Phillies Nation

PHOTO: AP

Cliff Lee pitched a good game, but a home run given up by Antonio Bastardo in the top of the eighth inning not only stripped Lee of a win, but in my opinion severely lowered the Phillies chance at a win. Fangraphs had the win probability at 50/50 after Joey Votto‘s home run, but the game looked like it was headed for extras, and with a diminished bullpen, the Phils would’ve been in a tough spot.

But an eighth inning rally by the Phils propelled them past the Reds, 5-3. The win is a big one, considering the Reds were 25-16 coming into tonight’s game and had already smacked around the Phillies this year. Additionally, at the time of the last out, the Phillies were three game back in the NL East.

LEE SOLID AT THE PLATE AND ON THE MOUND

Cliff Lee pitched well–a line of 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 K–but he also hit well. He got on base twice via a fielder’s choice and a double, and scored both times. Sometimes, you get the feeling that Lee is seeing the ball better than some of the full-time hitters in the lineup. Or that he’d be a viable option to pinch hit at times. The man is a treat to watch.

His opposition, Tony Cingrani, pitched just OK. He tossed five innings while giving up three runs and scattering five hits. The 23 year old lefty held the Phillies hitless in the first two innings, and, aside from J-Roll’s home run, actually threw the ball well.

J-ROLL HEATING UP

Jimmy Rollins extended his hitting streak to six games with a two run home run in the third inning. He’s hitting .375 over that span (24 AB) with 8 RBI. A significant improvement over his previous 40 at-bats where he hit .150 with just two RBI.

He also scored his 1200th run of his career with the home run.

Michael Young, arguable the Phillies best hitter so far this year, was 1-1 with a double and three walks. If J-Roll, Young, and Chase Utley can all get (and stay) hot at the same time, the top of the order will actually be something to fear again.

BROXTON HELPS THE PHILS AGAIN

We remember 2008. We also remember 2009. And Friday night, Jonathan Broxton again came up short in a big situation against the Phillies. With one out and runners on first and second, in a tie game Broxton came in to try and get out of the jam created by Sean Marshall. He then plunked Delmon Young, and gave up a ground ball up the middle that resulted in no outs when the play at second was bobbled.

Then he gave up a sac fly to Carlos Ruiz (that was admittedly a blown call at the plate). Thanks, buddy. :)

Philadelphia Phillies (17-21) at Arizona Diamondbacks (21-16)

Kyle Kendrick (4-1, 2.45) v. Brandon McCarthy (0-3, 6.75)

TIME: 4:10, Chase Field
TV: PHL 17
Weather: Upper 80′s partly cloudy
Media: Twitter and Facebook

Happy Mother’s Day from Phillies Nation!

Today is the day we get to see the pink bats, balls, and gear worn by the players in support of Mother’s Day. And on this beautiful day, the Phillies will send their best pitcher this year, Kyle Kendrick (…what?), to the mound in hopes to split the series with the D-Backs.

Kendrick has been phenomenal so far. He’s posting a 2.45 ERA, and has been the most consistent starter on the Phils. It’s a bit surprising to be typing this about Kendrick, but I think he’s finally arrived to his potential in MLB. And it’s a great thing to see.

For the D-Backs, Brandon McCarthy gets the start, and, as remarkable as it is that he is still pitching after his horrific injury, he hasn’t been very good this year. He’s posting a 6.75 ERA, and I’ve got to believe that his head injury is somehow affecting him. He’s coming off  his best start of the year, a 6.1 inning, ER performance against the Dodgers. He gets to face a Phillies offense today that’s scored a total of nine runs in the last four games, with Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Michael Young combining for four total hits in 41 at-bats.

Even though the Phillies can rely on Kendrick to hopefully throw a good game, they need to score runs. It may be a bit easier with McCarthy on the mound, but the Phils have made some mediocre pitchers look like Cy Young Award candidates this year. Hopefully that won’t be the case this afternoon.

