Friday, July 8, 2011
PHILADELPHIA-Ryan Howard got the Phillies on the board first in this game, as he started the bottom of the 2nd with a shot into the right-center field stands. Dom Brown proceeded to single, and 2 outs later, Wilson Valdez moved the speedy right fielder to third with a light single to right field. Roy Halladay gave himself some insurance, adding a single of his own to score Brown. Jonathan Lucroy helped the Brewers fire back as he began the 3rd with a single. Shaun Marcum continued the rally, sacrificing Lucroy over to 2nd. A Nyjer Morgan groundout allowed Lucroy to advance to 3rd, and Corey Hart scored him with a double that dropped into left field. The Phillies offense made him feel better about it, as Chase Utley and Ryan Howard notched back-to-back doubles, Howard's scoring Utley. The team kept on chugging, as Ross Gload and Wilson Valdez managed back-to-back singles to begin the bottom of the 4th. Roy Halladay helped his own cause once again with another sac bunt to move them over a base, and a fielder's choice on a Shane Victorino led to Ross Gload scoring. The Phillies would tack on another run, as Placido Polanco singled in Valdez. The "Fightin' Phils" extended their lead once more just an inning later, as Chris Snyder doubled and later scored on a Ross Gload single. Ryan Howard would ultimately blow away the "Brew Crew"'s hopes of winning with a grand slam in the bottom of the 6th that scored Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco, and Chase Utley.His team added on with a pair of homers, one in the 6th by Dom Brown, and one in the 7th by Chase Utley. The Brewers managed only one more run off Halladay, and it wasn't even his fault.In the 9th, Ross Gload misplayed a ball that dropped into left field, and Rickie Weeks legged out an inside-the-parker. Halladay finished them off and completed the dominant outing with 11 strikeouts, and only 2 runs on 7 hits. His red-hot offense collected a total of 20 hits, 4 of them homers, and led the way to an utter blowout.
| MIL at PHI - Citizens Bank Park | ||||||||||||
| Apr 18, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Milwaukee Brewers (8-8) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| Philadelphia Phillies (8-7) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | X | 12 | 20 | 2 |
| W: Halladay (2-2) L: Marcum (0-2) | ||||||||||||
| Scoring Summary | ||||
| SCORING DETAILS | MIL | PHI | ||
 | BOT 2nd | Howard homers | 0 | 1 |
| BOT 2nd | Halladay singles, D.Brown scores | 0 | 2 |
 | TOP 3rd | Hart doubles, Lucroy scores | 1 | 2 |
| BOT 3rd | Howard doubles, Utley scores | 1 | 3 |
| BOT 4th | Victorino grounds out, Gload scores (FC) | 1 | 4 |
| BOT 4th | Polanco singles, W.Valdez scores | 1 | 5 |
| BOT 5th | Gload singles, C.Snyder scores | 1 | 6 |
| BOT 6th | Howard homers, Victorino, Polanco, and Utley score (GS) | 1 | 10 |
| BOT 6th | D.Brown homers | 1 | 11 |
| BOT 7TH | Utley homers | 1 | 12 |
| TOP 9th | R.Weeks homers (inside-the-park) | 2 | 12 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Morgan CF | 4 | 0 | 2 | |||||
| Hart RF | 4 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Fielder 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| R.Braun LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| McGehee 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| R.Weeks 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Y.Betancourt SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Lucroy C | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Gamel (PH) | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Kottaras C | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Marcum P | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Kotsay (PH) | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| S.Green P | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Loe P | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Counsell (PH) | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Saito P | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| BATTING: 2B: Hart HR: R.Weeks (1) | ||||||||
| BASERUNNING: SB: R.Weeks (7) | ||||||||
| Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Victorino CF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Polanco 3B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Utley 2B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Howard 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | ||
| D.Brown RF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| C.Snyder C | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Gload LF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| W.Valdez SS | 5 | 1 | 4 | |||||
| Halladay P | 4 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| BATTING: 2B: Howard, C.Snyder, W.Valdez HR: Utley (9), Howard 2 (7), D.Brown (4) | ||||||||
| Milwaukee Brewers | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Marcum (L) | 4 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| S.Green | 1.2 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Loe | 1.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Saito | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Halladay (W) | 9 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 1 | |
| PITCHING: WP: Halladay | ||||||||
Thursday, July 7, 2011
The Brewers will certainly have a harder task than Worley in Roy Halladay. Their pitching, meanwhile, is in the bottom half of the league for team earned run average at 4.12. It's surprising, of course, because of the team's offseason trades for starting pitching. The guy who's starting in Game 1 of this 3-game set, Shaun Marcum, along with 09' AL Cy Young winner Zack Greinke, were expected to attribute to a better pitching staff, although it hasn't happened so far. Marcum will get the first chance to get the pitching going against a hot Phillies offense, particularly Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Here's his and Roy's stats so far this season:
Phillies vs Brewers: Tale of the Tape
--------------------------------------------------
RHP Roy Halladay
This season: 3 GS, 17.1 IP, 1-2, 5.71 ERA, 9 K, 3 BB, .268 BA
Last start: 4/13 vs Nationals: 8 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 K, HR (L 3-2)
VS
RHP Shaun Marcum
This season: 3 GS, 17.2 IP, 0-1, 3.06 ERA, 14 K, 7 BB, .235 BAA
Last start: 4/13 vs Pirates: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K, HR (W 5-2)
Halladay has been surprisingly unsuccessful this season, and it continued his last start, against the Nationals, where he went 8 innings, allowing 3 runs (only 1 earned) with 3 strikeouts and a homer allowed. He has an ERA above 5 and facing the Brewers lineup doesn't help. Marcum lasted 6 innings, also allowing a homer on 3 hits in his last start.He has been decent this season, although averaging a walk every two strikeouts through 3 games isn't appealing. Let's look at what starting lineups they'll face for tonight's game:
Starting Lineups
---------------------
Phillies
Shane Victorino CF
Placido Polanco 3B
Chase Utley 2B
Ryan Howard 1B
Domonic Brown RF
Chris Snyder C
Ross Gload LF
Wilson Valdez SS
Roy Halladay P
VS
Brewers
Nyjer Morgan CF
Corey Hart RF
Prince Fielder 1B
Ryan Braun LF
Casey McGehee 3B
Rickie Weeks 2B
Yuniesky Betancourt SS
Jonathan Lucroy C
Shaun Marcum P
Chase Utley has maintained his status as one of the best players in the league right now over the past few games, and he doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Ryan Howard,or as he is affectionately called, "The Big Piece", has been pretty good as well, but neither has gotten a day off this year, and you have to wonder if they'll be affected by it. Besides those two, another thing that's noticeable about the lineup is the Phillies debut of Chris Snyder, batting 6th. As for the Brewers, they have good players at about every position. The main two Roy Halladay could have trouble with are the two All-Stars, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. The Phillies gave Jimmy Rollins, Ben Francisco and Carlos Ruiz the day off, but Shane Victorino returns to the lineup. Raul Ibanez won't return to the lineup until he is fully healed, but he probably will be available to pinch-hit if needed.
