for a tremendous block of the plate by Nats catcher Jesus Flores, the Phils could have gotten the insurance run (as Dobbs eventually came around on a Shane Victorino hit), but Brad Lidge came in and pitched a scoreless 9th inning to save it for 8th inning pitcher Tom Gordon.

The series against Washington concludes tonite at 7:10, with Jamie Moyer going up against Matt Chico. The game should be on locally on CSN.

Did you notice?

- Ryan Howard; 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. Sigh.....

- This is only the 2nd win against 4 losses against the Nats for the Phils this season and the run they scored broke a 17 inning scoreless streak in Washington.

- Further supporting the Phils' ineptitude against the Nationals, the Phils have a team OPS of .673 against the Nationals. The Phils, against the rest of the league, hold a .765 OPS. Clearly, someone is doing a good job of scouting for Washington (as announcer Chris Wheeler appropriately observed last night).

Programming Note: Flyers post-mortem tomorrow (barring a Jamie Moyer no-hitter).

Phils Opener Done in a Flash

For those of you keeping score at home, I couldn't get out of work/domestic responsibilities in order to get down to opening day. The lesson? Don't get married or obtain meaningful responsibilities in your job. It'll just keep you from opening day (although the two day games the Phils have this month are definitely fair game).

Any way, I was able to monitor the game via the Internet and I guess that's OK, considering when I looked out of my office window, the day was dreary, and according to CBS Sportline, the weather was "nippy". I guess I didn't get the memo from the National Weather Bureau when they introduced "nippy" into the weather technical jargon.

As for the game itself, it seemed to me that Brett Myers relied an awful lot on his fastball and it eventually caught up to him in the fifth inning, giving up 3 earned runs (the other run was unearned as a result of a JRoll error).

In a microcosm of last year, the Phils did manage to scratch back to tie the game despite poor pitching performances. They did so mostly on the backs Chase Utley (2 - 3, SF, HR) and the incomparable Jimmy Rollins, who took Nats setup guy Ray King deep to tie the score at 6.

As the game went to the top of the ninth, everything unravelled with the entrance of Flash Gordon into the game. Gordon, at least 62 years old by last count, is currently standing in as closer until Brad Lidge comes back this Saturday. My problem with this? Flash Gordon is too old to be the closer of this team or any other team. This temporary job clearly should have gone to the much younger JC Romero, the man who was clearly the most effective reliever down the stretch for the Phillies last year.

The results were predictable: Flash gave up 5 runs, all earned in a 1/3 of an inning of work. Nationals win, 11 - 6. The two teams meet up again on Wednesday night when Colbert Michael Hamels will face Tim Redding.