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It’s The End Of The World As We Know ItSo the world appears to be coming to an end, but at least we can go out watching the Phillies. Tonight, we start what is supposed to be a three-game series against the Florida Marlins. Originally, the games were scheduled for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, but with Mother Nature on her period, Sunday’s game was moved to Saturday afternoon. That game might get in, but Saturday night’s game is unlikely at best. Tonight, however, we should get to see some baseball.
Hey remember way back in June when the Marlins were threatening to have a competitive season? Remember, they were playing good baseball and actually winning games? Nah, me either. Tonight, Roy Oswalt (6-7, 3.51 ERA) leads the Fightin’s in a fishing expedition in the friendly waters of Citizen’s Bank Park. (Oh yeah, with the threats of flooding in the Illadelph I’ll try to avoid mentioning water.) Roy O seems to have knocked off the rust of an extended DL stint as he had a rather impressive outing last Saturday against the Washington Nationals where he threw eight scoreless innings, struck out nine, allowed eight hits and walked only one. The Wiz had good command, and more importantly, his velocity was back. It’s an encouraging sign. Oswalt hasn’t had as stellar a year as he is accustomed to, but he has battled through injuries, and seems to be ready for the late-season push to the playoffs.
Throwing for the Marlins is right hander, Clay Hensley. Hensley (1-5, 5.47 ERA) had spent the majority of his time with the Marlins in the bullpen, but with an injury to their ace Josh Johnson, Hensley was pushed into the starting rotation. As his 1-5 record would seem to indicate, it hasn’t been a great time for Hensley in the starter’s role. In his last start, Clay Hensley got pounded by the Padres (insert your own joke about the Catholic Church here) to the tune of seven runs in just 3 2/3 innings pitched.
So, while we might die this weekend in the stormy gusts of Hurricane Irene, at least we’ll get a little Phillies in too.
Let’s Go Phillies!
Phillies Starting Nine:
1. Victorino CF
2. Polly 3B
3. Chut 2B
4. RyHo 1B
5. Hunger Pence RF
6. JMJ LF
7. Chooch C
8. Willie V SS
9. Wizard of Os P
SW-Ian Anderson
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Coming off a 7-4 loss Wednesday, the Phillies looked to head into the weekend, even if they play only one game, with a win. Roy Oswalt was on the hill for the Phillies, coming off of a great 8 scoreless inning outing against Washington. It wasn’t hard to tell from the start that Roy’s fastball didn’t have the same zip it had last Saturday. He allowed 12 hits, 6 runs, 5 of them earned, and all through just 5 2/3 innings. John Buck’s grand slam sealed the deal for the Marlins, as it was that home run that would hold the lead.
Today, Roy Halladay (15-5, 2.56 ERA) will take on the Marlins in what was to be game one of a double header. After word that Hurricane Irene was inbound, the Phillies canceled game two tonight and Cliff Lee’s start was pushed back. Doc had his last start cut short because of rain. He allowed 7 hits, 2 earned runs, and struck out 5 through 5 innings, before headed into a rain delay. It may seem the same for him today. He has a career 4-3, 2.47 ERA vs the Marlins in his career.
If this hurricane stops the game, I won’t be surprised. It has already swept away a boardwalk in North Carolina.
That outburst of runs was the “fun part” of the story tonight. Joe Saunders and Cliff Lee matched well tonight, but in the 7th, Wilson Valdez opened the gates with a 2-run double that gave the Phillies a 4-2 lead and led to the D-backs bullpen. The Phils went on to tack 5 more runs throughout the 7th and 8th innings en route to their 9-2 win, their 79th of the season. Even though tonight’s lineup didn’t show up until the late innings, they did their job.
Vance Worley (8-1, 2.85 ERA) will take on the D-backs. Vance’s last start proved to be a a short outing that ended up in a no-decision, but a Phillies win over the Dodgers. He threw 4 innings, yielding 6 earned runs on 7 hits, issuing free passes to three, while K-ing 6. The Phillies would end up coming back from a 6-0 deficit to win 9-8, en route to capping off their best 10-game road trip in franchise history. Even with his bad outing, the Rec-Spec’d Wonder is ready to bounce back.