Ben Francisco will see most of the playing time in left field, but Ross Gload will also get a chance.
Summary
-----------------
Roy Halladay looks to get back on track against a good Brewers lineup. The Phillies should be able to score runs off Shaun Marcum, even without some of their starters in. Chris Snyder makes his Phillies debut, and Raul Ibanez is out of the lineup. If Chase Utley and/or Ryan Howard hit good and Halladay backs them up with good pitching, this game could be more one-sided than you think.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
They got their man in Chris Snyder, who was initially thought to to back up Carlos Ruiz, but due to Ruiz's offensive struggles, Snyder was acquired to start behind the plate and provide more power at the bottom of the order. It's a bit of a shocking move to Phillies fans, who know what Carlos is capable of offensively, but Snyder's contract expires this offseason, and Ruiz presumably will be the starter again if Snyder leaves (if not before).
The most surprising part is that Puleo jumped so quickly to grab Snyder and push Ruiz out of the lineup.
All in all, after comparing the two catchers, the Phillies aren't losing too much defensively, as Snyder is a pretty good defender. On the offensive side, meanwhile, Snyder was batting .350 (7 for 20) with 3 RBIs, 3 runs scored, and 3 walks through 6 games with Pittsburgh. Ruiz has struggled lately, going 9 for 43 (.209 AVG.) and 3 RBIs through 12 games, but has always prided himself in defense and it's showed. Snyder's 4.60 million contract expires after this season, and he is expected to be retained as, at the worst, a backup to Carlos and a pinch-hitter when the team needs the longball or extra bases.
The Pirates received C Brian Schneider and a low-level pitching prospect in return for Snyder.
Schneider had batted 4 for 14 (.286) with a pair of doubles and RBIs in 4 games with the Phillies. Pittsburgh has a bit of a logjam now at catcher, with Ryan Doumit starting and also rookie Mike McKenry in the mix as a backup along with Schneider.
In the minors, the team has Wyatt Toregas, who spent some time in the majors with the Indians, as well as a duo of 28-year-olds in Jason Jaramillo and Dusty Brown. If you go further, the team has Eric Fryer and Tony Sanchez waiting in the wings, with Fryer playing at the AA and AAA level, and Sanchez toiling in A and AA.
Schneider is earning 1.20 million this season, and his contract expires this offseason. Ryan Doumit, who can also play first and some outfield, gives some versatility in case the Pirates choose to retain him, as his 4.80 million comes off the books after this year. He has been serviceable in his time as a Pirate, and if they do choose to bring back the 30-year-old, it would probably be as a stop gap until A)One of the catchers with major league experience brings something to the table on the batting side or B)One of their younger catchers proves to be major-league ready.
The situation leaves the Phillies with an interesting choice between Ruiz and Snyder that should be monitored throughout the season. The Pirates get another option at catcher or another potential stop gap for the team's younger catchers.
The Phillies made a few other minor moves besides this one, the first signing P Shawn Hill to a minor-league contract and sent him to AAA Lehigh Valley. The 6'2" right-hander pitched 20 and 2/3 innings with the Blue Jays in 4 games last year, going 1-2 with a 2.61 ERA and also striking out 14. He pitched in Spring Training with the Marlins and was released after not making the big league club. He's slated to immediately join the Ironpigs' rotation due to the ineffectiveness of some of the team's starters, including Ryan Feierabend (2 GS: 9.2 IP,0-2, 5.59 ERA,1.75 K/BB), who signed on to a minor league deal and was invited to Spring Training by the Phils' earlier in the year. Feierabend will now operate in long relief with experience as a starter and reliever in the minors over his career.
Hill could be a spot starter or long reliever for the Phillies, depending on how he does at AAA and how the Phillies' rotation shakes out.
In another move, John Mayberry Jr. was optioned to AAA to make room for the return of Raul Ibanez. Ibanez had been out since early-March with a torn groin muscle, and he still has a chance of getting re-injured, so they will ease him back into the lineup. For now, Ben Francisco will continue playing left field in place of Ibanez until he is back to full health.
Mayberry Jr. collected 5 hits in 13 at-bats and an RBI off the bench. He'll return to everyday playing time in the minors until the Phillies need an outfielder.
A few veterans got a chance to start fresh in the last slew of transactions:
The White Sox signed OF Milton Bradley and sent him to AAA Charlotte.
Bradley last played for the Mariners, in 2010, where he batted a measly .205 (50 for 244) with 9 doubles, 9 homers, 29 RBIs, and a triple in 73 games. The 11-year veteran was thought to be the starting left fielder for the team this season, but was beaten out by rookie Carlos Peguero and was later released. Bradley joins a pool of experienced outfielders in Charlotte: fellow 33-year-old Juan Pierre as well as 27-year-olds Brent Lillibridge and Alejandro de Aza.
The Dodgers signed C Chad Moeller and sent him to AAA Alberquerque.
Moeller spent most of the 2010 season with the Yankees, playing for the major league team as well as their AAA affiliate, the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees. He managed 3 hits, all doubles, in 14 at-bats with New York. Moeller is set to turn 37 this offseason, and is probably just on the Dodgers for depth. He's on the down side of his career and is expected to retire after the season.
The Yankees signed IF/OF Oscar Salazar.
Salazar made his major league debut in 2002 with the Tigers, at the age of 24, before losing the 2003 season to shoulder surgery. He went on to spend 2004 with the AAA Buffalo Bisons, the Indians' AAA affiliate at that time. After that season, Salazar played in the Mexican League and would join the Orioles organization in 2007 before finally getting back to the majors in 2008. He was traded to the Padres and spent 2008-2011 with the team before being released in 2011 Spring Training. He played a bit with the New Orleans Zephyrs, the Marlins' AAA affiliate, before being released again.
It's a bit ironic that the soon-to-be 33-year-old journeyman, who's changed teams multiple times, joins a team that has experienced the most success of all major sports in the Yankees.
Salazar offers the ability to play more than one position but lacks in defense. For now, he'll fill a bench role for the Yankees.
The Red Sox signed OF Jose Guillen and sent him to AAA Pawtucket.
Guillen played in 2010 with the Royals and Giants, and was part of the Giants run towards the playoffs. He hit 5 doubles, 3 home runs, and collected 15 runs batted in over 128 at-bats down the stretch for San Francisco.Unfortunately for Guillen, he suffered a neck injury and was left off the team's playoff roster.
