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Gameday: Phillies (93-63) at Nationals (67-89)
Philadelphia Phillies (93-63) at Washington Nationals (67-89)
John Lannan, LHP (8-7, 4.58 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (20-10, 2.53 ERA)
Time: 7:05, Nationals Stadium
Weather: Chance of rain, 66
TV: CSN
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The Phillies 2010 season began in Washington, DC with Roy Halladay squaring off against John Lannan. It could for all intents and purposes come to a close tonight under the same scenario. A Phillies win or a Braves loss will clinch the fourth consecutive division title for the Phillies.
Rain is expected tonight, so there is a chance the game will be postponed or even canceled. For the latest on how the weather will affect tonight’s game, follow Twitter:
After a brief appearance in yesterday’s game, Jimmy Rollins will not be starting.
Today’s lineup: Victorino CF, Polanco 3B, Utley 2B, Howard 1B, Werth RF, Ibanez LF, Ruiz C, Valdez SS, Halladay P
Your Gameday Beer – Nugget Nectar
This brew by Troegs (out of the PA capital) is a mix of Red and Amber Ale; and as a result, it pours a vibrant orange color in your glass. The taste hits you right away with piney hops then gradually fades into tropical fruit flavors. It’s a tasty beer worth trying, especially alongside a roasted chicken. – By Brian
GO PHILLIES!
Photos from this Weekend’s Series
Here are some photos I took from the games on Saturday and Sunday in Philly (they look best in Full Screen mode). If the weather cooperates tonight, I’ll have some more from the potential clincher. Go Phils!
Phillies Fail to Clinch at Home, Lose to Mets, 7-3
—Citizens Bank Park
It’s not the way they wanted things to end at home, but the Phillies did get some help in the standings. Even though the Phils lost to the Mets 7-3 in the series finale, the Atlanta Braves lost to the Washington Nationals, 4-2.
With a six game lead with six to play, any win by the Phillies, or any loss by the Braves, means the Phillies will clinch the National League East.
On the mound, Cole Hamels was working with very little from the early stages of the game. He allowed a second inning home run to David Wright, which put the Mets on top 1-0. Hamels was visibly frustrated with the strike zone of home plate umpire Mike Winters all afternoon, and for good reason. Winters was not consistent, but let’s not place all of the blame on the umpire. Hamels wasn’t sharp and he made several mistakes, including another long one to Carlos Beltran in the fifth inning.
Hamels would last only four innings – plus one batter in the fifth, which was Beltran – allowing five runs on nine hits to go with three walks and two strikeouts. The five earned runs allowed were the most for Hamels since —. His two K’s on the day were a season low for a game that was not rain shortened.
“It was just one of those days where I couldn’t locate and I wasn’t being consistent,” said Hamels after his second-shortest outing of the season. “I just threw…too many pitches out of the zone, then when I was throwing strikes I left them up.”
Sound like you can chalk it up to a great pitcher just having a bad day. Unfortunately, it came in a spot where a win would have sent the Phillies off on the road with another NL East crown. That will have to wait until at least Monday.
Chase Utley accounted for all of the Phillies offense with one swing of the stick in the fifth inning. He lined one into the first row in right field for a three-run home run, his 16th of the season. Other than his contribution, little was provided elsewhere. The Phillies did manage nine hits on the afternoon, however, they again struggled with runners in scoring position going 1-for-13.
“You can’t hit every day, that’s life,” quipped Charlie Manuel following his teams first series loss since the Houston Astros swept them in late August.
Jimmy Rollins made his return to the lineup a quick and rather uninspiring one. Rollins pinch hit for Wilson Valdez in the eighth inning, his first at bat since September 8. He swung at the first pitch and rolled it over to second base. Not exactly how he wanted to come back, but at least he’s been deemed healthy enough to play from here on out.
The home schedule didn’t end on a high note, but there were reasons to celebrate the season on Fan Appreciation Day. Over 3.6 million fans pushed through the turnstiles, an average attendance of 45,028 per game, both franchise records.
