Phillies Nation

Washington Nationals (24-17) at Philadelphia Phillies (21-21)

Gio Gonzalez (5-1, 2.22) vs. Kyle Kendrick (0-3, 5.96)

Time: 7:05, Citizens Bank Park
TV: CSN
Weather: Showers, 65
Media: Twitter and Facebook

As you likely know, Jimmy Rollins is not in the lineup as he celebrates the birth of his first child, a baby girl, with his wife, Johari. Freddy Galvis moves to the other side of second base, Mike Fontenot jumps in for his first start with the Phillies since being recalled.

But, the scariest news of the day belongs to Vance Worley. He’s seeing Dr. James Andrews, according to Ruben Amaro Jr. Never a good sign.

Other than that, Jim Thome is swinging a bat but has not taken fielding practice. Placido Polanco is feeling better and is back in the lineup. Good things, I guess.

For tonight, the Phillies will face Gio Gonzalez. If you’re worried, you should be. With a makeshift order, plus a dominant lefty on the hill in addition to a struggling Kyle Kendrick pitching for the Phils, things could get a little ugly at the Bank. On May 5, Gonzalez gave up one run over seven innings, striking out seven against the Phillies.

Really, the key tonight is Kendrick. If he can keep it close by giving up four runs or less, the Phillies may have a shot.

Lineup: Pierre LF, Polanco 3B, Victorino CF, Pence RF, Ruiz C, Mayberry 1B, Galvis SS, Fontenot 2B, Kendrick P

Your gameday beer: Guinness Black Lager

Tonight is a great night for a darker beer. It’s overcast and crappy. Plus, it’s a bit chilly. Black Lager is warming and isn’t as thick as regular Guinness. Of course, I enjoy the original much more, however, this is really a decent alternative for a more mainstream drink. Would go well with a beef stew. -Pat

GO PHILLIES!

Vance is seeing Dr. Andrews. (AP)

-Three words you never want to hear if you’re a pitcher: Dr. James Andrews. Vance Worley is hearing those words today as he sees the infamous doctor to get a better sense of why he’s having elbow pain. Ruben Amaro gave that update today, but did not have any results from the appointment as of roughly 4:30 pm. Results from an MRI showed a bone chip in Worley’s right elbow and some inflammation as the reason for the discomfort. But, the Phillies decided not to take chances and had him see Andrews.

More on this as we get it…

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-Jimmy Rollins is not in the lineup tonight after his wife, Johari, gave birth to a baby girl. Freddy Galvis will start at shortstop, Mike Fontenot gets the call at second base. I’ve never had a child before, but I can imagine it being a trying time for someone, especially when every at-bat is scrutinized like it is for Rollins. Will this ease things for Jimmy from here on out? We’ll see. But, congrats are in order for Rollins and his wife.

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-Placido Polanco is back in the lineup tonight against Washington, batting second. He had been sidelined with what was originally called a knee injury. Ruben Amaro confirmed that it was instead an ankle injury.

Is this the start of a new rivalry?

The Phillies will host the Nationals tonight in the first of a three-game set, and the series is sure to be one of the more intense ones this year. This is because the Phillies and the Nationals have developed a new found rivalry this that has never been present before, because the Mets were the Phils biggest rival.

But ever since 2007, the Phillies-Mets rivalry has really cooled down, and with the Phils being so dominant in the division, the term “rival” didn’t really mean what it used to.

Fast forward to 2012. The Phillies have found themselves in last place in the NL East, looking up at the first place Braves, and for a little while were looking up at the first place Nationals. The Nats even took two of three from the Phils in the “Take Back Our Park” series earlier this month where the theme was to get Phillies fans away from Nationals Park.

Continue reading Are The Nationals The Phillies Biggest Rival This Year?

After a lengthy career in the minors, Mike Costanzo, who was a promising young third baseman in the Phillies system several years back, is finally living his dream of playing big league baseball. The life-long Philadelphia sports fan and resident of the city’s suburbs, was selected in the 2nd round of the 2005 MLB amateur draft by his hometown club, but struggled in recent years and, to some, looked to be a bust.