He turns 35 this May, and probably is on his last legs, but could climb back up to the bigs for a team that needs extra bases in a pinch.
That's all in a semi-busy week of transactions in Major League Baseball. The next update of baseball's happenings will be from the 18th to the 24th of April.
PHILADELPHIA-The Phillies scored first, as usual, as Jimmy Rollins lead off the game with a double and moved over to third on a Chase Utley fly-out to right field with 1 out. Ryan Howard continued his power stroke, as he hit a double that just dropped into left-center field and bounced off the wall to score Rollins and gave the Phillies the early lead. The Phils' padded their lead later in the 3rd, as Chase Utley hit the first pitch of his at-bat for a homer into the right field stands, his 8th of the season. Ryan Howard decided to go back to back, as he dropped a home run just into the second row in right field for his 5th of the season. The Marlins got their offense started in the 4th as Hanley Ramirez collected a 1-out single and scored on a double to right-center field by Gaby Sanchez. Roy Oswalt kept his composure and picked up two straight outs to get out of the inning. His offense redeemed him with yet another run, as a J-Roll 1-out single was followed by a single by Placido Polanco right through the hole between second and first base. Chase Utley picked up another RBI as he doubled into right-center and Rollins scored. Ryan Howard kept it going with another hit as he lined one over the second base bag into shallow center field to score Polanco and Utley. Anibal Sanchez finally left the game, but Burke Badenhop wasn't much better.Domonic Brown doubled to move over Howard, and Badenhop proceeded to allow two runs on a single by Ben Francisco that scored Howard and Brown. Badenhop got out of the inning and Ryan Webb would relieve him in the 5th. In the 6th, Hanley Ramirez tried to cut the deficit again as he singled and scored on another Gaby Sanchez double, but Roy Oswalt would get out of the inning without allowing any more runs. He shut down the Marlins until the 9th, when he handed the reigns over to Andrew Bailey, who came in and put away the Marlins' hopes of a comeback.
| FLA at PHI - Citizens Bank Park | ||||||||||||
| Apr 15, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Florida Marlins (8-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| Philadelphia Phillies (6-6) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 8 | 14 | 1 |
| W: Oswalt (2-1) L: A.Sanchez (1-1) | ||||||||||||
| Scoring Summary | ||||
| SCORING DETAILS | FLA | PHI | ||
| BOT 1st | Howard doubles, Rollins scores | 0 | 1 |
| BOT 3rd | Utley homers | 0 | 2 |
| BOT 3rd | Howard homers | 0 | 3 |
 | TOP 4th | G.Sanchez doubles, H.Ramirez scores | 1 | 3 |
| BOT 4th | Utley doubles, Rollins scores | 1 | 4 |
| BOT 4th | Howard singles, Polanco and Utley score | 1 | 6 |
| BOT 4th | B.Francisco singles, Howard and D.Brown score | 1 | 8 |
| TOP 6th | G.Sanchez doubles, H.Ramirez scores | 2 | 8 |
| Florida Marlins | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Bonifacio 3B | 4 | 1 | ||||||
| Infante 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| H.Ramirez SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| G.Sanchez 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Buck C | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Coghlan CF | 4 | 0 | 3 | |||||
| Wise RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| A.Romero LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| A.Sanchez P | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Badenhop P | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Dobbs (PH) | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| R.Webb P | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| O.Martinez (PH) | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| BATTING: 2B: G.Sanchez 2 3B: Bonifacio | ||||||||
| Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Rollins SS | 5 | 2 | 4 | |||||
| Polanco 3B | 5 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Utley 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Howard 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | |||
| D.Brown RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| B.Francisco LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Mayberry Jr. CF | 4 | 2 | ||||||
| Ruiz C | 4 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Oswalt P | 3 | 0 | ||||||
| BATTING: 2B: Utley, Rollins, Howard, D.Brown HR: Utley (8), Howard (5) | ||||||||
| Florida Marlins | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| A.Sanchez (L) | 3.1 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Badenhop | 2/3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| R.Webb | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Choate | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Oswalt (W) | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Bailey | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| PITCHING: WP: Oswalt | ||||||||
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
"Are we disappointed that we're under .500? Yeah, sure. But does that mean we have to ship off someone who's struggling? I don't know that we're gonna jump on guys this early in the season. Could you see a few moves by the end of the month? Maybe, if we see a guy who could help us out. I think you'll see more moves by the draft or the All-Star break, where we can better assess who will fit the team and who won't." "That's around the time where you'll know who is part of our future plans."
For now, it looks like the Phillies will roll with what they've got and hope they do well.
Meanwhile, the Marlins have done pretty well coming into the team's first meeting with the Phillies, maintaining competitiveness(1/2 game back) with the first-place Mets. They've seen some nice outings from the top of the rotation by Josh Johnson (3 GS,2-1, 2.66 ERA,21 K) and Ricky Nolasco (3 GS, 1-1, 2.45 ERA, 16 K), while the bottom third has been interchangeable. One of the bottom third in the Marlins' current rotation is Anibal Sanchez, who will start in the opener of this series. He'll be opposed by two-time All-Star Roy Oswalt. Let's look at the stats for both pitchers as they each make their third starts of the season:
Phillies vs Marlins: Tale of the Tape
--------------------------------------------
RHP Roy Oswalt
This season: 2 GS,16 IP,1-1,3.38 ERA,10 K,5 BB,6 R, .172 BAA
Last start: 4/9 vs Braves:8.2 IP,2 R,6 K (W 4-2)
VS
RHP Anibal Sanchez
This season: 2 GS,11.2 IP,1-0,3.09 ERA,8 K,11 B,4 R,.233 BAA
Last start: 4/9 vs Astros: 7 IP,2 R,4 BB,4 SO (W 3-2)
Oswalt and Sanchez both pitched last on the 9th of April, and effectively, as they each allowed only 2 runs and pitched into the late innings .Both of the pitchers gained a win from their most recent starts, though their teams lost in their first starts of the season, Oswalt allowing 4 runs and walking four in a 6-3 loss to his former team, the Astros, and Sanchez taking the no-decision after allowing 2 runs through 4 and walking 7 2/3 innings against the Mets.
One stat to look out for is that Sanchez is sporting a unimpressive 0.73 K/BB (8 K,11 BB) so far this season.
With a few injuries to important players such as Mike Stanton and Logan Morrison, the perfect time for the Phillies to get back on track is now. One of the reasons the Marlins are keeping competitive so far even with some injuries is the efficiency of the pitching and other Marlins hitters such as Gaby Sanchez, who is hitting .327 with 3 bombs and 11 RBI and 7 runs scored, and Hanley Ramirez, who is hitting a nice .273 with a pair of homers and stolen bases as well as 4 runs batted in.
