Phillies Nation

GAME 1: Phillies Lose in 10 as Kendrick’s Start is Wasted

PHOTO AP

-In Game 1 of the day/night double dip, Kyle Kendrick kept an inept offense in the game for six shutout innings, but was giving nothing in return. In the seventh, Roger Bernadina launched a three-run homer off of  Michael Schwimer in the seventh to put the Nats ahead 3-0. Raul Ibanez tied the game in the bottom half of the inning with a pinch-hit, three-run homer, but in the 10th, Michael Stutes’ struggles continued as he allowed the winning run to score on a base hit by Ryan Zimmerman in the 10th.

Crazy stat as an aside; Raul Ibanez hit a pinch hit home run for the first time in 10 years.

Kendrick was relatively awesome, tossing six shutout innings. He allowed just four hits and figures to play some sort of role in the ‘pen come October 1. For all the crap he’s gotten over the years, Kendrick has really stepped it up this season to become something more than an afterthought.

The growing pains continue for Schwimer, who gave up a mammoth homer to Bernardina. He’ll be part of the bullpen in the future, so it’s nice that the Phillies have some time to let him work out the kinks.

Continue reading Phillies Get Swept in Doubleheader by Nationals

The Phillies announced a paid attendance of 45,048 for tonight’s game, and while those fans showed up tonight, the Phillies, division title in hand and two weeks to go on the season, really didn’t until the ninth inning, when a furious last-ditch comeback fell just short. La Furia Roja, to borrow a phrase from James Richardson of The Guardian, resembled a pair of pants and went down to defeat, this time by a score of 4-3. Of course, with the Cardinals offering a potentially easier first-round opponent than Milwaukee or Arizona come playoff time, and the Redbirds breathing down Atlanta’s neck for the Wild Card, losing 3 of 4 isn’t the worst-case scenario.

As the FanGraphs WPA chart illustrates, the Cards had this one in hand pretty much from start to finish. St. Louis tagged Roy Halladay for three runs in the first two innings, led by Lance Berkman‘s solo homer in the first and RBI single in the second. Halladay threw 107 pitches in eight innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits and an appalling (for Halladay) four walks. Former Phillie Nick Punto chipped in with an RBI in the first and a run scored on an Albert Pujols double in the seventh.

Ross Gload of all people led the offense with a 2-for-3 performance, and while the Phillies put at least one man on base in seven of their nine innings, they managed but one unearned run off Cardinals started Kyle Lohse, who dodged trouble for 7 1/3 innings. Continue reading Phils Lose, Still Screw Braves

Game 1: Phillies Win 3-1 Behind Strong Pitching

PHOTO: AP

Under an overcast sky and a few raindrops, the Phillies took the first game of the double header with the Marlins by a score of 3-1. Kyle Kendrick pitched five innings while giving up just one run on a solo shot by Logan Morrison. That came in the 5th inning, and broke up Kendrick’s no-hitter. Michael Stutes came in to pitch the sixth and pitched two scoreless innings, a good sign from the young righty.

The Phillies’ offense got going early, but stalled after that. Doubles by Hunter Pence and Raul Ibanez gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Anibal Sanchez settled down and pitched a great game from that point on. Morrison’s homer put the score at 2-1 in the fifth. Continue reading Phillies Win Both, Magic Number Down To Two

They're in. High five! (PHOTO: GETTY)

The Phillies are officially going back to the playoffs!  The three game skid ended as Roy Halladay tossed a complete game shutout against the Astros.

It did not take long for the Phillies to get on the board.  Shane Victorino led the game off with a double and Placido Polanco followed with a RBI single.  The Phillies would not do much more against Bud Norris, who pitched seven strong innings.  One run was plenty for Doc.

In his complete game shutout, Halladay allowed six hits and one walk.  He struck out seven.  Every pitch seemed to work for him, especially his curveball.  There is no need to explain what Halladay has done on the mound; game after game he dominates hitters.  With the win, Halladay improves to 18-6 and lowers his ERA to 2.34.  There is no doubt that he will be in the talks for this year’s Cy Young.

By clinching on Wednesday, the 2011 Phillies became the fastest team in franchise history to clinch a postseason spot.  The 1915 Phillies, who lost to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, clinched the playoffs in 147 games; the 2011 Phillies did it in 146. On the other hand, the Astros made team history with their 98th loss, the most in their franchise history.

After the 1-0 victory, the Phillies high-fived each other as if it were any other win.  The Phillies know that they have unfinished business to take care of.  The Phillies still need to clinch the division which will ensure home field advantage, but right now it’s a nice feeling to know that they’ll be playing baseball in October.

Oswalt was not at his best on Monday night (PHOTO: AP)

Going into the game, numbers like 4-13, 4.66 ERA, and 49-97 stood out. Brett Myers brought that record into the game, and his team was 48 games under .500. Never mind that, because it meant nothing. That’s why you play the game.

Myers shut the Phillies down with a nasty array of off-speed pitches in the Astros 5-1 win over the Phillies. After a first inning run got the Phils on the board, they could do nothing else as Myers struck out four and allowed only six hits. But all wasn’t lost for the Phillies on this night in Houston; although they fell to the worst team in baseball, their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now down to one with the St. Louis Cardinals loss.

