Led by Vance Worley’s seven shutout innings, the Phillies pulled a 1-0 win over the Marlins to start the series.

Worley struck out six and only allowed two hits and two walks. He wasn’t the only rookie to contribute in this win. The lone run came on an RBI single off the bat of Michael Martinez, which scored fellow rookie Domonic Brown. Brown went 2-3 with a walk. However, the lone run came on a very close play in which replays showed that the throw did beat him.

After Worley’s dominant performance, Michael Stutes came in and threw a shutdown eighth inning before Antonio Bastardo came in to pick up his fifth save of the game.
Aside from the rookies leading the way, the other story tonight was the Marlins and their frustrations with the umpiring crew. Emilio Bonafacio and John Buck were both thrown out of the game after voicing their opinions with Kerwin Danley and company.

Bonafacio was tossed after it appeared that he avoided the tag from Worley on a close play that probably should have been an infield single in the bottom of the fifth. Instead of first and third with two outs, the Phillies were out of a potential jam.

Later in the game, Buck was tossed for arguing balls and strikes in the eighth. The pitch was very close, but didn’t lead to any Phillies runs.
Perhaps tonight was a sign of years to come, with Worley, who in four starts since rejoining the rotation has posted a 0.72 ERA in 25 innings, Stutes, Bastardo and Brown proving to be the difference. This was the second outing in a row for Worley that the Phils wound up winning 1-0.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES: IMAGES OF BASEBALL

Just in time for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Graduation’s across the Philadelphia region, there is a great new gift for the Phillies fan in your family.

THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES: Images of Baseball is the perfect gift for not only those celebrating the above mentioned holidays and accomplishments, but for you yourself. By Seamus Kearney and Dick Rosen, both members of the Connie Mack Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), this book chronicles the history of the Philadelphia Phillies with amazing pictures from cover to cover.

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Halladay tossed a game few of us have ever witnessed. Perfection. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

27 batters.

27 outs.

No runs.

No errors.

No base runners.

Perfection.

[Watch all 27 outs here]

Roy Halladay was perfect on May 29^th. Matched up against Josh Johnson, Roy Halladay threw one of baseball’s greatest games in a 1-0 win against the Marlins and vaulted himself into Philadelphia history.

Halladay’s masterpiece included 11 strikeouts,  115 pitches, and 72 for strikes. Doc was so efficient that after the first inning, Halladay only threw more than 12 pitches once more in any given inning.

The 1-0 score really makes you wonder what would have happened had Cameron Maybin not botched Chase Utley’s line drive that scored Wilson Valdez. The way Doc was dealing, he probably could have thrown another nine perfect innings.

What would have happened if Juan Castro wasn’t at third base? Would Placido Polanco been able to get to the soft hit chopper that Ronnie Paulino bounced over to end the game? That’s the thing about baseball. There are so many questions that come with such a rare occurrence.

Now for the rest of our lives, we have questions, where were you during Roy Halladay’s perfect game? When did you hear that Doc was flirting with perfection? Who were you with during this amazing night in Phillies history?

Where were you when perfection struck?

NICK: I was at Landmark in Glassboro to watch the Phillies and UFC that night. Not being a hockey fan, I had to beg the bar to put the Phillies on a small television due to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup being on.  On the smallest TV at the bar, the game was on and we took notice of what was going on after Halladay had made it through the Marlins lineup once through. By the sixth inning fans started taking note of what was happening, and by the 8^th inning half the bar had gathered around our table. A night I won’t forget.

PAT GALLEN: How incredible is technology? Myself along with my girlfriend and two other friends were racing to a bar in Fenwick Island, DE, while on vacation. We listened to Scott Franzke giving the play-by-play on my iPhone using the MLB At Bat app, praying that the signal wouldn’t be lost in the car. We came to a stoplight just in front of the bar (which is a Philly bar, by the way – it’s owned by family friends and it’s called Slainte, look it up!) when the final pitch was being thrown and we went insane, high-fiving in the car.

As soon as we walked in, the place was filled to the brim with Phillies fans still going nuts; people hugging and rejoicing and giving cheers with fresh beverages. It wasn’t an ideal way to celebrate one of the finest performances ever, but it’s one of those nights you’ll never forget because of how odd the circumstances were. Me, three friends, a car, and an iPhone. All you need to listen to perfection.

MICHAEL BAUMANN: I’ll be honest: I didn’t watch it. I went to the USA-Turkey soccer game at the Linc that afternoon, and between tailgating and the game probably spent six or seven hours in the scorching heat with little to no shade and nothing to drink but cheap beer. The result? As bad a case of sunburn and dehydration as I’ve ever had. That night, I went to a friend’s house to watch Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals, and he turned off the Phillies in the third inning for the Flyers game, even though (and I swear to God this is true) I said, “But Halladay’s got a perfect game going!”

Anyway, I fell asleep on his sofa halfway through the second period and missed not only what was (I’m told) a very exciting playoff hockey game, but a historic moment the likes of which I was sure I’d never see again.

DASH TREYHORN: For most of us, we didn’t realize the gravity of the situation until the sixth inning or so. It wasn’t until he set down a solid enough lineup the second time that we thought, hey, this just might be something. And when that feeling hits you, it hits you like a sack of bricks. From the seventh inning on, I sat in front of my computer, listening to Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen, afraid to move, afraid to breathe. And when you rely on your ears for the action, the routine plays can become less routine because you can’t see the action. A grounder in the hole at short might look like an easy out on television, but it certainly doesn’t sound that way.

