Phillies-Rays: Chase Utley, John Mayberry Pound Tampa Bay 10-1

It’s one of the more puzzling stories of the 2009 Philadelphis Phillies—the fact that they dominate on the road, yet can’t buy a win at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies pushed their road record to 24-9 after an absolute drubbing of the defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays, beating them 10-1.

The Phillies offense blasted off early and often in the top of the first. Rays’ starter David Price surrendered six runs, highlighted by a three-run homer from John Mayberry Jr. Chase Utley had a two-run double, and Ryan Howard smacked an RBI double.

Charlie Manuel spoke on the importance of having Howard back in the lineup.

“It gives us a four-hole hitter who hits 48 to 60 home runs a year,” said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “That’s what it gives us. I don’t know where we’d go to replace him.”

Utley continued his hit brigade, and in the fourth inning, his Price was right when he smacked a two-run homer to right-center to make it an even 10-0.

Jamie Moyer shut down the off-balance Rays the entire game en route to his 251st victory.

Moyer allowed just one run while allowing three walks and striking out four in six innings to sure up the win.

“You’re looking at Jamie, who’s been around, throwing 80 mph, carving us up,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “And then you’ve got the young left-hander who’s throwing 93to 94 [mph] and having a hard time. Baseball’s a beautiful game.”

“You know what you’ve got going into the game (against Moyer),” Rays third basemen Evan Longoria said. “He throws it just a little bit below hitting speed, and that’s just something you have to plan for.”

“I think he was pretty much vintage Jamie Moyer tonight. He made the pitches when he needed to. And he just kept us off-balance.”

Last night was the club’s first win since June 14, and today is a whole new day. The Phils have to do the same thing and hope their pitching does the job.

Joe Blanton will square off against Matt Garza tonight at the Trop.

Quotes: Phillies

Orioles Down Phillies 7-2, Time to Vent

This isn’t going to be a game recap because I wasn’t there tonight. This is going to be a venting period.

Im tired of watching this team go through the motions every other game. I get the feeling that this team, the defending world champions of baseball, are showing up at the ballpark in Philadelphia expecting the other team to just lay down. I’ve seen it before.

I play the game, and have for over 15 years, I can tell when a team just expects to win and is not work hard at doing it.

What happened to our fans? The most passionate, hard working, victory-craving lunatics who show up and sell-out a ballpark every night to watch their Phillies play competitive baseball and want to win? Where are you right now?

I’ll tell you where your at; you’re in a corner somewhere drinking red kool-aid, because you don’t want to face the fact that this team, our beloved Phillies team, is in trouble.

75…

75 strikeouts on this current homestand. DISGUSTING. Utterly disgraceful.

This team cannot hit in important situation as a whole, and the pitching is beyond brutal. The rotation might be the worst in baseball right now. The bullpen, although tired, stinks.

I expected much more out of this rotation and pen, as a whole, and have gotten squat-ta.

This lineup is striking-out at an alarming rate, a rate that might break records. They have to remember the basics. See the ball, look for contact. You’re gonna hit home runs boys, but first you have make sure the bat touches the ball.

Where is our GM? Our GM who everyday, and has said this in front of my face into my recorder and said that he is always on the phone, always talking to teams, and always looking for the best deal.

Obviously you’re not looking hard enough. Roy Oswalt, Washburn, Jason Marquis, and even Brad Penny are just waiting to hear their name called into the office, to tell them they have just been traded.

Do something about it. YOU owe us, the fans of the Philadelphia Phillies, answers.

Philadelphia Places Raul Ibanez on DL

The Phillies announced this morning that their star outfielder Raul Ibanez was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained groin.

Ibanez was a leader in All-Star votes and the game is scheduled for July 14.

Phillies have called up John Mayberry Jr. from Triple-A to take his place.

Ibanez is hitting .312 with 22 homers and 59 RBIs. He is second in the National League in both home runs and RBIs.

Manager Charlie Manuel noticed the issue last night.

“It looked like tonight when he hit that ball to shortstop he couldn’t turn it on,” Manuel said. “He kind of gimped. I saw that. It looked like it might have been bothering him.”

This probably explains Ibanez’s recent slump in which he hit .194 (6-for-31) in his past seven games.