They’ll now head to the Nation’s Capital for a three game set with the Nats, who did their part to aid the Phillies this weekend. Rain is forecasted for both Monday and Tuesday, which sets up an interesting situation should any game be rained out.
Gameday: Mets (75-79) at Phillies (93-62)
New York Mets (75-79) at Philadelphia Phillies (93-62)
Pat Misch, LHP (0-4, 4.44 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (12-10, 2.93 ERA)
Time: 1:35, Citizens Bank Park
Weather: Cloudy, 68
TV: CSN
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It comes down to this. Can they finish off the Braves in the NL East with a win at home, coupled with an Atlanta loss? The Braves play at 1:35 as well, in Washington, so as we’ve said all weekend, GO NATS!
Cole Hamels is in charge of taking this game for the Phillies and recently he’s been outstanding. He’ll need to be once again if the home crowd wants to witness history. If/when the Phils clinch, it will be the first time ever that they’ve won four straight division titles. Philadelphia haven’t seen a winner like this since the late 70’s and into the early 80’s, and what a treat it is
Everyone will be doing some scoreboard watching, all while football plays in the background on a Sunday afternoon. But keep it locked to Phillies baseball, this is an important one!
Today’s lineup: Victorino CF, Polanco 3B, Utley 2B, Howard 1B, Werth RF, Ibanez LF, Ruiz C, Valdez SS, Kendrick P
Your gameday beer: Harpoon Glacier Harvest Wet Hop
The 20th installment of the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series has been brewed to celebrate the annual hop harvest. Harpoon Glacier Harvest Wet Hop beer is a pale ale made with fresh hops picked just hours before being tossed into the brew. Harpoon is a Boston area beer that has brewed since 1986. In that relatively short time, it’s become a fairly-well known beer in the Northeastern part of the U.S. Enjoy the beer, enjoy the win!
GO PHILLIES!
Phils give up big inning, lose 5-2
What could have been a champagne drenched locker room turned into just another post game interview spot. The Phillies woke up Saturday morning with hopes of wrapping up the NL East division for a fourth straight year. The Braves blanked the Nationals 5-0 in a day game canceling all hopes of clinching tonight against the Mets. And then the seventh inning happened to the Phillies. Magic number is still at two after losing tonight 5-2.
So let’s recap. The win steak is over. The playoff push is on pause; for now. The Phillies could not figure out Mets’ rookie Dillon Gee, managing only five hits and two runs. Hitting his 31st home run of the season, Ryan Howard is responsible for all the Phillies’ scoring for the night. With two hits in the first inning, the Phils looked to continue their September slugfest against the Mets.
However, after the second inning, the offense went to sleep collecting only three more hits and none after the seventh. Kyle Kendrick kept the offense in the game through six innings allowing only three hits and no runs. But after allowing a run in the seventh and loading the bases, Kendrick was pulled for Chad Durbin. Durbin allowed a three run double to Lucas Duda and another RBI double to Joaquin Arias.
The Phillies went into the seventh inning winning 2-0 and left trailing 5-2.
The Phillies can still clinch the division tomorrow with a win paired with a Braves loss. If not, they will have to do it on the road in Washington or Atlanta.
Keep the champagne on ice and plastic rolled up. But don’t put it away. The Phillies will still need it. Cole Hamels goes tomorrow for the Phils against Pat Misch.
Gameday: Mets (74-79) at Phillies (93-61)
New York Mets (74-79) at Philadelphia Phillies (93-61)
Dillon Gee, RHP (1-1, 1.80 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick, RHP (10-9, 4.78 ERA)
Time: 7:05, Citizens Bank Park
Weather: Clear, 80
TV: CSN
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It doesn’t seem that long ago when beat writers and reporters were using words like ‘must-win’ and ‘crucial’ when describing upcoming Phillies games. Now while the crown is still up for grabs, the Phillies are on fire. Their magic number to clinch the NL East is two and they are showing no signs of slowing down.