The Marlins are without their main power source in Mike Stanton, so Roy Oswalt is mainly pitching to contact here. The Marlins are relying on Hanley and Gaby Sanchez to score most of their runs.
For the Phillies, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard have been irreplaceable, Utley especially, who has been lighting up pitching to the tune of a .438 average with 7 homers, 13 RBI, and a few stolen bases as well. Domonic Brown has lived up to his potential so far this season, as advertised, a good contact hitter who can get on base (.366 AVG., .458 OBP) and has speed (5 2B, 7 R). Here's the rest of the Phillies lineup as well as the Marlins':
Starting Lineups
----------------------
Phillies
Jimmy Rollins SS
Placido Polanco 3B
Chase Utley 2B
Ryan Howard 1B
Dom Brown RF
Ben Francisco LF
John Mayberry Jr. CF
Carlos Ruiz C
Roy Oswalt P
VS
Marlins
Emilio Bonifacio 3B
Omar Infante 2B
Hanley Ramirez SS
Gaby Sanchez 1B
John Buck C
Chris Coghlan CF
Dewayne Wise RF
Alex Romero LF
Anibal Sanchez P
Summary
---------------
The middle of the order in Utley,Howard,and Brown are batting really well to start this season, and they could keep it going against Sanchez. Roy Oswalt has to take advantage of a lineup without Mike Stanton. The only other power sources are Hanley Ramirez and (somewhat) Gaby Sanchez and John Buck. The rest of the lineup is mainly contact hitters (Coghlan, Infante, Bonifacio).
If the Phillies get Oswalt some runs, they'll probably win this one.
PHILADELPHIA-The Phillies got on the board first in this one,as a Shane Victorino 2-out double into the right-center field gap scored Jimmy Rollins in the 3rd. Chase Utley followed with a two-run blast to left field. Ryan Howard padded the lead to 4 with a solo shot to deep left field. John Mayberry Jr. and Domonic Brown kept the inning going with back-to-back singles.A Brian Schneider double scored Brown, moved Mayberry Jr. to third, and chased Zimmermann from the game.Tyler Clippard was able to get out of the inning, though, and Ryan Howard got the offense going again later in the top of the 5th with a double. He scored on a single by Domonic Brown to give the Phillies a 6-0 lead. The Nationals finally got to Joe Blanton in the bottom of the 5th as Wilson Ramos started a rally with a single and moved over to second from a single by Danny Espinosa. Roger Bernadina then hit a grounder to Chase Utley, who threw to 2nd.By the fielder's choice, Wilson Ramos moved to third, and Bernadina was safe at 1st.Then,Rick Ankiel lined out right to Chase Utley, who threw to first to try and get out Bernadina. His throw went over Ryan Howard's head, though, and Ramos scored. Joe Blanton would get out of the inning and start off the 6th with a hit of his own, and J-Roll singled him over to second. Shane Victorino then flew out to left field and Blanton,who had a bit of a lead, was thrown out going back to second.Chase Utley made up for his errant throw with a two-run shot. Ryan Howard added on with his 2nd homer of the game and his 4th of the year.In the bottom of the 6th, Ryan Zimmerman tried to start a rally again with a one-out single. Joe Blanton struck out Jayson Werth, but allowed back-to-back singles to Adam LaRoche and Wilson Ramos. The single by Ramos scored Zimmerman, but the Nationals were stopped again before any more damage could be done. Later, in the 8th, Shane Victorino was able to get a 2-out single, and scored on yet another Chase Utley homerun. In the bottom of the 8th, the Nationals hit 4 straight singles and collected a total of 4 runs. Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche started it off, then a third straight single by Ramos scored Werth, and finally a Danny Espinosa single moved LaRoche to third. Roger Bernadina proceeded to hit a sac fly that scored LaRoche, and Brian Bixler pinch-hit and scored both Ramos and Espinosa on yet another single. J.C. Romero stopped the bleeding after Joe Blanton and Antonio Bastardo combined to allow the 4 runs. An inning later, with new closer Andrew Bailey on the mound, Ryan Zimmerman started a rally again with, you guessed it, a 1-out single. Bailey was able to strikeout Werth, but allowed another single to LaRoche. He finally finished the game by getting Wilson Ramos to groundout.
| PHI at WAS - Nationals Park | ||||||||||||
| Apr 12, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Philadelphia Phillies (5-4) | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 20 | 1 |
| Washington Nationals (5-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 0 |
| W: Blanton (1-0) L: Zimmermann (0-1) | ||||||||||||
| Scoring Summary | ||||
| SCORING DETAILS | PHI | WAS | ||
| TOP 3rd | Victorino doubles, Rollins scores | 1 | 0 |
| TOP 3rd | Utley homers, Victorino scores | 3 | 0 |
| TOP 3rd | Howard homers | 4 | 0 |
| TOP 3rd | Schneider doubles, D.Brown scores | 5 | 0 |
| TOP 5th | D.Brown singles, Howard scores | 6 | 0 |
 | BOT 5th | E4 (Utley errant throw to first, Ramos scores) | 6 | 1 |
| TOP 6th | Utley homers, Rollins scores | 8 | 1 |
| TOP 6th | Howard homers | 9 | 1 |
| BOT 6th | Ramos singles, Zimmerman scores | 9 | 2 |
| TOP 8th | Utley homers, Victorino scores | 11 | 2 |
| BOT 8th | Ramos singles, Werth scores | 11 | 3 |
| BOT 8th | Bernadina sac. fly, A.LaRoche scores | 11 | 4 |
| BOT 8th | Bixler (PH) singles, Ramos and Espinosa score | 11 | 6 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Rollins SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| Victorino CF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Utley 2B | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 | ||||
| Howard 1B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | ||||
| D.Brown RF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Mayberry Jr. LF | 5 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Schneider C | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| W.Valdez 3B | 5 | 0 | .000 | |||||
| Blanton P | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| BATTING: 2B: Rollins, Victorino, Utley, Howard, Schneider HR: Utley 3 (7), Howard 2 (4) | ||||||||
| BASERUNNING: CS: Mayberry Jr. | ||||||||
| FIELDING: E: Utley (1) | ||||||||
| Washington Nationals | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Desmond SS | 5 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| L.Nix CF | 5 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Zimmerman 3B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Werth RF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| A.LaRoche 1B | 5 | 1 | 4 | |||||
| Ramos C | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| Espinosa 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Bernandina LF | 3 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Zimmermann P | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Clippard P | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Ankiel (PH) | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Coffey P | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Hairston Jr. (PH) | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Storen P | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Bixler (PH) | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| BATTING: 2B: A.LaRoche | ||||||||
| Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Blanton (W) | 7.1 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Bastardo | 1/3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bailey | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| PITCHING: WP: Blanton | ||||||||
| Washington Nationals | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Zimmermann (L) | 2.2 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Clippard | 2.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Coffey | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Storen | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| H.Rodriguez | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
Phillies at Nationals:Tale of the Tape
--------------------------------------------------
RHP Joe Blanton
4/6 vs Mets: 6.2 IP,5 H,4 K (L 0-4)
VS
RHP Jordan Zimmermann
4/11 VS Bisons (AAA): 6 1/3 IP,5 H,2 R,7 K, 1 BB (W 3-2)
Tom Gorzelanny was scheduled to pitch this game after the Nationals changed up their rotation order and their bullpen, but he had pitched 6 innings against the Mets right before the day off.Instead of skipping to another pitcher,Jordan Zimmermann was recalled from AAA Syracuse to make the start in what will be his season debut. He wasn't a part of the Nationals Opening Day rotation, so he was in AAA and was probably recalled just for this game. The confusion will be settled after this game, and the Nationals expect their rotation order to be back on track.