Phils’ Bats Erupt, Avoid Sweep With Win

The Phillies mostly had one goal going into todays afternoon finale, do not get swept. Well, Philadelphia did its job. The Phillies beat Josh Beckett and the Red Sox 11-6 at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies broke away from the Sox with a massive six-run seventh that snapped a 5-5 tie. Slumping shortstop Jimmy Rollins hit a tie-breaking home run in the seventh, the blast snapped his 0-for-16 hit-less streak.

“The last few days, I’ve been going pretty close to the way I felt at the start of 2007, where my hands are going to the ball, the way I’m seeing the ball,” Rollins said. “All I can do is continue to put good swings on the ball. And if they find some leather, that’s bad; if they find some grass, that’s good.”

Philadelphia rolled from that point.

Third basemen Pedro Feliz led the charge and is now batting an amazing .318 after his 3-for-5 day at the plate. Feliz roped a two-run double, followed by two walks, Rollins gets drilled in the ribs. Shane Victorino came up and got walked to force in another run. The Phils were ahead and were able to find their comfort zone.

Slugger Ryan Howard had a nice ballgame, his two-run double capped a four-run fifth, and he was happy that the long week came to an end with a big win.

“It’s been kind of a rough week, it’s been kind of long,” Howard said. “Especially coming into today and this series, to be able to do what we did today makes it that much more exciting.”

The bullpen put in another long outing today in relief of starter JA Happ. The Phils’ bullpen has been over-used to say the least over the past few days, logging over 24 innings of work.

The worst parts of Happ’s performance came from back-to-back homers from Rocco Baldelli and Nick Green to open up the second. Then in the sixth, Red Sox starter Josh Beckett hit his second career home run at Citizens Bank Park. Beckett is 4-for-10 with two long balls in Philadelphia.

In what was most likely more exciting news than the Phillies win, was the 15-0 drubbing the Yankees put on the Mets this afternoon in New York. The Phils now lead the NL East by four games.

Raul Ibanez Alert:

Ibanez did not play today due to soreness in his left foot; he not expected to miss anymore time according to both Charlie Manuel and Ibanez himself. Ibanez’s cleat was cut down in size in order to relieve any further damage. He should be in the lineup Tuesday when the Phils start their three-game home series with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cole Hamels will mount the rubber on Tuesday.

Phillies-Dodgers: Hamels Does Hollywood in Shutout Win

Cole Hamels has a new relationship, a great one at that. That connection would be with LA’s Dodger Stadium.

Hamels threw only 97 pitches, three over the minimum in his complete-game shutout last night against the Dodgers, 3-0. It was the Phillies first shutout this season.

After the sixth inning, Hamels had only thrown 62 pitches. He was in NLCS form last night.

“Pitch efficiency is something I’ve been trying to work on the past couple of weeks,” Hamels said.

The only thing the Phillies left-handed ace could say after the game is that he liked their mound. Modesty is a fun tool to play with. Hamels also said the most important thing was that they won and kept their winning streak alive, which stands at seven.

Hamels struck out five while walking none, and brought his ERA down to 4.40. The most compelling fact is that Hamels has not lost a game since his dreaded 0-2 start to the season.

“This is the best one he’s pitched this year,” Manuel said. “But I’ve seen him pitch some good ones. This is a good game for him. The way the season has kind of gone so far, this was a very good game for him, confidence-wise.”

By the start of the ninth, he had faced just 25 batters in eight innings. Hamels retired a remarkable 15 out the last 16 Dodgers he faced.

Hamels didn’t do all this alone, he had help. The Phillies defense was immaculate and protected their ace better than they have all season.

The Phillies offense was based on small ball last night, zero long balls. Ryan Howard’s sac fly in the fourth scored Chase Utley. Raul Ibanez continued his tear when he roped a double in the sixth to score center-fielder Jayson Werth.

Werth finished the games scroing with a single in the eighth to score catcher Carlos Ruiz.

The Phillies are 32-20, the second best record in Major League Baseball, and lead the horrid Mets by four games in the NL East.

Jamie Moyer will take the mound tonight in LA, and will face former Phil Eric Milton.