Lineup: Revere CF, Rollins SS, Utley 2B, Howard 1B, D Young RF, Brown LF, Galvis 3B, Kratz C, Kendrick P

Your gameday beer: Rising Moon

A seasonal from the Blue Moon branch of Coors, Rising Moon has a hint of citrus undertone with lime taking the lead; a nice choice for the improving spring weather. It is the offshoot of a bigger, corporate brewer, so you will get some of the flavorings and finishes that are typical of such an establishment. But couple it with some meat or fish after grilling and you’ve got a solid pairing. Besides, you’re all closet Miller Lite drinkers in the end.

GO PHILLIES!

Philadelphia Phillies (16-21) at Arizona Diamondbacks (21-15)

Cliff Lee (3-2, 3.26) v. Trevor Cahill (2-3, 2.80)

TIME: 8:10, Chase Field
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Weather: Upper 80′s scattered clouds
Media: Twitter and Facebook

The Phillies will look to avoid a third straight loss to the Diamondbacks tonight, as they turn to Cliff Lee to be the stopper for them. He’s coming off a start in San Francisco against the Giants where he threw eight innings of two-run ball and got the win. He’s been the Phillies second-best pitcher this year behind Kyle Kendrick. He has the highest K/BB ratio on the Phillies, 2nd lowest ERA, and lowest WHIP. He doesn’t throw a lot of ground balls (least among Phillies starters–highest fly ball %), but the lowest HR/FB %. He keeps the ball in the yard, but facing this Arizona offense in this ballpark will be tough.

Opposing Lee will be former Athletics pitcher Trevor Cahill. He’s posting a 2.80 ERA this year, in part because he has been exceptional at inducing ground balls. With the way the Phillies offense performed the last few games, I think we can expect Cahill to have success. I think this will be yet another low-scoring ballgame, and I don’t have faith in this Phillies team to win tonight. But I hope I’m wrong.

Lineup: Rollins SS, Utley 2B, M Young 3B,  Howard 1B, D Young RF, Brown LF, Ruiz C, Revere CF, Lee P

Your Gameday Beer - Orval Trappist Ale

I’ve said it before, monks know how to brew beers and this Belgian Pale Ale is no exception. First it hits you with a apple/pear scent then a complex taste of citrus, caramel, and earthy yeast – all in a creamy buttery consistency. Wow. I hear it goes well with Thai food, but this is certainly one you can drink alone. - By Brian

GO PHILLIES

Cole Hamels had another good pitching performance, but was charged with the loss.

Unfortunately, Charlie Manuel could not win the game in which he became the Phillies longest-tenured manager. Cole Hamels didn’t get any help from the offense, as the Phillies dropped the first of a four game series to the Diamondbacks, 2-1. The Phils were only able to collect six hits in total, and made a few baserunning errors in a poor offensive performance.

PITCHERS’ DUEL

Cole Hamels and Patrick Corbin really put on a show, giving up a combined three runs over a combined 12.1 innings. Hamels’ line was 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 3 K. He struggled with giving up walks, but still pitched a pretty good game. Both runs he gave up came on groundouts. Corbin’s line was 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. He had the Phillies hitters guessing every at-bat. He even threw a good amount of fastballs to Ryan Howard, who had an 0-4 night with two strikeouts. Hamels lowered his ERA to 4.18, and Corbin lowered his to 1.75 (!!!). Continue reading Phils Drop First of Series to D-Backs

Philadelphia Phillies (16-19) at Arizona Diamondbacks (19-15)

Cole Hamels (1-4, 4.34 ERA) v. Patrick Corbin (4-0, 1.80)

TIME: 9:40, Chase Field
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Weather: 80, cloudy
Media: Twitter and Facebook

The Phillies will begin a four game series tonight in Arizona as they take on the Diamonbacks. We will see the debut of Tyler Cloyd, along with Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, and Kyle Kendrick pitching for the Phillies. Tonight, Hamels takes the mound, and he’s struggled this year. His ERA is above four, he’s sporting his lowest career K/BB ratio (2.35), and highest career HR/9 (1.38). However, his last five starts have been very solid. Over those five outings, he has an ERA of 2.31, and opposing batters are hitting just .171 against him. In his last start, he gave up just two runs over eight innings against the Marlins.