Last night, Ryan Howard swung his lumber and seemed to be in pain. He went down into the clubhouse after his at-bat, but returned to finish the game. No word as to what’s ailing the big piece, but as a piece of wild speculation let’s say it may be an oblique strain. Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz are not in the lineup tonight, but Charlie Manuel said they are available if needed.
The numbers speak for themselves. Since being named the skipper of the Phillies, Chuck has compiled a 624-470 record. He sits just 22 games behind Phillies’ all-time leader in managerial wins, Gene Mauch (646-684). Mauch managed the Fightin’s for eight years (1960-1968), sporting a .486 win percentage. Charlie has been managing his club for six years, and he doesn’t show signs of letting up. Hell, with a club as powerful as this, who would want to retire?
Roy Oswalt made his second starts in a row, as he was credited with the start in last night’s rain delayed contest, but he would have to wait another night to toss the ball. It didn’t seem to phase him, though, as he straight-up owned the Nationals tonight. Throwing 115 pitches (82 for strikes), Little Roy licensed 8 hits, and walked only 1, and refused a run to cross the plate. Oh yeah, he also struck out 9 batters. That’s the most he’s ever fanned in a Phillies uniform. Roy’s record is crawling closer to .500 after tonights start as he is now 6-7, with a 3.51 ERA. If Little Roy can be as dominant for the remainder of the season as he was tonight, three aces could become four again. (Or 5 if you count Worley, which we totally do.)
Roy Halladay (15-5, 2.53 ERA) will face the Nationals yet again. The good doctor is 11-1, with a 2.21 ERA against the Nats in his career. Those numbers speak for themselves. Plus, the Nats have to worry about Doc coming off a loss. He doesn’t like to lose. In his last outing Halladay threw a great complete game, holding Arizona to just 1 run through 8, but still got tagged with the L as he let up a pair of runs in the 9th. Forget that crap, though, it’s a new start and a new day and Doc doesn’t care what happened in the past. The Phillies and Doc are in the Capital, and what ever the circumstances are, Doc always seems to have control in Washington.
It’s a privilege. It really is. Sitting here on top of the NL East, and looking back at the rest of the league. Stuck in our rearview mirror are the once rivaled Mets. The Jayson Werth led Nationals are far from making the playoffs. Even the Fish who once gave us fits have floundered. The only real competish is Atlanta who we could end up seeing in the playoffs eventually, but as of right now they sit 6.5 games behind us.
Cliff was, yet again, amazing tonight as he continued his season dominance over the Mets. He yielded just 3 hits, allowed no runs, walked 3, and struck out 7 to produce his 14th win of the year, and the Phillies’ 82nd win. Lee wasn’t the only one who had a great game, though, as his offense was also brilliant. Cliff Lee has received a ton of run support in his past two starts, 19 runs to be exact. The Phillies’ bats racked up 10 runs on 11 hits tonight, and 8 of those runs come in the first four innings.
This lineup is hot, whether it be starters or bench players, these bats are working as one. John Mayberry Jr. went deep in the 3rd for a two-run bomb, scoring Hunter Pence. Three innings later, Hunter Pence would take one deep himself, a two-run bomb as well. High scoring and Cliff pitching is a winning combination for the Fightin’s.
As for today, the Phillies look to win just one more game. To do that, Vance Worley (8-1, 2.35 ERA) will need to continue in the footsteps of Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee who took the first two from the Dodgers. While Worley may be our number five man, he has been pitching like an ace for most of the season. In his last start, against the San Francisco Giants last Friday, Vance may not have made the headlines, (that honor goes to the bench clearing brawl) but he did pitch fantastically. The God of Worley went seven strong innings, allowed seven hits, two runs, and walked one while striking out six in an effort that earned him his 8th win of the season. Vance may not win the Rookie Of The Year Award, but he is, at least, making his name known as great young player.
