Phillies Nation

Score a run and get 9 outs…. As simple as that and WE WIN! WE WIN! WE WIN!

I would say keep Hamels listed as the batter then once the pitcher warms up substitute Jenkins for Hamels, and dont get caught up in the game Maddon may play by bringing in a lefty, if Jenkins is leading off, just leave him in.

Pitch Eyre for the 7th, and use others if needed. Madson 8, Lidge 9.

Not like my scenario took any thinking but there you go.

Why burn Jenkins…..like RK says, leave him in if there is a lefty…….OR…….just start off with Taguchi as the pinch hitter and keep Jenkins if needed. Something tells me Taguchi does something tonight…..just a hunch.

Burning Jenkins is probably the best move. You don’t want to burn any other lefties on the bench and Jenkins is horrible against lefty’s. Then I’d bring in Taguchi. It just seems like the most logical choice.

The way Maddon’s been talking I think he tries to get at least 2 innings from Price

Good idea forcing Howell or Price into the game to face 3 righties by putting Jenkins at the plate to start the game. If Balfour were to be left in the Phils have the match-up and if Maddon goes to one of his lefties then Taguchi was likely to lead-off anyway and we still have Stairs and Dobbs available with 3 righties against their lefties as it’s unlikely Maddon will use his best for just a couple of batters.

We have play to win in 3 considering the Rays are already a little depleted and we know Price is coming in so lets force him in and beat him, he may be a prodigy but he’s not there yet.

I would expect Charlie to be aggressive and force Navarro to hit from the right side by starting with Eyre and then bring Durbin in for the next two right handed outs with Romero warming up in case the Rays get on and go to a RH pinch hitter.

Exactly Dave and Paul……just leadoff w/Taguchi. Why burn Jenkins now? We may need him later and we still have Bruntlett and Coste as righty PH’s for later as well as well as Stairs as a lefty. While we need to go for the W right away, we also need to be aware that this thing could go extras.

Did we forget about 1 Pitch one Swing Matt Stairs or is he not with the team for the series?

but honestly…

i think price is going to pitch bottom 6 and bottom 7. you let bruntlett lead off tonight, if he gets on, you DO NOT pinch run taguchi, leave bruntlett in for “defensive purposes”. you still have 3 lefties off the bench, use them when the match up is right, in this order: dobbs, stairs, jenkins.

even if the phillies do not score, you go with this pitching combo.

7: Durbin/Eyre
8: Madson/Romero
9: Lidge

it’s kinda simple actually. whether it’s 2-2 or 25-2, you stick with what worked all series.

The thing is knowing Maddon he’ll warm Balfour up and will sure as hell use him unless he’s forced into a match-up he doesn’t like and that’ll probably talk burning a bench bat and better Jenkins than Dobbs or Stairs right now.

Forcing Balfour out the game will probably be more important than the 1 bench bat in the game. We know Price and Howell will be in the game and would rather see the Phils face those guys off the bat than have to contend with Balfour who’s probably the best pitcher out of that lot right now.

The Rays will NOT pitch David Price in the 6th. The pitcher’s spot is up 4th for Tampa and they will not double switch any of the top 5 hitters in their lineup (Longoria made the last out), so Maddon will go with Balfour and either Howell or Trevor Miller in the 6th inning and pinch hit for them in the top of the 7th. Price will come in for the bottom of the 7th.

using balfour would be almost as laughable as us leading tonight off with SO TAGUCHI. neither of those will happen. you’ll see price vs. bruntlett to start the game tonight.

and phil, i finally solved some communication error between my ip address and this website. i finally had everything reset, so i’m back.

Yeah your probaby on the money Griffin which is why it’s essential to get Balfour out of the game before he’s even thrown or get the match-up we like with a lefty if he’s left in. As I said I’d rather Maddon throw his best out and burn Howell or a couple of bit pieces before Price.

Who do we go to if it goes to extras? Lets say Eyre, Durbin, Madson, Romero, and Lidge have been burned.

Happ? Condrey? Myers?

I dont think they’ll bring in Price if we bring in Jenkins cause Werth crushes left handed pitching they’ll wait til Utley comes up

Mike if we put Bruntlett in the batters box then Maddon will pitch a rested Balfour confident he can beat Bruntlett, Jimmy and Werth.

We have to play to make those final 4 hitting innings count, and burning a guy to get the match-ups what we might very well need to do to tilt things back in our favour.

In which order? I guess I’d let Condrey go first, but how long do you go with him? two innings?

The double switch with Price after the 6th move makes a hell of a lot of sense, would be preferable to make Maddon burn his best or a couple of match-up guys and leave him with just Wheeler at the back.

Since the Phils have this awful penchant for the dramatic, it will be:

Bottom 6
Bases Loaded.
Two Outs.
Pat Burrell at the plate.

And that Price kid hangs a fastball….

I would think Condrey would come in first if it went extras and pitch for at least 2 innings….unless he’s completely ineffective. I think Myers is only a last resort. He may be a good closer if we have the lead in the 13th inning. Let’s just hope it doesn’t get to this point and we win this in regulation. I don’t think my nerves can take any more heavy drama.

A little bit less dramatic I think Mike T

I don’t think the Rays had a team in RBI baseball, hence they should just forfeit.

We get a run in the bottom of the 6th and Hamels is the winning pitcher.

We will win this game tonight I have never been so confident that I have no control over in my entire life.

NJ……what are you smokin’? This thing needs to end TONIGHT!!