Phils can't take much Moyer
August 24 2007

The Phils sure aren't hitting, but it probably doesn't matter much.  Over the last three games their pitchers have allowed 34 runs.  After getting bombed tonight, Jamie Moyer has allowed 16 runs on 19 hits in 8 2/3 innings in his last two starts.

The Phillies looked alive early tonight, but it didn't last long.  They took a 3-2 lead into the fifth inning before the Padres came up with 12 unanswered runs in yet another blowout.

The Phillies lost to the San Diego Padres tonight, falling 14-3 to drop to 66-61 on the year.  It was the fifth loss in six games for the Phils. 

Moyer got the start for the Phillies and allowed eight runs in 4 2/3 innings on ten hits and two walks.  Only six of the runs were earned.  Five of the hits went for extra-bases, two doubles and three home runs.   He struck out two and his ERA on the season rose to 5.16.

Milton Bradley doubled with two outs in the first and Adrian Gonzalez followed with a two-run homer that put San Diego up 2-0.  Greene lined to left on a nice play by Burrell to end the frame.

Kevin Kouzmanoff doubled to left to start the second and moved to third on a single by Josh Bard.  Marcus Giles flew to shallow right for the first out and both runners had to hold.  Moyer got the pitcher Greg Maddux to ground into a double-play to leave both runners stranded.

Moyer got the first hitter in the third before Mike Cameron singled to left and Bradley followed with a walk.  Gonzalez hit into a double-play to end the frame.

Kouzmanoff singled with one out in the fourth, but Bard hit into a double-play to turn the Padres away.

Marcus Giles started the fifth with a single before Moyer struck out Maddux for the first out.  Brian Giles walked, putting men on first and second, but Moyer struck Cameron out looking for the second out.   Bradley homered to left, slamming his bat on the ground in the direction of the Phillies' dugout.  The Padres led 5-3.  Gonzalez followed with a home run to center, his second of the day, and the lead was 6-3.  Khalil Greene was next and hit the ball hard to third.  Nunez couldn't handle it and was charged with an error.  Kouzmanoff moved Greene to second with a single into center and that was it for Moyer.  Brian Sanches came in to pitch to the switch-hitter Bard and Bard smoked a double into the right-field corner.  Both runners scored and it was 8-3.  Sanches walked Blum intentionally and got Maddux on a ground ball to third for the third out. 

Sanches returned for the sixth and walked Cameron with one out, but struck out the next two to leave him stranded. 

Sanches started the seventh and gave up a one out double to Kouzmanoff.  Bard moved him to third with a single, putting men on first and third with one out for Blum, who had entered the game for Marcus Giles at second base in the fifth.  Blum hit a ground ball to first.  Howard didn't it field it cleanly then threw home without tagging first first.  His throw was late, Kouzmanoff scored to make it 9-3 and Bard went to second.  Not a good play by Howard.  Maddux hit for himself and bunted, but Ruiz threw Bard out at third for the second out with Blum safe at second and Maddux safe at first.  Brian Giles doubled and Blum scored to make it 10-3 as Maddux went to third.  Sanches walked Cameron to load the bases and Geary came in to face the switch-hitter Bradley.  Bradley flew to right for the third out. 

Geary started the eighth and gave up a leadoff single to Gonzalez.  Greene flew to right for the first out before Geary hit Kouzmanoff, putting men on first and second.   Bard loaded the bases with a single to left, but Geary struck out Blum for the second out.  Terrmel Sledge pinch-hit for Maddux and grounded to short to end the inning.

Mesa started the ninth and gave up back-to-back singles to Brian Giles and Cameron to start the inning.  It put men on first and second for Bradley, who hit his second three-run homer of the night.   This one was out to right and put the Padres up 13-3.  Gonzalez and Greene both singled, putting runners on first and second again.  Kouzmanoff hit it hard to short, but Rollins made a nice effort to start a double-play.  Bard singled into center, his fifth hit of the night, and Kouzmanoff scored to make it 14-3.  Mesa struck out Blum to end the inning.

Mesa, pitching for the third time in four days, could not have looked more done.  The ball that Rollins turned into a double-play was smashed.  Over his last two appearances he's been charged with nine runs in 1 1/3 innings.