When MLB Network cut in during the bottom of the ninth, I actually had to force myself out of my seat in front of my computer so I could watch the game. And you have to understand, as someone who firmly believes in the ridiculous nature of baseball jinxes, that was a tough choice. But even then, I couldn’t force myself to record the final inning, because I was so freaked out that I would somehow have an impact on the outcome. It’s like the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle: Objects under observation will behave differently than when not under observation. I already thought that I was tempting fate by watching the final inning, but recording it, too? No way would I mess with history. I suddenly turned into a theoretical physicist.

In my baseball loving life, I’ve never actually been part of a perfect game. I’ve seen the final innings of them a lot, but I can honestly say that I’ve never watched or listened to a perfect game, soup to nuts. So it was kind of a big deal for me. It was like watching Game Five, Part B of the 2008 World Series again. It was just one game that was sort of insignificant, but at the same time, it was everything. But that’s what baseball, and the Phillies, do to us.

KIERAN: Living in Virginia Beach the only times I really get to watch the Phillies is at the bar, while they are playing the Nationals, or on the nationally televised Sunday night games. We were at a friend’s house watching Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals and had the grill on and the corn hole boards out. We were all over the place in this house; the kitchen, living room, back yard.

I remember watching the hockey game and continuously checking my phone for the Phillies score. After around the fifth inning I can remember my brother peaking his head out the window and saying ’12 more outs, sssshhhhh.’ We kept doing this for the rest of the game. The broadcast of the hockey game was actually interrupted to show the final inning of the Phillies-Marlins game. In our group of friends, my brother and I are the main baseball fans except for one Yankee kid. But when Roy Halladay got that final out, the whole place erupted. Everyone was dishing out high fives and even some hugs. People were congratulating me as if I did something. All I did was witness history. And that’s just fine with me.

Then slowly news started leaking on December 13^th that perhaps the Phillies were the mystery team. Then more tweets started coming. The Phillies were the mystery team (right). Before you know it, the Delaware Valley was collectively hitting refresh on their Twitter feeds until finally the news had broke: Cliff Lee was coming back to Philadelphia.

I believe my tweet after reading the news was, “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IT’S THE PHILLIES!! JAAAAAAAAAAAADF!”

After that, the question became what was the deal worth, how much had the Phillies given the best pitcher on the market to build the world’s greatest starting rotation.

At first, it looked like Lee had left tons of money on a table that we are still trying to locate, however after the fine print was read, it turned out that Lee was actually going to make a little more per year in Philadelphia. The deal has a guaranteed $120 million over five years, and if Lee pitches in 200 innings in 2015, or 400 innings over the course of 2014-2015, he will earn a $27.5 million dollar option that will bring the deal to $135 million over six years.

Upon his exit when traded to Seattle, Lee was hurt and upset and for good reason. His family loved it here, the fans loved him, and most importantly he himself loved it here. Lee had told his agent this is where he wanted to be. And damn it, he is back.

We are now just weeks away from a starting rotation of reigning Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt and Joe Blanton. While Blanton certainly doesn’t fit into that group, he’s arguably the best number five in baseball.

Welcome back, Cliff.

Ruben Amaro had taken a lot of flak for trading away Lee after the 2009 season came to a close, so with a void to be filled, Amaro did all he could to make things right with the fans.

Amaro coerced Ed Wade into taking J.A. Happ, Anthony Gose and Jonathan Villar for the face of the Houston Astros. On top of that, the Astros agreed to pay $11 million of the $23 million that Oswalt will earn next season. Grand theft in its finest.

Oswalt instantly became a fan favorite in Philadelphia and for good reason. Since breaking into the big leagues in 2001, he led the NL in victories and strikeouts and was second innings pitched. The guy is a horse.

In 12 starts after joining the Phillies, Oswalt went 7-1 with a 1.74 ERA and a 0.895 WHIP. Crazy numbers, that helped earn him sixth place in Cy Young voting. Now we are just two months away from a full season of Roy Oswalt in Philadelphia, and of course he will be alongside Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, Philadelphia’s favorite son Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels.

The weather could not have been better, as we once again helped embarrass a fellow NL East rival (after witnessing a Ryan Zimmerman walk-off on our last trip), turning a Phillies road game into a neutral playing field. That weather was perfect for a classic Phillies Nation tailgate, which much like Doc never lets you down.

The Mets don’t let you grill in their lots, but that wasn’t a problem thanks to a delivery of 200 Philly cheesesteaks from Shorty’s in Manhattan. Add in hundreds of Yuenglings, Miller Lites, and over a dozen varieties of craft beers and we were good to go. There wasn’t much missing from this glorious Saturday, except maybe a semblance of a rivalry. Brian even handed out keychains to Mets fans as a sign of goodwill…and a little pity.

In recent years, the Phillies successes coupled with the Mets failures has taken some luster off the rivalry. However, when Mets fans try to bring it, Phillies fans aren’t ones to sit on their hands and take it quietly.

During the tailgate, one Met fan was attempting to heckle a gentleman on the trip. The gentleman’s wife did not take kindly to this and you know what she did? SHE SLAPPED THE METS FAN IN THE FACE WITH A CHEESESTEAK! Stereotypical? Maybe. But think about it. A Phillies fan hit a Mets fan in the face with a cheesesteak. Classic.

