Philadelphia Phillies Starting to Hit Their Stride During Playoff Push

Over the past few weeks, the Phillies have been winning in a variety of ways. Whether it’s a big win, a late comeback, a close pitchers’ duel, or just a game won on smart baseball like the one they played Saturday night against the Brewers, they’re getting the job done.

That’s what we’re used to seeing from the Phillies, but it had been a rarity for a lot of the 2010 season. This didn’t look like a championship-quality team only a month or so ago, but now they look like a group that could definitely make a push.

As the Phillies usually do under Charlie Manuel, they’ve begun hitting their stride in the final month or so of the season and are now poised to undo all the mistakes they made early on in the season and overtake the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East.

All they need is for the Braves to trip up just once. But to the Braves’ credit, they’re holding strong when they need to and keep fending off what must seem like an incredibly pesky Phillies team.

But, the Phils know all they can do is keep winning and hope for the best, and that’s exactly what they did Saturday night.

Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard each had a solo home run, and Jimmy Rollins scored a run, but the best play came on a Placido Polanco sac fly in the bottom of the seventh inning.

With the bases loaded, Polanco hit a fly ball about midway into left field. Carlos Ruiz was on third and, needless to say, he’s not the fastest guy on the team. But he decided from the get-go he was going to test Ryan Braun’s arm and took off.

The throw came in from Braun, it looked to be on line, but bounced behind Ruiz and right past Jonathan Lucroy to the backstop. Ruiz slid over home plate and scored. The Brewers’ pitcher, Zach Braddock, was lined up on the first base side of the plate and had to hustle to the ball, which had hit the backstop on the third base side.

Wilson Valdez, who had tagged up from second and moved to third, immediately took for home plate as soon as he saw the ball hit the backstop. It was a close play, but Valdez was safe at home and put the Phils up for good.

They went on to win 5-4, keep a three-game advantage in the wild card standings, and stay only one game behind the Braves in the division.

Smart plays like the one made by Valdez can be the difference between a playoff team and a World Series champion.

The Phils now seem to be making those plays more often than not, and could parlay some good late-season baseball into another late-October appearance.

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NL East: After Win, Phillies One Game Back of First Place Braves

What else is there to say about the starting pitching and, more specifically, Cole Hamels?

The guy has been lights out for most of the season, and appears to be more focused than he’s ever been during his time in Philly. The immature side-issues seem all but gone, he appears to have grown up, and he seems to really be hitting his stride as a consistent pitcher.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that there are more than a few teams that would do back-flips if Hamels were their ace, and it’s possible he’s not even the second-best pitcher on this staff.

Pitching has kept this team from a complete meltdown, and with Hamels pitching seven scoreless innings and the Phils pulling one out from the Brewers 1-0 on Friday night, they have moved to only one game behind the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East.

They’ve said their goal is not only to make the playoffs, but to do it as NL East champs. For them, they say, nothing else matters. A Wild Card spot is not acceptable.

However, it seems like the pitchers are the only guys who truly feel that way.

Putting aside the team’s unbelievable win against the Colorado Rockies Thursday night, the pitching staff has been the only thing preventing a Cardinals-like fall from contention.

Even the one run the Phils were able to score should have been an out. Everyone and anyone watching the game could see that. I bet even those of you watching with your girlfriend got a nudge on the shoulder and a rather confused “shouldn’t he have caught that?”

Yeah, he should have.

And, of course, by “he,” I mean either one of them.

For now the Phillies will take the one run, take the win and move on to the next game, but they’re not going to get by on one run come playoff time. The offense seems to just show up whenever it feels like it and doesn’t truly start hitting until Joe Blanton backs them into a corner by giving up five runs with one swing of the bat in the first inning.

Don’t laugh (or call me a moron). If anyone can do it, it’s Blanton.

They’ll all celebrate the win for now, but the lack of offense will become a serious problem very soon if it’s not addressed and fixed permanently.

