phanatic74

Last night Brett Myers had the Bucs walk the plank in his 7 2/3 inning outing sinking the Jolly Rogers with a score of 4-2. Myers allowed 5 hits, 1 BB, 1 run while striking out 6 Pirates and providing some post celebration fireworks with Manager Charlie Manuel. Myers had a little scurvy on the brain by challenging Manuel when he approached the mound to bring in J.C. Romero to finish the inning. Later there was a confrontation between Manuel and Myers in the dug-out in which Rich Dubee and Milt Thompson were seen holding back Manuel as Myers disappeared into the tunnel. Later during the press conference Manuel addressed the press by saying that it was just two strong willed people disagreeing and their differences had been worked out.

The Phillies offense were able to cash in on their booty to accrue 10 hits against Pittsburgh. Although, there were several highlights during the game, the most impressive was Jimmy Rollins. Short stop Jimmy Rollins went 4-4 last night including 2 runs, 2 singles and an impressive 2 triples. Rollins was hitting the ball hard last night with those triples just missing for homeruns. It seemed as though the Jimmy of last year came to pay us a visit with his great defense and his addictive offense.

Tonight Jamie Moyer (3.78 ERA) takes the mound against the Pirates Jason Davis (2.57 ERA) who has recently been moved to the starting rotation from the bullpen. Moyer will looking to add onto his wins while sinking the Bucs in the final game of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Series.

 

The Philadelphia Phillies have that night off while transitioning back into Citizen Bank Park. The Phillies had just came off of a 6 game road trip in which they swept the Nationals and won 2 out of 3 against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Phils offense is just starting to heat up by accrueing 48 hits over the recent road trip. The Phightins have a 6 game homestand where they will play against the Fish and the Bucs. The Marlins are the Phillies closest competitor in the N.L. Eastern Division. They currently sit on 2.5 games back behind the division leading Phillies. The Phillies lead the Marlins in HR, AVG, OBP, SLG, and hits even after coming off of their 2 offensive slumps. However, the folks at the Bright Orange Seats think that the Florida Marlins will be there with us at the end of September. Yeah, and I think the Nationals will win the N.L. Eastern Division. Seriously though with the good looks of Cody Ross and Jorge Cantu as well as the girlish looks of Scott Olsen and the actual marlin looking Dan Uggla they may have a chance . . . . . .

Ross Cantu Olsen Uggla

 

The Philadelphia Phillies won last night completing their sweep of the Washington Nationals. In addition to their victory the Phightins pushed the New York Mets of of their perch that they held temporarily for the Phillies. Kyle Kendrick pitched 6 2/3 innings while allowing only 7 hits and 2 runs while striking out 4 on his 9th win of the season. Kendrick also hit 2 batsmen which in turn had the opposition hit Victorino and Utley. Both benches were warned by the homeplate umpire after Colome struck Chase Utley and began to approach homeplate as though to get into an altercation with Utley. Lannan who was the starter for the Nationals tonight was responsible for Chase Utley's broken hand last year at Citizen Bank Park.

The Phillies offense has remained strong through the series accrueing 31 hits over 3 games. They were once again vibrant last night with 11 hits bringing the final score to 8-4. The longball was administered last night by Jayson Werth and Jimmy "The MVP" Rollins. Rollins was able to take advantge of a foul tip that was not contolled by the Nationals catcher and allow Kendrick to make his way onto base due to a throwing error. This set-up Rollins for a 2 run blast out into the left field seats. The Phillies' Fans were out in droves through the series cheering on their team including the bunch known as the "Flying Hawaiians" on the day Victorino hit a homerun.

The Phils are headed off to St. Louis to face off the Cardinals and add to their current 5 game win streak. Cole "The Ace" Hamels is looking to rebound from last games 9 run disaster inning against the Braves. Hamels (3.27 ERA) takes the mound in search of his 10 win against the former Philly Kyle Lohse (3.68 ERA).

