Road Sweet Road
Posted by Amanda Orr, Tue, June 23, 2009 10:54 PM | Comments: 112
2009 Recaps, Posts
There must be something about those gray jerseys because they are the only uniforms the Phillies are winning in. The Phillies offense exploded out ten runs in their victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Jamie Moyer received an early cushion with a six run first inning. Like the World Series, Chase Utley started the scoring. He smoked a two run double, which was followed by a RBI double by Ryan Howard.
The big blow came off the bat of John Mayberry Jr., a three run shot to left field making it 6-0 against the young phenom, David Price.
That was more than enough for Moyer, who pitched six innings allowing just one earned run on five hits and three walks. He struck out five.
Of course, he was backed by a terrific defense, highlighted by an over-the-shoulder catch by Jimmy Rollins. The high fly looked like an easy play for Mayberry, however, it hit the catwalk and ricocheted in the opposite direction. Rollins was there to make the Willie Mays style grab.
Utley later homered, finishing the night with four RBI. Utley’s homer was the Phillies 100th as a team in 68 games. With the home run, the Phillies became the fastest team in franchise history to hit 100 home runs.
The Phillies took advantage of the Rays’ three errors. They capitalized when they needed and were 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position. They only left four runners on base, a much smaller number than previous games.
Tyler Walker and Sergio Escalona combined for three shutout innings to seal the Phillies 10-1 win, snapping a six game losing streak.
Posts: 0 Geoff
GOOD pitching wins the WS, not average or below average pitching. Kyle Kendrick sucks, I am in no way advocating his call up, Im merely saying that Moyer’s efforts are not so spectacular. His 20 win season in seattle was that year they had over 100 wins, and that teams had power offensive numbers those years giving him run support. Wins are a TEAM stat, not an individual stat. A relief pitcher can win a game as long as they took the lead when he was in the game – no big deal.
Jamie Moyer has been a bad starting pitcher this season for this team – he has caused more harm than good. Thats being fair and lenient. He IS trending upwards, Ill give you that, but he has yet to prove that re-upping him was a worthwhile decision.
Posted: 02:03 PM on June 24, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
I dont play fantasy sports, theyre lame. Wrong again…Chief!
Posted: 02:04 PM on June 24, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
I mean, Ill admit I should be nicer to the guy because this really is a great and special team that theyve got. But put it in perspective at least. Its some old man hanging onto the heels of a great team that they keep around to teach the youngsters a thing or two and be a good clubhouse leader. he is by no means the driving force of a winning baseball team. he wasnt even that last year and he had a great season last year! Last year was about the rotation as a whole and the legendary bullpen performance both outshining the offensive numbers.
Posted: 02:07 PM on June 24, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
Oh, and about what a GREAT manager of people Charlie Manuel is.
Posted: 02:08 PM on June 24, 2009
Posts: 0 J A Happy
ok thats better , breathe deep with me big guy!
Posted: 02:10 PM on June 24, 2009
Posts: 0 Chuck
Geoff…make up your mind. He is “trending upwards” is a little different than saying he won’t finish the season.
Posted: 02:10 PM on June 24, 2009
Posts: 0 NJ
Geoff the team element effects wins and losses sure but usually only a few out of the many which is proved with Moyer’s year where the team has resulted in a third of his starts being losses by putrid offensive support. As much as he gains by team support like last night he has lost in other games.
No-ones saying Moyer is spectacular, you are saying he’s terrible and YOU ARE WRONG and YOU ARE AN IDIOT, YOUR POINTS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS IDIOTIC and you post like you know more than the team does.
Posted: 02:10 PM on June 24, 2009
Posts: 0 J A Happy
NJ I think i got it, you are saying that Geoff IS the Eskin OF Phillies Nation!
Posted: 02:21 PM on June 24, 2009
Posts: 0 Dave
Geoff, he had a bad slump (which I suspect had something to with win #250), but I doubt he’ll be that bad for the rest of the season. The last 7 games he’s had: 1 awful start, 1 below-average start, 2 “average” (6 innings, 3 ERs) and 3 above average starts. And you sound stupid blaming Moyer for the overworked bullpen when he leads the team in innings pitched.
Oh, and in the last 7 games, Moyer’s had an ERA of under 4.20. He’s not great and they shouldn’t have signed him to a 2 year contract, but let’s save the “burning in effigy” moments for when he actually has a bad start.
Posted: 02:31 PM on June 24, 2009
Posts: 0 The Little Guy
I gotta agree with Geoff for the first time in ages.
Yes i agree he pitched well last night, and has had a couple of good starts.
For making 16 million dollars at the age of 45 is just ridiculous. He has gotten killed against veteran hitting teams and everybody on here knows it.
While im not going to kill him, when your success hinges on the umpires strike zone, and hitters making mistakes, your not going to have a lot of solid outings.
When Moyer gets squeezed, and he HAS to throw the ball OVER the plate, he gets killed. Your telling me veteran, major league hitters don’t love hitting against him? Look at the Blue Jays, Mets (when they had everyone healthy, 1st start), Braves. He gets killed.
While i don’t think he is terrible, im not going to say i have full confidence in him for every start like i do with Hamels, Happ, and Blanton (recently).
I disagree with Geoff that he is the worst pitcher on God’s green earth, but for what the Phils are paying him? Why didn’t they sign Derek Lowe?
Posted: 02:40 PM on June 24, 2009
Posts: 0 Miles
@ Little Guy….if you want to argue about the money he is making than that is one thing, but really we all know that older guys get overpaid and younger guys get underpaid. That’s how it works.
The point is, which Geoff himself even pointed out, that the overwhelming majority of his productive starts this year have been more recently, which should leave us feeling positive.
And the zone wasn’t that big for Moyer last night. He had more than a few pitches that didn’t go his way (the Bartlett at-bat when he singled comes to mind).
Geoff and others continue to misunderstand the fact that most of us are unhappy with how Moyer has pitched, but we aren’t ready to take him out behind the shed like Geoff is. You absolutely cannot overreact in this game. The season is too long. It is time to give credit where credit is due when he makes a good start and not look for things like early run support to shrug off a good effort by Jamie.
Posted: 05:34 PM on June 24, 2009
Posts: 0 Miles
And again @ Little Guy….all the Mutts fans are saying the same thing about Lowe. Just remember its a 4 year deal. If he breaks down after 2 years then the Phils would have been on the hook for 30 million. That’s double what they would have blown on Jamie even if he had never pitched a game.
Posted: 05:36 PM on June 24, 2009