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Shane Victorino, Pitching Lead Philadelphia Phillies Past the Padres

Charlie Manuel considered benching Shane Victorino before Saturday night’s game against the San Diego Padres because of his recent struggles against right-handed batters.

But Manuel, loyal to a fault, decided to keep Victorino in the lineup and give him one more chance to get out of his funk.

Victorino backed up Manuel’s decision by going two for four with two RBIs, a run scored, and an impressive throw from center field that quickly had Nick Hundley questioning his decision to round third and try for a run.

The Flyin’ Hawaiian was having none of it and got Hundley by a mile. Brian Schneider applied the tag and that was that.

Victorino’s performance, along with a fantastic outing by all four of the pitchers the Phils used Saturday night, gave the Phillies their second consecutive win over the NL West-leading Padres.

That’s right. The team that couldn’t squeeze out a single win against the Houston Astros has now won two games back-to-back against the Padres, arguably the best team in the NL this season.

But, that’s the Phillies for you.

Joe Blanton scattered six hits over six innings, walked one and struck out three.

Blanton has suddenly found his groove and has looked great in back-to-back starts, and this time, with some backup from Victorino, he was able to turn it into a win and even himself out at 6-6 for the year.

Jose Contreras, Ryan Madson, and Brad Lidge each pitched one perfect inning to end the game.

They allowed no hits, no runs, and each struck out one guy. Lidge, coming off an embarrassing balk that resulted in his fifth blown save of the season, got his 18th save of the year by retiring the side in order.

Lidge, another guy Manuel has been 100 percent loyal to, also seems to be justifying the faith Manuel has in him. He just has to cut down on the silly mistakes that really get him into a pinch.

Cole Hamels takes the mound Sunday afternoon for the Phils, so without even seeing the game I can safely surmise that the Padres will win 2-1 after Hamels takes a no-hitter into the sixth and has it blown up by a solo home run.

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Philadelphia Phillies Must Play Their Game, Not Their Opponents’

Plain and simple, the Phillies play to the level of their competition. If they’re playing a good team, they’re going to pick their game up and come up with the plays they need when they need them in order to win.

We saw the best example of that right before the All-Star break in their four-game series with the Cincinnati Reds.

It wasn’t always pretty, but four consecutive wins, three in extra innings, showed the Phils can pull out close wins against good teams.

It’s something championship-caliber teams have to do.

However, with the recent four-game series against the Houston Astros, we see a glimpse of why the Phillies might not be World Series material.

Even though they will play up to their competition when they need to, they can also play down to the level of a bad team long enough to get swept and really put themselves in a hole for a playoff push.

And, again, it’s a problem that comes back to Charlie Manuel.

Of course it’s also on the players to understand they must approach every game like it’s the middle of October, but the manager’s job is to make sure his team is in the right frame of mind and playing to the best of their abilities.

Right now, Manuel’s not doing that.

He did a great job of keeping the team together through the injuries and getting the backups to play at a high level, but now that the pieces are all back in place, it seems like he quits doing his job and takes it for granted.

Bottom line is, there’s absolutely no reason for the Phillies to have lost four straight games to the Astros, as well as the numerous games they’ve lost to other subpar teams such as the Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs (another four-game sweep), and Pittsburgh Pirates.

The good news, however, is that the 76-50 San Diego Padres (weird still, right?) are next up for the Phils, so they’ll probably find a way to win this series and get everyone to stop talking about their pathetic display against the Astros and two former Phillies starters.

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Frustrations Boil Over in Philadelphia Phillies’ 16-Inning Loss

With Cole Hamels on the mound, everyone knew the game would be a low-scoring affair…for both teams.

It’s seemingly just as hard for the Phillies’ offense to score when Hamels pitches as it is for the opposing team, and the trend would continue in Game Two of a four-game series against the Houston Astros.

Hamels left the game in the seventh inning after giving up only two runs. Unfortunately, his offense only gave him one.

Then, in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, Jimmy Rollins came through with a solo shot to tie the game at two and send it into extras.

