Philiadelphia Phillies Make Their Own Luck in Wild Win Over Chicago Cubs

Skipper Charlie Manuel wouldn’t say his team got lucky in their wild 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs, but that was plainly obvious to anyone watching.

Geovaney Soto certainly isn’t a scrub and is not a guy who will make many mistakes, so when he drops a perfect throw that would have allowed him to tag out Brian Schneider by a good 10 feet or so, a lot of it is luck.

But, as is usually the case, the Phillies made their own luck. Poor base-running prevented them from scoring for eight innings, but good plate discipline and clutch hits allowed them the opportunity to steal a game for once, and they milked their luck for all it was worth.

They gave Carlos Marmol fits as they watched every “please-swing-at-me” pitch go right past them to run up the count and eventually get the walks they needed. Then they got the clutch hit they needed out of Polanco and third-base coach Sam Perlozzo wasn’t about to let the team’s lucky streak go to waste.

“One of those where you pretty much have to send him, and I didn’t feel good about it,” Perlozzo said. “That’s the beauty of the game. Sometimes the ball bounces your way, and sometimes it doesn’t.

And the ball continued to bounce the Phillies’ way when Soto wasn’t able to corral a wild pitch that went off the tip of his glove and bounced around the backstop, allowing Ross Gload to come home and give the Phillies a 2-1 lead that they would eventually build on.

All of this, by the way, was done with two outs.

Their was no quit in this team. They decided they were going to play out all nine innings, while the Cubs felt as though they could wrap the whole thing up after eight.

Playing hard and playing until the end is how teams create their own good luck, and complacency is how teams fall onto the bad luck the Cubs experienced.

“It just goes to show the game’s not over until it’s over.”

Sure does, Charlie. Sure does.

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My Cliff Lee Quandary: All My Ex’s Live in Texas

I drive a Honda CRV.

It might be the first of its kind; it could be the prototype. There is nothing modern about it. The only gauge I have measures gas; mileage stacks up via flipping digits, and mechanical failures are indicated when the appropriate circle lights up red.

Some people call them idiot lights. That’s because when they glow, idiots wait a few weeks to see if they’ll go out—all by themselves.

I think Ruben Amaro Jr. has a few on. The problem is there’s one that won’t go out all by itself.

Admittedly he’s concerned about pitching. And admittedly he has what it takes to get what he wants.

That can only mean two things: Jayson Werth should keep the beard to accent his sex appeal for a trade and the love affair with Cliff Lee continues to be the quintessential story.

Where do I begin to tell the story of how great a team can be a great love story about the man they call Cliff Lee.

Another year with a World Series victory.

The way I understand it, Cliffy’s “Dear John” letter traded him to a soggy AL port so Ruben could restock a farm system with guys a lot like the ones he traded for a Cy Young winner he hoped could pitch as well as the Cy Young winner that earned him the only two wins of the last Series.

Did I get that right?

Well, anyway you say it, it broke my heart.

It was like missing a blue light sale by an aisle.

It was like watching any movie by Nicholas Sparks.

And it was like fumbling for your ID at the liquor store and hearing the clerk say, “I won’t be needing that.”

Now the media is teasing Cliffy because he got flustered when someone whispered the name of his ex World Series partner upon his arrival in Texas. That caused him to commit the faux pas of saying he was a Mariner when he was actually obligated to the Rangers.

Cliff, that’s why you never specifically speak a name when you’re in bed together.

I know I’m not alone in wanting him back, and as a devoted fan I’d like something more concrete than reports that Philly is missed by Cliff.

Even a cheesy commitment will do. Something with no legal basis like a promise ring—or a clanky oversized class ring with a tacky stretch of yarn encircling the bottom.

My point is, I don’t care how you do it, just get the job done.

I miss his behind the back defense, the way he quick pitches cocky batters, and his ability to yawn while fielding a ball.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Roy Halladay. He throws with surgical precision, he’s devoted and proven, and he tossed the perfect game. But in my book there are two perfect number thirty-fours: Cliff and Roy. Call them 34a and 34b if you like, just don’t call them by the wrong name.

Obviously with all the recent whining Ruben’s been doing about his desire for pitching, he knows this too. So when he considers improving his rotation, he should remember one thing: It takes two.

The Phillies and Cliff Lee were meant for each other.

That’s the only way to make that idiot light go out.

See you at the ballpark.

Copyright 2010 Flattish Poe all rights reserved.

Catch life one-liner at a time on Twitter http://twitter.com/ABabesTake

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Placido Polanco Aiming to Return Saturday vs. Cubs

Ever since getting hit by a pitch against the Braves at the tail-end of April, third baseman Placido Polanco has had serious trouble with his left elbow. He would be forced to miss a few games here and a few games there, but always avoided the DL until recently.