Eventually we all made it into the game, and once you get passed the 652,248,117 advertisements splattered across CitiField it is actually a beautiful ballpark that more than holds its own against the newest crop of stadiums to sprout up in Major League Baseball.

On the field, Roy Halladay had his A-game going and the Mets couldn’t play defense. So after just two-and-a-half hours, we were walking out of the stadium with a 4-0 victory. Ryan Madson provided some ninth-inning drama, but just for entertainment’s sake.

Thanks to everyone who attended and for helping to make it another successful road trip for Phillies Nation. This season over 1,000 Phillies fans traveled with us on our the three trips. With two of them featuring Roy Halladay starts, you couldn’t ask for much more.

A few weeks back, many of us looked at this past road trip as a way to put some distance between the Phillies and the competition. Sadly, it did, just not the way we figured. The Phillies now find themselves 2.5 games behind the Braves.

Where to start?

During Jimmy Rollins first absence, the rest of the lineup was hitting and the Phillies seemingly didn’t skip a beat. The second time around has not gone nearly as smooth.  Nobody is hitting. At all. In the least.

Wilson Valdez, for some ungodly reason has been hitting in the number two hole, meanwhile the team’s on base leader, Carlos Ruiz continues to hit seventh or eighth. Go figure. While it looked awful on paper, there hadn’t been a specific moment that I could point to that could really help show the general public how terrible this idea was.

Then Wednesday afternoon happened. With Jayson Werth in the leadoff hole, Charlie Manuel  kept Valdez in the two spot. Fast forward to the eigth inning. With a man on third and first base open, Bobby Cox makes the easiest move in the history of baseball, walking Werth to get to Utley. Manuel, sticking by his oldschool ways let Valdez hit for himself, keeping Shane Victorino on the bench, and thus blowing the late inning opportunity that would be the team’s last for the game.

Manuel later decided it would be a good idea to pinch hit Shane for Raul Ibanez in the ninth. I doubt there is a Phillies Nation reader who doesn’t know of my disdain for Ibanez, but seriously? Going with Valdez over Victorino, only to go with Victorino over Ibanez an inning later made zero sense.

The Valdez move isn’t the only lineup move that has led people to question the skipper.

Monday’s one-two combination of Russ Gload and Greg Dobbs was wildly laughed at by baseball experts throughout their collective websites, twitters and such. The duo combined to go 0-5, getting on base once as Dobbs walked.

The only solace for Phillies fans is that its not just the top of the lineup that isn’t hitting. However, when a team is marred in a slump like this, the in-game managing will be brought to question along with everything else. The in- game stuff has never been Manuel’s forte, but the team hasn’t been in a rut like this in years. Manuel has never had a problem reaching the team, and I’m not calling for his head by any means.

But somebody in his inner circle, has to be able to help steer Charlie in the right direction. Hitting Valdez in the two-spot just after they had decided to send him down sends question marks to the fans.

Perhaps some home cooking is what the Phils need. The friendly confines of Citizens Bank Park welcome the Phillies for seven straight this coming week.

Maybe Ryan Howard will find his power stroke that made Ruben Amaro sign him to that massive contract extension.

Maybe Chase Utley will find what many think to be one of the sweetest swings in baseball and get a multi-hit game.

Maybe Jayson Werth will get back to hitting like the guy we all so desperately  wanted the front office to lock up for years to come.

Maybe Charlie Manuel will stick with a lineup that makes sense and not lead us to question the guy who has delivered the team back-to-back pennants.

And maybe, just maybe Jimmy Rollins will return healthy sooner than later, kick some ass in the locker room, and get back to leading the team that is in such dire need of a verbal asskicking right now.

Werth hit a pair of solo home runs while Ibanez added a solo shot of his own, as the Phillies came from behind to beat the Diamondbacks, 3-2.
Werth’s big shot was the game-winner in the top of the ninth inning off of Juan Gutierrez.

It had been 46 innings since the Phillies had put a ball in the seats, exactly one week dating back to Werth’s solo shot against the Marlins last Saturday; however the three solo home runs, combined with a solid night out of the bullpen propelled the Phillies to their third win in their last four games.

Making the spot start due to the injury to J.A.Happ, Nelson Figueroa took the mound and kept the Phillies in the game through five innings. His lone mistake was a two-run homer off the bat of Kelly Johnson that put the D-Backs up 2-1. All things considered, you couldn’t have asked for much more out of Figueroa as he scattered five hits, two walks and struck out four.

After Figgy’s night was over, the trio of Chad Durbin, Jose Contreras and Ryan Madson kept Arizona off the scoreboard, and struck out eight batters over the course of the final four innings.

Werth and Ibanez combined to go 4-8 with the three home runs, picking up the slack for the top of the lineup. Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard all failed to reach first base, combining to go 0-16.

One last interesting nugget from this one, the Phillies only struck out four times, but managed only six hits. Of those six hits, there were three homers and a pair of doubles. Ibanez provided the only single of the game for the Phils.

Tomorrow Kyle Kendrick will take the mound as the Phillies try to take the second series of this road trip and improve to 9-3 on the road.