As for Blanton, he looks to earn his first win of the season after taking a no-decision in a 4-0 loss to the Mets.
This looks like a matchup between two vulnerable pitchers who could easily be lit up or throw a complete game. It could go either way, and it seems the offenses will decide who wins this one.
And with that, let's look at how the lineups stack up for both teams:
Starting Lineups
---------------------
Phillies
Jimmy Rollins SS
Shane Victorino CF
Chase Utley 2B
Ryan Howard 1B
Domonic Brown RF
John Mayberry Jr. LF
Brian Schneider C
Wilson Valdez 3B
Joe Blanton P
at
Nationals
Ian Desmond SS
Laynce Nix CF
Ryan Zimmerman 3B
Jayson Werth RF
Adam LaRoche 1B
Wilson Ramos C
Danny Espinosa 2B
Roger Bernadina LF
Jordan Zimmermann P
Jayson Werth faces the Phillies for the first time since joining the Nationals, and he's batting cleanup for the Nationals after batting mostly 5th and 6th in his three years with Philadelphia. Werth isn't the only Nationals hitter that the Phillies have to look out for though, along with perennial Gold Glover Ryan Zimmerman (who is batting .382) and up-and-coming rookies Wilson Ramos and Danny Espinosa. The Nationals also have a nice bench, with players such as veterans Rick Ankiel and Jerry Hairston, as well as 1st baseman/corner outfielder Mike Morse and C Jesus Flores available. The Phillies, meanwhile, altered their lineup a bit, with Wilson Valdez and Brian Schneider both making their second starts of the season. John Mayberry Jr. also starts today in left field, in place of Ben Francisco. Raul Ibanez will come of the disabled list soon, though. It's an interesting situation to watch, because as we know, Ibanez will quickly be gotten rid of if he doesn't contribute. Chase Utley and Domonic Brown are hitting well to start off the season, and there's a good chance that they can keep it going with young Jordan Zimmermann on the mound.
Summary
------------
Phillies face Jayson Werth. Chase Utley and Dom Brown are hot.
Two pitchers face off that could pitch very good or very bad. This game is probably decided by the amount of runs scored and by the bullpen holding whatever lead either team has.
This has been our Phillies-Nationals Game 1 preview. The final score and stats will come up next.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Here's a look at what's happened around the league over the first week or so of the season:
The Phillies acquired P Andrew Bailey from the A's for three prospects. Bailey will immediately be the closer, and Ryan Madson will go back to setting up. It's a bit of a homecoming for Bailey, who is a native of Voorhees Township, New Jersey and first played baseball at Paul VI High School in Haddonfield, also in New Jersey.
The 26-year old has a 2.08 ERA with 5 K through 4 1/3 IP this season. He has a career ERA (including this season) of 1.71 and has collected 138 career strikeouts, 91 coming in his rookie year of 2009.
"The fact that we were able to get Andrew (Bailey) will greatly improve our bullpen," Phils' GM Nick Puleo said during an afternoon press confrence on the Phillies off day. "We knew he had good stuff, and we trust he'll be able to handle the 9th inning situation consistently," "We needed a guy who we are confident will be able to shut down teams 1-2-3 in the 9th inning, and Andrew was one of the guys we were looking at," he continued.
The Phillies traded P Brad Lidge to the Indians for P Vinnie Pestano.
It's rumored Lidge was dealt because of being injury-prone and the fact that he isn't always consistent.
Pestano is a young reliever probably made for middle relief who spent some time with the Indians late last year.He had a 3.60 ERA, struck out 8, walked 5,and allowed 2 runs through 5 games with Cleveland this season. The 26-year-old righty was sent to AAA Lehigh Valley.
GM Nick Puleo offered some words on the trade during the press confrence: "We like what we've seen from him (Pestano)over the past year or so." "We offered Brad (Lidge) a chance to close somewhere else now that we have Andrew (Bailey) here. Cleveland called us and I think we got a good young pitcher in return."
When asked where he expects Pestano to pitch this season: "I think Vin could be up here with the big league club soon. We'll see how he does with Lehigh Valley." When asked what role Pestano will likely serve if called up: "I think if he comes up, we're going to put him in low-pressure situations first, like in the middle innnings. If he can handle those, you might see him in the late innings getting save chances."
When asked if this is a step towards getting younger: "I'd say so. From the bullpen standpoint, you've got Antonio (Bastardo) and (Mike) Stutes, and then Vinnie, those are some guys who could have a future at the back end of our bullpen."
From these words, we can gain that the Phils' management thinks fairly high of the California native. He could see some innings as a middle reliever due to the Phils' abundance of veterans on the bubble in the bullpen, but we'll have to see how he does at AAA first.
The team also picked up soon-to-be 35-year-old righty Kelvim Escobar to make up for the loss of a few lower-level pitching prospects going to the A's in the Andrew Bailey deal. Escobar will report to AA Reading and could be a starter for the team. The 12-year veteran last pitched in '09 with the Angels, only playing 1 game. His last full season of work was in '07,also with the Angels, when he went 18-7 with a 3.40 ERA, 160 K, and threw 3 complete games in 30 starts.He has had shoulder problems over the past few years, so don't expect him to climb back to the majors.
In other news, Billy Wagner officialy filed his retirement papers and was released by the Braves. The 38-year-old closer finishes his illustrious career with a 47-40 record, 2.31 ERA, and 422 saves.
That's all for this edition of "Around the League", and our next edition will be for April 10th to the 16th.