Now, with Polanco set to come off the DL, he’s talking about being on the field as early as Saturday, when the Phillies will be in the middle of a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs.

“My elbow feels good right now,” he said. “It feels better than it did the last two or three weeks when I was playing.”

That’s certainly good news for the Phillies, but the team also has to make sure Polanco isn’t rushing himself back the way Jimmy Rollins did. Rollins’ initial return from a calf injury was short-lived after he reinjured himself almost immediately.
 

Since he aggravated the injury, it’s likely it cost him more time on the DL than if he had simply waited until he was 100 percent.

With Polanco, it’s likely he won’t be 100 percent until he has surgery to remove a bone spur in his elbow. At least, that’s the opinion of the Cincinnati team doctor, who told Polanco he should have the surgery “right away.”

The surgery, however, would have cost Polanco at least two months of the season — something he was unwilling to do, and something he says can be taken care of after the season.

“If it’s bothering me, without a doubt (I’ll have the surgery), because I don’t want to think about it,” he said.

So while everyone else is enjoying their All-Star break, Polanco said he will be working out Tuesday and Wednesday, then playing a game on Thursday in Class-A Clearwater, and a Friday game with the Phillies’ rookie-league team.

Finally, on Saturday, he should be back at third base and retaking his spot in the lineup behind Jimmy Rollins.

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Cole Hamels Helps Phillies Complete Four-Game Sweep

For the second game in a row, the Philadelphia Phillies have pulled off a 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds. With the win, Philadelphia also capped off their first four-game series sweep of the Reds since 1975.

And for the second game in a row, it came down to great pitching and a clutch base knock by Jimmy Rollins. It wasn’t quite as dramatic as an 11th inning walk-off hit, but Rollins came through in the third inning, driving in what turned out to be the winning run.

Not surprisingly, it was Carlos Ruiz coming home from third with two outs. If anyone was doubting Rollins’s impact on this lineup, they’re not anymore.

But even more important than Rollins was Cole Hamels and his rough-looking-but-effective 7.2 scoreless innings. He scattered six hits, with three strikeouts and three walks, in 112 pitches.

Hamels was around the plate all day, but wasn’t getting a lot of the calls and had to work himself out of a jam a couple times. He then gave way to Jose Contreras for the final out in the eighth inning with a man on second. Contreras walked the first man he faced, then forced a ground ball to get out of the inning.

Then in the ninth, a perfect combination of J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge finished off the game.

Romero came in to face first the first batter, left-hander Jay Bruce, and struck him out in four pitches. Charlie Manuel then made a decision that was unpopular with the sellout crowd at Citizen’s Bank Park. Manuel took Romero out to make way for Lidge, who faced two consecutive right-handed batters.

But the crowd got behind Lidge as he struck out Drew Stubbs and got Miguel Cairo to fly out on the very first pitch, ending the game and completing the four-game sweep.

Great teams win the close games, but the Phillies bats are still a cause for concern. Four hits will not get the job done on a normal day. They’ve benefited from outstanding pitching the last 21 innings as the staff held the Reds scoreless. But sooner or later, this team is going to have to win with their offense.

That’s how they’ve won in the past, and that’s how they’re going to have to win this season.

Hopefully Chase Utley and Placido Polanco can come back strong and this lineup can be complete for more than a couple weeks, and start making their annual late-season push.

But without a lot more offense than we’ve seen over the past week or so, the Phillies will struggle to stay in the middle of the pack in a competitive NL East.

But for now, it’s at least good to see the Phightin’ Phils back to their winning ways.

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Carlos Ruiz, Jimmy Rollins Give Phillies Walk-Off Win Over Cincinnati Reds

It took a full eight innings for the Phillies to even get a man on base, but they needed only four hits and one run to take their third straight game from the Cincinnati Reds, all of them coming in walk-off fashion.

Rookie pitcher Travis Wood took a perfect game into the ninth, but watched it evaporate as a fresh-off-the-DL Carlos Ruiz hit a leadoff double.

And because Roy Halladay also had a shutout going with only five scattered hits allowed, Wood was pitching to avoid the loss.

He got out of the jam by stranding Ruiz at third, and a scoreless tie would send these two teams into extra innings for the third game in a row.

Brad Lidge, not surprisingly, had the bases loaded at one point in the 10th, but worked his way out of it.

The Phillies weren’t able to get anything going in their half of the 10th, but after Jose Contreras shut the Reds down in the top of the 11th, Jimmy Rollins and Ruiz went to work.

Ruiz, for the second time in the night, hit a double into the gap in left center to get things started for the Phils’ offense. Wilson Valdez drew a two-out walk and it was all set up for Rollins to become the hero.

This is the situation in which superstars are supposed to come through, and Rollins didn’t disappoint, as he hit a base knock into right field allowing Ruiz to come around from second to end the game.

It marked the third consecutive walk-off win in extra innings, the first time in franchise history that has been done.

