Posts

Bullpen Blows Hamels Homecoming



The Phillies found a way to lose last night in their series opener with the Padres.  After the team scored three in the sixth and two in the seventh to secure a 6-3 lead, the bullpen handed the game right back to San Diego.  Rick White did his job, but Franklin, Cormier and Geary did not.  Franklin gave up a run and left two on base for Cormier, who promptly served up a 3-run homer to Adrian Gonzalez (his second of the night) to completely waste the lead and get himself yanked after just one batter.  Fultz allowed a second insurance run, charged to Geary, and the Phils were unable to mount another comeback against the Padres Hall of Fame closer, Trevor Hoffman.  The game as a whole resembled many of the Phillies losses: giving up runs early, allowing hits to the opposing pitcher, a valiant comeback (complete with a Howard home run), crucial errors, and finally a bullpen meltdown spearheaded by Ryan Franklin. 

I’m not a Phillies-hater but when I watch the Phillies los, strong feelings of frustration, disappointment, and resentment overcome me.  The series wins against Pittsburgh and in San Francisco provided a little hope in achieving the now 48-23 record needed for 90 wins.  That record means the club must win 66% of their reamaining games, or in other words, they need to win every series.  For every series they lose, they need to sweep one.  Buster Olney assessed the strength-of-schedule for 12 of the NL teams in the playoff hunt and the Phillies have the ninth most difficult – which is a good thing.  The Phils have 53 games against teams with below-.500 records, including every game in September.  This means of course the Phils are currently in the toughest stretch of the remaining schedule; including this West Coast swing, and games against the Mets and Cardinals before mid-August.  Therefore if the Phillies can fight back and win this San Diego series and steal a few games against the Mets and Cards they should be in good shape to remain in the playoff hunt.  That might be a lot to ask for, but it does mean that these next three series will ultimately determine whether the Phils have set themselves up for a playoff push.  It just so happens that the outcomes of the next week’s games will also go a long way in helping Pat Gillick decide if he should make moves before the trading deadline.  Tomorrow we’ll looks at some of those possibilities.

Phillies Nation has been bringing Phillies fans together since 2004 with non-stop news, analysis, trade rumors, trips, t-shirts, and other fun stuff!

Browse the Archives

Browse by Category

Copyright Phillies Nation, LLC 2004-2024
Not Affiliated with Major League Baseball or the Philadelphia Phillies

To Top