Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals: Jayson Werth Wins Round 1

The endless string of opinions and predictions after Jayson Werth departed from Philadelphia last December were finally given some answers Tuesday night. In the first meeting between the Phillies and their former right fielder, Werth and his Washington Nationals got the upper hand and bested the first place Phils, 7-4. 

Werth, who had been struggling so far this season, went 2-3 and sent one over the left field fence off Joe Blanton in the fifth. I’m sure it was a tidbit of satisfaction for Werth, who was met with a mix of boos and cheers from the Philly fans who made the trek down to D.C.

The Nats had slid Werth from second to third in the line-up to replace the injured Ryan Zimmerman and it paid immediate dividends. He looked more patient at the plate in Tuesday night’s game than he had at any time in the young season. 

Joe Blanton, the “forgotten man” in the Phillies’ starting rotation, was shaky for the second straight start, coughing up five runs in six innings of work. Joe was fine through three innings, but he ran into trouble in the fourth, giving up hits to Jerry Hairston and Wilson Ramos. This allowed the Nationals to grab the lead, and they held on in the later innings to secure the victory. 

No one is hitting the panic button because of Blanton’s struggles just yet. After all, he has the least amount of pressure on him. The fans in Philly are so focused on the top four, Blanton can fly under the radar for now. However, if Big Joe does not produce a quality start soon, the boo birds will be calling for Kyle Kendrick before you know it. 

Ryan Howard snagged his third home run of the season, but the Phils offense never found a rhythm, despite out-hitting Washington 10 hits to nine. Shane Victorino’s five game hitting streak also came to an end tonight. 

Roy Halladay will look to stop the bleeding tomorrow night, as he faces lefty John Lannan. Werth’s knowledge of the Phils gave him the edge tonight, we’ll see if Doc has Jayson’s number Wednesday night. 

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Cole Hamels Dominates the Atlanta Braves and Quiets His Critics

He’s not mentally tough. He stinks. He’s a prima donna. Those were just a few of things some Philadelphia fans were saying after Cole Hamels’ poor first outing against the New York Mets. The criticism is nothing new for Cole in Philly. After a rough ’09 campaign and shaky start in 2010 there has been a raging Anti-Cole sentiment among some of the Phillies’ fan base. 

Thankfully, those fans are not in control of player personnel moves. Cole Hamels came out with a vengeance for his start against the Atlanta Braves. He was cool, calm and collected during his seven innings of dominant work. After striking out eight and keeping the Braves off the score board, Hamels gave way to Ryan Madson and Jose Contreras to finish off the shut-out performance. 

Derek Lowe was solid for Atlanta, but the Phils managed to scrape up a few runs. Shane Victorino led the charge with a couple singles and a home run for good measure.  Victorino was on fire this weekend, going 9 for 13, showing that he is the right choice at the lead-off spot for Philadelphia. 

The Braves offensive woes continued as they managed only four hits against Hamels. So far this season, Atlanta’s offense has been the exact opposite of Philadelphia’s. Where the Phillies have only one starter batting under .300, the Braves’ Brian McCann is the only starter hitting above .300. It is only April and barring any significant injuries it should be a two team race for the N.L East crown, but new manager,  Fredi Gonzalez can’t be happy with this start for the “revamped” Braves lineup. 

Today’s victory gave the Phils the series win and gave the Cole detractors a reason to keep quiet for another five days. The more consistent Hamels is, the more pleasant the streets of downtown Philly will be to walk through this season. 

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Carlos Ruiz: Chooocherific in Philadelphia Phillies’ 10-2 Win over Atlanta

For the first six innings of today’s game, it looked like it would come down to the last frame. Roy Oswalt and Brandon Beachy were plugging away, maneuvering in out of trouble through the early going.

However, in the top of the seventh the Philadelphia Phillies’ offense finally cracked the code. 

After allowing a leadoff double to Raul Ibanez, Beachy was pulled for reliever George Sherrill, who proceeded to load the bases before being yanked. Carlos Ruiz, who had been given the day off, came in to pinch-hit and delivered his first career grand slam off Scott Linebrink to give the Phils a 7-2 lead.

Brian Schneider, who started in place of Ruiz, also sent one over the fence earlier in the game to give his team an early 3-2 lead. 

Oswalt looked solid, scattering five hits over his six innings of work and improving to 2-0. He also got himself out of a crucial bases-loaded situation in the sixth by getting Jason Heyward to fly out to end the inning.

It was Oswalt’s second solid outing to start the season, and a prime example of why the Phillies should be able to rebound after tough losses over the course of the year. When you don’t have a weak link among your top four starters, it gives your team greater ability to limit the length of losing streaks. 

Along with Ruiz and Schneider, Shane Victorino was the other offensive star for the Phils today. Shane-O-Vic went 4-5, scored two runs and stole a base as well. 

The Atlanta Braves‘ offense came back to earth after their six-run effort last night. They put two across the plate in the third inning, but didn’t look in sync for most of the game. They gave Oswalt only one other scare, in the sixth, but didn’t show much patience at the plate. 

The series finale on Sunday will see Cole Hamels trying to rebound from his poor first outing against Derek Lowe, who has been stellar in his first two starts of the season. 

April is notoriously Hamels’ worst month, so a strong outing would make some Phillies fans breathe an early-season sigh of relief. 

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Cliff Lee Struggles for the Philadelphia Phillies, While Antonio Bastardo Shines

I’m not one to get too excited or upset seven games into a 162-game season. So I’m about as ready to jump off the Ben Franklin Bridge after Friday night’s 6-3 loss to the Braves, as I was ready to march down Broad Street after their 11-0 win over the Mets Thursday afternoon.

Cliff Lee had an off night, and the Braves managed two innings of offense for the first time this season. After a shaky start, Tim Hudson settled down and kept the Phils off the scoreboard the rest of the game. 

I prefer to savor the one positive for the Phillies tonight, and that was the work of the bullpen after Lee was forced from the game in the third.

The Braves’ offense went dormant the rest of the game, giving the Phils the chance to get back into it. Antonio Bastardo, in particular, was really sharp in striking out six consecutive batters in his two innings of relief work. 

The Phils’ bullpen will be a source of concern all season and the more quality innings we see early on, the better. If they can manage to build their confidence over the course of the summer, it’ll only make things easier should the Phillies get into the postseason again. 

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