The Phils have one more game in the series against the Reds on Sunday before the All-Star break, but hopefully the streak won’t continue and the Phils can simply take care of business in the first nine innings.

Halladay continues to show why he truly is the best pitcher in baseball, but he’s not going to be able to pitch like that every time.

The Phils still need to start getting the bats moving a whole lot sooner than the ninth inning, or they’re going to start dropping a lot of games.

With anyone other than Halladay on the mound, the Phils would have lost this game.

So while the win is great to have and was exciting to watch, they still need to realize how inept their bats truly were during regulation and make a greater effort to resolve the problems once and for all.

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Philadelphia Phillies Likely Felled by Injuries

As if the 2010 version of the Philadelphia Phillies wasn’t aggravating enough, the thinned-down and beaten up version of the Phillies is enough to drive a man insane.

Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley, J.A. Happ, Ryan Madson, Brad Lidge, and others have all seen time on the bench or the DL. In fact, the only guy to see time in every game this season has been Ryan Howard—that’s it. One guy.

And due to the mix of injuries to big-name guys, it’s likely the Phillies could miss out on the playoffs altogether, much less repeat as NL East champions for a fourth consecutive season or NL champs for a third consecutive season.

The Braves sit atop the NL East right now and don’t appear to be slowing down. They’re winning the close games when they have to and are doing all the little things they need to do to stay atop the standings.

Then there’s the Mets, who look like they’re just a few weeks from hitting a real stride and perhaps challenging the Braves for the division. Or, as the Mets are known to do, completely fall apart.

Quite honestly, there’s just no telling with that team.

The Phils are only four games back right now, but I expect that number to go up now that they’re without a couple key players.

And then with teams like the Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, and Los Angeles Dodgers, it’s likely the Phils wouldn’t even be able to win a playoff spot as the wild card team.

I would expect the Cardinals and Dodgers to win their divisions, which would leave the Phils in a wild card battle against the Mets, Reds, Padres, and Rockies. And honestly, they’re just not going to be able to compete with those teams in their current state.

Everyone is expected to be back this season, but it could be too little too late. Utley is gone for two months and it’s obviously going to be very difficult to replace their best hitter and a guy who has been a rock in that No. 3 spot in the lineup.

Polanco could struggle with that elbow all year long and could eventually wind up getting shelved altogether. Happ has looked awful in his rehab starts, and Ruiz is still bouncing around from specialist to specialist trying to figure something out with his head.

And even with Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Jamie Moyer all pitching well—along with a decent season out of Kyle Kendrick but a struggling Joe Blanton—the bats can’t get enough run support for the guys on the mound.

Even when they only allow two or three runs, it’s just too much for this depleted unit to put together. In fact, it appeared to be too much while everyone was healthy, so it’s not exactly a surprise.

The Phillies have become to beacon of hope for Philadelphia, and I understand that, but it might be time to temper the expectations and take this team for what it is this year—just a middle-of-the-pack squad who might get lucky and get hot at the right time.

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Philadelphia Phillies’ Offense Finally Backs Roy Halladay in Win

As great as it was to see Roy Halladay beat his former team, the Toronto Blue Jays, for his ninth win of the season, it was even better to see the offense put up nine runs and finally give Halladay the run support he deserves—even if he didn’t actually need it.

Ross Gload, playing first base for Ryan Howard, led the way with four RBI, including a base-clearing double in the fifth inning, which counted for half of the runs the Phillies would go on to score in that inning.

Chase Utley and Shane Victorino also contributed with two RBI each. Victorino got one of his RBI on his 12th home run of the season to put the icing on the cake in the top of the eighth.

Howard, who became the first DH ever used at Citizen’s Bank Park due to the odd arrangement in this series, also contributed with an RBI of his own—his 54th of the season.

Jayson Werth also hit his first triple of the season and crossed the plate three times.

But even more astounding than all of that (expect perhaps Gload’s four-RBI performance) is the amount of walks Jimmy Rollins was able to draw. Rollins was walked on four—yes, four—separate occasions and only recorded one official at-bat because of it.

That’s showing a lot of respect to Rollins, a guy who is by no means a power hitter. The way the offense has performed over the past three games with Rollins in the lineup might give a slight glimpse into why the Phils were struggling without him.

His presence has clearly had a major effect on this team positively over the past few days, and it might be time to admit that the lack of his presence could have had a whole lot more to do with the Phillies’ funk than anyone was willing to acknowledge.

Cole Hamels takes the mound for the Phils in game two and gives them a great chance to finally get on a respectable role as they look to make it five in a row.

There’s no word as to who Charlie Manuel will peg as the designated hitter, but it’s likely Howard resumes his role at first base and Gload simply becomes the DH.