PHILADELPHIA-Chase Utley continued his torrid streak and began the scoring in the top of the 1st with a two-run shot to right field after a Placido Polanco single. Ryan Howard almost padded the lead with a homer of his own, but settled for a double as he smashed a hit off the right field wall. John Mayberry Jr. contributed in his first at-bat of the season with a 2-out single that dropped into center field and scored Howard to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead early. Cliff Lee held his own in the Braves half of the 1st, needing just 10 pitches to shut down the 1st three Braves in order. The Braves finally got something going in the 3rd, with Martin Prado and Chipper Jones notching back-to-back 2-out singles. Dan Uggla was retired though, and Cliff Lee kept pitching good, retiring the side in the 4th on 3 pitches. Domonic Brown would add on 2 more runs with a double in the top of the 8th to extend the lead to 5. The Braves then mounted a two-out rally in the bottom of the 8th in a surprising change of events. A string of four straight singles added up to three runs, and then Cliff Lee exited after allowing the 5th straight hit. With runners on 1st and 2nd,2 outs and the score then 5-3, Brad Lidge was able to quickly strike out Eric Hinske to finally end the inning. The Phillies were shut down by Peter Moylan in the top of the 9th, and in the the bottom half, pinch-hitter Jordan Schafer continued the Braves comeback with a blooper that dropped in to left and reached second. He scored as Martin Prado dropped another single into left field. Ryan Madson was able to get Chipper Jones to fly out, but a Dan Uggla triple off the wall in center field tied the game. Antonio Bastardo was brought in with 1 out in hopes to collect two quick outs and get out of the inning. He got out Brian McCann, but served up a fastball to Jason Heyward that was drilled to center field for a walk-off 2-run homer to end the game.
| PHI at ATL - Turner Field | ||||||||||||
| Apr 8, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Philadelphia Phillies (3-3) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 0 |
| Atlanta Braves (3-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 0 |
| W: Venters (1-1) L: Madson (0-1) | ||||||||||||
| Scoring Summary | ||||
| SCORING DETAILS | PHI | ATL | ||
| TOP 1st | Utley homers, Polanco scores | 2 | 0 |
| TOP 1st | Mayberry Jr. singles, Howard scores | 3 | 0 |
| TOP 8th | D.Brown doubles, Utley and Howard score | 5 | 0 |
 | BOT 8th | Heyward singles, Uggla scores | 5 | 1 |
| BOT 8th | A.Gonzalez singles, McCann and Heyward score | 5 | 3 |
| BOT 9th | Prado singles, Schafer scores | 5 | 4 |
| BOT 9th | Uggla triples, Prado scores | 5 | 5 |
| BOT 9th | Heyward homers, Uggla scores | 5 | 7 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Victorino CF | 5 | 1 | ||||||
| Polanco 3B | 5 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Utley 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Howard 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | |||||
| D.Brown RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Mayberry Jr. LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Ruiz C | 4 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| W.Valdez SS | 4 | 0 | 2 | |||||
| C.Lee P | 3 | 0 | ||||||
| BATTING: 2B: Victorino, Howard 2, Brown HR: Utley (3) | ||||||||
| Atlanta Braves | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Prado LF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| C.Jones 3B | 5 | 1 | ||||||
| Uggla 2B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| McCann C | 5 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Heyward RF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |||
| A.Gonzalez SS | 4 | 3 | 2 | |||||
| Freeman 1B | 4 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| McLouth,CF | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| Hinske CF (PH) | 2 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Jurrjens P | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Venters P | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Schafer (PH) | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| BATTING: 2B: Schafer 3B: Uggla, A.Gonzalez HR: Heyward (2) | ||||||||
| Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| C.Lee | 7.2 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Madson (L) | 1/3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bastardo | 1/3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Atlanta Braves | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Jurrjens | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Kimbrel | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Venters (W) | 1.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| PITCHING: WP: Venters | ||||||||
Besides the potent offense of Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, youngsters Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman, and offseason acquistion Dan Uggla, the Braves also have one of the NL's top pitching staffs.
It should be an interesting pitching matchup as 25-year-old Jair Jurrjens will oppose 2008's AL Cy Young Winner (among other awards in a 22-3 2008 season),32-year-old Cliff Lee. Let's take a look at how they each did in their first starts of the season:
Phillies at Braves:Tale of the Tape
-----------------------------------------------
LHP Cliff Lee
4/2 VS Astros: 8.1 IP,3 H, 2 K(W 6-0)
VS
RHP Jair Jurrjens
4/3 VS Nationals: 8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 6 K, 2 BB (W 4-1)
As you can see, both pitchers went 8 innings, Lee allowing 3 hits through 8 1/3, and Jurrjens giving up only 1 run with 6 strikeouts through 8. Both pitchers ended up with a win in their strong efforts, and it should be exciting to see who can keep their hot streak going as both pitchers look to start off 2-0.
As for their lineups, there's a few batters on each team that also will look to stay hot. Freddie Freeman is batting a ridiculous .400 over his first 30 AB, racking up 3 doubles, 3 homers,7 RBI, and 6 runs scored. 38-year-old Chipper Jones and former Marlin Dan Uggla are also looking good for the Braves.For the Phillies, Ryan Howard is batting a cool .320 with 6 RBI to go along with a few bombs and 4 doubles. Another Phillie that is starting his season well is Chase Utley who is 8-24 (.333) and has 2 HR in 6 games this season. Top prospect Domonic Brown is a third Phils' batter looking impressive, hitting .286 with 2 homers and 6 RBI, also collecting 3 doubles and scoring 4 times. Here's the rest of the lineups for Game 1 of this three-game set:
Starting Lineups
-------------------------
Phillies
Shane Victorino CF
Placido Polanco 3B
Chase Utley 2B
Ryan Howard 1B
Domonic Brown RF
John Mayberry Jr. LF
Carlos Ruiz C
Wilson Valdez SS
Cliff Lee P
at
Braves
Martin Prado LF
Chipper Jones 3B
Dan Uggla 2B
Brian McCann C
Jason Heyward RF
Alex Gonzalez SS
Freddie Freeman 1B
Nate McLouth CF
Jair Jurrjens P
Both teams have a few hot hitters, and the Phillies will have to look out for Freddie Freeman. Besides the aformentioned batters, there isn't too much else to talk about. There are some changes in the lineup for the Phillies though, as John Mayberry Jr. gets the start in left with Ben Francisco getting the day off, and Wilson Valdez will make his 2011 debut, getting the start at shortstop. J-Roll also gets a break after going 6-23 (.261) with 3 doubles and 3 runs scored over the first 6 games. Rollins probably gets the day off because the Phillies management wants to make sure his knee is stable and he keeps healthy.
Summary
------------------
Watch out for Freddie Freeman. He is on fire.
This will be a battle of two good offenses and two very good pitchers. Whoever scores first will probably win this one.
This has been our Phillies-Braves Game 1 preview. The final score and stats will be on shortly.
