Phillies Nation

The Phillies left 12 men on base, including 6 in scoring position, in their 3-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox.

Joe Blanton pitched 6.1 solid innings allowing just two earned runs on four hits and one walk.  He struck out four.  Chad Durbin gave up the only other run, a solo home run by Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Phillies scored their only run when Ryan Howard drew a two out walk with the bases loaded.

Cole Hamels was scheduled to pitch in a minor league game, but due to the rain, he will pitch in tomorrow’s minor league game instead.

The Phillies pitching could not hold up in their 10-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In 5.2 innings, Jamie Moyer struck out seven batters, but allowed seven earned runs on eleven hits, including Andrew McCutchen’s solo home run.  In the eighth inning, Brad Lidge gave up a three run homer to Garrett Jones.

Ian Snell and the rest of the Pirates pitching limited the Phillies offense to just four hits.  Ryan Howard hit his eighth home run of the season, a monster solo shot over the batter’s eye in center field.  Carlos Ruiz hit a three-run home run off Denny Bautista.

The Phillies rallied in the ninth inning, but fell short in their 6-5 loss to the Houston Astros.

Brett Myers pitched 5.1 innings allowing four earned runs on eight hits and a walk, including Miguel Tejada’s solo home run.  Myers struck out four.

Ryan Madson pitched 1.2 scoreless innings allowing just two hits. He struck out one.  Robert Mosebach allowed two earned runs in one inning.

Jason Werth capped a three run second inning with a solo home run.  Shane Victorino was 2-for-4 with a run batted in.  Matt Stairs’ solo home run and Eric Bruntlett’s RBI double brought in two runs in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough for the victory.

The Phillies lost to the New York Yankees, 10-2 on Thursday.

Carlos Carrasco was given another opportunity to compete for the fifth spot in the rotation.  In five innings, he allowed four earned runs on six hits.  Hideki Matsui and Cody Ransom each hit home runs off Carrasco.  Carrasco walked one batter and struck out four. 

Scott Eyre allowed five earned runs on five hits in one inning of work.  Nick Swisher and Melky Cabrera each hit home runs off Eyre.

Chase Utley, who went 2-for-4, and Ryan Howard each hit solo home runs off Joba Chamberlin in the first inning.  The Phillies offense only managed six hits.

The Phillies offense came alive in an 8-3 win over the Yankees at Bright House Field.

Eric Bruntlett, an offensive star this spring training, went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Two of his hits were doubles as he raised his Grapefruit League average to .340. Raul Ibanez went 3-for-3 with an RBI, while both Matt Stairs and Miguel Cairo belted two-run home runs. Cairo has emerged as a favorite for the final roster spot on the major league club.

JA Happ pitched OK in his five innings. He allowed one earned run (two total) on five hits and three walks. He also struck out three. Clay Condrey, Brad Lidge and Scott Eyre each pitched scoreless frames (as a whole the Phils set bullpen has been sparkling this spring) while Mike Koplove dangled a run in the ninth.

Josh Beckett held the Phillies to four hits in five innings, guiding his Red Sox to a 3-0 win Sunday.

For the Phillies, Brett Myers struggled with control. He walked five in his five innings, striking out just one. He gave up five hits, including a home run to Mike Lowell in the first inning. Also pitching for the Phils were Bobby Mosebach (1 IP, 2 H), Chad Durbin (1 IP) and Ryan Madson (1 IP, 1 ER).

The Phils scattered six hits including doubles by Raul Ibanez and Carlos Ruiz.

Kyle Kendrick had his best spring start, striking out four while giving up two runs on five hits, but the Phillies lost 2-1 Saturday to the Twins.

Minnesota’s runs came in the first, one by Michael Cuddyer’s RBI double. Otherwise Kendrick looked good, inducing a few groundouts and shallow pop flies. Cleaning up for him with scoreless innings were Clay Condrey, Brad Lidge and Scott Eyre, who was hit in the face by a John Mayberry Jr. hit in batting practice.

The Phillies didn’t translate that success to the game. Eric Bruntlett homered in the ninth, but that was all the scoring. Mayberry did have a good game, however, going 2-for-4 with a double and stolen base.

Joe Blanton turned in an outstanding performance, leading the Phillies to a 5-1 win over the Marlins. Blanton threw six innings, allowing just one hit while striking out three. And this was against much of the Florida opening day lineup (Hanley Ramirez not in uniform).

The Phils, meanwhile, hit Florida in the sixth inning to grab a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Ryan Howard and Marcus Giles hit doubles, while Chris Coste contributed with his first hit of the Grapefruit League. John Mayberry Jr. walked, stole a base and scored a run in one of his two plate appearances.

The Phillies slammed Aaron Harang and the Reds today, winning by a final of 8-1.

Brett Myers was the real star, throwing 5.2 fantastic innings, only giving up four hits while striking out seven and walking nobody. He was on point, throwing a succinct game that paced quickly and never gave the Reds a chance to make noise.

Meanwhile the offense did work off Harang. Raul Ibanez, Eric Bruntlett, Matt Stairs, Jason Ellison and Carlos Ruiz all hit doubles to extend scoring. Ibanez’ shot was maybe most impressive — a liner into the left-center field region that split defenders. Stairs had a three-RBI game, while Mayberry, Ibanez and Ruiz both had two hits.

Dave Borkowski, Chad Durbin, Clay Condrey and Brad Lidge cleaned up for a run in 3.1 innings.

The Yankees brutalized the Phillies, 12-0, Monday at Steinbrenner Field.

Kyle Kendrick was tagged for five runs (four earned) in four innings. Early on Yankee hitters were drilling his offerings. Kendrick’s attempts at locating his fastball were futile, so those thrown right over the plate received happy gestures by the Bombers. Though he settled down in the second and third, Kendrick made his own bed in the fourth, letting up a hit and walking a batter before the wheels flew off from the defense. Costly errors by Jason Donald and Ryan Howard (though the ball hit to him wasn’t actually recorded an error) opened the door for the Yanks to stake out to a 5-0 lead.

Bobby Mosebach and Jake Woods made it a laugher, as the Phils bumbled about to a 11-0 deficit. Ryan Madson let up a run in the eighth; Scott Eyre, meanwhile, struck out three in a strong inning.

The offense was just as bad. The Phils couldn’t materialize much off starter Joba Chamberlain — Howard for one looked completely lost. The only bright spot offensively was Geoff Jenkins, who slinked a double down the left-field line and walked once.