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Philadelphia Phillies Sign Third-Round Pick: Cameron Rupp

The Phillies announced on Thursday that they have reached an agreement with their third-round pick in the First-Year Player Draft: catcher Cameron Rupp.

Rupp, who played his college ball at the University of Texas, has the potential to turn into a legitimate hitter in the majors if his numbers in college are any indication.

This past season, Rupp hit .304 with 10 home runs and 54 RBIs in 63 games. He also had a .390 on-base percentage and and .483 slugging percentage. If he can keep that going in the next step of his career, he could fly through the Phillies’ organization.

The Phils currently have some talent in the majors with Carlos Ruiz, Brian Schneider and Dane Sardinha (who hit his first career home run against the Cleveland Indians Thursday night). However, Ruiz is going to be 32 years-old next year, Schneider is playing on borrowed time and Sardinha isn’t getting any younger either. 

Grooming a catcher is clearly a need for this organization and Rupp could find himself shooting through the ranks, as the starters age and the prospects before him continue their careers elsewhere.

Lou Marson and Travis D’Arnaud were being groomed to take over for Ruiz, but were traded away in deals for Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, respectively.

Rupp is now officially a Philly and will immediately become a guy the organization pays close attention to as he makes his way through the minors. Hopefully, they can simply hold onto him and groom him to take over in a few years; but it’s also just as likely that he’s eventually trade bait.

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Chad Durbin Likely Headed to Disabled List for Philadelphia Phillies

Chad Durbin left the Phillies’ 7-6 victory over the Cleveland Indians in the ninth inning due to an apparent hamstring injury.

It didn’t look too terribly serious, but Charlie Manuel killed any optimism immediately after the game.

“He blew out a hammy,” Manuel told the media after Jimmy Rollins’ walk-off home run. “I would say it’s pretty serious. He definitely popped it.”

Great. Another pitcher down for an extended period of time, leaving it to guys who will either be incredibly overworked or leaving them with no choice other than to call someone up or look to a rather shallow free agent pool.

But then the optimism came back as Durbin seemed to shoot down Manuel’s bleak diagnosis.

“It’s a little better than what Charlie said,” Durbin said. “That scared me. He was just in the dramatic mood because of the home run.”

Durbin said he’s expecting a stint on the DL but that it’s only a Grade 1 sprain and should only take between 10 to 14 days to heal. It could, however, take up to three weeks.

So while it’s not nearly as bad as Manuel made it sound, it’s still not good news.

The bullpen has been an Achilles’ heel of this team as of late, and it can’t afford to get any thinner. Ryan Madson and Antonio Bastardo are already on the DL, Brad Lidge still might be working through some things, and the other guys in the ‘pen aren’t going to be able to handle a huge workload.

Durbin landing on the DL does open up a spot, however, and it could mean the return of Scott Mathieson to the active roster. Whether or not he gets used outside of a pinch situation has yet to be seen, but it’s possible he’s the guy they turn to for depth.

Greg Dobbs Accepts Assignment to Triple-A Lehigh Valley

In some semi-good news, Greg Dobbs has decided he’s going to stay in the Phillies’ system and head down to Triple-A rather than becoming a free agent after passing through waivers.

With some consistent at-bats and some time in the field, Dobbs might be able to find his stride once again and find his way back on the active roster before the season is over.

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Jimmy Rollins Lifts Phillies Past Indians in Ninth Inning

Jimmy Rollins had a slow start, coming off the DL Tuesday going 0-for-4 and not really contributing to the Phillies’ 2-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

Wednesday, however, was a different story—kind of.

Rollins was more of a liability than anything through the first eight and a half innings. He was once again 0-for-4 at the plate, and even had a throwing error to his credit (rare for Rollins) that allowed the Tribe to take a 6-5 lead in the top of the ninth inning.

But when Jimmy messes something like that up, he usually comes back and makes up for it in a big way—which is exactly what he did in the bottom of the final inning.

With a 1-1 count, one out, and a man on second, Rollins blasted a pitch right down the middle, just this side of fair, down the right field line, for his very first walk-off homerun of his career.

That’s right, for all the years Rollins has been around, that’s the first time he’s ever hit a walk-off homerun.

Brian Schneider and Jayson Werth both had key homeruns to keep the Phillies in the game as Kyle Kendrick got knocked around early and couldn’t even make it through five innings. He’s been a pleasant surprise this season, but he’s got to make sure he rebounds in his next start or Ruben Amaro, Jr. might have to put Pedro Martinez on speed dial.

Either that or pray J.A. Happ ever comes off the Mark Prior list.

For weeks, we’ve been looking for something to get this team jump-started. They’ve been playing on auto-pilot for so long and, unless something wakes them up very soon, it’s going to start getting very, very ugly.

I’m not sure if this walk-off shot will be enough to get the team energized, rally around one another, and start putting a stretch together, but it’s certainly nice to enjoy it for the time-being.

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