The Phillies took a 3-0 lead into the eighth inning, but a win was not in store as the bullpen wasted a great performance from the starting pitching and sent the Phillies to a heart-breaking 4-3 loss.

Kyle Kendrick pitched like somebody who had read that their job was in question. After a couple of terrible starts to start the season, Kendrick pitched 8 innings of shutout baseball that included a mere four hits and two walks to go along with a pair of strikeouts, but his night would not finish with a W.

However, Ryan Madson gave people one more thing to talk about. After recording two outs in the ninth, Madson gave up back-to-back home runs to Troy Glaus and rookie slugger, Jason Heyward that tied the game and sent it into extra innings.

With the first batter in the bottom of the 10th inning, Jose Contreras delivered a pitch on a 2-2 count that Nate McLouth dropped right into the right field seats, giving the Braves a 4-3 win, and sending the Phillies to their third straight loss.

The bullpen took the attention off of Kendrick’s great start, allowing three of the final five batters to leave the yard.

The sinker was working in Kendrick’s favor as he was able to put together 14 groundballs. None were bigger than an inning-ending double-play ball off the bat of Troy Glaus that ended the Braves lone threat in the game. With the bases loaded in the fourth, Kendrick got Glaus to send one over to Placido Polanco who quickly turned the 5-4-3 and kept the Braves off the scoreboard for the time being.

On the offensive side of the game, the Phillies bats didn’t do much, but it seemed as if they had down enough after eight innings. Chase Utley put together a 2-5 evening with a pair of RBIs and a run scored. Utley’s run came off an infield single that Ryan Howard managed to push through the infield shift as the ball went off of the glove of Troy Glaus. Polanco also managed to put together another two-hit effort as he saw his batting average rise over .400 again. The only Phillie who didn’t get a hit was Carlos Ruiz, who went 0-4.

Hopefully Roy Halladay can stop the bleeding tomorrow night as all of a sudden the Phillies have dropped three straight and four of their last five games.

•Am I the only one who is a little upset that we are only 4-2 against the Nationals this year? Granted if we win every series, it will be the most successful season in Phillies history, but against the Nationals I feel as if one of these two series should have ended in a sweep. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit concerned about the upcoming 12 games against Marlins, Braves, D-Backs and Giants. Anything less than 7-5 is a disappointment, but I think 8-4 is what the majority of the fans will be looking for. However, with the April struggles that have plagued this team over the years, a 7-2 record, no matter the opponents is nothing to scoff at.

•I know I said that I think Cole Hamels deserves some time before the boo birds swarm, however all starting pitchers not named Roy Halladay will need to improve if this team is going to keep up its current pace. Jamie Moyer is the only starter to finish the sixth inning in any game this season besides Halladay, and he wasn’t exactly stellar in his start.

JA Happ’s 8 BB in 10.1 IP have got to scare you. Last season, he was notorious for pitching out of jams, which led a lot of baseball experts to say the rookie was lucky. In two starts this season, he is still yet to give up an unearned run. I’m just not exactly sure that he can continue to pitch out of trouble unscathed. High pitch counts have limited both of his starts this year, causing Charlie Manuel to go to the pen earlier than he would like. It is no secret, the less the starters pitch, the more the bullpen will get hit. We all know the best bullpen is a well-rested bullpen, as evidenced by today’s loss. Before today, the bullpen had been excellent, so I don’t think we need to jump off a bridge after one bad performance. But some food for thought: all starters not named Roy Halladay have a combined ERA of 7.51 (inflated by Kendrick, but evened out with Happ’s 0.00) and a combined WHIP of 1.87.

•It is hard to judge the team after only nine games; however the offense is off to a start that has videogame like projections in mind, look at these full season projections:

-Placido Polanco: .475 234 R 18 HR 198 RBI 18K

-Ryan Howard: .385 126 R 54 HR 234 RBI .734 SLG

-Chase Utley .343 216 R 90 HR 198 RBI 162 BB 1.421 OPS

-Carlos Ruiz .273 137 R 183 BB .467 OPS out of the 8 hole!

-Jimmy Rollins .391 184 R 161 BB 46 SB .516 OBP this was of course before the calf injury.

Of course these are ridiculous projections, but no reason not to have a little fun. One can dream right?

•The one part of the offense that is not clicking is, in my opinion, the most overrated Phillie on the team. Raul Ibanez was free from the boos last year after living off of a scorching hot April and May. After his injury last season, Ibanez never seemed to recover. His spring was one to be forgotten, and aside from last Friday’s game against Houston, Ibanez has almost no-showed the other eight games so far. With all the runs being scored by this team, it seems hard to believe that Ibanez has only driven in runs in three games this season. Nine games is only nine games, so it’s still way too early to go off the deep end, but if you carry over June-September of last year, spring training this year, and the first week and a half of the 2010 it can definitely set off an alarm of worry.

If you exclude his game against Houston last Friday, Ibanez is 4-27 with one extra-base hit to go along with 2 RBIs. Right now, his teammates are picking up the slack by putting up absurd numbers; hopefully he takes this time to figure out what is wrong. If not, it won’t be long until the fans turn on him as quickly as they did on Pat Burrell and we hear the name Domenic Brown a lot more.

Hope everyone enjoys this year’s first weekend at The Bank, aside from a few scattered storms tomorrow night for the home debut of Roy Halladay the weather doesn’t look too bad, just a bit chilly. See you in left field.

