Friday, May 28, 2010

Game Recap 05.27.10 - Mets 3 Phillies 0

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Saturday, May 15, 2010

Game Recap 05.15.10: Phillies 10 Brewers 6

AP Photo/Morry Gash

Third time’s the charm for Joe Blanton.

On Saturday afternoon, the Philadelphia Phillies (22-13) beat the Milwaukee Brewers (15-21) 10-6 helping Blanton (1-2, 5.49 ERA) earn his first win of the 2010 season.

After the first of four 1-2-3 innings by Blanton, the Phillies came out swinging in the bottom of the second. With Hoover on first, Blanton laid down a bunt that was poorly played by the Brewers leaving everyone safe. Victorino followed up by hitting a blooper up the middle to drive in the first run of the game putting the Phillies up 1-0. With two men on and two out, Utley ripped a ball to right field that appeared to bounce off the top of the wall, take a hop off of Corey Hart’s foot, and take a funny path back over the wall. The play was scored a ground rule double, which brought a runner home giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead, but the official scorer admitted that it was the wrong call. The Brewers ground rules state that if a ball hits the wall, then hits a player before going back over the wall, the play is to be scored a home run.

By the end of the third inning Brewers pitcher Chris Narveson (L, 3-1, 5.29 ERA) had already tossed out 74 pitches. He would eventually go a Major League leading 130 pitches through 5 2/3 striking out 9 and walking 3. He gave up two more runs in the sixth for good measure on a 2-run jack by Victorino (8) who went 3-6 with 4 RBIs. Victorino, Polanco and Hoover ran the show, combining for 10 of the Phillies season-high 17 hits on the day.

The most damage either team would do came in the 7th. With Claudio Vargas pitching for the Brewers, Jayson Werth and Wilson Valdez each singled and were moved up to second and third on a wild pitch before Hoover doubled them in, bringing the Phillies up 6-2. Blanton helped his own cause by singling to center and Victorino answered with a double of his own driving in two more runs. The hit show didn’t end there, though. Polanco and Utley each drove in a run on a hit and a sacrifice fly, respectively, and the inning would finally come to a close 7 hits, 5 runs, and 2 pitchers later.

The Brewers didn’t waste any time tightening up the Phils’ lead. After letting up a double and a walk, Blanton mailed home a first pitch changeup right over the plate to Corey Hart who returned the favor with a three-run shot to left center bringing the Brewers within four runs of the Phillies. It was Blanton’s third homer allowed of the game and he finished the day with 7 innings pitched, giving up 5 runs on 6 hits, walked one, and struck out five on 104 pitches.

The Phillies made sure to tack on one more insurance run in the 8th before handing the ball to David Herndon to close out the 9th. After allowing three hits and a run with only one out to work with, Cholly brought in Contreras with two men on and a four run lead. After walking the first batter to load the bases, the Phillies held their breath as he worked back to back strikeouts to end the ballgame and earn his first career save.

In related news, it was reported after the game that Brad Lidge would be heading back to the 15-day DL (retroactive to May 10) with inflammation in his elbow. He could receive either a joint lubricant injection of a cortisone shot once the team returns to Philadelphia after tomorrows series finale against the Brewers. Antonio Bastardo has been called up once again to take Lidge's place on the roster.

Jimmy Rollins also made his first rehab start going 0-3 for the Class-A Clearwater Threshers.

Cole Hamels (3-2, 4.53 ERA) takes the hill against Doug Davis (1-4, 7.56) for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball at 8:05 PM EDT. Pin It Now!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Some Quick Hitters

A lot of things happened in the past 24 hours regarding the Phillies. Here are some quick snapshots of the news:
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Saturday, May 8, 2010

Game Review 05.08.10: Phillies 1 Braves 4

AP Photo/Tom Mihalek
After Friday night’s performance by Jamie Moyer, the Philadelphia Phillies knew the odds were against them of witnessing something even half as special this afternoon.

In fact, they were presented with just the opposite. The Phillies (18-12) dropped game two of three to the Braves (13-17) with a final score of 4-1.
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Game Recap 05.07.10: Phillies 7 Braves 0

We’ve all heard it said before: “You never know when you’re going to see something at the ballpark that you’ve never seen before.”

