Phillies Nation

Washington Nationals (26-17) at Philadelphia Phillies (21-23)

Edwin Jackson (1-1, 3.31) vs. Cole Hamels (6-1, 2.48)

Time: 7:05, Citizens Bank Park
TV: CSN, ESPN2
Weather: Cloudy, 74, chance of t-storms
Media: Twitter and Facebook

The Phillies, who are already on a season high four game losing streak, hope to avoid a sweep at the hands of their new rivals the Nationals. The Phils nearly got swept earlier this season in Washington, but a solid start by Cole Hamels and a mini offensive explosion helped the Phillies to victory.

Hamels will be on the mound again tonight, which means the highly anticipated round two of Hamels v Harper will indeed happen. As for the other hitters that Hamels will face, most have not fared well against him in the past.

Continue reading Gameday: Phillies (21-23) vs Nationals (26-17)

Is this the start of a new rivalry?

The Phillies will host the Nationals tonight in the first of a three-game set, and the series is sure to be one of the more intense ones this year. This is because the Phillies and the Nationals have developed a new found rivalry this that has never been present before, because the Mets were the Phils biggest rival.

But ever since 2007, the Phillies-Mets rivalry has really cooled down, and with the Phils being so dominant in the division, the term “rival” didn’t really mean what it used to.

Fast forward to 2012. The Phillies have found themselves in last place in the NL East, looking up at the first place Braves, and for a little while were looking up at the first place Nationals. The Nats even took two of three from the Phils in the “Take Back Our Park” series earlier this month where the theme was to get Phillies fans away from Nationals Park.

Continue reading Are The Nationals The Phillies Biggest Rival This Year?

Philadelphia Phillies (19-19) at Chicago Cubs (15-22)

Roy Halladay (3-3, 3.20) vs. Chris Volstad (0-5, 6.92)

Time: 8:05, Wrigley Field
TV: CSN
Weather: Sunny, 55
Media: Twitter and Facebook

The Phillies are in a position to do something tonight that they haven’t done since the first game of the season–and that’s come away with a record above .500. They have a pretty good chance at doing so too, as the pitching matchup tonight heavily favors the Phils, who are also on a winning streak.

Roy Halladay gets the start tonight, and although his numbers so far this year don’t scream Cy Young, he’s still the ace of the Phils rotation. However, he does have an 0-3 record at Wrigley Field to go along with a 5.29 ERA. But something tells me those stats won’t matter tonight.

Continue reading Gameday: Phillies (19-19) at Cubs (15-22)

San Diego Padres (12-22) at Philadelphia Phillies (15-10)

Jeff Suppan (2-0, 0.90) vs. Cole Hamels (4-1, 2.45)

Time: 1:35 Citizens Bank Park
TV: PHL 17
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78
Media: Twitter and Facebook

After dropping a close one to the Padres last night, the Phillies will look to take the series win today behind Cole Hamels, who is riding a great season so far in his contract year. There has been some whispers that the Phillies have had some talks with the Blue Jays about Hamels, and Ruben Amaro Jr. even said that the Phillies could become sellers at the trading deadline. If these talks and rumors have any merit whatsoever, Hamels’ days in Philadelphia may be numbered. And that makes me sad.

Getting back to the baseball side of things, Hamels is nearly untouchable to these Padres hitters. Collectively, they have only posted a .194/.235/.302 slash line. Cameron Maybin has had the most success against him, collecting seven hits in twenty-two at-bats, including three doubles and a triple.

For the Padres, Jeff Suppan will take the mound, and he’s only given up one earned run in ten innings this year. However, the Phillies have pretty good numbers against him, with Hunter Pence leading the way with a .412/.545/1.000 slash line against him, with three of his seven hits being home runs. The numbers favor the Phillies, but like most games this year, that won’t mean a thing when the two teams take the field.

Lineup: Rollins SS, Pierre LF, Victorino CF, Pence RF, Wigginton 3B, Mayberry 1B, Galvis 2B, Schneider C, (Hamels P)

Your gameday beer: Pete’s Brown Ale

Pete’s Brown Ale is a beer from the Bear Republic Beer Co. in California. It’s made with molasses and brown sugar, so it’s bitter, slow and thick. Eat a steak with a sweet potato with this one. – By Brian

GO PHILLIES!

San Diego Padres (11-22) at Philadelphia Phillies (15-18)

Edinson Volquez (1-2, 2.98) vs. Roy Halladay (3-2, 3.28)

Time: 7:05 Citizens Bank Park
TV: CSN
Weather: Partly cloudy, 76
Media: Twitter and Facebook

The Phillies showed some life in last night’s 7-3 win over the Padres and will look to continue their solid play tonight behind Roy Halladay. However, Halladay hasn’t been so Halladay-like this season, as his outings have been inconsistent to say the least. In his last start against the Mets, he went seven strong, allowing just two runs. But two starts ago, against the Braves, he allowed eight runs over 5.1 innings, one of the worst starts of his career.

Almost all of his numbers this year have drawn some concerns from many analysts and fans, including his velocity, BB ration, K ratio, among others. A solid start tonight could help to ease the worries of many Phillies fans out there.

Continue reading Gameday Padres (11-22) at Phillies (15-18)

PHOTO: AP

Right now, the Phillies are in a tough position. They have lost five of their last six games, including a series in which they were swept by the rival New York Mets. They are sitting at 14-18, and the frustration by the fans, and surely everyone within the Phillies organization, grows more and more each day.

