Phightin' Phils Phorum

Where is the Consistency?

Cole Hamels made two mistakes, two solo homeruns, and it was two too many as the Phillies bats again did not show up as the new pillars of inconsistency lost another game. We can rant about the offense tonight, last night it was the pitching, another night it is the defense.

Bottom line? This team is not hungry. They have no urgency and are not playing with the fire they played with in the second half of last season and earlier this season. I have a theory why. I have heard 3 or 4 players interviewed talking about how they are a second half team and how good they have been the last few years from June on. I think they just expect that the N.L. East is theirs because they are in first place now and are destined to win because they are always good from this time of the season to the end of the year.

Team, let's not revise history. The Phillies were that good because they were left for dead in Junes past and had something to prove to the fans, the media, the front office, and themselves. This team does not have that fire and they need to find it.

They need a leader to step up, have a closed door meeting, and straighten this group out. They need to be accountable to each other and call each other out when mistakes are made. Where are Pete Rose or Darren Daulton when you need them? Wait, Jimmy Rollins, this is your job now. If you are not going to hit, at least maybe you can get the rest of the team to perform!

The Phillies are 9-17 in the past month which is tied for second worst in the league and now have the Marlins and Mets breathing down their necks in the standings.

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Also check out our Discussion forums!

Down on The Pharm: 7/8/2008

Today's minor league report:

CLASS

PLAYER, POS

AB

R

H

BI

AVG

AA

Donald, Jason SS

5

1

1

1

.306

HR (11)

LoA

Mattair, Travis 3B

4

2

3

1

.242

2B (11)

R

Collier,Zach LF

2

0

1

1

.467

R

Gose,Anthony CF

3

1

2

0

.273

CLASS

PITCHER

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

ERA

AAA

Myers, Brett

7.1

7

3

2

2

6

3.65

(W, 1-1)

Pregame Quick Hits: Phillies vs. Cardinals 7/8, 7/9, 7/10

The Philadelphia Phillies (48-42) look to rebound from losing 3 out of 4 games to the New York Mets when they host the St Louis Cardinals (50-40) for a 3 game set at Citizens Bank Park.

Pitching Match Ups:
7/8 vs. Stl Cole Hamels (9-5 3.22) vs. Joel Piniero (2-4 4.52) 7:05pm CSN
7/9 vs. Stl J.A. Happ (0-0 3.86) vs. Mark Mulder (0-0 13.50) 7:05PM CSN
7/10 vs. Stl Jamie Moyer (7-6 4.12) vs. Braden Looper (9-6 4.14) 1:05pm CSN

Other Quick Hits:

• Ryan Howard needs 1 more RBI to Greg Luzinski's record of 79 RBI's before the All Star break.
• Chase Utley is the first Phillies All Star to lead all NL players in getting the most votes.
• Jimmy Rollins streak of 36 stolen bases without being caught is a franchise record.
• The Phillies bench leads the National League in average (.292), homeruns, (6), RBI's (25), and slugging percentage (.482).
• The Phillies are 876-1135 lifetime against the Cardinals and  5-7 at Citizens Bank Park.
• Ryan Madson (2.00), J.C. Romero (1.93), and Rudy Seanez (1.69) all have ERA's of 2.00 or lower lifetime against St Louis.
• St Louis native Ryan Howard has a career average of .351 with 8 homeruns against the Cardinals.
• Pat Burrell (.326 14 homeruns) and Chase Utley (.339) also have impressive numbers against the Red Birds.

Coming Up:
7/11 vs. Ari Kyle Kendrick (8-3 4.58) vs. Doug Davis (3-4 3.74) 7:05pm CSN
7/12 vs. Ari Adam Eaton (3-7 5.20) vs. Randy Johnson (5-7 5.18) 3:55pm Fox
7/13 vs. Ari Cole Hamels vs. Brandon Webb 1:35pm CW

Pictures

As promised, pictures from tonight's game. Enjoy!

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For complete coverage of the Phillies and Mets check out Phightin' Phils Phorum, Mr Mets Daily and The Turnpike Series .

Phils Drop Series to Mets

Phightin' Phils Phorum was on hand for another exciting game between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets. Once again they came up short losing 10-9 at Citizens Bank Park.

If Adam Eaton was a horse, they would have shot him as he turned the bases into a blue and orange nightmare. With no bullpen because of fatigue and injury, Charlie Manuel had to stick with Eaton longer than he would like before turning to the minor league tandem of Clay "Hit Parade" Condrey and R.J. "Doc Windgate" Swindle.