It was hard to even think the Phillies would have a magic number back in July when they were seven games back behind the Atlanta Braves in the division. However, the Phillies have completed flipped those numbers going 45-15 since July 22 and have built a 6.5 game lead heading into the last week of the season.
The Phillies can come one game closer to clinching by knocking off the Mets in the second game of this three game series tonight. They will be looking to Kyle Kendrick (10-9, 4.78) to get the job done. Kendrick could be making his last start of the season, depending how Charlie Manuel sets up his rotation for a likely playoff berth.
Kendrick has been your typical 5th starter all year long. Inconsistency has troubled the young right hander in his last couple of outings. He only has three wins in his last seven starts going an average of 5+ innings and giving up a little over three runs a game. The offense will once again be asked to pick up the slack. Something they have had no problem doing over this current 11 game winning streak.
Shane Victorino is hitting .385 against the Mets in 13 games collecting 12 hits and three homeruns. However, those stats won’t mean anything going into tonight. The Phillies will be facing Mets’ rookie pitcher Dillon Gee (1-1. 1.80). Gee is making just his fourth start of his career and faces probably his toughest opponent yet.
The Phillies have the best record in all of baseball and have won 20 of their last 23 games. They are streaking to a fourth consecutive NL East title and looking to represent the National League in the World Series for a third straight year.
Today’s lineup: Victorino CF, Polanco 3B, Utley 2B, Howard 1B, Werth RF, Ibanez LF, Ruiz C, Valdez SS, Kendrick P
Your gameday beer: Yards Love Stout
Anything from Yards is a friend of mine. They just make damn good beers. My favorite is Yards ESA, but this Love Stout is intriguing. Right now, it’s cask conditioned at Grey Lodge Pub in Northeast Philadelphia, another enticing factor. Since I’v never tried the Love Stout, I can’t say first hand how it looks or tastes. But by all accounts, it’s a very dark beer with a dark head that has a chocolate and coffee aroma. For you java lovers, this could be gold. If your in Philly, get down to the Grey Lodge and order a burger med-well with one of these and enjoy the game. -Pat Gallen
GO PHILLIES!
Gary Matthews Appearance
Gary Matthews Sr. aka Sarge, will be appearing and signing Saturday at HH Gregg in Woodbury NJ. Lets make sure this legend gets the respect he deserves by having a decent crowd show up to meet him.
Sharp Electronics Corp. is presenting this Philadelphia Phillies Legend and Former Rookie of the Year, Gary Matthews, Sr. The appearance is as follows:
Date: September 25, 2010
Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location: HH Gregg, 2200 Clements Bridge Road, Woodbury, NJ 08096
856-579-5002?
The Sarge will be signing Sharp Player Postcards for everyone he meets; please note that he is unable to sign any other items (i.e. baseballs, hats, jerseys, etc.)
Talk of the town 9/23
There has been no slowing the Phillies or Roy Oswalt lately. The Phillies completed a sweep of the Braves as they inch closer to another division title and the Braves inch closer to missing the playoffs. Also, one Flyers blogger is pumped for tonight’s preseason game against the Leafs (as am I) and a soccer fan takes an interesting view on how PPL Park, home of the Union, is the best stadium atmosphere in the city. It may sound extreme, but don’t judge it unless you have been there. It does get wild.
It’s all here in today’s edition of Talk of the town.
Oswalt comes up aces as Phils sweep Braves – nbcsports.com
“Roy Oswalt watched Philadelphia’s other two aces do their job, then he outdid them. Oswalt and a pair of relievers combined on a one-hitter and the NL East-leading Phillies beat Atlanta 1-0 Wednesday night for their 10th straight win, increasing their bulge over the Braves to six games.”
Brilliance by the numbers- Delawareonline.com
“First off, with a six-game lead and nine to play, the Phillies’ magic number to clinch the East is now four. What that means, more than anything, is the Phillies need to win four of their next six against the Mets and Nationals to ensure that Roy Oswalt, Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels can get a nice break heading into the postseason.”