Roy Oswalt looked good early on, but fell on hard times as the game progressed. He went seven innings, allowing 11 hits – the third time he’s allowed double digit hits in the last five weeks. It began to fall apart in the fourth, when Oswalt gave up two runs; two more then came in the fifth. Carlos Lee launched his 16th home run of the season – although launched might be a strong word – into the short seats in left field.

Oswalt’s velocity was fine, registering 94 on the gun a few times in his first start in front of his old home crowd. The crispness on his pitches was not there. The question is now becoming, can you trust Oswalt in the playoffs? He’ll have a few more starts before they begin and will need to find his old self; the shut down ace pitcher.

Who looked ugly tonight? Basically everyone wearing red and gray. Ryan Howard finished 0-for-4 with two K’s, looking completely lost at the plate. Shane Victorino is struggling with an average now down to .292 after an 0-for-4 night, as well.

Hunter Pence made his return to Houston and finished a respectable 2-for-4.

Luckily for the Phillies, they are still 94-50 on the season. And, they get to play the worst team in baseball twice more.

Photo: CSN Philly

The Milwaukee Brewers prevented the sweep by salvaging the final game of the series.  Despite a stellar performance by Vance Worley, the Phillies came up short in their 3-2 loss.

Worley suffered his first loss since May 29.  When Wolrey doesn’t have his best stuff, the offense normally provides him with enough runs.  Sunday was different. The only runs came from Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard‘s solo shots.

Worley wasn’t in top form, but he was able to get out of trouble. He used the outside part of the plate, which resulted in multiple inning-ending strikeouts.  Hunter Pence even saved a run with a great diving catch.

Continue reading Phillies Unable to Sweep Brew Crew

Hunter Pence gave them an early lead (PHOTO: AP)

Yeah, Cliff Lee gave up runs. No, it wasn’t the prettiest game you’ve ever seen. But, a win is a win, and the Phillies just keep on keepin’ on.

Behind seven strong from Cliff Lee, the Phillies stretched their lead in the National League to a ridiculous 11.5 games over both the Brewers and Diamondbacks following a 3-2, 10 inning victory over Milwaukee.

Prior to this series, the Brewers were the best team at home in the major leagues. Three games into this series, the Phillies are showing them who’s boss. What a spectacular showing by a resilient team on the road. Remember the Braves? They’re a mere 12 games back in the league/division. Twelve friggin’ games!

Hunter Pence and Placido Polanco helped Lee out with the offense, each hitting a solo homer. Each also tallied three hits on the night in the Phillies 94th victory of the season.

Lee struck out seven over seven, giving up six hits and walking two.

Tomorrow, they go for a four game sweep over the team that was now supposed to be the second best team in the NL.

Just keep enjoying what you’re seeing, folks. You may not EVER see this kind of baseball again.

PHOTO: Jeff Hanisch/US Presswire

Nine. That’s the Magic Number for the Phillies to win the East. They got there behind Roy Halladay‘s gem on Friday night, defeating the Brewers 5-3. Doc tossed eight innings, looking on point all night. This was unlike many of his recent starts where, although he may have gotten results, looked like he was struggling. Make no mistake: This was the Cy Halladay that we’re used to watching.

The only run he gave up came on a sacrifice fly by Yuniesky Betancourt that scored Casey McGehee; after McGehee lead off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a groundout. That was it. McGehee’s double was one of just four hits that Halladay gave up and the only extra base hit. He struck out nine, and lowered his ERA to 2.44.

Continue reading Phillies Beat Brewers Behind Halladay’s Gem

It was almost a laughable lineup, about half regulars and half bench players (or scrubs, or yannigans, depending on your own personal vernacular), but it turned out to be effective. The Phillies submitted a starting lineup without Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Raul Ibanez, and Jimmy Rollins and still managed to tag the National League’s second-best team for seven runs, while Cole Hamels held the Brewers to two earned runs and six baserunners for his third complete game and 14th win of the year.

The Phillies, who had managed only two baserunners off Brewers starter Chris Narveson through 5 2/3 innings, tagged him for six runs in the sixth to overhaul a 1-0 Brewers lead. Eight straight batters reached base after the first two hitters of the inning were set down quickly. The offensive explosion was somewhat fortuitous, as Milwaukee center fielder Carlos Gomez overran what would have been the last out of the inning, which turned into a game-tying double for Wilson Valdez. Two batters later, Gomez broke in on a Hunter Pence fly ball that wound up going over his head for a two-run triple. The next batter, Stanford-educated first baseman and mermaid aficionado John Mayberry Jr. had an infield single when it looked like Brewer shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt had thrown him out by half a step. Continue reading Iron Pigs Beat Brewers

UPDATE, 11:58 pm: Chase Utley has been held back in Philadelphia while the rest of the team makes the trip to Milwaukee for tomorrow’s three-game series. He will have concussion tests tomorrow with team doctors, and a course of action will then be known.

—————

Now THAT is how you sweep a series.

The Phillies downed the Braves 3-2 in walkoff fashion Wednesday, building their NL East lead over Atlanta to a whopping 10.5. With the win, the Phils are 9-6 against the Braves this season.

Remarkably, the Phillies have nine sweeps and have only been swept once, in a brief two-game series in St. Louis. They have a series record of 31-11-3. Teams just don’t do this. They don’t win 70% of their series’.

On top of the big win, there were plenty of smaller victories from Wednesday’s game… Continue reading Ninth Sweep Is The Sweetest