Archive for the 'Phillies previews' Category

Phillies vs. Brewers

Sunday, May 16th 8:10 p.m. EST

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: The absolute most important thing is that the Phillies have a chance to bury the Mets deeper and deeper into the NL East abyss.

Oh, and they have a shot at a three-game sweep against the overrated Brew Crew and that stupid mascot. It’s Cole Hamels (3-2, 4.53) versus Dave Bush (1-3, 4.24). Doug Davis was scheduled to start, but he’s having some sort of medial issue.

Hamels’ furstrating string of good start/bad start continued last week against the Braves, as he allowed three runs in five laboring innings. OK, so he wasn’t necessarily bad, but five innings isn’t what you’d expect out of your No. 2.

Carlos Ruiz IS NOT playing, unless there’s an emergency. The hope is Chooch will be back from in full force Monday when the Phillies get back home for a two-game set against Pittsburgh.

Phun Fact: On this date in 1984, Steve Carlton belts a grand slam to give the Phils a four-run lead in an eventual 7-2 victory over the Dodgers.

NL East Update

A victory would put the Phils 4.0 games ahead of the Nationals, who lost three of four including Sunday’s game to the Rockies, and the Marlins. The Fish swept the Mets this week and the Braves took two of three from the D’backs.

Tuesday, May 11th

Phillies vs. Rockies

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: First doubleheader of the season. (I hate when Phils games are rained out on my off nights from work. Thankfully, I was still able to watch some good baseball. Mets-Nats game was a blast, as was the A’s-Rangers… OK, sorry for the tangent).

Game 1 is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. with Roy Halladay (6-1, 1.45) toeing the slab against Aaron Cook (1-3, 6.03). This is a homecoming for Doc. He grew up in Colorado, but has never pitched in Coors.

Game 2 will feature Jamie Moyer (4-2, 4.38) coming off his best start in years, a two-hit shutout of the Braves.  The Rockies counter with Jason Hammel (0-2, 9.16), who, if I can remember correctly, pitched pretty darn well his last time out against the Phils. It will be the struggling Hammel’s first start since April 26.

NL East Update

The Phillies (20-12) are 2.5 games in front of the second-place Mets (18-15) and Nationals (18-15). The Mets rallied from a 6-1 deficit to beat the Nats last night, 8-6.

Fun Phact: On this date in 1947, a crowd of 41,660 — the largest in baseball history at the time — came out to Shibe Park to watch the Phillies sweep a doubleheader against Brooklyn.

Phillies vs. Giants

3:45 PM EST at AT&T Park

Tim Lincecum bro

If you asked a Mets fan two weeks ago about the Phillies extravagant play, you got a response that mocked how it was the beginning of the season. Now the Mets are in first (and their is no denying they’re playing exceptional baseball), however, even our friends at TRDMB are buying the Kool Aid.

But my role here isn’t to comment on my jealousy of having to watch this apathetic team drop in the standings. My role is to tell you about how the last guy you want your team to face when they’re on the verge of getting swept and a four game losing streak, all while scoring less run than the Pirates…is Tim Lincecum. “The Freak” is a freak. The reason you haven’t heard much about is 4-0 start and meager 1.00 ERA, is because those are the standards which have become expected of him. The Phillies currently score runs like a team with a third of their payroll, and that’s bad news facing a guy who hasn’t had above a six hit game all season.

The good news is that we’ve got California boy Cole Hamels taking the mound tonight (#sarcasm). He got rocked a little bit in the Arizona desert last start (6 IP, 6 ER), so hopefully he can rebound with a solid showing similar to his earlier form.

I’m not even going to mention that Howard has a good track record off of Linceum, including two homers, because at this point history doesn’t matter. Just go and score some runs somehow…please.

Lineup today goes Victorino, Polanco, Utley, Howard, Werth, Ibanez, Castro, Ruiz, Hamels.

Fun Phact - The Phillies haven’t been in second in the NL East since May 29, 2009

Phillies vs. Giants

10:15 PM EST at AT&T Park

Hoping to see a lot of this tonight

Last night’s game was pretty unwatchable if you ask me. A team that was so much fun to watch seven games into the season has become a lifeless pile of crap. Luckily, it takes just one game to change it all, and Giants’ pitcher Todd Wellemeyer is the perfect man for the job.