The Philllies' lineup against righty Greg Maddux went (1) Rollins (2) Iguchi (3) Burrell (4) Howard (5) Rowand (6) Victorino (7) Ruiz (8) Nunez.  Nunez plays third with Moyer on the mound.  Ruiz catches and hits ahead of Nunez.

Iguchi doubled to right with one out in the first.  Burrell popped out but Howard doubled to left, cutting the San Diego lead to 2-1.  Rowand blooped a single into center and Howard scored to tie the game at 2-2.  Victorino grounded to first to end the inning.

Nunez singled with one out in the second and Moyer bunted him to second.  Nunez went to third on a wild pitch, but Rollins grounded to second to end the inning.

Iguchi singled to start the third and stole second.  Burrell flew to deep left and Iguchi went to third.  Howard grounded to second and Iguchi scored, putting the Phils up 3-2.  Rowand flew to right for the third out.

The fourth inning was memorable.  Victorino led off and hit the ball down the line in right.  It wasn't hit hard and the right field ball girl got out of her chair but left the chair on the ground.  The ball hit the chair, preventing it from going into the corner and forcing Victorino to hold with a double.  The ball girl actually did a nice job to get out of the way of the ball and jump over it when it bounced back, but the fact that Victorino wound up on second instead of third would be important cause chaos was forthcoming.  Ruiz hit a ground ball to first base and Gonzalez threw to third.  The ball beat Victorino, but Victorino made made a great slide to avoid the tag.  Play of the game was next with men on first and third and nobody out.  Nunez hit a ground ball to short.  Greene threw to Marcus Giles at second to try to start the double-play.  Ruiz slid in late, high and hard in the direction of Giles' left knee, dumping Giles.  Ruiz was out with Nunez safe at first and Victorino scoring.  Giles flipped out and had to be separated from Ruiz.  Benches emptied.  The umpires ruled interference on Ruiz at second.  Ruiz was out.  Nunez was out.  Victorino had to go back to third.  Very aggressive slide from Ruiz -- the umps got the call right.  Watching it live the slide looked ugly and unusual.  Moyer grounded back to the pitcher to end the inning.

Burrell singled with two outs in the fifth, but Howard grounded out behind him.

Ruiz reached on a two-out error by Greene in the sixth, but Nunez flew to left for the third out.

The Phils went 1-2-3 in the seventh.

Rowand singled with two outs in the eighth.  Victorino was next and hit a ball in the hole between first and second.  Blum fielded and threw wildly to first.  Victorino had beat it out anyway and had a single, but the bad throw allowed Rowand to go to third.  Victorino came up limping after a hard run to beat the play.  Werth ran for him at first.  Ruiz grounded to short to end the inning.

Coste pinch-hit for Mesa to start the ninth and singled.  Helms flew to right for the first out.  Branyan hit for Rollins and was called out swinging on what was clearly a check swing.  Iguchi grounded to second to end the game.

Again no walks for the Phillies.  Burrell is apparently not going to walk while hitting third, especially in front of a miserable looking Howard.  He's walked eight times in 71 plate appearances as a three-hitter (11.3% of PA) this year and 78 in 380 plate appearances (20.5%) as a non-three-hitter.  Phils could use Chase Utley in a big way.

Rollins was 0-for-4.

Iguchi was 2-for-5 with a double.

Burrell was 1-for-4.

Howard was 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI.

Rowand was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Victorino was 2-for-4 with a double.

Ruiz 0-for-4. 

Nunez 1-for-3.

Kyle Lohse (7-12, 4.61) faces righty Clay Hensley (2-3, 6.70) tomorrow night.  Lohse is 1-0 with a 4.79 ERA in his four starts with the Phillies.  He has yet to allow more than four runs in a start and pitched into the seventh in the three outings after his debut against the Cubs where he left after an inning after taking a line drive off his arm.  Hensley has appeared in 11 games for San Diego this season, making eight starts.  Opponents are hitting .303 against him and he's walked 27 in 44 1/3 innings.

The votes are in for ESPN's Face of the Franchise project and Ryan Howard has beat out Chase Utley and the Phillie Phanatic as the Face of the Phillies.  Apparently the nation has not seem him at the plate recently.  Now those so inclined can go to the ESPN web site and rank the 30 team winners as they effort to declare the Face of Baseball.