And when I say “extras,” I mean they almost played a full second game.

Six completed extra innings later had the Phillies and Astros all the way into the 16th inning without an end in sight. Both teams had a few baserunners here and there, but for the most part, the bullpen for both teams was outstanding and nearly unhittable.

That is, until David Herndon entered his third inning of work.

Herndon had already pitched two perfect innings and, due to the lack of available pitchers, the Phils hoped he had a third in him. But, as it turns out, Herndon and the Phillies just were not meant to win this game.

A crazy chopper that went over Herndon’s head, followed by a hit batter, a wild pitch, and an intentional walk loaded the bases for the Astros.

An infield single and a fielder’s choice would put the Phillies down by two runs entering the bottom of the 16th inning.

Brian Schneider would lead off and ground out. As the lineup turned over, Rollins would strike out. Placido Polanco took a walk (a rare sight) and Chase Utley would step to the plate, representing the tying run.

However, with Roy Oswalt on board, the Astros chose to walk Utley and get Oswalt to the plate.

Now, if you didn’t watch the game, I understand your confusion. Let’s press pause for just a second and go over the sequence of events quickly.

In the 14th inning, Ryan Howard checked his swing on an 0-1 pitch. After an appeal down to third base ump Scott Barry, Howard was down 0-2 and nearly lost his cool after Barry mocked Howard, who put his hands on his hips and shot a confused glance after the call.

He began complaining and, after being warned by the home base ump, the now-infamous Greg Gibson, Howard said he was only mad at himself (which no one really bought) and everyone got ready for the next pitch.

Fast forward a bit, the count is now 1-2, and Howard again checks his swing on a ball low and inside. Again, the Astros appeal down to third, and Howard is ruled out on strikes.

Clearly frustrated, Howard threw his bat and starting mouthing off, which immediately got him ejected. Then, in a move no one would have ever expected out of the usually level-headed Howard, he chucked his helmet and was on a B-line for Barry.

Polanco came out and had to physically restrain Howard, or there’s no telling what Howard might have done once he reached Barry. He was clearly enraged at the call and had flown off the handle. It could have gotten very ugly, very quickly.

In fact, as Howard began walking toward Barry, the home base ump tried talking to him to calm him down.

Howard could immediately be seen pointing at Gibson and yelling “Don’t you f**king talk to me!” and nearly took out third-base coach Sam Perlozzo as he jogged toward Barry.

Barry, by the way, is usually a Triple-A ump who was filling in. He kept his cool and stood his ground, but he had to be scared out of his mind seeing a very large and very angry Ryan Howard headed his way.

And because Howard was ejected and the Phillies’ last bench player, Brian Schneider, took over at catcher for Carlos Ruiz, Charlie Manuel would have to pick one of his pitchers to put out into left field for Raul Ibanez, who was taking Howard’s place at first.

The final call was Oswalt. And not only was it the first time in nearly 40 years a Phillies pitcher would play the field, Oswalt would also get tossed into the clean-up spot.

While amusing at first, it was a situation the Phillies knew would come back to bite them.

Which leads us beautifully back into our story and ends my little digression.

Oswalt came up to the plate with guys on first and second and two outs. He fought his way to a 2-2 count, but grounded out to third base to end one of the wildest games the MLB has seen thus far in 2010.

So while it was an entertaining game all in all, it’s an enormous failure for the Phils.

Not only did they exhaust every player possible, but they still wound up losing to an inferior team, missed an opportunity to gain some ground on the Atlanta Braves (who lost 5-2 to the Rockies), and will most likely be without Howard for some time while he serves a suspension.

As a man, I understand why Howard was so angry with Barry. But, as a player, he’s got to be smarter than that and understand what’s at stake.

Instead, he’ll be on the bench for who knows how long while Mike Sweeney fills in at first and Jayson Werth takes over the cleanup role.

So much for getting used to the usual lineup again.