 

Other Note

Shane Victorino said yesterday that his injury is not considered serious at all. He left for precautionary reasons. He could be in the lineup tonight, which would be a huge bonus for the Phils to try and continue their win streak.  

Philidelphia Phillies Need To Stop Playing Guardian

When you look at the Philadelphia Phillies this season, you notice a few things.

One, they are the defending World Champions. Two, their payroll went upwards of around $35 million. Three, they are too protective of their young prospects.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but maybe some have noticed that the Phillies are looking like the New York Yankees right now—just much more likeable and marketable.

Let me explain what I mean.

It looks like the Phillies just lost their number two starting pitcher, Brett Myers, for the rest of the season, but they needed another quality starter two weeks ago.

Now it’s become a dire necessity.

Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has already stated that he is indeed looking outside the organization for pitching help, which is a great sign of things to come. Names that are being thrown around include Jake Peavy of San Diego, Roy Oswalt from Houston, and Erik Bedard from the Mariners. 

The most likely scenario at this point is Bedard. He is younger and much cheaper than Peavy and Oswalt, causing less problems down the line with cost.

But does that really matter?

The Phillies have some pretty desirable talent in their minor league system. Obviously, it’s personnel that can bring in a name such as Peavy. So, if Peavy really wanted to waive his concrete no-trade clause, then why can’t the Phillies give up the likes of a Jason Donald, or Carlos Carrasco?

Simple reason: They’re too protected by this organization. It’s not so much a bad thing, but when you’re the defending champs and the rotation is needing another good arm, those prospects become worthy trade bait.

Carrasco will never make the Phillies. At this point, he is more likely to join AA than to be moved up to the show to start one game.

So why not dump him now? The league seems to have a lot of interest in him.

Donald is probably the one guy who fans would like to think of as the untouchable prospect in their system—though not so much anymore, as he has become very expendable. Donald is a shortstop, so it doesn’t matter what the Phillies did with him in the spring.

So where does this leave him? Jimmy Rollins might be a lifer in Philadelphia along with Chase Utley. That leaves Donald with another three, four, or five years sitting in the minor leagues waiting. If Peavy wants to pitch in Citizens Bank Park in a Phillies uniform, then Donald might be the first one out of town.

The Phillies have become a team that can do what the Yankees have done many times before—win championships with a couple of homegrown talents followed by a few plug-in free agents. Especially when the case is pitching.

In my opinion, the only untouchable prospect in the Phillies’ system is catcher Lou Marson. I’d be extremely hesitant in dealing Marson for any pitcher right now. Carlos Ruiz is 31 years old and could break down at any time, notwithstanding that the catcher position is so hard to come by these days.

Kyle Kendrick, Andrew Carpenter, and Antonio Bastardo have all become valid candidates for new homes in the coming weeks. This start for Bastardo Tuesday is not only an emergency one, but also a “stock” start. Meaning that if Bastardo comes in and throws six or seven quality innings, the Phillies can put that in their back pocket.

Ironic how Bastardo is going up against Jake Peavy in San Diego tomorrow night.

 

All of this is of course one man’s opinion, but from being around the situation, I get the sense that the Phillies play guardian too much sometimes. This pitching situation is deeply wounded right now and a shakeup is inevitable.

I trust Amaro to make the right decision.

I would like to think he is going to do anything possible to get a top-line starter in here sometime this month. I hope that the Phillies don’t protect any prospect, because of the fact I want someone who can come here with an immediate impact rather than someone who I can count on four years from now.

This team doesn’t have four years.

Phillies-Yankees: Ruiz Sends Phillies Fans Home Winners

Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz ripped a two-out double in the 11th inning yesterday to score Chase Utley to secure the both the win and the series against the baseball royalty, the New York Yankees.

This win also capped an 8-2 road trip record that went through Cincinnati, Washington, and culminated in New York yesterday with a 4-3 11-inning victory.

“We earned it,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Charlie isn’t lying when he says that. Brad Lidge continuing his day-to-day horror show for the fans did it again in the ninth yesterday. After giving up the tying run, Lidge settled down and gave the Phils a chance to go ahead and win.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence,” Manuel said. “He’s got a lot of talent. He’s got a big fastball and a good slider. You know what he needs? Just to get ’em out one more time. That’s what he needs. He’s fine.”