Wellemeyer has been about as close to garbage as a starting pitcher could be three starts into the season. Thirteen earned runs in 14.1 innings? Seriously? Now I know that the Phillies have some injury problems and Rollins is a big loss at the top of the order, but his ERA is 8.16 for Christ’s sake. They’ve been getting the men in position, and now is the time to start knocking ‘em in. Wellemeyer (RHP) is 0-3 and is currently signed to a minor league contract. If he isn’t gone by the third inning, I consider the night a failure.

For the Phillies tonight we have the fast throwing youngster, Jamie Moyer. At 47 years old, I still wonder whether it will be his age or his fastball speed that is higher by the time he retires. I digress… Sans the first inning of the Marlins game two starts ago, Moyer’s actually looked great. He’s even at eleven straight scoreless innings.

Finally a little scouting report on the Phils hitters vs. Wellemeyer. Utley feasts at 7 for 11, 3 HR, 6 RBI. Howard is close behind at 4 for 7, 2 HR, 4 RBI. Werth stinks at 0 for 5, 2BB. And even Ross Gload gets in on the action with 2 HR in 4 AB.

Fun Phact - In 2007, Placido Polanco became the first everyday second baseman in MLB history to finish an entire season without an error. He also batted .341 with 200 hits.

Phillies vs. Giants

10:05 PM EST at AT&T Park

Ryan Howard received a package from the Phillies via UPS today. This was what was inside.

In a desperate attempt to draw the attention away from how badly the Phils match up against the Giants tonight (except Roy Halladay), they signed Ryan Howard to a redonkulous deal. Keystone of franchise? Check. Biggest sports star in Philadelphia? Check. All-Star production for the next six years? Uh..let us hope.

Back to a more important matter, however, is that Howard will get a chance to blow some of that cash in San Francisco as the Phillies open a three game series against the Giants. The Phillies are like, awkwardly bad in this stadium, losing the last five of six. The only win came off of the gem that Cliff Lee (remember him?) twirled. I attended two of them, they lost both. I’m still bitter.

The good news is that it is Halladay season in the Bay City, the bad news is that recent history suggests this may be the first loss for our stud. Doc has two career starts in San Fran, in which he’s racked up a 0-1 record with a 7.71 ERA. This season is a different story though, as he is possibly the best pitcher in NL so far. His competeition? Tim Lincecum, but we’ll save that story for game three.

Remember that no-name guy who threw that no-hitter last year for the Giants? Jonathan Sanchez is really a hit or miss type of pitcher. When he’s on, he can deal. In fact, in his last start he threw seven innings of one hit baseball (he was still the tough luck loser). A good, young, hot left handed pitcher is everything the Phillies don’t need right now. The lineup obviously hasn’t been released yet, but I would assume Shane and Placido’s right handed bats will be reinserted.

It’s one thing to talk about lefty on lefty match ups, but when it comes to the Phillies and Sanchez they’ve lived up to the hype. Howard is 3 - 12 with six strike outs. Utley is 1 - 8. And our right handers don’t fare much better. Jayson Werth is 0 -7, while VictoRINO (like that? get it?…like a Rinosaurus) is 2 - 9.

Fun Phact - With his new deal, Ryan Howard could replace all of the home run balls he’s hit in his MLB career (The MLB charges $170.25 per case of ten balls?!). He would still have $124,996,118.75 left over.

Phillies vs. Diamondbacks

4:10 PM EST at Chase Field

Ashburn Alley blows away Chase Field's stupid pool

Kyle Kendrick will take the mound in Arizona tonight against Diamondbacks’ pitcher Rodrigo Lopez (1-0, 3.50 ERA). The Phils look to take the series despite the handful of injuries that have developed as of late.

The lineup will be the most abnormal (and probably weakest) that we’ve seen all season. Thanks to Delco Times beat writer, Ryan Lawrence -

1. Ross Gload (Right Field)
2. Greg Dobbs (Third)
3. Chase Utley
4. Ryan Howard
5. Jayson Werth (Center)
6. Raul Ibanez
7. Wilson Valdez (Shortstop)
8. Carlos Ruiz
9. Kyle Kendrick

Interesting to see that despite all the injuries and call ups, Charlie doesn’t want to move Carlos up in the order. His OBP this year is over .400.