  


Last night Brett Myers shut down the Washington Nationals to gain his 1st win since returning from the minor leagues. Myers only allowed 1 run, 1 walk and 4 hits over 7 innings in which he also plunked Ronnie Belliard and Paul Lo Duca in the process. Understandably the Nationals are the worst offensive team in the National League sporting a .241 team combined batting average. Not to take away anything from Brett because he did perform well by hitting the outside/inside portions of the plate. He also kept his adrenaline in check to be able to locate his fastballs for strikes unlike his last outing at Shea. On another note Brad Lidge was able to enter the game and accrue his 25th save of the season in as many opportunities.

On the offensive front the team failed to raise their hit count into double digits against the Nationals pitcher whom was recently brought up from the minor leagues. There were several balls that were launched onto the warning track, but not much was done to manufacture runs on the ground. The Phillies won the game only by Chase Utley's 2 run shot out into right field seats. Pedro Feliz has been placed on the 15 day diabled list due to lower back inflamation. Phillies Injury Listing

Tonight the Ole' man will take the mound with his impressive 3.76 ERA. Jamie Moyer is in search of his 10th win this year facing off the Nationals Tim Redding (3.98 ERA) which the Phillies have historically had issues with hitting against

 


J.A. Happ was pulled last night in the 3rd inning from the Iron Pigs while playing the Richmond Braves. Happ up to that point pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings and was yanked off of the mound and replaced by Steve Green. There are many rumors swirling that Happ is either being called up to Philly or has been traded off to gain another bat or lefty in the bullpen. I also have read that Happ was seen being congratulated in the dugout after being pulled, but there was no news release as of yet.

Some Sources:

Iron Pigs Baseball

Phuture Phillies

The Phillies starting pitcher turned bullpen help Adam Eaton was demoted yesterday to AAA Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. This comes off of a 2 inning mess on Sunday against the Braves that he allowed 3 runs with 2 of them being longballs. Eaton was recently demoted into the bullpen hoping he could at least fill a need for a right handed long reliever, but he was unable to come into a game and shut down the opponent. He was pulled into Manuel's office after the game and gracefully bowed out as Brett Myers had recently done. Adam will be placed into the starting rotation at Lehigh Valley and according to Ruben Amaro Jr. he will be shuffled around the Phillies affiliate teams in order to stay localized in case he needs to be called up.

J.A. Happ is being called up to the Phillies once again, but it has not yet been determined whether he will be placed into the starting rotation or as a reliever. Brett Myers has a start tomorrow against the Washington Nationals which could determine if he is to remain in the starting rotation or be moved to the bullpen and replaced by Happ.

The trade rumors surrounding Manny Ramirez coming to Philadelphia has been down played by the Phillies organization. It has been documented that the Phillies and the Mets have both contacted Boston in regards to trading Manny for their respective ball clubs. The Mets do not have what it takes in trades to be able to get Manny and they are not even sure if they are willing to take the chance on disrupting the club house. Pat Gillick had stated that the Phillies currently do not have a position open for Manny considering that they currently have Pat Burrell in left field. I would assume that Manny would at least remain in Boston for the rest of the year considering how much his salary commands from an organization.

Chase Utley has been having some soreness in his right hip according to Ruben Amaro Jr. and David Montgomery. However, Utley has down played the injury stating that his soreness has nothing to do with his issues surrounding the recent hitting slump. I would not expect Chase to be placed on the D.L., but you may see him get pulled out of games if they have a comfortable lead in order to rest his hip and get Eric Bruntlett some playing time.

The Phillies won last night 10-9 after dropping the 1st game to the Braves in the 3 game homestand. Cole Hamels in a unusual outing was pulled after 3 2/3 innnings. Hamels allowed 9 runs on 6 hits in the 4th inning crushing all hopes of the Phillies being able to move up in the N.L. East standings. However, the Phillies offense decided to show up as though Dr. Frankenstein had put life back into once viable corpse. The Phils were able to follow-up the 4th inning debacle with a 7 run 5th inning pushing past the Braves and holding on to the lead through 9. Hopefully yesterday's glimmer of hope won't fade away as though it has done time and time again over th past 2 months.

Today the newly acquired Joe Blanton (5.08 ERA) will take the mound in his 2nd start with the Phillies. Blanton will face off against Jorge Campillo (2.83 ERA) in search of his 1st win in the red and white pinstripes.