Roy Oswalt (4-7, 3.84 ERA) will be making his second start since being placed on the DL back on June 23, with a bulging disc. Taking on the Nationals in game two of three, he will be looking to put his last start where it belongs, in the past. Last Sunday, his first start back, he took the hill against the Giants. He struggled with his command and let the ball hit the bat. In 6 innings, he allowed a career high 12 hits, while allowing 3 earned runs, walking 2 and striking out 4. That loss was the Phillies’ only loss on their 10-game road trip. There’s always hope that Oswalt can find a resurgence on the bump. He is a career 5-4, 3.12 ERA vs the Nats and the Phillies have always had success against them at Citizens Bank Park.
Hamels says he is not very concerned. ”It’s that part of the year. You get fatigued a little bit and you just have to battle through it and move onto the next game,” Hamels said. ”It’s just one of those times of the year where you are traveling, pitching a lot of innings and things kind of mound.”
The first day into the beautiful city of San Diego, we took the trolley past Petco Park. My first reaction? Petco Park was underwhelming. Seeing the park, if you didn’t know baseball, you would have no idea the Padres play there. There was a huge advertisement for the new Batman game, Arkham City, sprawling the wall of Petco. I thought it was awesome, but for Padres fans, it doesn’t really support the team. You can walk down the street and find stores carrying more Dodgers and Giants gear than their own home team. It was pretty sad to see and I was starting to feel for the Padres fans.
We even talked loudly about the Phillies. How good they are. How much worse the Padres are. What we thought they would do at the deadline. No one cared. It was surreal. A local bar, in San Diego, with Padres highlights on, and not one person watched the television with interest. Tony Gwynn would be rolling in his grave. If he was dead.
At first I thought it was a Yankees jersey. The dark blue Padres jersey had never been spotted in the wild up until this point. But there he was. In the heart of downtown San Diego. In the Gaslamp Quarter of all places. The Padres fan in his natural habitat. His blue coat was coming in nice and thick during these summer months. It was a rare breed indeed. The specimen I had encountered was wearing the double three on his back, and the nameplate “Piazza”. He looked something like the specimen pictured to the right, but try to imagine if you can, the fur being blue and not white. I know it is difficult because creatures like this are only talked about in books and the talking pictures.
jeromybish says:August 16, 2011 at 12:56 am
Seriously, everyone just needs to calm down. Cole Hamels is fine. After the loss on Friday and after only going 5 innings, some people were worried. We here at The Phillies Blunt are your daily dose of chill pill. Cole Hamels had an MRI today, just to make sure that his pitching shoulder was still bitchin’.
In his last start against the Giants (7/26), Vance Worley dealt pure filth. In his first career complete game, he allowed just 2 runs on 3 hits, while striking out 5. Speaking of complete games, Cliff Lee has left a path for young Vance to follow tonight. His complete game shut out last night boosted the Phillies 8 1/2 games ahead of the Braves in the NL East. If the Braves lose tonight and Vance can dance, the Phillies will be in the drivers seat with a 9 game lead.
The Phillies’ bats helped back Cliff last night and, hopefully, they can do the same for Vance. The Giants ARE NOT a hitting team. Their first time scoring 6 or more runs at home was earlier this week. How many times have the Phillies scored 6 or more runs in an inning? A lot. But tonight’s lineup doesn’t feature the big bats of the Phillies. Charlie’s switching it up against the lefty Sanchez, no Howard, no Chooch.
Loading ...Gotta Pay the bills MLB Rumors & News > Warning: The morons who operate this website are in no way affiliated with MLB or the Philadelphia Phillies. Please note that the opinions shared within are not endorsed by MLB or its affiliates - well, at least not publicly. All photos that appear on the site are copyrighted by their respective owners. We claim no credit for them unless otherwise noted. If you own the rights to any of the photos and do not wish them to appear on the site please contact us and they will be promptly removed.