For Eagles, Kolb soldiers on as backup- philly.com
“The NFL is a tough spot. You have to compete and you have to compete every day,” Kolb said, when asked if he thought it was fair, losing his job after playing one half of the opener against Green Bay and suffering a concussion. “I want to be out there. The hardest thing is, you want to go to battle with your guys. We spend a lot of time together, and I want to be out there fighting with them.”
Fanpost: The Union runied baseball for me- philadelphiauniontalk.com
“Continuing our accidental series on how every other stadium experience blows compared to li’l ol’ PPL, yet another fan writes to us concerning just how hard we U fans go. We’re sure many of you are Phillies fans, and you’ll want to rebut, so feel free.”
Flyers Preseason Gameday: Leafs Part 1 – flyersgoalscoredby.com
“I don’t even care if its preseason, these games are almost as fun as when they count. Odd line combos, young guns giving it their all, weird eastern european goalies you’ll never hear from again, and fights. The sweet, glorious fights we all love in Philly are back. Tonight’s game in London, Ontario should offer plenty of fisticuffs.”
ten wins and counting
The Phillies are certainly hitting the stretch run at a full sprint. They extended their winning streak to ten by sweeping the Braves in a pitchers duel, 1-0. They are now 31 games over .500, their best winning percentage since 1993.
Hamels dropped his ERA below 3.0 with a 3-1 6 hitter win on Monday, then Halladay followed with win #20 on Tuesday and Oswalt completed the trifecta today with a 7 inning one hit effort to drop his ERA to 2.8 and then Madsen and Lidge pitched the 8th and 9th to earn the 1-0 win and save for the sweep.
With Halladay at 2.53, Oswalt at 2.80. and Hamels at 2.93, the Phillies have three pitchers with double digit victories and ERA’s below 3.0 for the first time since 1980.
The offense with 8 hitters batting between .255 and .300 only produced 4 hits and a single run on Raul Ibanez’s 2 out hit in the 8th that plated the only run of the contest.
The Braves have self destructed as the Phillies reasserted control on the NL East, not looking back or losing more than a half game since gaining the lead last week.
The Braves remain the favorite for the wild csrd, but they now must prepare for the Phillies arrival in Atlanta late next week.
The Phillies are now tied for wins with the Yankees and the Twins in all of baseball, and easily have the best record in the National League. The Braves will have to sweep them in return to even have a shot at a race, so they will probably try to position themselves for the post season. Meanwhile, the Phillies offense and pitching and relief staffs all seem to be hitting the peak and supporting each other at the same time.
This is the mark of a dynasty. We have discussed on this blog before the making and characteristics of a sports dynasty, and I believe, in the modern era, if you are able to dominate a sport over ten years, say with 6 World Series or Superbowl appearances, with a winning record and a couple additional league championships or titles, then you can call yourself a dynasty. Pennsylvania has not had one of those since the NFL’s Steel Curtain and it is about time a Philadelphia team asserted itself and declared itself to be a contender for the next 4-6 years, no matter what.
Even though the Phillies look to lose Werth, and potentially another key piece or two, unlike their fellow franchise in the NFL, the Phillies seem able to lose a player or two and recover quickly to contend again. I am sure the powers that be in the front office are already actively at work since the news of the Boras signing broke earlier this week.
No matter what other distractions may occur, at this point, the Phillies seem to me to be the odds on favorite to take it all. I can not recall in recent history another team riding a winning streak of this magnitude against largely teams from their own division right before clinching a title and continuing to the postseason, so this streak will give the Phillies a much needed boost in reaching the postseason on a roll.
This team is two championships away from calling itself a dynasty, and I believe this year, the Phillies will win it all again. They are statistically better than they were in 2008 with more post season experience and weaker challengers than before.
No one wants to face Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt, 1-2-3. No one can consistantly shut the Phillies diverse offensive lineup down. So I look forward to the final weeks and will report on the Phillies progress as they win the division and return to the World Series for the third time in a row.