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Karma Catches Up To Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park

After being the beneficiaries of a terrible call against the Marlins back on Aug. 4, the Phillies got to feel what it’s like to be on the other end of a call Monday night.

With a man on first, Michael Bourn bunted the ball up the first-base line. Ryan Howard fielded the ball a few feet away from the base-line in fair territory, and make a spectacular dive to tag Bourn on his way to first.

Or so we thought.

Bourn lept off to his right side, jumping into the grass, and presumably leaving the baseline which would mean he’s out anyway, regardless if Howard actually tagged him or not.

Again, you would think so, wouldn’t you?

But up pops the MLB’s ridiculously vague rule about what constitutes leaving the baseline. In the rules, they say a runner can’t be more than three feet away from “his” baseline. And what exactly is “his” baseline?

Per the MLB rulebook, “a runner’s baseline is established when the tag attempt occurs and is a straight line from the runner to the base he is attempting to reach safely.”

So, apparently, Bourn’s baseline didn’t start until Howard attempted to tag him.

“I said, ‘If that’s the damn case, he can go all the way to the dugout,'” Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel said after the game. “[First-base umpire Greg Gibson] said, ‘Yeah, if he establishes his baseline over there, he can.’ I don’t understand that.”

It might not be exactly fair to call this a “bad call” since it’s more a result of an inexcusably vague rule, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Phils got the short-end of the straw.

It’s like the NFL’s infamous Tuck Rule game between the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots back in 2001. Just because the rules say it wasn’t actually a fumble, does not mean that the Raiders didn’t get royally shafted.

Everyone watching that play knew it was a fumble, and everyone watching this play knew Bourn was out one way or another.

It also doesn’t help that Gibson made a similar call this season when the Phillies faced the Cleveland Indians.

The call went against the Phils that time too, except that time when Shane Victorino attempted to do the same thing Bourn did Monday night, he was ruled out.

Same circumstances, same umpire, but a different call? The main focus of the rules should be to take as much discretion as possible away from the umpires, not give them more. This rule and this set of circumstances proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The MLB needs to rewrite the rule so there’s absolutely no confusion as to what is and what is not the baseline.

Make it the actual line, stick more closely to the “three feet” part of the rule, or just say they’re going to abolish the baseline idea altogether and we can watch a speedy guy like Bourn just run in a circle until Howard is too tired to throw to first or tag him.

But whatever they do, they need to make it a concrete rule that everyone can clearly follow.

It certainly didn’t help that Ryan Madson got smacked around a little bit in only one inning of work and eventually gave up what would be the winning run, but if the Phils could score more than two runs it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

Had they taken advantage of opportunities presented to them earlier in the game, they could be walking away complaining about the call, but comforted by the thought that it didn’t wind up costing them the game. Instead, they’re extra sore because they feel they’ve been cheated.

“Games like tonight, these are the games we have to win,” Manuel said. “That’s a game we’re supposed to win and have to win.”

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Philadelphia Phillies Super Trio Makes Them the Favorites in October

If the Phillies can continue their usual strong play in the latter portion of the season, they will most likely wind up in the playoffs. Whether it’s after they overtake the Atlanta Braves and win the NL East, or via the consolation prize of a wild card berth, most expect the Phils to be playing in the MLB’s second season.

And if or when the Phils do make it past the regular season, their super trio of starting pitchers has to make them a favorite in the NL.

Most of the hardships this season have come from the erratic and unpredictable play of Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick. Both guys have had some gems, but both guys have also had their fair share of games that make any observer wonder why in the world either of them are in the majors.

Of course, the incredible numbers of injuries doesn’t help, but that hasn’t seem to have affected Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, or Roy Oswalt. Granted, Hamels’ record doesn’t look so hot at 7-10, but with some hitting it’s not out of the question for him to be sitting at 12-5 or better.

Even Halladay, who sits at 16-8, could probably be 20-4 were it not for the injuries, and the other Roy hasn’t pitched a bad game for the Phils since his debut back on July 30.