Phillies vs. Braves

7:10 P.M. at Turner Field

I don't care if they aren't playing the Mets

O.K. so Ryan Madson sucks, lets get past that. What better way to move on from a heart stabbing loss (and subsequent three game losing streak) than with Doc Halladay. Our savior every fifth game and almost guarantee that we won’t see our bullpen tonight restores my confidence in the team, even after the past couple of days. Now if we could get some friggen offense.

Tim Hudson (1-0 2.84 ERA) has allowed two runs in both his starts this season. Not bad for a pitcher who’s been cast off a little bit in the past couple years.  The probable future Hall of Famer is proving that he still can be an extremely effective pitcher, and so far this year the Braves have benefited.

The Phillies lineup tonight looks a little something like this: Victorino, Polanco, Utley, Howard, Werth, Ibanez, Castro, Ruiz, Halladay.

Fun Phact - Among active players with 2,700 PA or more, Juan Castro leads with the lowest career batting average of .230 (Thanks Jayson Stark).

Marlins

Maybin, CF

Coghlan, LF

Ramirez, SS

Cantu, 3B

Uggla, 2B

Ross, RF

Baker, C

Sanchez, 1B

Robertson, P

Phillies

Victorino, CF

Polanco, 3B

Utley, ZB

Howard, 1B

Werth, RF

Francisco, LF

Castro, SS

Ruiz, C

Hamels, P

Note: Francisco is making his first start.

Phillies vs. Nationals

7:05 PM EST at Citizens Bank Park

The Fish's Jorge Cantu has a 10-game RBI and hitting streak entering Friday's series opener.

Roy Halladay makes his highly anticipated Citizens Bank Park debut tonight in Game 1 of a three-game weekend series against the Marlins.

Quite frankly, Halladay (2-0, 0.56 ERA) has been the Phillies’ only consistent starting pitcher. He’s the only starter to have pitched into the seventh inning.

After a tough loss in which the bullpen blew a three-run lead against the Nationals, Halladay’s start is a welcome sight. The Marlins are coming off a series win against the Reds.

Halladay will oppose Anibal Sanchez, who allowed four earned runs and seven hits over six innings in his season debut.

The Marlins and Phillies split their season series last year, 9-9.

Phillies vs. Astros

2:05 PM EST at Minute Maid Park

Stud pitcher. Stud husband

I’d like to start this post by apologizing for the ridiculously cheesy title, but how could I resist? I promise that next time I’ll use one of those “halladay/holiday” play on words that you’ve been sick of since he came to this city.

But in all seriousness, the Houston Astros have a problem. Roy Halladay is a machine. The pitcher who had a “mediocre” outing in his first start (7 IP, 1 ER) is looking to get back into form today. He has 20 more complete games by anyone in the past decade, so seven innings for him isn’t up to standards. OK, were the Phillies up ten to the Nationals? Maybe. I don’t really care though, lets see him go nine.

Roy Oswalt is still, believe it or not, considered the ace of this team. Having Oswalt as an ace was a good thing like 2-5 years ago, but right now it’s the sign of a team in rebuild mode. Roy lost his first go around, but you can’t fault him going six innings and only three earned runs. When your team has led for about two innings total in your first five games, your job as a starting pitcher isn’t envied.

Damn it…I just realized both pitcher’s names are Roy. That could have been a creative title.

Anyways, how much fun is this Phillies team to watch? I’ve never seen a team hit so well, and I would like to attribute that to their patience at the plate. Long counts, drawing walks, and everything else you want to do at the plate. I mean when Ryan Howard can walk after being down 0-2 in the count, you know things are point upwards. Interesting enough is the fact that the over/under on this game is only seven. Somebody either things the Phillies offense is due to stall, or that the Astros will see about nine “zeros” posted on the scoreboard. Let it be noted that the Phils have not had a game with less than eight total runs scored to this point.

The last little tidbit is for all you golf fans out there. This might be the most exciting round in golf every year, especially when Ron Jeremy, sorry I meant Tiger, is in contention. But as Happy Gilmore once said, “Gold jacket, green jacket, who gives a shit.” (Can I curse here? I don’t even know. Suspend me without pay if you must, Matt.) It’s almost Summer, and Summer is baseball season. Not to mention golf is about twice as boring as Olympic Curling to watch. The point is if you aren’t watching Roy Halladay today, you’re probably going to burn in hell.

Fun Phact - Roy Oswalt was born in Weir, Mississippi. Mike Weir is currently +3 at the Masters.