•When did it become cool to boo Cole Hamels?  On a team that had no pitching in 2008 he carried them to a World Series. He had a down year last year, but some of those numbers were inflated by a few awful starts. There are no making excuses for his postseason last year, but this year he has kept the team in the game both starts. Not amazing starts to say the least, but good enough to keep the Phillies in it while he works out the kinks. I really don’t want the voices of some dumb fans to get in the head of a kid with worlds of talent. Philadelphia has a knack for moving its stars, see the resumes of Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling, Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley and most recently Donovan McNabb. I’m really not prepared for the name Cole Hamels to join that list yet.

•For everybody that complains about how hard it is to get tickets to games, why don’t people use them to actually watch the game? I spoke with countless fans who couldn’t tell me anything about why Rollins was hurt, who homered for the Nats, or who came in for the out after Hamels couldn’t finish the inning. Tons of fans seemed to just chill out in Ashburn Alley or the smoking stands or even worse wait in line for Crab Fries for over an hour without even glancing onto the field for the action. Considering how tough this ticket was to get it confused me. We aren’t talking about a mid-July Wednesday afternoon game against the Reds, this was the home opener.

•After the terrible weather that normally comes with Phillies games in early April, how refreshing was Monday, as well as the rest of this week’s forecast? Perhaps Major League Baseball finally got it right, limiting home games on the East Coast.

•Was it me or was the raising of the National League Championship flag a bit uneventful? Same goes with the National League Champions ring ceremony scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Maybe 2008 spoiled me, being in the stadium as they rose the flag minutes after winning the World Series, but this kind of felt like kissing your sister. The blue flag is cool, but I think that raising a red one that reads 2010 will make everything right again.

•I don’t want the ladies to take this wrong and think that I don’t appreciate it. And I don’t want the men to think I’m trying to ruin it for the rest of them, but what is going on with the women at Citizens Bank Park? All of a sudden the stadium has the feel of a singles bar. Girls are wearing their skimpiest Chase Utley t-shirts that are cut down the cleavage to go along with the shortest of Phillies shorts that show the bottom of their butt cheeks. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I loved the scenery, but from watching these girls…and trust me, I’m watching, it sure seems like a lot of these girls are there to pick up guys rather than watch the game. What they choose to do with their ticket is on them, but seems like another case of people wasting the tickets that everyone is howling about not being able to get. I understand it only recently become cool to be a Phillies fan, and who am I to judge what these girls wear or how they act in the game, but I know I’m not the only person to notice this over the past year or so.

•As far back as I can remember, I don’t remember any player bringing this kind of excitement to Philadelphia as Roy Halladay is doing right now. I don’t even think the Eagles acquisition of Terrell Owens had the city in such joyous uproar. You couldn’t even begin to count the amount of #34 jerseys and t-shirts Monday afternoon. What is Saturday going to be like when he takes the mound for the first time at The Bank?

•Finally, after talking with numerous fans, everyone seems to have the same expectation: World Series or bust. A favorable first nine games, facing the two worst teams in the NL (depending who you ask), has definitely helped get the momentum rolling in the right direction. But where do the Phillies go without Jimmy Rollins? Upon writing of this column, the word was still “wait-and-see”, by Wednesday morning that could become a stint on the 15-day DL. Without one of the leaders on the team, it will be interesting to see how the Phillies respond as a team.

One week is in the books for the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies and I can’t remember a season starting the way this one has in a very long time.

Halladay threw his first complete game with the Phils, the 50th of his career and 150th win of his career, en route to a 2-1 Phillies victory over the Houston Astros.

The game started off right for the bats, as Jimmy Rollins hit a leadoff home run, putting the Phils up 1-0 early. However other than a manufactured run that started with a Raul Ibanez double, and ended with an RBI groundout for Carlos Ruiz that was all the offense the Phillies put together against Roy Oswalt, another one of the best pitchers in the National League, as the Phils mustered only six hits on the day. Thankfully, with Doc on the mound, that was all they needed.

Halladay got himself in a little bit of trouble in the 6th inning, loading the bases with no outs. However, a double play ball and a Carlos Lee popup later, only one run came across, making the game 2-1. Back-to-back hits started the 7th inning for the Astros; however Halladay then proceeded to retire the next nine batters he faced, giving the Phillies the 2-1 win.

The line for Halladay was terrific, 9 IP 7H 1R 0ER 8K and 22 first-pitch strikes to only 33 batters for Houston. He even added his second hit of the season, to lift his batting average to .286. Through two games, Doc is 2-0 with an ERA of 0.56 and a WHIP of 0.94, throw in 17 Ks to go along with only 2BB.

After a 5-1 road trip, the Phillies head back to Citizens Bank Park for the home opener tomorrow, and the start of a six-game homestand. With the Nationals heading into town, it is safe to say anything less than 7-2 to start the season at this point would be a letdown. After the three-game set with the Nats, the Marlins come to town, for what should be the first real test of the 2010 season.

However, ESPN will not let any drafts happen until the league is full and all people who were invited have accepted. If you have not accepted your invitation by 9 p.m. tonight, we will have to delete your invite in order for the leagues to be filled. Drafts well be held throughout the day on Saturday.

Good luck this season!

Last season, the San Francisco Giants put together their first winning season since 2004, posting an 88-74 record. Unfortunately for them, that was only good enough for third in the suddenly deep National League West.