For the D-Backs, Patrick Corbin gets the call, and his stats this year look like they should be next to Hamels’ name rather than his. He’s 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA, and leaves more men on base than all but one other qualified NL starters. However, he was very pedestrian last year as a rookie, so I’d expect his numbers to regress. Still, he is coming off a start against the Padres where he threw seven innings while giving up just one run.

The Phillies have won six of their last eight against the D-Backs and Hamels has a 4-1 record with 3.38 ERA in Arizona.

Lineup: Rollins SS, Utley 2B, M. Young 3B, Howard 1B, Delmon RF, Brown LF, Ruiz C, Revere CF, Hamels P

Brewed by Red Bell Brewery out of the Brewerytown neighborhood of Philadelphia, this beer is a classic microbrew lager. It’s a bit heavier than Yuengling, with more of a roasted malt flavor and some sweet coffee and caramel hints. Its supreme drinkability coupled with a pour that looks like iced tea means you can sneakily house several of these bad boys. Have your favorite pasta with some marinara sauce and a few Philly Lagers. – By Brian

GO PHILLIES

Bad swings are killing the Phillies in 2013. (PHOTO: AP)

The Phillies offense is clearly struggling this year. As a team, they are 8th in the NL in average, 12th in OBP, 10th in SLG, and 13th in OPS. The more in depth you go, the worse the stats get. I was looking for the root of the offensive woes when I came across their strikeout-to-walk ratio. I knew that they weren’t drawing many walks and were striking out a lot, but when you put them together, only the Cubs in the NL have a worse ratio.

However, the Phillies are about league average in pitches seen per plate appearance (P/PA). So they are seeing a decent amount of pitches, but do not have the walks to show for it. So what is happening with those pitches?

The Phils make contact with the ball (in any capacity) on about 77% of their swings, which is slightly below league average. But there’s a twist: they are fourth in the NL in the percentage of plate appearances that result in balls put into play. Their BABIP is at 6th.

This means that the balls that they put into play are resulting in more outs than other teams. Sure, this could be a case of  a tiny bit of “bad luck”, but when we see guys like Ben Revere ground out to second over and over again, and guys like Michael Young grounding into double play after double play, we begin to think otherwise.

So what’s the solution? Making better swings. They are seeing enough pitches, but they swing and miss too much, and when they make contact, it results in an out more often than it should. If they can make better swings, they’d make better contact more often. Their strikeout percent would go down, and it would put more pressure on opposing teams’ defense.

The Rockies have the NL’s best OPS and wOBA so far this year. They see about the same amount of pitches the Phillies do, but make contact more often, which results in the NL’s best batting average. They do more with the pitches they see with better swings. But is that possible with the Phillies? I think so. Definitely not best in the NL, but I think the Phillies’ bats still have some life in them. I think Ryan Howard, Domonic Brown, and Ben Revere will all improve over the course of the season, and if Delmon Young can produce as well, I think we’ll see better at-bats and more “oomph” from the offense.

The Big Piece can still dazzle us with his monster home runs. (PHOTO: AP)

Kyle Kendrick pitched a gem and the offense was able to put up four runs as the Phillies topped the Mets Friday night at a atmosphere-less Citi Field. Michael Young and Ryan Howard drove in all the runs for the Phillies in the sixth inning, and the game featured just three umpires after home plate umpire Brian O’Nora ran off the field in the first inning with what was later called “flu-like symptoms.” The game was delayed for a few minutes while first base ump Adrian Johnson went to get the proper gear to take O’Nora’s place. Very odd. Continue reading Kendrick Shuts Out Mets, Phils Win 4-0

Philadelphia Phillies (9-14) at New York Mets (10-10)

Kyle Kendrick (1-1, 3.28) vs. Dillon Gee (1-3, 5.95)

TIME: 7:05, Citi Field
TV: PHL 17
Weather: 60′s, partly cloudy
Media: Twitter and Facebook

The Phillies are coming off a disappointing series against the Pirates where they won a game started by Jonathan Pettibone, but lost the three started by Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay, and Cliff Lee.

