Phillies Nation

Worley made one mistake tonight, but it would cost him (AP.

The bats were nowhere to be found tonight as the Phillies fell to the Colorado Rockies 4-1 in a game marked by offensive ineptitude.

FRANCIS OFF THE HOOK:

- The Phillies made Jeff Francis, who had a career 10.80 ERA pitching at Citizens Bank Park, look like a young Tom Glavine tonight. Well if Glavine was forced to adhere to a 75-pitch pitch count due to his manager’s change in philosophy, anyway.

- During his five innings on the mound, the Phillies were only able to amass six hits off Francis, but only two balls were hit hard. Of the 15 outs Francis recorded, 11 never left the infield, and three more came on a strikeout. When he left after the fifth, the score was 1-0. The Phillies should’ve battered this guy, and they didn’t. Their inability to do more damage against Francis wasted Worley’s third straight outstanding effort and cost the team the sweep.

- After Francis came out of the game, the Rockies bullpen, which ranks 28th in baseball with a 6.05 ERA, continued the dominance, holding the Phils’ bats scoreless.

WORLEY THE IMPRUDENT:

- Economical Vance Worley was not, at least not early on. He labored through four innings, throwing 69 pitches. He would be able to settle in, however, and make it through the seventh inning.

- In that seventh inning, Worley would give up a two-run home run to Chris Nelson, which gave the Rockies the lead. The shot to left center was particularly deflating because it came with two outs, after Worley had battled to get himself into a position to pitch seven scoreless. It was a mistake. But it was the only mistake Worley made during an outstanding outing. This loss was entirely on the offense.

- If there is one knock on Worley (and it’s a small blemish on what has been an otherwise fantastic start to a career), it’s his inability to pitch deep into ball games. He can almost always get you into the sixth or seventh inning with a great effort, but he’s pitched into the eighth inning just twice in his 34 career starts, and hasn’t yet this season. If there’s one area where you’d like to see him improve as he matures, it’s his ability to get guys out quicker and go the distance.

NO COMEBACK FOR THE OFFENSE:

- Last night, when Hunter Pence came up with Ty Wigginton on second base and the Phillies down by one, Pence was able to rip a double down the leftfield line to tie the game and open the door for the Phils first walk-off victory of the night. Tonight, Pence would once again come up with the Phils down one and Wigginton on second. This time, it was not meant to be. Pence would strikeout in an at-bat where he looked very overmatched by Matt Belisle.

A BIT OF HISTORY FOR ROLLINS:

- The lone run for the Phils came in their first at-bat of the game, when Jimmy Rollins laced a changeup into the left field seats for the 175th home run of his career. It was also the 39th career lead-off home run for Rollins. That makes him second on the active list behind Alfonso Soriano (54).

GAME NOTES:

- The Phillies have now lost all four games Worley has started since returning from the DL on June 4th. In those games, Worley has a 2.25 ERA.

- The Phillies have yet to sweep a three-game series this season.

- The Phillies return to inter-league play tomorrow when the Tampa Bay Rays come to town. Cliff Lee (0-3, 3.48) takes the mound for the Phils while James Shield (7-4, 3.72) gets the start for Tampa.

The Phillies took Strasburg deep twice, it just wasn't enough.

There is indeed something special about these Washington Nationals. They remind me a lot of the Phillies when they finally gave into the call for the youngsters.  The Phillies fought back all night but ultimately fell short 4-3 in the 11th inning.

Strasburg’ed – Hunter Pence homered off Stephen Strasburg in the fourth inning to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.  It was the first home run given up by Strasburg since August 2010.  Carlos Ruiz, who has been on an absolute tear, also took the righty deep in the fifth inning.  Ruiz’s fifth home run of the year gave the Phillies a 3-1 lead.

KK – Kyle Kendrick, making another start in place of injured Cliff Lee, pitched very efficiently for five innings of work.  He allowed only one run on seven hits and struck out two.  The radar gun had him topping our at 94 tonight.  But then again it says Nats reliever Henry Rodriguez was hitting triple digits, so who knows.

Continue reading Free Baseball Not Friendly To Phils

It’s not exactly how you would draw it up.

The Braves lead off the game with back-to-back home runs off Phillies starter Joe Blanton.  Martin Prado and Nate McLouth needed only five pitches total to put the Braves ahead 2-0.  Blanton, who was just recently activated from the DL was making his second start and left two fastballs up.  Those were the only two runs Blanton gave up in five innings.

Continue reading Phillies can’t catch up after early Braves bombing

We are one week away from Major League Baseball’s July 31st trade deadline. With seven days to go, the big name still fluttering around the rumor mill is Roy Halladay. On top of that, it was recently heard that Ruben Amaro has pulled the tag “untouchable” off of Kyle Drabek’s nameplate…what does this mean?

I’m not sure. However, I do think there are other areas of need: Specifically a right-handed bat off the bench, maybe a utility infielder and the always needed bullpen help.

Chad Durbin and J.C. Romero to the DL

Personally, I didn’t mind these two going on the disabled list too much. When Durbin is in and it is a big spot, it seems like it is only because the guys you want in there can’t go. And as for Romero, he simply couldn’t throw strikes.

In his 15.2 innings pitched since coming back from his suspension, Romero has walked 13 batters and only struck out 12. On top of that, the former left-handed specialist saw lefties hitting him at a .292 clip. Last year, left-handed bats hit a paltry .108 against him.

Hopefully two weeks away from the scene can fix any arm problems he might have, and J.C. can get back to the form that helped lock down the end of ball games last year.

Patchwork

While the two relievers mend their injuries, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Phillies made a move that flew a bit under the giving up the farm radar. With names like George Sherrill, Danys Baez and Chad Qualls floating around the news tap, there are many arms to be had.

Last year, the Phillies struck gold with Scott Eyre after the deadline had passed. Look for a similar type deal to go down shortly, one that doesn’t give up a top prospect for a player who will fill a role that will probably be unappreciated until its time to look back at the deals that made the biggest difference.

Takin’ to the seats

Over the past week, I polled 100 random fans I served beer to with two different questions. What would your response be?

What is the biggest reason for the Phillies latest hot streak?

1. Jimmy Rollins turnaround – 55%
2. Quality starting pitching – 31%
3. Return of Raul Ibanez – 8%
4. No reason at all – 6%

Guess it’s the old saying, as Rollins goes, so do the Phillies.

Would you give up Kyle Drabek, J.A. Happ and Michael Taylor for Roy Halladay?

1. Yes – 71%
2. No – 29%

Seven out of ten people pull the trigger…I’m still not sure if I do. One way or another, I won’t be upset. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be looking into the rumor mills on an hourly basis.