Like late home run, Werth is a goner
If you are a fan of Jayson Werth, Sunday was a bad day for you.
You may be thinking “Wait, what? Didn’t Werth hit a walk-off home run that sent the Phillies to a dramatic 7-6 win over the Nationals to keep the team’s lead over the Braves in the NL East at three games?”
He sure did. It was news that came after that homer that should give fans who like seeing Werth in a Phillies uniform a long pause. Werth went out and made a deal with the devil. In other words, he hired Scott Boras as his agent.
Boras, who justly or not, is the symbol of everything that is wrong with financial aspect of baseball. He is also known as being the best at what he does, which is take teams behind his woodshed and beat them endlessly until every last penny falls out of their pockets.
When a player wants money, and a lot of it, they hire the services of Boras. I’m sure the second Werth’s bat made contact with that 9th inning home run Boras’ eyes lit up – with money signs. In Boars’ mind, each foot that ball traveled equaled another thousand dollars in his pocket.
I don’t blame Werth or Boras for the deal they made. Werth is a free agent who wants to and deserves to be paid. Boras is an agent who does his job better than anyone else in the field. In a way it’s a match made in heaven.
Just not for Phillies fans.
Fans began to accept the fate that Werth would not be around past this season when the Phillies sank money into extending Shane Victorino. The team now has over $150 millions sunk into just 16 players next season, so signing Werth, who will be looking for a contract of at least $150 million, just doesn’t seem plausible. Philly.com’s Matt Gelb, puts a positive spin on the situation, saying Boras this will ensure that Werth and the Phillies will go to arbitration. The Phillies will offer a deal, Boras will reject it, another team will sign him and since he will be a type-A free agent, the Phillies will get two draft picks as compensation.
You see even the positive side of the story ends with Werth leaving town.
As I stated earlier, realistic fans knew this would be Werth’s last season in Philly barring something unforeseen. This almost certainly would have been the case with or without Scott Boras.
But adding Boars to the story just makes the situation feel a lot worse.
Power is in the pitching.
The Phillies completed their second straight sweep to maintain their three game lead over the Atlanta Braves in dramatic fashion today.
This team has been so good in September and October in recent years, fans have come to expect this kind of result, but what the Phillies accomplished tonight was truly remarkable.
They entered the bottom of the ninth inning trailing the Nationals by three runs. Washington brought in a new pitcher for the final three outs and he got none of them. The four Phillies that came to the plate singled, doubled, singled and homered and it was all over.
Jaysen Werth was the star of the show with a walk off 2 run homerun, but Ryan Howard started the comeback with a two run single. Werth fouled off 4 pitches before finally finding one he really liked and hammering it 425 feet to center to the delight of the local crowd, officially the 117th consecutive sellout.
Joe Blanton started off rough, then settled down until he was chased in the sixth inning.
Although the Philadelphia team and individual offensive production has been lower than last year, the Phillies improved to 28 games over .500 for the first time since 1993. The major reason for this, I believe, has been the pitching.
If you look at the team overall you will notice several significant things.
The team ERA is 3.74.
The starting 5 combined for 79 quality starts. Throw in Oswalt with his arrival mid season with his 10 starts, 8 quality starts and 7-1 record, and you have the best group of pitchers on this club since 1983.
Halladay should earn the Cy Young. He ranks third in ERA at 2.49. He is second in strikeouts. He is tied for 1st in victories with 19. He has 28 walks yet leads the league in innings pitched. When he garners win 20, which he should, with three more starts minimum including two against the Braves, he should be looked at seriously as the man to beat for the award.
The relief corps has 35 saves to 10 losses and has been improved, although perhaps not championship caliber. It appears with 6 of their next 9 games against the second place Braves, also holders of the second best winning percentage in the National League, they will be tested. If they win 4 they should lock up the division and if they win 5 or double sweep the Braves with the title on the line I feel that makes them serious favorites to take it all the way.