Tonight, they will send Kyle Kendrick to the mound, and he’s had a surprisingly good year (for Kyle Kendrick standards). He has been the Phils second best started behind Cliff Lee, and, if you watch him pitch, you can just feel his confidence on the mound. And he’s not just getting lucky, either. He’s making good pitches in tight spots and not backing down. Continue reading Gameday: Phillies (9-14) at Mets (10-10)

The rain didn’t stop the Phillies offense from being en fuego tonight.

In a rain-shortened game, the Phillies offense exploded for eight runs in Friday night’s contest against the Cardinals. They scored five runs in the first, an outburst that began with a walk–yes, one of THOSE–by Chase Utley. On the mound, Roy Halladay threw a second solid game in a row, giving up just two run over seven innings.

GOOD NEWS OUT OF BOSTON

This isn’t game related, but deserves to be mentioned. The 2nd suspect in the Boston Marathon terror attacks has been taken into custody–alive. This is a huge sigh of relief for everyone. The police did a fantastic job and they deserve the utmost praise.

THE STREAK IS OVER

The horrendous streak of games without a walk came to an end in the first inning when Chase Utley walked with two outs. Kevin Frandsen later drew another walk to lead off the bottom of the third. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Phils offense scores some runs when they draw walks. It also helped that they got extra base hits from Jimmy Rollins, Humberto Quintero, John Mayberry Jr, and Ben Revere (!!!).

HALLADAY SOLID AGAIN

Is Roy Halladay out of his funk? For the second game in a row, he pitched 7+ innings while giving up < 2 runs. His pitch speed was again a positive, and he dominated the Cardinal hitters all night. He gave up only two hits–both via solo home runs. Here’s his line: 7 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2BB, 6 K. Can’t blame this one on a bad opposing offense. It’s good to see Doc pitching well again, and he lowered his season ERA to 6.04. (It’s hard not to chuckle at that)

The Phillies are back at it again tomorrow night with Lance Lynn on the mound for the Cardinals and Cliff Lee on the mound for the Phillies.

Philadelphia Phillies (6-10) vs St. Louis Cardinals (9-6)

Roy Halladay (1-2, 7.63) vs Jaime Garcia (1-0, 1.86)

Time: 7:05, Citizens Bank Park
TV: CSN
Weather:70′s, chance of rain/storms
Media: Twitter and Facebook

Tonight should be fun. Jaime Garcia (7 IP, 0 R in his last outing)  is on the mound for the Cardinals, and he’s had success (2.30 ERA) against the Phillies in his career. In addition, the Phillies lineup looks one from Spring Training. It has the makings of yet another poor offensive game for the Phils.

Roy Halladay will start for the Phillies, and he looked like Roy Halladay in his last start. Still, his season ERA is still through the roof, and we need more than just one start to know he’s really out of his funk, or if it was just a result of the Marlins offense. He’s got pretty good numbers against the Cardinals in his career (2.57 ERA), however.

Injury updates: Ryan Howard is day-to-day with a sore groin, and Carlos Ruiz was hit in the wrist by a pitch in an extended Spring Training game.

Lineup: Rollins SS, Galvis LF, Utley 2B, M Young 3B, Mayberry RF, Frandsen 1B, Revere CF, Quintero C, Halladay P

GAMEDAY BEER: Busch Light

When the Phillies are in St. Louis [or hosting the Cardinals], we always go for the smooth, crisp, cheap taste of Busch beer. Tonight, we’ll go light for you, to ease you back into it. They don’t call it “easy drinkin’ for nothin’. This is an underage drinkers dream out in the sticks. Many a time you’ll find empty cans scattered in a wooded area from the local punks. It’s still $15 for a 30 pack, if I’m not mistaken. But really, Busch won’t kill your taste buds, either. It’s not the worst light beer ever invented, but it’s also far from the best. -By Pat

GO PHILLIES!