Following a few productive years in the Phillies’ developmental ranks, Costanzo was traded to Houston, along with Michael Bourn and Geoff Geary, for Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett following the 2007 season. That year, his second full season as a pro, Costanzo batted .270 while lacing 27 homers and driving in 86 runs for the Reading Phillies. Costanzo was then flipped in another deal, during the same off-season, to the Orioles for All-Star Miguel Tejada.

The road to the big leagues was a long one for the determined Costanzo. After his impressive season at Double-A in 2007, his production faltered. As he took a step upward to Triple-A in 2008, Costanzo struggled and saw his OPS dip 130 points from the previous season. The following year, Costanzo split time between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk, posting improved numbers, but Baltimore didn’t see big league potential in the 6-foor-3-inch 215-pounder and he did not return to the organization the following season. Continue reading Former Phils Prospect Costanzo Living Big League Dream

Winning is great.  The Phillies know how to win.  The fans know what it’s like to feel like winners.  And boy did this team remind us of better days this week.  Yes, the Phillies are struggling right now and, yes, they are sitting in last place but there is still hope for this team.

They showed it this week reeling off a six game win streak before dropping two of three in interleague play against the Red Sox.  Once this team finally gets healthy (Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Vance Worley), these kinds of win streaks could be more frequent.

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Until then we will continue to check the injury updates.  During today’s game, GM Ruben Amaro Jr spoke on both Utley and Howard.  He said Howard was down in Clearwater doing all baseball activities, just not at 100% quite yet.  As for Utley, he expects him to head south in about 8-10 days.

Hey Ryan, please come back soon. Please.

The Boston Red Sox continued to use Citizens Bank Park as their personal home run derby today in the rubber match.  They jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the backs of Jarrod Saltalamacchia‘s three run shot in the third inning.  Mike Aviles lead off the game with a home run for the second straight game.  He has homered in every game this series.

The Phillies could never quite catch up falling 5-1 and losing two out of three games in their first interleague series.

Off day for Cliff

Cliff Lee came into the ball game with an ERA under two but still had not logged his first win of the season.  Lee gave up five runs in the first three innings before finally settling in.  He ended up throwing 112 pitches in seven innings of work.  His ERA is now up to 2.66 and he is 0-2 for the season.

Continue reading Lee Falters, Phillies Can’t Catch Up

Red Sox (19-21) at Phillies (21-20)

Josh Beckett (3-4, 4.97) vs. Cliff Lee (0-1, 1.95)

Time: 1:35, Citizens Bank Park
TV: TBS
Weather: Possible Showers, 79
Media: Twitter and Facebook

The Phillies offense is collecting the hits.  21 hits over their two games have yielded 11 runs.  This is exactly what they needed to keep pace with the Red Sox in this interleague series match up.  Up to this point, the Phillies split the first two games and will send Cliff Lee to the hill for the rubber match.

Lee will be up against Josh Beckett and both pitchers are very familiar with the opposition.  Beckett has over 100 innings against the Phillies and Lee has seen Boston in over 70 innings.  This just means both team are well versed in each pitcher.  This game could be another hitfest like last night.

Lee has pitched well all season but his first win has continued to escape him.  He has allowed two runs or less in four of his last five starts getting a no decision in all of them.  Against the Giants, he pitched 10 scoreless innings which the Phillies would end up losing 1-0.

The Phillies are averaging only 2.6 runs a game when Lee starts and are 1-4 in his five starts.

Ty Wigginton has four home runs in his career against Beckett and Shane Victorino has also taken the right hander deep once.

Lineup: Rollins SS, Pierre LF, Victorino CF, Pence RF, Wigginton 3B, Mayberry 1B, Galvis 2B, Schneider C, Lee P

Your gameday beer: Monks Blood

Had this beer at an engagement party last night.  So good. - 21st Amendment founders Nico Freccia and Shaun O’Sullivan traveled to Belgium to develop the recipe for this special beer, visiting small, traditional breweries in the hop fields of west Flanders, not far from the famous Trappist abbey of Westvletren. Monk’s Blood is designed to pair beautifully with rich winter stews, creamy cheeses, unctuous desserts or just by itself, in a Belgian tulip glass, with a good book by the fire.

GO PHILLIES!

Once again, the weekly minor league wrap up is back, taking a look at each of the Phillies’ four full season minor league clubs.  This time around, we’ll take a look at the hot and cold lists from each team.