With the reigning back-to-back Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum heading the front of a very deep rotation, the Giants could be poised to challenge the Dodgers and Rockies atop the West.

The emergence of the “Kung Fu Panda,” Pablo Sandoval made the Giants more than just a one trick pony. Sandoval hit .330 with 25 HR and 90 RBI to finally put a bat in a lineup that has needed one for a very long time. Former Philadelphia fan favorite Aaron Rowand helped contribute to the lineup, but has failed to show the offensive prowess that earned him his big deal in San Francisco.

2010 SEASON

Matt Cain provides a solid number two that could anchor many staffs in MLB. Coming off a 14-8 season with a 2.89 ERA, imagine if he continues to improve? Behind Cain are Barry Zito, off a rebound season of his own, Jonathan Sanchez, who threw a no-hitter last year, and newly acquired Todd Wellemeyer.

If Zito continues his comeback, the Giants have a top four that goes further than almost anybody in the National League, our Phillies included.

The signing of Mark DeRosa should add a little more pop to SF’s improving lineup as well as some depth as there isn’t a position that he can’t field.

There are a lot of ifs that come with the Giants, including closer Brian Wilson, but what it really comes down to is –  they’ll go as far as Lincecum, Cain and Sandoval can take them.

PREDICTION: 87-75

Hello, dead horse. Prepare to be beaten.

As stated Tuesday in the Roy Halladay post – which prompted a slew of Roy Halladay vs. Cliff Lee and Kyle Drabek vs. Phillippe Aumont arguments on the comments page – the other shoe dropped.

Postseason hero and former AL Cy Young winner, Cliff Lee was dealt to the Mariners in a puzzling move on the same day that Roy Halladay was acquired. We were told it was to “replenish the farm system.”

Let me quote the former pro wrestler, Sid Justice, “JACK TUNNEY, THIS IS BOGUS!”

When is the last time you saw an NL Champion “replenish the farm system?” The term “NL Champion” means that the team was not good enough to win the World Series. Why? Well, pitching had a helluva lot to do with it.

This is the same Phillies team that had such little confidence in its starting pitchers against the New York Yankees, that Pedro Martinez started two games of the World Series.

For one year you could have had, without question, the best rotation in baseball. Who would want to play the Phils in a postseason series when you had to face Halladay, Lee and Cole Hamels? The rotation could have been set up to have not only the best top two in baseball, but the best 3-4-5 in Hamels, Joe Blanton and JA Happ. In actuality, it is not Roy Halladay that is replacing Lee in the rotation. It is either Jamie Moyer or Kyle Kendrick, cause either of them would have been the odd man out.

If Lee walked after this year, the Phillies would have received two-first round picks.

Those two-first round picks couldn’t have helped replenish the farm system?

Phillippe Aumont only pitched in 51 innings last season in the minors. How much further along could he be than a first-rounder? His size and stature are nice and he seems to have a powerful arm, but he is projected by many to never crack a starting rotation and pitch out of the bullpen for his professional career.

Tyson Gillies hit .341 in single-A ball last year, but is projected by many to be a fourth outfielder at best. The average looks nice and he has a lot of speed, but scouts have been quick to mention that the park he played in, Slater Bros. Stadium is one of the most hitter-friendly stadiums in the minors.

The other prospect in the deal was Juan Ramirez, another pitcher thought to be a reliever at best.

What it comes down to is the Phillies gave up an ace in exchange for three prospects. Since when can’t a World Series contender have enough pitching? Lee was due to make only $9MM this season. If the money was an option, then why not let Joe Blanton walk? Ruben Amaro gave up a $20MM pitcher, due to make a fraction of that. This is just bad business.

The Phillies have a stadium that is sold out nearly every night. Money should never be an option. Furthermore, the Phils are not in rebuilding mode for good reason. The team is built to win now. Look at the teams that have been a staple of success over the past few years: Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers, Angels. Do any of them ever make a deal to bring in prospects? Look at teams with payrolls that are near the top of the ranks like the Phillies: Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers, Angels, Cubs, Mets and White Sox. Do any of them ever make a deal to bring in prospects, especially coming off a year when they just weren’t good enough?

NO! They want to win now. The Yankees went as far as improving their rotation by bringing in Javier Vazquez. The Red Sox brought in John Lackey. At the deadline and all but eliminated last year, the White Sox brought in Jake Peavy to help them contend later.

This brings two more interesting thoughts:

- If Cliff Lee HAD to be dealt…and I mean HAAAAAAAAD to be dealt, why did it have to be done on the same day as the Halladay deal? In a year that had a very weak free agent class for starting pitchers, you couldn’t have done better than a projected relief pitcher and a fourth outfielder? Amaro made this deal right away because of the backlash that he knew was coming. Fans would be much quicker to remember the loss of Lee by looking at the headline on the opposite page that reads “PHILLIES ACQUIRE HALLADAY”.

Imagine the backlash had he pulled the trigger on a Lee deal a month later. Seems like the easy way out.

- The general consensus of people who back this trade (keep in mind, people who back it still baffle me), was that Lee was not going to resign, so it was a “smart move.” How are fans so certain of this? Lee himself said that he was shocked he was traded and that they had just begun preliminary contract talks.