The season hasn’t gone as expected and it is understandable that we all feel these things. But it’s okay. It really is. I think that when it’s all said and done, the Phillies will be just fine and all of the early struggles will simply be a thing of the past.

There are a few reasons why I feel this way. First, the Phillies are still playing shorthanded. Also, the recent struggles of the bullpen are unordinary, and finally, not to beat a dead horse, but it’s still early.

Continue reading Why The Phillies Can Turn It Around

PHOTO: AP

The Phillies defeated the D-Backs 8-5 on Tuesday, and it was a game that featured a whole lotta offense. There were a total of five homers between the two teams, and 10 total extra base hits. But there was something else about this game that has been lacking for the Phils this season: It was fun to watch. Vance Worley pitched a great game, and the offense backed him with two big flies. They added more runs to go along with another home run, and an exciting three run triple. We need more of these fun games from the Phillies, especially when they are giving us so many clunkers this year. They are now out of last place in the NL East, a spot that is now occupied by the Marlins.

Offense

- Laynce Nix homered for the first time this year with a monster shot to right, shortly after Hunter Pence smacked his third of the year, also to right.

- Nix was 3-3 on the night–the last time he had three hits in a game was in June of last year.

- Here’s how you can tell Placido Polanco is really struggling: He pinch-hit for Worley in the seventh to bunt. His bunt was perfectly placed, however.

- Pete Orr was 2-4, including a 3 RBI triple in the seventh that broke the game open. The last time he had three RBI in a single game was, wait for it, never. On related note, a missed call by the umpire on the play before allowed the bases to be loaded for Orr. Instant replay clearly showed Jason Kubel making a clean catch.

- Orr now has four hits on the year–three for extra bases.

- The Phillies now have five home runs in their last two games.

Pitching

- Vance Worley finished with a solid line of 6.0 IP/5 H/1 R/1 ER/1 BB/6 K, bringing his ERA down to 2.16, an ERA that still isn’t good enough to be higher than third amongst Phillies starters.

- Worley threw 110 pitches, which is the fourth-most he’s ever thrown in a game.

- Jose Contreras gave up his first runs of 2012, when he gave up three straight doubles to start the seventh. He really struggled with his control, and ended up giving up three runs in 2/3 of an inning. Antonio Bastardo stopped the bleeding, getting the final out.

- Chad Qualls also gave up his first run of 2012 on a long home run by Jason Kubel in the eighth. Aside from the home run, he pitched great, striking out the side seemingly with ease.

- Jonathan Papelbon notched his sixth save of the year, making it look easy in the ninth.

What’s next: The Phils will look for the series win tomorrow in an afternoon contest. Cole Hamels is scheduled to start for the Phils and Trevor Cahill is scheduled to start for the D-Backs.

PHOTO: AP

The Phillies are tough to watch right now. Don’t let the final score fool you, this was a blowout. The offense couldn’t get anything going until the ninth, the pitching seemed to be unraveling, and the defense has been suspect. They lost the game 9-5, and it seemed as though every facet of the game was a lost cause. Let’s start with the offense.

Offense

- The Phillies were dangerously close to getting shut out for the third time this year. Had they not scored that run in the ninth, they would’ve been shut out for the third time, or at a rate of once every 5.7 games. Last year, they were shut out once every 23.1 games. That stat is safe…for now.

- After getting shut out for eight innings, they exploded for five runs in the ninth, including two home runs–one by Shane Victorino and one by Carlos Ruiz.

- Over half of the Phillies hits were for extra bases–four doubles and two home runs to go alone with five singles.

Continue reading Phils Get Blown Out By D-Backs

Philadelphia Phillies (7-9) at Arizona Diamondbacks (8-8)

Kyle Kendrick (0-0, 1.93) vs Wade Miley (1-0, 3.12)

Time: 9:40 PM, Chase Field
TV: TCN
Weather: N/A
Media: Twitter and Facebook

The scheduled starters for tonight would have been Cliff Lee for the Phils and Daniel Hudson for the D-Backs. Two pitchers that can throw up a bunch of zeros on the scoreboard on any given night. And with the way the both offenses have been playing recently, there might have been a whole lotta zeros between the two teams.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), both Lee and Hudson won’t make their starts tonight, and will be replaced by Kyle Kendrick and Wade Miley.

Continue reading Gameday: Phillies (7-9) at Diamondbacks (8-8)

PHOTO: AP

The Phillies offense is clearly struggling. As a team, the Phils are (out of 16 NL teams) 14th in runs, 16th in walk rate, 14th in OPS, and for you advanced metric fans, 14th in wOBA. They swing at pitches at a higher rate than all NL teams except the Pirates, and swing at pitches outside of the zone more than any other team. As evidenced by their 3rd-best strikeout rate, they can put the ball in play, but they can’t produce runs.

The one thing that stands out is the lack of power from John Mayberry Jr. Last year, his isolated power was .240, meaning that his slugging percentage was 240 points higher than his batting average. It was the highest on the team, and would’ve been top 10 in the NL had he qualified. Mayberry also ended the year with a .854 OPS, which was second on the Phillies only to Hunter Pence. He had a great year, and we all loved him for it, but so far this year he’s been sub-par.

Continue reading Is Mayberry Re-Opening Door for Dom Brown?