Class A Lakewood BlueClaws 15-25, 6th place out of 7 (14.5 GB) in South Atlantic League Northern Division.

Who’s hot-

1st baseman/3rd baseman Harold Martinez (pictured left), through action on Saturday, has strung together a stretch of 7 games where he has gone 10-for-24 (.417 avg) to boost his season batting average 58 points. Martinez, 22, was the Phillies’ 2nd round draft selection out of the University of Miami last year.

Right-handed reliever Matt Campbell has been a solid contributor out of the Lakewood bullpen. Since joining the club in late April, the 24th round draft pick from last season has a 1-1 record with 2 saves and a 1.46 ERA while striking out 12 batters in 12 1/3 innings pitched. Campbell has thrown more than 1 inning in 5 of 6 of his outings. Additionally, the Florida native has held opponents to a .163 batting average.

Who’s not-

Infielder Stephen Malcolm, has gone 2-for-18 (.111 avg) through his first 7 games of Class A ball since joining the BlueClaws last weekend. The 22-year-old missed all of last season due to disciplinary issues. Malcolm was an 8th round draft choice in 2010.

Outfielder Brian Pointer, who was among the Phillies’ top minor league performers in April, with a .295 batting average, 5 HR, 19 RBI and a .964 OPS, has really struggled in May. The lefty hitting 20-year-old has posted a .140 batting average with 0 HR and just 1 RBI and a .479 OPS in 15 May games. Continue reading Weekly Minor League Wrap Up, 5/20/12

Celebrating one of the four home runs hit off Joe Blanton.

When your team smacks 15 hits around you expect them to score some runs.  The Phillies did manage five runs tonight but left too many runners on base.  Starter Joe Blanton was tagged for six runs in four plus innings tonight and the offense actually tried to keep him in the game.

Boston and Philly traded runs back and forth with the Red Sox getting the best of our Phillies winning 7-5 to set up the rubber match tomorrow with Cliff Lee on the hill.

Wait our bullpen? - It is no secret that the Phillies bullpen has had its issues this season.  Tonight, to no avail, the bullpen actually stepped up and did its job.  Joe Blanton got into some trouble early and gave up six runs working into just the fifth inning before being pulled.  The bullpen came in and threw 4 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball.

Continue reading Hits Parade Leads To Loserville

Red Sox (18-21) at Phillies (21-19)

Jon Lester (2-3, 3.71) vs. Joe Blanton (4-3, 2.96)

Time: 7:15, Citizens Bank Park
TV: Fox Regional
Weather: Mostly Sunny, 82
Media: Twitter and Facebook

This is a Phillies team we have grown to know.  Piecing together walks and hits to score runs.  As team they managed only six hits last night but pulled out a win behind the good outing from starter Cole Hamels.

The Phillies will look for another good outing from tonight’s starter Joe Blanton.  In his last start he only allowed one run in seven innings and is 3-0 over his last four starts.

Blanton will be up against Jon Lester who has faired very well when pitching against Philadelphia.  With 21 innings under his belt, Lester is 2-0 with a 0.43 ERA.  In those 21 innings, the Phillies have only managed one run and 10 hits.  They will need to step their game up if they plan on keeping this win streak alive.

The Red Sox will be playing David Ortiz at first base after the Big Papi was called on to pinch hit in last night’s ball game.  The move will put Adrian Gonzalez in right field.

Ortiz, Gonzo and company have had a lot of success against Blanton.   Big Joe will have to some kind of smoke and mirror trick tonight to get ahead of hitters.

Lineup: Rollins SS, Mayberry LF, Victorino CF, Pence RF, Ruiz C, Wigginton 3B, Luna 1B, Galvis 2B, Blanton P

Your gameday beer: Saranac Blueberry Blonde Ale

Blonde ale mixed with blueberry juice and natural blueberry flavor, the Saranac Blueberry Blonde Ale has a mild taste, defined by slightly bitter hops that really show off the blueberry undertone as you swallow. The refreshing blueberry taste is perfect for warmer spring nights like tonight, when our collective foot is just on the doorstep of summer. Have it with some fresh vegetables and pasta. –By Ryan

GO PHILLIES!