Then the Phillies mounted a comeback as Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, Ryan Howard, and Geoff Jenkins all homered but when all was said and done, the Phillies lost 3 out of 4 to a team that they had the chance to bury and now have them breathing down their necks. The last thing the Phillies wanted to do was give the Mets the feeling of being back in the pennant race. They did just that.

Meanwhile the Phillies are relying on pitchers throwing 55 MPH who don't belong in the minor leagues let alone the major leagues. I understand injuries and the Brett Myers situation, but give me a break. Pat Gillick needs to be proactive and go out there and give Charlie Manuel MAJOR LEAGUE pitchers to work with. Manuel and Mitch Williams are saying Swindle could be a lefty specialist but I have to question that. It is only a matter of time before hitters figure out this junk baller.

Back to Myers, he pitched 7 1/3 tonight for Lehigh Valley giving up 2 runs but interestingly enough Ricky Bottalico who announces for the Iron Pigs said he feels Myers heart is not in it and that he wants out of the organization to go close elsewhere. Gee, didn't see that one coming! Maybe we can trade him for a bag of chips.

In other bullpen news Rudy Seanez was unavailable tonight with back spasms.

The Phillies now host the St. Louis Cardinals followed by the Arizona Diamondbacks before going into the All Star break. These two series will make or break whether the Phillies go into the break in first place. It is time to stop losing series and get back to their winning ways.

Pictures from tonights game will be published soon. A sample is below of a relationship destined to fail!!!

Down on The Pharm: 7/7/2008

Today's minor league update for 7/7/2008

CLASS

PLAYER, POS

AB

R

H

BI

AVG

AA

Donald, Jason SS

6

2

4

0

.3082B (16)

SS

D'Arnaud, Travis C

5

1

2

1

.375HR(1)

CLASS

PITCHER

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

ERA

SS

Schwimer, Michael

3.1

0

0

0

0

8

3.86

24 K in 11 2/3 innings

For complete coverage of the Phillies and Mets check out Phightin' Phils Phorum, Mr Mets Daily and The Turnpike Series .

Monday Grumblings

Where do I start? Word came across on ESPN last night that C.C. Sabathia was traded to the Brewers meaning the Phillies were snubbed. I was already aggravated that Cole Hamels and Pat Burrell were snubbed by Clint Hurdle for the All Star team. Then the bullpen which is already overworked lost Tom Gordon to the disabled list. All of this after a gut wrenching loss to my least favorite team.

C.C. Sabathia is a Brewer. While as a Phillies fan I know that acquiring top of the line players especially during the season is something that other teams do, not us, I was beginning to get my hopes up when the rumors continued to circulate about C.C. coming to the Phillies. Sorry, didn't happen. There is still hope that the Phillies could land Erik Bedard or possibly A.J. Burnett, but sadly I have lost faith that we will get a pitcher of that quality. Instead I fear we will get another mediocre arm like Cory Lidle (God rest his soul) or Kyle Lohse. For once, can we not go out and get a top of the rotation pitcher? Here is a question. When was the last time the Phillies signed or traded for a top of the rotation type pitcher. Steve Carlton is my guess and that happened a few months before I was born! So what are our chances of getting a top line pitcher this season? Pat Gillick said it all, "I think we'll have an opportunity. It's just a matter of the right pieces falling in place and who's in the race and who's out of the race. You have to mortgage some of [the future] to get to where you want to go. It just depends on what pieces you want to give up. Realistically, we might get a piece. Last year, we got [Kyle] Lohse, who was on the 'B' list last year, and he helped us get to the playoffs. We might not come up with a headliner, but we might come up with someone off the 'B' list who can help us." Let me sum up, no top of the line guy is coming here!

Cole Hamels and Pat Burrell both deserved to be named to the All Star team. I will not bore you with statistics as you probably can recite them chapter and verse. I understand Burrell a little more than Hamels and at least he has a chance with the final vote. But Cole Hamels is one of the elite pitchers in the National League. The fact that he has been overlooked is a direct reflection on the poor decision making of Clint Hurdle who still hates the Phillies because we whooped his Royals in 1980. Get over it and do the right thing. Too late now!

Tom Gordon is never effective when he is injured and has a 13.50 ERA over the last month. He has complained about his shoulder and now has right elbow inflamation. The Phillies finally put him on the DL. Did they replace him with a major league quality pitcher? No, the Phillies brought up their version of Doc Wingate (Major League: Back to the Minors). R.J. "I throw a 55 MPH pitch" Swindle has been recalled. So in a game when Romero and Durbin can't go, I am sure Clay "Hit Parade" Condrey  and "Doc Windgate" Swindle will be able to hold a 1 run lead. Give me a break. The bottom line, if this team wants to win the division and go anywhere in the playoffs it needs a top quality starter to compliment Cole Hamels and another quality set up man with a one way trip for Hit Parade to anywhere he wants to go out of our organization.