‘Today was totally different than yesterday. I felt great. I was throwing the ball where I wanted to,” Lidge said. 

“They got two ground balls that weren’t necessarily hit that well, and a stolen base in there and that was a recipe for a run. The things I was in control of today I feel real good about.”

Carlos Ruiz came up in the 11th inning with the game on the line basically for the Phillies. But, Manuel said after the game that he thought about pinch-hitting for Ruiz. Thank goodness he didnt follow through.

Chase Utley walked to get on base with two outs. Utley stole second base to get in scoring position. Ruiz had a great at-bat, fouling off three pitches before driving in Utley for the winning run with a double to left-field.

“Once he (Utley) stole second base, I knew it was a big at-bat for me,” Ruiz said. “I got a good pitch to hit, and I made good contact.”

Clay Condrey came back to the mound in the bottom of the 11th to secure the win in his second inning of relief work.

Ruiz fininshed the day going 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and a walk. He is .438 with five doubles, one home run, eight RBIs, eight walks, a .550 on-base percentage and .688 slugging percentage in his past nine games.

Cole Hamels was solid on the mound once again and the Phils every chance to push the lead even further. The troubling fact of his start was that he threw 109 pitches though six innings. While Yankees ace CC Sabathia went eight innings barely going over the century mark.

“They’re a tough team and they definitely make you pitch,” Hamels said. “You really have to be more effective earlier in the count because they make you work a lot harder than you should.”

Hamels was surprised with the Mark Teixeira homer in the sixth. The pitch shattered his bat, but Teixeira powered his way to a home run five rows over the left-field wall to bring the Phillies lead to only one, 3-2.

“Most of the time when you hear a broken bat you’re like, ‘OK, that’s a popup,'” Hamels said. “Unfortunately, he’s a strong a guy and he got the barrel on the ball and it just took off. I looked up and saw Jayson Werth run in and I was like, ‘it’s definitely an out,’ but there’s a first for everything. That’s definitely the first broken-bat home run.”

Hamels is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA over his last five starts, thats great news for Phillies fans and the team as a whole.

It was an emotional win for the Phils, their first series in the brand-new palace that is Yankee Stadium. 

Jamie Moyer will look for his second consecutive quality start at Citizens Bank Park tonight as Philadelphia begins a three-game set with the Florida Marlins. The Phillies are 24-18 and are a game and a half over the Mets for tops in the NL East.

 

Note

Shane Victorino continued his dominance over CC Sabathia, going 3-for-5 yesterday against the powerful lefty.

Phillies-Reds: Cole Hamels, Jimmy Rollins Lift Philadelphia to Fifth Straight

On the same day Philadelphia Phillies fans found out that JA Happ would finally replace Chan Ho Park in the starting rotation, Cole Hamels once again defeated the Cincinnati Reds, in Great American Ballpark.

The Phillies beat the Reds 4-3 in a game where Philadelphia’s ace threw a season high 117 pitches to pick up yet another win against the Reds. Hamels is now 3-0 at Great American Ballpark and more importantly 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA in his last four starts.

Ryan Howard got the scoring opened up with his ninth homer in the second inning.

After the Phillies put together a three-run fifth inning to regain the lead for good, the refreshed bullpen took over. Clay Condrey, and Ryan Madson shut down the Reds in the seventh and eighth, with Brad Lidge fashionably closing out his third consecutive appearance.

With the win, it was the Phillies fifth straight(21-16) and keep their hold on first place in the National League East over the Mets.

If you ask Cole Hamels how he felt about the pitch count he had throughout six innings, you might be surprised with his answer.

“I don’t think that’s something I want to do in such a short amount of innings,” Hamels said of throwing 117 pitches.

“Sometimes you need to finish guys off and they keep fouling it off and that just adds to your pitch count. Sometimes it’s a challenging game. The hitters are good. You try and minimize pitches but it’s not always going to work out for me.”

Hamels was not only the star on the mound for the Phils, but perhaps the key component on the offensive side of the game.