It was nice to see a serious come from behind win, where the starting pitcher had an average start, followed by some scoring off the relief corps, with the offense, which has slumbered for large parts of this season, roaring up at the last moment and erasing any doubt this team is ready for the post season.
Bring on them Yankees !
Amaro: Prospects from Lee deal “have long way to go”
With the Phillies playing so well and taking a two game NL East lead into today’s action, it’s hard to imagine much bad news coming from the mouth of GM Ruben Amaro Jr.
But Amaro confirmed what many fans were already suspecting: The prospects gained from Seattle in the Cliff Lee trade are not exactly impressing and are a long way from being major-league ready.
Bellow is an excerpt from Philly.com.
This much, Ruben Amaro Jr. stressed: The three prospects the Phillies acquired in an off-season trade with Seattle for Cliff Lee are young. The general manager said his staff understood that at the time of the deal. Plenty of development was still needed.
With that said, the first year in the Phillies’ system has not been kind to Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, and J.C. Ramirez.
The latest blow came Thursday, when Ramirez, a righthander, underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum (cartilage) in his hip. The Phillies say Ramirez should be ready by spring training.
Nonetheless, it marks another setback in a series of them for the three high-profile prospects.
“We have a long way to go on them,” Amaro said. “We still view them as strong prospects for us. We’ll see how they develop.”
Here is a look at some of the numbers of the three acquisitions:
Ramirez – 24 starts, 4.84 ERA, 115 strikeouts.
Aumont – 27 games, 21 starts, 5.68 ERA, 129 hits in 122 innings
Gilles – 28 games, one cocaine possession charge
Of coarse of the Phillies go out and win a World Series it will be hard for even the most cynical fan to find a problem with anything Amaro has done. If not? Well get used to hearing to these three names.
Phillies half game back !
Amidst all the Labor Day Sales, trips to the beach, ramping up of the NFL and other late summer activities, the Phillies are in the midst of an unrelenting grind of playing a game nearly every day, rain or shine, home or away, and having to at least win every time the Braves do.
And in the past 2 weeks, despite missing out on several opportunities as the Braves mosey into September, the Phillies HAVE inched closer. Before tonight’s games, the margin for the NL East stood at 1 game. Now, after the Phillies split a pair with the Marlins and the Braves loss to the Pirates, it is half a game.
The Phillies lineup seemed perfectly in sync for the stretch run in the game tonight putting forth a solid consistant effort to back up Roy Oswalt, perhaps 2010’s winner of the “pitcher with the worst run support in the bigs” award.
By the sixth inning, Victorino, Polanco, Utley and Ibanez had all collected at least 2 hits, driven in a run, and scored a run. The Phillies lead after five innings was 7-4 and they won by that score after falling 7-1 to the Fish in the day game. Oswalt is now 5-1 since being traded in a Cliff Lee dejavue kind of way, and the team is 7-1 in games that he started.
In the NL, they now trail only the Braves, by virtue of an extra loss, and the Reds, by virtue of two additional losses. With the Padres unraveling, the Braves faltering, and the Reds with no one pushing them in the Central, the Phillies are now tied for most wins in the National League and looking good. Charlie Manuel has stated this team needs to be judged by how it finishes, and maybe he knew what he was talking about. The Phillies always seem to play somewhat to the level of their competition, and recently, have stepped it up in big games, and season changing games so the stretch is looking pretty interesting indeed.
And with all the Eagles fervor, maybe the Phillies will win some football fans over when they threepeat the NL East and return to the World series for the third time in as many years.
After all, when was the last time the Eagles won three NFC East titles in a row and went to three Superbowls ?
Oh, right !
The Phillies inch closer to NL lead.
Tonight the Phillies did something they haven’t done for a while. They won a game while the Braves lost and therefore gained a whole game in the National League East race.