OK, I am done my rant and heading to tonight's game. We need a win tonight so they Mets do not feel as though they can get back in this thing.

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Wild One at the Bank

How does a hero become a hero? How is this, having 2 outs and 2 strikes on him in the ninth inning when your team is down by 2 runs and hitting a 2 run homerun. Jayson Werth became that kind of a hero tonight as the Phillies were losing 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth when he hit a homerun off of Mets closer Billy Wagner. Sadly our hero was not rewarded with a win.

The game went into extra innings and the Phillies threatened again with 2 outs in the tenth but struggling Carlos Ruiz could not get it done leaving two runners on base.

Ruiz has really become a liability at the plate and is threatening to go below the Mendoza line. I don't know what other options the Phillies have, but Ruiz is not living up to what they thought he could be offensively. Heck, a .250 hitter is all we need with his fielding skills but .208 does not cut it.

Ruiz's inability to get the job done sunk the Phillies as Fernando Tatis hit a two run shot to win the game for the Mets.

Kyle Kendrick started the game and went 6 innings only giving up a homerun to Carlos Beltran but he had a tough outing and was fortunate to pitch out of jam after jam. Still, Kendrick always seems to keep his team in the game. Lidge gave up a rare run in the ninth but overall the bullpen was much better today then they were in last night's implosion until Chad Durbin in the twelfth. Quite frankly, I fear the bullpen is overworked and it is starting to show. The only thing the Phillies can do is replace Clay Condrey with another quality reliever so the work can be spread out. We can not expect the starters to do much more than they have.

It was a hard fought game but the Phillies could not get the job done. The outcome of the series will be determined tomorrow night at Citizens Bank Park as the Phillies face Pedro Martinez. Let's hope for a 2 and 2 series!

Help Pat Burrell Get to the Bronx

Help Pat Burrell Get to the Bronx by voting for him in the Final Vote ballot on MLB.com. Phightin' Phils Phorum is spearheading the election effort by adding the link to vote for Pat on the right hand side of our blog. Be sure to vote early and often and get your friends to do the same.

Pat Burrell deserves to be at Yankees Stadium as an All Star!

2008 MLB All Star Roster

2008 All Stars at Yankees Stadium

American League

Starters

C Joe Mauer Min
1B Kevin Youkillis Bos
2B Dustin Pedroia Bos
SS Derek Jeter NYY
3B Alex Rodriguez NYY
OF Josh Hamilton Tex
OF Ichiro Suzuki Sea
OF Manny Ramirez Bos
DH David Ortiz Bos

Pitchers
Justin Duchscherer Oak
Roy Halladay Tor
Cliff Lee Cle
Scott Kazmir TB
Joe Saunders LAA
Ervin Santana LAA
Goerge Sherrill Bal
Joe Nathan Min
Mariano Rivera NYY
Jonathon Papelbon Bos
Frankie Rodriguez LAA
Joakim Soria KC

Reserves
Carlos Guillen Det
Dioner Navarro TB
Milton Bradley Tex
Jason Varitek Bos
J.D.Drew Bos
Justin Morneau Min
Ian Kinsler Tex
Michael Young Tex
Joe Crede ChW
Carlos Quentin ChW
Grady Sizemore Cle

National League

Starters
C Giovanni Soto Cin
1B Lance Berkman Hou
2B Chase Utley Phi
SS Hanley Ramirez Flo
3B Chipper Jones Atl
OF Ryan Braun Mil
OF Alfonso Soriano Chi
OF Kosuke Fukodome Chi

Pitchers
Aaron Cook Col
Tim Lincecum SF
Dan Haren Atl
Ben Sheets Mil
Carlos Zambrano Chi
Brandon Webb Ari
Ryan Dempster Chi
Brian Wilson SF
Edinson Volquez Cin
Kerry Wood Chi
Brad Lidge Phi
Billy Wagner NYM

Reserves
Brian McCann Atl
Aramis Ramirez Chi
Matt Holliday Col
Dan Uggla Flo
Miguel Tejada Hou
Russell Martin LAD
Nate McLouth Pit
Albert Puhols Stl
Ryan Ludwick Stl
Adrian Gonzalez SD
Cristian Guzman Was

Lidge Gets Extension!