Hamels helped his own cause with the bat in his hand also, hitting a single that led to three of their four runs. Pedro Feliz ripped a leadoff double, followed by a Carlos Ruiz flyout. This brings to the plate Cole Hamels. Rather than sacrifice to move Feliz to third, Hamels hit a single to drive in Feliz.

The phrase “hitting is contagious” really rang through after the single by the pitcher. Jimmy Rollins doubled in Hamels, then Chase Utley smacked an RBI single then Raul Ibanez hit a sacrifice fly.  

Back to the Rollins side of things, he is batting .363 (8-for-22) with a double, triple and three RBIs during the Phils current five-game winning streak.

“When he goes, we go,” Howard said. “I don’t think anybody was worried about what was going on. He got off to a slow start, but that’s why you play 162 games. All that matters is where you are at the end.

“If he’s hot at the end of the season and we’re hot at the end of the season, nobody will even remember the slow start. You knew at some point he was going to come back and putting it together. We’re used to it. It’s J-Roll being J-Roll,” Howard added. 

The Phils extended their Major-League leading record on the road to 13-4 and will send Jamie Moyer to mound tonight. Moyer, 46, is still looking for his 250th career victory.

Rollins quote: Daily News

Raul Ibanez’s Tear Earns Him MLB Honors

Raul Ibanez continues to show everyone in baseball that he is fitting in quite well in Philadelphia.

So much so that Ibanez was just named the National League’s Player of the Week.

In the last week, Ibanez totaled 12 RBI, along with nine runs, which topped the NL. His four homers were also second in the entire league.

Ibanez ended the week with an amazing .481 average and a .963 slugging percentage. This award was the fifth of Ibanez’s career, and obviously his first in red and white pinstripes.

Ibanez has a .363 average with 13 dingers and 35 RBI on the season. The 14-year veteran is on pace to have a career year at the age of 36.

Ibanez continues to be a savior for this squad and is looking more and more like the No. 1 offseason pickup for any team this year so far.

 

Werth more than you think?

Jayson Werth was named one of two for the most underrated players in the National League, along with San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez, according to a poll of major league executives and managers conducted by MLB.com.

Cole Hamels Looks To Continue Dominant Form, Raul Ibanez Big Weekend

Cole Hamels might be looking forward to tomorrow’s matchup against the Cincinnati Reds more so than his last start at home with the Dodgers where he threw seven good innings and whiffed nine hitters donning Dodger blue.

Why?

Last season, ‘Hollywood’ Hamels absolutely dominated the Reds, going a perfect 2-0 with a staggering 0.56 ERA and allowing only one run in over 16 innings. The only difference this time around is the Reds are a better team this year, so far.

The Reds are 20-17 and only three games out of first place in the Central. But, on the other foot, the defending world champs just came off of a four-game weekend sweep of the league’s professional AAA ball-club the Washington Nationals.

To defend that comment, the point is the Phillies swept a team they were supposed to beat.

The Phils offense during these last four games were consistent and clutch for perhaps the first time all season, scoring 33 runs in four games, collecting a stellar 49 hits.

The pitching however, was once again average at best. Allowing 22 runs to a terrible Washington Nationals squad who could barely put 22 fans of their own in their ballpark.

The Phils need another good quality start from the ace tomorrow as they embark on on an important three-game series in Cincy. Philadelphia is only a half game back of the division leading Mets, who begin a three-game series out in Los Angeles with the Dodgers.

RAAAAUUULLL and Burrell who?

For those who questioned the age or the potential mistake of signing left-fielder Raul Ibanez, they are definitely hiding in a closet somewhere far away now. Ibanez clubbed three homer runs while driving in nine over the weekend, adding to his already unbelievable stat sheet so far this season.

Ibanez’s profile now looks like this: .357-13HR-35RBI-.425OBP. Although we are only 36 games in to the season, Ibanez outside of San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez is your NL MVP so far.

Pat Burrell, the all-of-sudden lovable son when he was on his way out of here after the World Series victory, was just placed on the 15-day-DL with a stiff neck.

Through 30 games this season that Burrell has played in, his line looks like this: .250-1HR-17RBI-.349OBP. Now, they look all to familiar besides the one dinger.

Basically, maybe a few times this season when Raul makes his jog to left-field, a few can feel obligated to yell, “Burrell who?”

Next Page »