They did this, beating Colorado 12-11, mostly by virtue of a 9 run 7th inning where the team had a serious bataround. Polanco doubled, Ultey singled, Howard homered, Werth homered, Ibanez flied out, Victorino singled, Schneider singled, Francisco pinch hit and singled, Rollins singled, Polanco (in his second at bat) struck out, Utley (in his second at bat of the inning) crushed a grand slam and then Howard (in his second at bat) lined out. It could have gone on for a bit with slightly better luck, but 12 batters, 3 homeruns, a double and 5 singles is about the best inning we have seen out of the Phillies in quite some time.
Utley’s grand slam put the score at 12-8 as the Phillies charged back from a 4 run deficit 2 times, once after Blanton gave the Rockies 4 runs in the second, and then again when the score was 7-3 after 6.
It is a good thing the Phillies got all those runs as Durbin had a rough inning of relief and gave 3 of them right back to Colorado. Every Phillie starter had a hit and every starter except Ibanez scored a run or more.
Howard’s home run was his 25th, and his second of the week, prompting many to hope the big guy has regained his stroke. He had other nice cuts at the ball and looked like he was moving around more naturally and that may mean a lot to the Phillies who are in a division race fighting for their life with 28 games to go.
They end the night 2 games back of the Braves for the division and 2 games up on the Giants for the wild card so they have a solid shot at the postseason. It would be nice to enter the post season as the division champs rather then having the wild card underdog status throughout.
The pitching remains confusing and hard to define. Hamels at 8-10 with 17 quality starts, an ERA of 3.31, and a 3.5 K/BB ratio just puzzles the crap out of me. Oswalt is 4-1 with an ERA under 2 since joining the club mid season, but ranks 5th in the majors in losses overall when you add in his starts from Houston. Halladay should be a 20 game winner who didn’t get a single break this season as he sits at 16-10 on paper even after pitching 22 quality starts with nearly a strikeout per inning and a 2.27 ERA, and Blanton is now just a huge question mark to me after his last handful of starts.
If the starting 3 (Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt) pitch as well as their statistics for the final month, and the Phillies bats stay hot, they still have a chance to threepeat and hit the postseason strong. Even though Hamels and Oswalt have 10 and 13 losses respectively, I don’t think there is a single team in the NL that wants to try a three game series against those three back to back to back. You may win one but not two and never three especially in crunch time. The Phillies may be the sleeper team of the year as ESPN has them ranked at the bottom of the top ten for the past few months and I think they have as good a chance as anybody to go to the show and win it again.
Every game has more meaning this late in the year, and now is when Charlie Manuel should have his chance to shine as the small adjustments and timing of substitutions will make a bigger difference in the outcomes of the games, and the teams position heading into October. The games this month will show us just how potentially strong a dynasty we have built here, and for how many years we should compete at the highest level.
Numbers unjust for Oswalt, Hamels
Disagreement is a major part of sports. After all, what fun would it be to discuss sports if everyone had the same opinion about everything?
It wouldn’t be fun at all.
But every great one in a while a topic comes up that just can’t be debated — at least it shouldn’t be.
This is one of those cases.
I will state is as unquestioned fact (or something like that) that no team in baseball has two pitchers with losing records that are better than the Phillies’ Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. Oswalt took a no-hitter into the seventh today in the Phillies’ 5-1 win over the Dodgers. With the win he improved to an unjustified 10-13. I guess that’s what happens when you’re stuck on the Astros for 2/3 of the season.
If Oswalt is looking for sympathy he certainly wont get any from teammate Hamels, who somehow only has eight wins this year. One of the big question marks entering the season was if Hamels could find his 208 form, or if he would be the same guy who struggled in 2009. Well, Hamels has pitched like the 2008 version, yet is stuck with 2009-like numbers.
Trust me, when teams go against Hamels and Oswalt they are not licking their lips at the chance to face two guys with a combined 18-23 record. It’s quite the opposite.
Baseball is a team game and Oswalt and Hamels will be the first guys to tell you their numbers don’t matter as long as the team gets back to the playoffs.
Yet it wouldn’t seem justified for either pitcher to end the regular season with a losing record. Hopefully the offense can get on enough of a role to not only propel the team into the playoffs, but also reward a pair of pitchers who’s win totals just don’t seem right.
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