And when the playoffs roll around, the chances of Blanton or Kendrick seeing too many starts at slim. Each could possibly see a start in the first series, but after that the Phils would likely go to a three-man rotation depending on when their days off land.

Then Blanton and Kendrick can move into the bullpen as long relief guys to compliment the rest of the bullpen and all of a sudden Philly looks set.

This is a club with a healthy mix of guys who have played and won in the playoffs, and guys who would love nothing more than to finally get into the playoffs and do some winning.

Impressive pitching, along with a healthy lineup, could mean trouble for the other three NL teams entering the October tournament, and perhaps set the stage for a 2009 World Series rematch between the Phils and New York Yankees.

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Philadelphia Phillies’ Offense Almost Ruins a Roy Halladay Gem

The Phillies’ offense continued to struggle Friday night as they were only able to muster one run off a Raul Ibanez double in the third inning. But, fortunately for them, it was Roy Halladay’s turn to take the mound, so it didn’t matter.

Halladay scattered eight hits, walked three, and struck out five in seven scoreless innings to earn his sixth consecutive win. And during that six-game stretch, Halladay has allowed one earned run or less in five of them.

If anyone is still not completely on board with the move to bring this guy in, it’s out of nothing but denial and a world-record stubbornness.

But for as well as Halladay pitched, it still has to be troubling that the offense was only able to score one run the entire game to go along with only four hits.

It’s not even like they were facing a great defensive team and an All-Star pitcher. It was the Nationals and Jason Marquis.

Marquis is a good young pitcher, but there’s no reason for this lineup not to have, at the very least, four runs against this guy.

It almost seems like the guys at the plate aren’t playing with the same sense of urgency because they know Halladay is going to keep the score very low, meaning they don’t have to do as much.

That might be true, but if they could at least get off the bus, I’m sure Halladay would appreciate the effort.

The bats have been hot as of late, but this team has shown they can sink into a funk faster than any professional sports team, so they’re going to have to get their hitting going soon if they’d like to avoid that…and if Greg Gross would like to keep his job.

Every game is a playoff game for this team right now, and if this is all they can do in that type of situation, then there isn’t much hope for a third straight appearance in the Fall Classic.

Unless, of course, Halladay can just pitch every day.

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Charlie Manuel To Blame for Philadelphia Phillies’ Inconsistencies?

No Phillies team for the past decade or so, and I truly mean no team, has been more frustrating to watch than this year’s squad.

They could very easily be the most talented group the Phillies have had since getting back to the playoffs back in 2007. They finally found a great No. 2 hitter, had a guy settle into the six spot, were able to get some speed at the seven spot, and returned with All-Star quality guys at nearly every other spot in the lineup.

But then there were the injuries. Other than Jayson Werth, every other Phillies starter has done at least one stint on the DL. Even the resilient Ryan Howard couldn’t avoid the bug. So because of that, the Phillies have had (I believe) a measly seven games with their complete lineup intact.

Seven games. That’s it. That number would be low if we’re talking about an NFL team that plays only 16 games. These guys play 162 games, have played 120 to this point, and can’t get the entire group of starters together for more than seven games.

Frustrated yet? Well, it gets worse.

The backups come in and, to the delight of everyone around the team, actually play well. They’re not playing with All-Star numbers, but certainly well above anyone’s expectations.

That is, of course, when they seemingly feel like it.

More than any other season in the past three years, it seems like pitching gems were going to waste left and right. And it didn’t matter whether it was Roy Halladay or Kyle Kendrick or any guy in the middle, the Phillies offense just could not take advantage and, because of that, have lost more 1-0 or 2-1 games than I can recall in recent memory.

And if they couldn’t come through when their guys were pitching a gem, forget about being able to actually pick their guy up and give him some help when he needs it. In ’08 and ’09, it wasn’t really a cause for concern if Joe Blanton came in and gave up three first-inning runs. The Phils offense would back him up and they’d usually be able to come out with a win.