Brad Lidge and the Philadelphia Phillies agreed to a contract extension for 3 years and $37.5 million. There is an option for a fourth season.

This is the type of signing the Phillies needed to make to boost the club, show they are truly committed to winning, and anchor their bullpen. This also puts to rest the fear that Lidge would walk at the end of the season and that the Phillies might consider moving Brett Myers back to the closer role.  Lidge deserves this contract and signing him now saved the team money and headaches as they do not have to compete with other teams for his services.

Lidge said he is excited to put roots down in Philadelphia and we fans are happy to welcome him to the neighborhood!

Kudos to Pat Gillick and his team. Let's hope Pat Burrell is next.

Bullpen Implodes in Loss

The Philadelphia Phillies have the best bullpen in baseball, not tonight though. The pen gave up 6 runs in 2 innings and blew a 1 run lead as they lost to the New York Mets. J.C. Romero could not find the strike zone and was relieved by Tom Gordon who also just did not have it. Romero has been plagued by control problems before but seems to have overcome them for the most part at least in his results. Tonight was an exception.

Gordon, who has recently complained of soreness in his shoulder, is more of a concern. Is Flash hurt or did he just have a bad outing? We could debate that all night. The bottom line though is he also did not get the job done and if he is injured, we can expect more bad outings from him. Hopefully he is honest about his condition and the Phillies can make a decision based upon his condition.

The offense only produced 4 hits which is also a concern but hopefully it was a one night thing and not a return to the lack of production during inter league play.

The Phillies will send Kyle Kendrick to the mound to face Oliver Perez in game 3 tomorrow. The key with Perez is for the Phillies to be patient and hope he gets wild.

For complete coverage of the Phillies and Mets check out Phightin' Phils Phorum, Mr Mets Daily and The Turnpike Series .

Phightin's Win Game 1 Against Mets

The Philadelphia Phillies waited until their last at bat to win the opener against the New York Mets. Shane Victorino hit a two out single scoring Pedro Feliz who had doubled in the at bat before to win the game 3-2. J.A. Happ was decent pitching 4 2/3 innings giving up 2 runs but the bullpen was superb again and shut the Mets down in an independence day win.

What a boost as this was the game that many including myself thought the Phillies would lose because of the pitching match up. Johan Santana was solid but not unbeatable and as the Phillies face him more they will do better against the left hander. If you are a Mets fan you must e very disappointed as we are past the half way point of the season and he is nothing more that a .500 pitcher.

Now the Phightin' Phils just need to continue to go one game at a time and knock these Mets out of the pennant race. Sadly the Marlins and Braves are in control of their games and will probably both win tonight.

For complete coverage of the Phillies and Mets check out Phightin' Phils Phorum, Mr Mets Daily and The Turnpike Series .

Phillies Mets Game Chat 7/4/2008

Tonights lineup and game chat. Feel free to post thoughts.

Werth RF
Utley 2B
Rollins SS
Howard 1B
Burrell LF
Feliz 3B
Victorino CF
Coste C
Happ P

 

For complete coverage of the Phillies and Mets check out Phightin' Phils Phorum, Mr Mets Daily and The Turnpike Series .

 

Pregame Quick Hits: Phillies vs. Mets 7/4, 7/5, 7/6, 7/7

The Philadelphia Phillies (47-39) return home to face the New York Mets (42-43) in a four game N.L. East show down. The Phillies completed a 3 game sweep of the Atlanta Braves and look to continue their success against their division rivals.

Pitching Match Ups:
7/4 vs. NYM J.A. Happ vs. Johan Santana (7-7 3.01) 7:05pm CW
7/5 vs. NYM Jamie Moyer (7-6 4.13) vs. John Maine (8-6 3.86) 7:05pm CSN
7/6 vs. NYM Kyle Kendrick (8-3 4.58) vs. Oliver Perez (6-5 4.98) 1:35pm CW
7/7 vs. NYM Adam Eaton (3-6 4.79) vs. Pedro Martinez (2-2 7.39) 7:05pm CSN

Other Quick Hits:

• Ryan Howard became the fastest player to reach 150 homeruns in their career doing so in only 495 games.
• 2008 is the first time in Phillies history the team has 3 players to have 20 homeruns before the All Star break.
• The Phillies are 4-0 in their last 4 games on the 4th of July and 8-2 in their last 10. They last faced the Mets on July 4th in 1983 when Lefty Steve Carlton pitched a complete game shut out.
• The Phillies starting pitchers have logged the most innings, 520.2, of any team in the league.
• Saturday's starter Jamie Moyer is 7-4 with a 2.88 ERA lifetime against the Mets.
• 5 of the 7 members of the Phillies bullpen have an ERA under 3 against the Mets for their career.
• Pat Burrell has 41 career homeruns against the Mets.
• Chase Utley is hitting .409 with 4 homeruns this season against the Mets.
• The Phillies are 421-368-1 all time against the Mets.
• The Phillies have won 6 of their last 8 games against the Mets at Citizens bank Park.

