Gamenight: Nationals (4-14) At Phillies (10-8)
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Tue, April 28, 2009 05:16 PM | Comments: 216
Gameday 2009, Posts
Washington Nationals (4-14) at Philadelphia Phillies (10-8)
John Lannan (0-2, 4.43 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (0-2, 9.69 ERA)
Time: 7:05 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia.
Weather: Mostly sunny, 83
TV: The Comcast Network
Twitter: Phillies Nation
A Prince Fielder line drive struck Cole Hamels Thursday, taking him out of what was becoming a very effective start. Though he had given up a home run to Ryan Braun, Hamels had struck out almost every batter he had faced. The flesh wound seemed like a huge ordeal at first; now it’s child’s play considering what the Phils might go through with Brad Lidge. Needless to say, it’s still a scary world out there.
Hamels, still looking for his first win of the season and an ERA that isn’t showing a run per inning, will face the Nationals, a team he has defeated soundly in his past (5-3, 2.04 ERA). In fact, Hamels has practically mastered everyone in the Nats lineup, save Ryan Zimmerman, who is only hitting .270 against Hamels, but with two home runs. Adam Dunn, by the way, is 1-for-8 against Hollywood.
The Phillies offense, meanwhile, has a checkered past with Washington starter John Lannan. He’s the one who hit Chase Utley in the hand back in 2007. Of course, Utley is hitting .455 against the hand hunter. Jimmy Rollins is at .417. Ryan Howard is at .364. And each member of the Phrontrunner Bros. has a homer against Lannan. To be short, the lefties have and can hit him.
That bodes well coming off one of the most thrilling wins in recent Phillies history. For those who missed last night’s proceedings, Howard tied the game with an sixth-inning grand slam, then Raul Ibanez swatted an eighth-inning grand slam to hand the Phils the eventual 13-11 win. Ibanez’s homer pulled him into third place in the NL home run race. He’s seventh in the league in hits and third in runs, and yes, he leads the league in slugging percentage with a .685 clip, four hundredths above Albert Pujols.
Your gamenight beer: Last night we got a double shot of grand slam madness, so tonight we celebrate with a Dubbel. How about Bornem Dubbel? This Belgian brew has a cherry/raspberry taste – a little different for the composition of a Dubbel, but nobody ever said you had to follow rules. This sweet and bitter beer would go well with oysters and fries. Belgian style.
Go Phillies!
Posts: 0 Paul
Thanks for the update Matt, I am not able to watch the game. Hopefully you are right and it’s not too bad.
Posted: 08:24 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Phillies Phan SC
I still don’t understand why we released Jenkins and kept cairo. Jenkins wasn’t at the prime, but holy crap he was better than Cairo and, while I love Stairs, a better 4th man for the OF.
Posted: 08:25 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Mike W
Matt — So did Jroll last year vs the mets….he missed about 5 weeks?
Posted: 08:25 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
Cairo needs down to be sent town for a guy who can contribute in the bullpen.
Posted: 08:25 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Phillies Phan SC
Matt, I agree, Cole should be fine. We need him the way he was tonight!
Posted: 08:26 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Sam D.
Does anybody know who last year was traded for a bag of baseballs? haha Cairo would make history if we cold get even a bag of chips for him.
Posted: 08:26 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Phillies Phan SC
Mike W – if we think like that – JRoll’s never been the same either, so we can only hope for the best
Posted: 08:26 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Manny
CHASE, you are the man!!
Posted: 08:27 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Sam D.
2 for chase, yeah boiiiii, 6-0 phils. MVPPPP
Posted: 08:27 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Jenn
Chase is showing him how well that hand works now-haha!
Posted: 08:27 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Phillies Phan SC
As HK would say ‘outta here’ Chase Utley. Gosh I miss hearing him. RIP HK
Posted: 08:28 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Keith
I like how we all agree that Cairo needs to be removed from this team.
Posted: 08:28 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Paul
Is Utley getting in a HR groove again?! NICE!!!
Posted: 08:28 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Sam D.
haha payback is a biatch
Posted: 08:28 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Keith
UTLEY!!!
Utley: 7
Ibanez: 6
Howard: 4
Posted: 08:29 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
Utley is on fire. So quick.
Posted: 08:29 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Phillies Phan SC
Keith, I am in SC and I follow the Phillies a lot, and for the life of me, I could not understand how Cairo stayed and Jenkins went.
Posted: 08:30 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 cxl72
Look at the positive, each outing Hamels has been better and better. He gave them 3 strong innings against Mil and 4 1/3 here. If his ankle is okay he may be able to put together a string of strong starts where he goes deep each time. Marlins are losing again, we may be in first place in 2 hours.
Posted: 08:31 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Sam D.
RAUUUULLLLL just a single, but I’m getting used to saying that
Posted: 08:31 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Sam D.
I rather have Russell Branyan back look what he’s doing for Seattle as an almost everyday player
Posted: 08:33 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Jimmy
Mike W- the reason Rollins was out so long is because he kept trying to come back too early. Maybe we should just count our losses and let Cole get completely healthy before he tries to make a comeback.
