Brooms Absent As Phils Fall To Rockies
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.