This season, however, games were lost in the first inning. It seemed like the lineup would start to press as soon as they fell behind, and then it was just all downhill from there. Once their slumps began, they were hard to reverse.

But then, something wonderful happened—they started hitting.

Hitting coach Milt Thompson was the guy picked as the scapegoat and promptly fired. Greg Gross took over and has been given credit for the turnaround the offense had, but anyone paying attention can tell it was more about the shock of their coach getting tossed than it had to do with the new guy coming in.

After some great stretches of winning the games that had to be won, the Phillies found themselves two games out the division lead with a two-game lead on the final wild card playoff spot after back-to-back blowout wins over the Giants.

And then the unthinkable happened last night as the Phillies were shut out over eight innings, only managed four hits, and were unable to pick up a somewhat shaky Hamels and take advantage of an Atlanta Braves loss.

How, exactly, is it possible for a team like the Phillies to blow a team out in back-to-back games, and then just fold when the opportunity for a sweep is presented?

It took a little while to get to this point (and thanks for sticking with me here), but the only answer I can come up with is that Charlie Manuel is not preparing these guys properly. When a team is on a hot streak, it’s up to the manager to make sure their heads are in the right place.

Instead, it seems as though he’s content to lie back and let them figure things out. Manuel probably hasn’t had to do a whole lot over the past few seasons and I’m not sure if it’s made him lazy or what, but he doesn’t seem to be doing what he needs to do.

And make no mistake, this isn’t just about the losing. If they came out and dropped a game even 5-4 but were hitting fairly well and just happened to get outplayed, that’s one thing. But the guys are coming out, they look flat to begin with, and then can only muster four hits and not a single run until what is essentially garbage time down 5-0 in the ninth inning.

I understand these guys are professionals and adults and should be able to get themselves right without Manuel’s help, but when they’ve proved that they can’t it’s time for Manuel to step up and doing something other than blow bubbles in the dugout.

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Chase Utley Returns, Philadelphia Phillies Roll San Francisco Giants

Chase Utley returned to the lineup Tuesday night, but that’s about all there is to report on that front. An 0-for-5 performance from Utley means he’s probably fighting some discomfort and loss of strength in that thumb, but he played the field well and should quickly improve at the plate.

The game itself, however, was much more intriguing—if you’re a Phillies fan.

It was a game of two teams heading in two opposite directions as the Giants’ slide continues and the Phillies’ patented August playoff push continued to chug along.

Besides allowing two home runs—one to former Phillie Pat Burrell and the Giants’ newest acquisition, Jose Guillen—Roy Oswalt swept through the San Francisco lineup with relative ease and continued to make Ruben Amaro, Jr. look like a genius.

Jimmy Rollins showed up with a two-run single in the fifth inning, and Shane Victorino, just off the DL as well, hit a two-run double in the sixth inning to put the Phils up for good.

A five-run eighth inning sealed the deal and the Phils sent the Giants back to their hotel down one game in the series.

Overall, that’s not too terribly exciting, but the win could have had playoff implications as the Phillies are now the top dogs in the NL Wild Card race.

Despite the fact that the Phillies are acting like it doesn’t matter and are still aiming to win the division, holding onto the final playoff spot will be very important moving forward.

I understand the importance of winning the division. There’s a certain momentum a team gets as the division champs, and the Phillies have used that the past two seasons to make it to the World Series.

However, it’s just about getting in. Regardless of the seeding or whether or not they win the NL East, the main focus has to be just getting an invite to play in October.

The playoffs are a new season and every division leader in the NL is hoping the Atlanta Braves are able to keep winning and that either the Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals, or anyone else is able to take the final spot and keep the Phils at home.

With a revitalized rotation and a lineup that’s finally playing close to their potential, the Phillies are the last team anyone in the NL wants to see.

But with Utley back, and Ryan Howard expected to return at some point this week, it’s going to be very hard to keep this team from heading back to the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.

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