Friday night was without a doubt one of those nights.

Philadelphia Phillies fans can’t help but roll their eyes every time someone says “47-year-old Jamie Moyer,” or, “The Ageless Wonder Jamie Moyer,” but on Friday everyone was focused on one thing: Jamie Moyer is now the oldest pitcher to have pitched a complete game shutout, and no matter how you slice it, that’s just plain incredible.
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Thursday, May 6, 2010

Game Recap: 05.05.10 Phillies 4 Cardinals 0

Depending on how you want to look at it, Kyle Kendrick (1-1, 5.87 ERA) was either brilliant or damn lucky in Wednesday’s 4-0 win against the Saint Louis Cardinals (18-10), with the Phillies (16-11) taking a 2-1 lead in the series.

Kendrick relied heavily on his fastball, which made up for over half of his pitches. It was working for him, though, as he retired 11 of his 27 batters faced with it including 6 ground outs and 2 strike outs. He finished the night with 7 innings pitched, 6 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and no runs, getting his first win of the season. In a collaborative effort, Baez and Contreras assisted in the combined shut out of the Cardinals, each with one inning pitched, no walks, no hits, and one strikeout by Baez in the 8th.

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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Game Recap: 05.04.10 Phillies 2 Cardinals 1

AP Photo/Matt Slocum

Cole Hamels showed exactly what he was made of on Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals as the Phillies won the second of four games with the birds, evening the series at one each.

Cole pitched 8 innings, gave up 1 earned run on 8 hits, walked two and struck out eight. He maintained his composure throughout the entire game and did not get rattled until a fan leaped onto the field while he was in his windup and time was called in the middle of his delivery in the top of the eighth inning. After order was restored, Hamels gave up back to back singles and the tying run scored on a Yadier Molina line drive to right field.

Cole was visibly upset at the second straight night of fan antics but let’s be real – who wouldn’t be? Heck, even Roy Halladay would have to restrain himself from throwing a strike right to the guy’s skull, I’m sure. But I’m not one for excuses, and I am slowly but surely starting to believe that Hamels is getting better at not taking these kind of things so personally, too.
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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

If Found, Please Tase

Originally published by Chicks Dig the Long Ball.

For the second night in a row, Phillies fans had the unfortunate opportunity to witness yet another "fan" leap to his fate on the field at Citizens Bank Park. The only difference? Last night the Phillies were down by five runs, the fan did not jump onto the grass mid-pitch, and the fans in attendance were shocked to have just seen a 17-year-old kid tased by security. Tonight? 32-year-old Douchebag of the Year Thomas Betz of Philadelphia sent a tweet before he jumped onto the field announcing his intentions, gave up without a fight, and after 24 hours of "stop talking about the taser kid" chatter, cries of "TASE THE SONOFABITCH" rose from the mouths of every Phillies fan on the planet.

The culprit:
Image on left from @THETHOROBRED's Twitter account / Image on right AP Photo/Matt Slocum

The Tweet:


Please keep in mind that Chicks Dig The Long Ball DOES NOT under any circumstances condone harassment of anyone, even someone as seemingly deserving as this dickhead. That being said, here are links to his MySpace and Facebook accounts in case you want to track the aftermath from his point of view. Pin It Now!

Wheels & T-Mac Get Awkward

Someone at My PHL had the fantastic idea to blow everyone's minds away with tonights freeze cam moments: T-Mac & Wheels practicing, uh, their... grips?

Here, let me help you with that.
I guess we all know what they'll be doing after the game. Pin It Now!

Game Recap: 05.03.10 Cardinals 6 Phillies 3

AP/Matt Slocum

Joe Blanton walked back to the dugout to a standing ovation after being taken out of the game in the seventh inning, and rightfully so.

In his first start of 2010 after coming off a rehab assignment, Blanton pitched 6.2 innings with 10 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, and 4 Ks. It may not look like a winning line (and in the end, it wasn’t), but the Phillies achieved a different type of victory tonight in that they were able to add a pitcher back to the lineup that can eat innings and is if nothing else, consistently consistent.
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