Posted: 08:33 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Kyle
Any word yet?
Posted: 08:33 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 cxl72
Cairo is insurance if Utley and Feliz don’t come back from off season injuries….LOL.
Some gurus thought Utley would never be the same and he looks good to me. Feliz looks the same too. There we were lucky, Hamels unlucky. With all that were on pace for 90+ wins.
It must suck for Cairo to know that you’re the 25th guy and can be cut any second. Still making good dough and a nice problem to have.
Posted: 08:35 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 GWFightinsFan
So just for the sake of conversation, let’s say we do put Hamels on the DL (as we probably should, because as we learned with Rollins last season its best to just let the person rest their ankle instead of trying to rush them back and potentially make it worse by doing so) anyway if we do put him on the DL, who takes his place in the rotation? My vote’s for Happ, as he’s been solid so far from the bullpen, and after 15 days, if Park is still crappy we can put him in the pen and just leave Happ in the rotation…
Posted: 08:35 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Sam D.
Sprained Left Ankle fo Cole
Posted: 08:35 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Jimmy
*cut our losses
Posted: 08:36 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 cxl72
McCarthy says sprained ankle on Hamels. No additional data.
Posted: 08:36 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Keith
how many AB does Cairo have?
Posted: 08:37 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Sam D.
well there is the Adam Dunn with his solo shot, now all we need s Zimmerman to hit one and your prediction is fulfilled
Posted: 08:38 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Manny
Ouch… agh let him rest and put Happ in the rotation.. and pleaseeee bring someone up from Lehigh to the pen
Posted: 08:39 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 cxl72
Cairo is 0-7
Posted: 08:39 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Sam D.
7 abs for Cairo he has swung at the first pitch every time except for one
Posted: 08:40 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Matt
ok, so if it is just a sprained left ankle, that’s most likely a 15-day DL “incarceration.” It could have been way worse, especially with the severity of how tweaked his ankle looked initially. Who knows what’ll happen, but a sprained left ankle is very recoverable, and much better than ligament damage, or a broken bone.
Posted: 08:41 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Keith
hmm maybe Cairo will bat this inning
Posted: 08:41 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Kyle
shit, if it’s an ankle sprain, get his ass back out there. He’ll be fine. As long as it’s not broken or a high ankle sprain.
Posted: 08:41 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Phillies Phan SC
GWFightinsFan – Happ for sure and bring up a replacement from AAA. Here is the better question: Who goes down when JC comes back?
Posted: 08:41 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Georgie
He looked like the rubberband man when he went down, all legs and arms. I’m not saying he’s fragile, but with all that’s been going on with him so far, maybe a DL stint would be the best thing…..
Posted: 08:42 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
Cairo has 7/8 at bats with no hits and no batting average. total waste of roster space. its happs turn in line to get plugged into the rotation if hamels hits the DL, then you bring up a bullpen arm to fill the 25-man spot – someone like Gary Majewski.
The callup/replacement order for starters is something like: happ, carrasco, and then whichever of stutues, drabek, brummett or worley is the most rested. i dont think they are interested in calling up kyle kendrick or drew carpenter AT ALL. Knapp is still too young, and needs to season a bit. hes only 18/19 i think.
Posted: 08:42 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 NEPA
god, adam dunn hits some true bombs.
Posted: 08:42 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Phillies Phan SC
Keith, true… hopefully some of those sprains hurt like a b***h until the next day then it is OK. Done it a few times, and been back fine the next day.
Posted: 08:43 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Paul
Cairo goes down when JC comes back. Just a thought…
Posted: 08:43 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Manny
Woooo Jimmy hits!
Posted: 08:44 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Keith
nevermind, Durbin has a better shot at getting a hit than Cairo
Posted: 08:45 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Sam D.
First Steal for J- Roll in 19 games
Posted: 08:45 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
Jack Taschner has one minor league option left I think – hed go down to AAA when JC Romero returns. Or…if Eyre tanks out theyd remove him. Romero could be a huge addition when he returns. However, the Phillies are going to need to bring up some pen help soon – I agree with Tim there. The bullpen issue is always solved from within first, and if that fails then you try and trade for it. There are ALWAYS serviceable relief pitchers available in July/August…
Posted: 08:45 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Keith
wouldn’t Taschner go down when Romero comes back?
Posted: 08:46 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Manny
The Nats broadcasters have a HUGE man crush on Shane Victorino. Seriously.
Posted: 08:46 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Jamie
for the love of God…when will Cole’s problems end? He’s killing me!
Posted: 08:46 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Manny
Get Beimel from the Nats… hehe
Posted: 08:47 PM on April 28, 2009
Posts: 0 Sam D.
For anybody wondering, Adam Eaton’s Line so far for the Orioles tonight through 5 innings: 6 hits, 5 runs, all earned and 4 walks.
Posted: 08:48 PM on April 28, 2009