Monday, June 20, 2011
PHILADELPHIA-The Mets got on the board early after Jose Reyes singled, reached second on a wild pitch, and his pinch-runner Daniel Murphy scored on a Carlos Beltran 2-out single-turned-double (because of the throw home) to shallow center field. The middle of the order would tie the game for the Phillies as Chase Utley hit a two-out double, and Ryan Howard hit one of his own.Shane Victorino kept the offense going with a single that moved Ryan Howard to 3rd. Domonic Brown then gave the Phils' the lead with a double that scored the two. Ben Francisco padded the lead to 4 with a two-run shot that just got into the left field seats.The Phillies continued to score runs as Cole Hamels singled and scored on a Jimmy Rollins double. Ryan Howard would later crush a no-doubter to right field off Chris Capuano to extend the lead to 7. Both teams would score two more runs each, but Cole Hamels shut down the Mets the rest of the game.
| NYM at PHI - Citizens Bank Park | ||||||||||||
| Apr 6, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| New York Mets (3-0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| Philadelphia Phillies (2-1) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | X | 10 | 14 | 0 |
| W: Hamels (1-0) L: Mejia (0-1) S: | ||||||||||||
| Scoring Summary | ||||
| SCORING DETAILS | NYM | PHI | ||
 | TOP 1st | Beltran singles, D.Murphy (PR) scores | 1 | 0 |
| BOT 1st | Howard doubles, Utley scores | 1 | 1 |
| BOT 1st | D.Brown doubles, Victorino and Howard score | 3 | 1 |
| BOT 1st | B.Francisco homers, D.Brown scores | 5 | 1 |
| BOT 2nd | Rollins doubles, Hamels scores | 6 | 1 |
| BOT 2nd | Howard homers, Rollins scores | 8 | 1 |
| New York Mets | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| J.Reyes SS | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| D.Murphy SS (PR) | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Turner 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Wright 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Beltran LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| R.Paulino C | 4 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Duda RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Pagan CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| R.Tejada 2B | 4 | 0 | ||||||
| Mejia P | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| BATTING: 3B: Beltran | ||||||||
| BASERUNNING: SB: J.Reyes (1) | ||||||||
| Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Rollins SS | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Polanco 3B | 5 | 0 | ||||||
| Utley 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Howard 1B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Victorino CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| D.Brown RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||
| B.Francisco LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Schneider C | 4 | 1 | ||||||
| Hamels P | 4 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| BATTING: 2B: Rollins 2, Utley, Howard 2, Victorino, D.Brown, Schneider HR: Howard (2), Brown (2), Francisco (2) | ||||||||
| New York Mets | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Mejia (L) | 1.1 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Capuano | 5.2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 2 | |
| Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Hamels (W) | 9 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| PITCHING: WP: Hamels | ||||||||
And with that, we look at this tonight's pitching matchup, which pits the Phils' 2008 World Series MVP, Cole Hamels, against Mets' 21-year-old Dominican righthander Jenrry Mejia. As Phillies fans know, Cole Hamels didn't get much run support last year, though he ended up with an above-.500 record and a decent ERA. Let's take a look and Cole's and Mejia's full 2010 pitching stats:
Phillies vs Mets: Tale of the Tape
---------------------------------------------
LHP Cole Hamels
33 GS,208.2 IP,12-11
3.06 ERA ,211 K, .237 BAA
VS
RHP Jenrry Mejia
3 GS (33 G),39 IP, 0-4
4.62 ERA,22 K,20 BB,.289 BAA
Minors stats: 9 GS,42.1 IP,2-0
1.28 ERA,45 K
Although the pitching matchup looks favorable for the Phillies, the Mets have 4 of their best hitters batting .286 through the first three games. Here's a peek at them and the rest of the Mets' as well as the Phillies' lineups:
Starting Lineups
-----------------
Mets
Jose Reyes SS
Justin Turner 3B
David Wright 1B
Carlos Beltran LF
Lucas Duda RF
Angel Pagan CF
Ruben Tejada 2B
Jenrry Mejia P
at
Phillies
Jimmy Rollins SS
Placido Polanco 3B
Chase Utley 2B
Ryan Howard 1B
Shane Victorino CF
Domonic Brown RF
Ben Francisco LF
Brian Schneider C
Cole Hamels P
The big change in the lineup is the injury to young Mets 1B Ike Davis. In his absence, David Murphy has done well, but in tonight's lineup David Wright will be at first, with Justin Turner covering third. Another interesting move by Terry Collins is benching Jason Bay and having Carlos Beltran in left field with Lucas Duda in right field. Overall,most of the Mets offense is hot, and they picked up plenty of runs against the Marlins for their pitching to hold down the fort. The only real change for the Phillies is that Carlos Ruiz gets the night off and Brian Schneider starts behind the plate.
Summary
---------------
Chase Utley is hot. The Phillies need to get runs early off the inexperienced righty. Cole Hamels faces a few hot Mets hitters, and he's relying on run support tonight. The best offense wins.
This has been our Phils-Mets Game 1 preview. We'll be back with the results.
PHILS WIN NAILBITER ON OPENING DAY
PHILADELPHIA- It seemed at first that it was going to be a pitchers' duel between Roy Halladay and Wandy Rodriguez through two innings.
Suddenly though, the Astros struck first in the 3rd. It started to look scary after a few bunts led to runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Chris Johnson then singled in a runner to put the Astros ahead. Roy Halladay would later settle down, but the Phillies hitters weren't giving him support.As if they weren't already having trouble, Carlos Lee robbed what would have been the home run that tied the game for them to start off the 4th. The Phillies started getting something going right after as Chase Utley singled, and a double down the left field line by Ryan Howard moved him to third. Shane Victorino would strike out on three pitches, but Ben Francisco came through with a 2-out 2-RBI single to shallow center field to give the Phils' the lead. Meanwhile,Roy Halladay had not allowed a hit since the Astros scored a run in the 4th,until the 7th inning,when Jason Michaels and pinch-hitter Joe Inglett hit back-to-back singles with 1 out. Jeff Keppinger would bloop one to right field and score Michaels to tie the game up at 2. On the very next at-bat, Wandy Rodriguez pulled a squeeze bunt. Placido Polanco charged from 3rd, but his throw took too long and Inglett scored to retake the lead for the Astros.Ben Francisco would get it done again for the Phillies in the bottom of the 7th with a solo shot into the 1st row in left-center field.Just seconds later,Domonic Brown gave the Phillies the lead again with a solo homer of his own to right field. In the 8th,Hunter Pence tried to leg out a double on a single to shallow center but was out by a mile. The Astros would avenge him as Carlos Lee singled to center and a pinch-runner stole second. Jason Michaels tied the game with a single to right field that took a little too long for Domonic Brown to get to. The Phillies continued to counteract the Astros as Placido Polanco singled and a Chase Utley walk moved him to second. After a Ryan Howard fly out, Shane Victorino singled home Polanco to give the Phillies the lead AGAIN. It looked as if Ben Francisco had come through a third time, as his flyout to center sent Hunter Pence to the warning track.Jeff Keppinger lined to Jimmy Rollins to and then pinch-hitter Angel Sanchez reached on an infield grounder to Chase Utley to start the 9th.The Astros would pick up another hit off Ryan Madson, but he finished up the job to give the Phils' the win.