Coming Up:
The St Louis Cardinals come to Citizens Bank Park for a 3 game series.

For complete coverage of the Phillies and Mets check out Phightin' Phils Phorum, Mr Mets Daily and The Turnpike Series .

Phillies and Mets Clash in Philly

Some series are just more important and more fun than others. This weekends series is one of them. The Phillies are Mets always have fireworks no matter where the teams are in the standings but the rivalry really heated up after last years unbelievable pennant race that saw the Phillies overtake the Mets in the last week of the season.

This weekends series is another important one as it will set the tone for the second half. The Phillies have had control of the N.L. East since overtaking the Marlins in the standings in May. They had the Mets and Atlanta Braves down and out before inter league play but the Mets had one of the best records in inter league play while the Phillies had one of the worst.

So here we are with a 4 1/2 game difference in the standings and the results of this series critical. If the teams split, no harm no foul. Although the Marlins and Braves could gain ground. 3 out of 4 for the Phillies gives them breathing room while a sweep knocks the Mets back out of the race.

Losing 3 out of 4 or being swept probably allows the Marlins to take over first place and would put the Mets only a half game behind the Phightin' Phils. The bottom line, the Phillies need to find a way to win 3 out of 4 games.

Game 1 will be the hardest for the Phillies as J.A. Happ will face Johan Santana. Happ has one sub par major league start while Santana, who is a .500 pitcher this season, is one of the leagues best. The Phillies need to challenge themselves the be patient at the plate and run up Johan's pitch count to get to the bullpen. They also need to hope that Happ can keep them in the game through at least 5 innings.

The final three games will be evenly matched from a starting pitching stand point but the advantage goes to the Phillies with their potent lineup, bullpen, and bench.

Let's go Phillies!!!

For complete coverage of the Phillies and Mets check out Phightin' Phils Phorum, Mr Mets Daily and The Turnpike Series .

How Sweep it is!

Atlanta seems to be the Phillies favorite place to play as they swept the Braves for the second time at Turner Field in less than a month. Cole Hamels put the explimation point on the series pitching 8 2/3 innings giving up only 1 run on 5 hits. I really wanted to see him pitch a complete game but after 125 pitches Charlie Manuel made the decision to pull the 2008 All Star hopeful.

Chase Utley got the offense going with a 2 out solo homerun in the first inning while Ryan Howard and Pedro Feliz also hit homers in the 4-1 victory. Feliz had 3 of the teams 8 hits and was a key contributor for the team. I keep waiting for he and Geoff Jenkins to carry this team for a few games. They are certainly capable and make the 6th and 7th spot in the lineup more potent than I ever remember it in my 36 years of watching the Phillies.

The next test for the Phightin' Phils begins tomorrow when they return home for a 4 game set against the New York Mets. How I would love to see the Phillies make Johan Santana a sub .500 pitcher!!!

J.A. Happ to Replace Myers

J.A. Happ has been recalled from triple-A Lehigh Valley to replace Brett Myers in the starting rotation. Happ will make his second career start tomorrow against the New York Mets. He faced the Mets in his first major league start lasting only 4 innings giving up 7 hits 5 runs and three home runs. Happ was 5-6 with a 3.54 ERA for the Iron Pigs this year.

He will stay with th e team on a start by start basis. If he does well he will continue to earn starts much like Kyle Kendrick did last year.

The Phillies also reportedly were scouting C.C. Sabathia and Erik Bedard. The Mariners sent a scout to see Carlos Carrasco but he missed his start with a sore shoulder. I would clearly trade Carrasco for either.

Down on The Pharm: 7/3/2008

CLASS

PLAYER, POS

AB

R

H

BI

AVG

AA

Donald, Jason SS

4

1

2

5

.299

HR (10)

AA

Marson, Lou C

4

0

2

1

.325

CLASS

PITCHER

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

ERA

AAA

Myers, Brett

5.0

5

3

3

2

6

5.40

L (0-1); first

Remember to check out our homepage My Team Rivals and our Phillies, Flyers,