If that is the answer to why you HAD to trade Cliff Lee, then why is Jayson Werth still on the roster going into this year? He is in the last year of a deal and in line for a huge raise as he prepares to enter free agency next winter. Under those circumstances, shouldn’t Amaro have looked at moving Werth in the off-season too? That way we could have even more prospects. Teams in the Phillies position should not be in the business of moving All-Stars out of town via trades.

Fans are quick to love Amaro, but he is no Pat Gillick. Like I said on Tuesday, Amaro inherited a World Series champion with a deep farm system. Ownership has let the payroll increase on a yearly basis. While bringing in Roy Halladay was simply awesome, this might be the deal that Amaro is most remembered for. It really makes you wonder what his plan for the Phillies is.

What happens when come mid- to late-July, the Phillies decide they need another starter. It is no secret, pitching costs more in July than it does any other time of the year. Will Amaro dig into his newly replenished farm system and overpay for a Jason Marquis/Jarrod Washburn-type?

Is the plan to win a World Series or simply contend for an NL crown? The Phillies are the class of the National League. Nobody can doubt that. But in a seven-game series, who would you really take? Our Fightins or the Yankees or Red Sox?

What could Roy Halladay do in the World Series that Cliff Lee didn’t? Now ask yourself this, what could Cliff Lee do in the postseason that Pedro Martinez didn’t?

I understand we want the team to be productive for years to come. But which year is more important right now, 2010 or 2014?

BEERMAN’S GRADE: F

Little by little Twitter feeds were buzzing.

Little by little local media reported seeing Roy Halladay in Center City with his agent.

Little by little different players were thought to be part of a mega-trade to bring in Halladay.

And then it was official. It took a couple days, but finally Roy Halladay was sporting red pinstripes.

For the price of prized prospects Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor and Travis d’Arnaud, Ruben Amaro had brought in Doc. RAJ proceeded to sign Halladay to a three-year $60 million dollar extension, with a $20 million dollar vesting option.

Sure the prospects seemed hefty, namely Drabek. But at best Drabek could be a stud, and that was depending on who you asked. Others had the youngster as a number 3. You always go with the sure thing.

It’s no secret, I’m not a big Amaro guy. He had a World Series champion handed to him with one of the top farm systems in baseball. You can’t walk into a better scenario.

But this was his deal to make, and he brought in one of the top pitchers in baseball. He then proceeded to lock up his investment at a below-market deal, ensuring he wouldn’t be paying for a man in 2016 that was not the pitcher he traded for in 2009. This was a perfect trade. Hell, Toronto even threw in $6 million bucks.

Could the deal have been made in July? Maybe, but it would have cost more and perhaps Halladay’s desire to play in Philadelphia wouldn’t have been as strong; and he wouldn’t have agreed to a contract in which he left somewhere between $50-60 million on the table had he opted to become a free agent after this year.

I won’t get into the deal that happened to coincide with this as that’s another story. This is about the new ace.

How much should we expect out of the new top gun? Well…

• Halladay’s never lost more than 11 games in a season.
• Since 2005, Halladay has only had one year with an ERA over 3.20
• In 287 career starts, Halladay has thrown 49 complete games. One every 5.8 starts.
• During the last two seasons, Halladay has walked just 1.38 batters every 9 innings.

I can give you stats for days. And I’m sure that you could give me stats for days. In the National League, facing 8 batters a game instead of 9? The possibilities are endless.

Halladay will keep the ball in the ballpark, keep the ball on the ground and gives you a stopper that doesn’t come around very often. Halladay is in the same breath as Tim Lincecum, CC Sabathia and Johan Santana. I’m not going to rank them as any baseball fan would be foolish to not want any of them on his team. Each can give you something different. But doesn’t it feel damn good to have one of them on your team? Now if you compare the contracts that Sabathia and Santana have, and the massive one that Lincecum is going to sign and the deal that Amaro inked Doc to…good job, Rubes.

It didn’t take long for the Halladay jerseys and t-shirts to start flying off the shelves. The last time a player brought this sort of excitement to Philadelphia upon his immediate arrival was Jim Thome, and that was because we hadn’t seen a big name come to town in forever. While “he who shall not be named” brought a buzz with him last season, it was nothing compared to Doc.

Now here is a question to ask yourself: as excited as you were when they brought in Halladay, how much of it was deflated by the second part of that eventful day? Just a thought, because we all know the other shoe did drop…

BEERMAN’S GRADE A+

The loose bolt in the 2009 Phillies arsenal was the bullpen. Call it the curse of the MLB Network, but the stars of The Pen did not live up to the standard they had set in 2008.

In this off season, Chan Ho Park made the decision to pass on the Phillies’ offer (turned out the joke was on him) and Clay Condrey was let go; so other arms had to be brought in.

RAJ looked in the direction of men who had experience closing yet refused to bid Ed Wade-like contracts. The Brandon Lyon signing is the worst contract I can remember in a long time. Fernando Rodney was not worth the money he signed for either.  After the dust settled, it was Danys Baez who was set to join the bullpen. Keep in mind, Baez hasn’t been a closer since 2005, so those thinking he can step up if Lidge falters again shouldn’t get their hopes up.

At $5.25 million over two years, the dollars aren’t overwhelming. Was it necessary to sign Baez to a two-year deal considering he missed all of 2008? Eh, maybe not. If the deal was for more money, the years would be a bigger issue; so it is still a low-risk level contract considering the dollars. However if J.C. Romero can’t return to the form that earned him his own multi-year deal, there is a lot of risk in the role that I think Baez is going to be asked to fulfill.