| HOU at PHI - Citizens Bank Park | ||||||||||||
| Apr 1, 2011 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Houston Astros (0-0) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 0 |
| Philadelphia Phillies (0-0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
| W: Halladay (1-0) L: Lyon (1-1) S: Madson (1) | ||||||||||||
| Scoring Summary | ||||
| SCORING DETAILS | HOU | PHI | ||
 | TOP 3rd | C.Johnson singles, Keppinger scores | 1 | 0 |
| BOT 4th | B.Francisco singles, Howard and Utley score | 1 | 2 |
| TOP 7th | Keppinger singles, Michaels scores | 2 | 2 |
| TOP 7th | W.Rodriguez bunts, Inglett scores | 3 | 2 |
| BOT 7th | B.Francisco homers | 3 | 3 |
| BOT 7th | D.Brown homers | 3 | 4 |
| TOP 8th | Michaels singles, Fisher (PR) scores | 4 | 4 |
| BOT 8th | Victorino singles, Polanco scores | 4 | 5 |
| Houston Astros | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Barmes SS | 4 | 0 | .000 | |||||
| C.Johnson 3B | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | .600 | |||
| Pence CF | 5 | 1 | 1 | .200 | ||||
| C.Lee LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | .250 | ||||
| Wallace 1B | 4 | 0 | .000 | |||||
| Michaels RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | ||
| Quintero C | 2 | 0 | .000 | |||||
| M.Ramirez C (PH) | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | |||||
| Keppinger 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .500 | |||
| W.Rodriguez P | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | ||||
| Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||||
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Rollins SS | 4 | 0 | .000 | |||||
| Polanco 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | .250 | ||||
| Utley 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .666 | |||
| Howard 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | .250 | ||||
| Victorino CF | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | |||
| B.Francisco LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | .500 | ||
| D.Brown RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .250 | ||
| Ruiz C | 3 | 0 | .000 | |||||
| Halladay P | 3 | 0 | 1 | .000 | ||||
| BATTING: 2B: Howard HR: B.Francisco (1), D.Brown (1) | ||||||||
| Houston Astros | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| W.Rodriguez (L) | 6.2 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2.30 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||||
| PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Halladay (W) | 8 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 9.64 |
| PITCHING: WP: Halladay | ||||||||
For Opening Day this year, the Phils' will play the first of a three-game series against the Astros. After the team's offseason acquisition of Cliff Lee and its already impressive rotation, you could say that the Phillies definitely have the upper hand going into this series.
As for the pitching matchup,it's the 2010 NL Cy Young Award Winner Roy Halladay going for the Phils, and he'll be opposed by 32-year-old left-hander Wandy Rodriguez. Here's a look at their respective 2010 stats:
Phillies vs Astros: Tale of The Tape
-----------------------------------------
RHP Roy Halladay
33 GS,250.2 IP,21-10,
2.44 ERA, 219 K,.245 BAA
2010 NL Cy Young
vs
LHP Wandy Rodriguez
32 GS, 195 IP, 11-12
3.60 ERA, 178 K,.250 BAA
20.2 IP, 2-1, 3.05 ERA,
20 K in past 5 years vs PHI
It looks as though the Phillies' ace is primed to start off the season with a win against a fairly poor Astros lineup,besides Hunter Pence, Brett Wallace,Michael Bourn,and Chris Johnson.
On that note, here are tonight's starting lineups:
Starting Lineups
---------------------------------
Astros
Clint Barmes SS
Chris Johnson 3B
Hunter Pence CF
Carlos Lee LF
Brett Wallace 1B
Jason Michaels RF
Humberto Quintero C
Jeff Keppinger 2B
Wandy Rodriguez P
at
Phillies
Jimmy Rollins SS
Placido Polanco 3B
Chase Utley 2B
Ryan Howard 1B
Shane Victorino CF
Ben Francisco LF
Domonic Brown RF
Carlos Ruiz C
Roy Halladay P
Injuries during Spring Training caused both teams to lose a starting outfielder for the start of the season. An injury to Michael Bourn causes Hunter Pence to shift over from right field to center, therefore Jason Michaels is in right field tonight for the Astros. For the Phillies, Raul Ibanez is out of the lineup tonight with a torn groin muscle. Ouch. The injury will keep Raul out up to 12 days. For now, Ben Francisco will take his place in the lineup. Elsewhere, Chase Utley returns from surgery and Dom Brown is in as the starting right fielder for the Phils this year.
Summary:
------------------
Roy Halladay faces a somewhat weak lineup in the Astros'. Chase Utley returns. If the Phils want to win, all they need to do is give Roy Halladay a few runs.
This has been our Opening Day preview. Next up will be the results of Game 1 between the Phillies and the Astros.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The team signed C Bengie Molina to a minor league contract.
When asked what role Molina would serve, GM Nick Puleo said he expects it to be determined by how Molina bats in the minors. "We know he's (Molina) a good catcher on the defensive side, but we need to see if he has anything left on the batting side."
If Molina bats well, he could be the backup to Carlos Ruiz this year over Brian Schneider, though the Phillies will probably look towards getting a backup catcher through the draft or wait until free agency after the season.
Infield additions include 1B/3B Troy Glaus and 3B/1B Hank Blalock, who also signed on to minor league deals. Puleo commented on the two saying this: "Troy (Glaus) and Hank (Blalock) are two experienced veterans that we see as good hitters who have some power, and if they have something left in the tank, you could see them off the bench at some point this year."
The team also re-signed OF Cory Sullivan, who was released earlier in the spring.The AAA Ironpigs have plenty of outfield depth, so unless the Phillies are planning on sending him to AA Reading, he probably won't get enough playing time for them to see if he can reach the majors again. He's probably just in AAA to fill the roster for now, but he is fairly young, so it's not surprising that they took a flier on him.
The last slew of additions include righties Tyler Walker, Thomas Diamond, and Fernando Nieve.
Walker pitched for the Phils in 2009 and we could see him this year, but he is 34 and likely won't be a difference-maker. Diamond pitched for the Cubs AAA affiliate last year. He hasn't been too successful in his career although he's only 27, and still has potential. Nieve pitched for the Mets' AAA affiliate last year and was released by the Astros' and Pirates' AAA teams earlier this year. He is 28 and has pitched with the Mets and Astros over the past 4 years. He will be in AAA for insurance, but we probably won't see him in he big leagues this year.
That wraps up the first edition of Around the League. The next edition will be for April 1st to the 9th.
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