Last year, Baez rebounded from an abysmal 2007 season, in which he posted an 0-6 record with a 6.44 ERA and 1.57 WHIP to go along with 1:1 BB:K ratio by posting a 4-6 clip in 59 games with a 4.02 ERA and a very good 1.13 WHIP.

The strikeouts haven’t been there for Baez over the past few seasons though, and that is a factor that could lead to some problems. When your relievers are putting too many balls into play, nothing good normally comes of it.

Was last year’s 1.13 WHIP a product of good placement of his pitches or was his .232 BAbip luck? Maybe 2006’s .305 BAbip just bad luck?

Baez isn’t going to light the world on fire as he hasn’t had an ERA under 4.00 since 2005, but if he can perform like last year he could definitely fill a prominent role in the bullpen. Just a matter of which Baez did Amaro lock up for two years…

BEERMAN’S GRADE: C

Last off-season when the Phillies brought in Chan Ho Park it raised a lot of questions. Park was originally signed to be the number 5 in the rotation, but wound up excelling out of the bullpen.  Personally, I would have loved to see him back in the red pinstripes, but he obviously priced himself out of the budget asking for close to $5 million and stating his desire to start.

This winter, Ruben Amaro brought in Jose Contreras to fill that role out of the bullpen with the understanding that he might be an insurance policy for some spot starts.  Yet for the most part, he will be starting games in the bullpen.

Prior to getting traded to the Rockies late last season, Contreras struggled mightily in the White Sox rotation. It is no secret that his best days are behind him; however he should still prove to be a solid arm out of the pen.

The sample size is too small to garner any real ideas of what we can expect to see out of the bullpen from the righty; nonetheless, he did manage to strike out 106 batters in 131.2 IP.

The main reason this deal works is the length. A one-year deal at close to pennies on the dollar for an experienced arm gives you extreme low-risk, high-reward potential – much like the Pedro signing last season. If Contreras can’t hang, it’s easy to release him and cut your losses. However, should he manage to provide a spark out of the pen for an inning or two at a time – like Park did – then for $1.5 million you found a real contribution to the team that you can reevaluate after the season.

I might have higher hopes than I should for Contreras, but I’m expecting something along the lines of 3.75 ERA with about 80 Ks over about 100 innings or so.

BEERMAN’S GRADE: B

PHILLIES SIGN PLACIDO POLANCO TO 3YR/$18 MILLION CONTRACT

Peter Gammons kind of stole my thunder with this one: Where was the market for a 34-year old second baseman with a .727 OPS to play third base on a multi-year deal?

With one of the first free agent signings in baseball this winter, Ruben Amaro jumped the gun to get his man. Seemingly outbidding himself (much like he did last year with the Raul Ibanez signing), he threw three years at a player on the decline of his career. After a hot start, we remember how quickly Ibanez came back down to Earth. And for those who don’t, just wait until Jayson Werth explores free agency after this season…but that’s another story.

Having looked at Polanco’s batting average in years prior, many people were quick to welcome him back to the City of Brotherly Love. However, those numbers may cause those same people to overlook Polanco’s rapid decline the past three seasons in Detroit:

- 2007: .341 BA .388 OBP .458 SLG .846 OPS

- 2008: .307 BA .350 OBP .417 SLG .768 OPS

- 2009: .285 BA .331 OBP .396 SLG .727 OPS

Compare those numbers to Pedro Feliz, the man who held down the hot corner for the last two seasons. The man who was given his walking papers almost immediately following this year’s World Series.

- 2009: .266 BA .308 OBP .386 SLG .694 OPS

Did Polanco really deserve a three-year deal with a $5.5 million dollar option for a fourth? The deal guarantees $19 million total to Polanco and seemingly shifts Shane Victorino down to either the sixth or seventh spot in the lineup. A spot where not only could his speed be wasted, but the bat could be taken out of either Vic’s or Ibanez’s hands for a lot of intentional walks to get to Carlos Ruiz.

That doesn’t even scratch the defensive side of this contract. Feliz manned a very solid third base, while Polanco hasn’t played the spot since 2005. This isn’t first base where old men go to pasture when they are moved from their natural spot. This is one of the most demanding positions in baseball.

During his tenure in Philadelphia, Feliz had an UZR rating (the number of runs above or below average a fielder is in both range runs, outfield arm runs, double play runs and error runs combined) of 5.3 in 2009 and an NL-high 7.2 in 2008. Easy translation: he was well-above average at third. Can we expect anything more than an average glove out of Polanco? Polanco’s glove has never been an issue at second, but how smoothly will that transition go moving over to third?

It really comes down to two simple questions: Do you think Polanco can rebound to his 2007 and 2008 years? Or do you think as he gets older, his numbers will continue to slide?

One week later, former Phillies GM and collector of Phillies-past, Ed Wade signed Feliz to a one-year, $4.5 million dollar deal.

Personally, I’d take another year of Feliz at less than $5 million, than three years of Polanco at what amounts to at least $19 million. Especially after all we’ve heard about working under a budget, and the elephant in the room in right field that is set to explore free agency rather quickly.

BEERMAN’S GRADE: C-