My Howard blurb had to be heavily edited to meet ESPN's space requirements (also possible:  they thought it sucked).  Here was my original submission in nominating Howard as the Face of the Phillies: 

Not only is Ryan Howard the face of the Phillies, for many he is the primary evidence of the existence of an organization that last sniffed the playoffs in 1993. If you've forgotten 1993, it's the year "Free Willy" came out. Many a fan since has looked at the schedule and wondered who PHI was and how they could have missed the Philippines getting a team.

If the Phillies have been easy to ignore in recent campaigns, Howard has not. After being named NL Rookie of the Year in 2005, Howard smashed 58 home runs in '06, shattering the Phillies' single-season record of 48 set by Mike Schmidt in 1980. He hit .313 and drove in 149 runs. He led the NL in home runs, RBI, total bases and times on base. He was MVP. After the season he made sure baseball fans in Japan knew his face as well. In the Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series, Howard was named series MVP as he hit .558, stroked four home runs and drove in eight to lead the MLB players to a five-game sweep.

There are a lot of things that are confusing about the Phillies these days. How a team could spend so much money year after year and keep falling short. How they're ever going to win with pitching so bad. Charlie Manuel. Who the face of the team is isn't one of them. Even on a team with a core of outstanding young players like Utley, Rollins and Hamels, Howard remains, for most fans, the guy you think of when you think about the Phillies. I would like to know who the uvula of the Phillies is, though.

Phils' playoff chances not looking good in Pythagoreanville either
August 24 2007

Here are the actual and Pythagorean records for nine NL playoff hopefuls:

The four current playoff teams would be the Mets, Cubs, Diamondbacks and Padres.

Based on Pythagorean records, the four playoff teams would be the Mets, Cubs, Padres and Braves.

Rest of the league okay with the Phils showing all this character as long as they promise to keep losing every day
August 24 2007

One way or another, something has to give.  Either the pixiedust love-in that dictates we all gush about how great it is that the Phillies keep getting off the mat has to end or the Phillies have to stop losing every day.  The Phillies lost some key players and now they're struggling.  It's unfortunate, maybe even expected given the circumstances, but it's not exceptional.

The fall with grace isn't all that's left for the Phillies.  I don't want to watch them go down fighting, watch them go down in a way that makes you feel like they sure must be a swell bunch of fellas.  I've seen that show before.  Like everybody else, I've been waiting a long time and now I'm ready to see them take somebody's lunch money. 

If it's going to happen it doesn't have to start tonight, but it better start soon.

Stop me if you've heard this one before:  The Phillies lost yesterday.  Their offense didn't do anything, the score was close near the end of the game and the bullpen was awful.  Rinse.  Repeat.

Phils lost to the Dodgers yesterday afternoon, falling 5-2 in a game that was tied 1-1 in the seventh to drop to 66-60 on the year.  They are in second place in the NL East, five games behind the Mets.  The Padres beat the Mets last night on a tenth inning home run from Adrian Gonzalez, so the Phils are two games behind the Padres for the Wild Card.  The Phillies have lost four or five.

Fabio Castro got the start for the Phillies and went five innings, allowing a run on two hits and six walks.  One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double.  He struck out four.

I think Castro is going to be really good.  Not yet, though.

Castro threw a 1-2-3 first, getting two popups and a strikeout.

Jeff Kent started the second with a walk. Shea Hillenbrand hit a ground ball to first. Howard tagged first but his throw to second hit Kent in the back. With a man on second and one out, Russell Martin walked. Castro struck out Luis Gonzalez for the second out, but walked Ramon Martinez to load the bases for the pitcher Chad Billingsley. Billingsley struck out swinging at a terrible 3-2 pitch that was high and outside and should have forced in a run and been the fourth walk of the inning for Castro.

Rafael Furcal started the third with a walk. Juan Pierre was next and he hit a ground ball to first. Howard stepped on the bag and again he didn't get the double-play as his throw to second was high and wide. Furcal was safe. Matt Kemp followed with as single into left that put runners on first and third with one out, but Kent hit a double-play ball to short to end the frame.

Castro walked Martin with one out in the fourth, but got Hillenbrand to hit into a double-play to end the frame.

Billingsley walked with one out in the fifth and scored when Furcal doubled to right-center to put LA up 1-0. Furcal went to third with the help of a less than excellent cutoff throw from Howard. Pierre lined to second for a big second out and Castro struck out Kemp to leave Furcal stranded at third. Walking the pitcher proved not to be the way to go.

Alfonseca started the sixth with the Phils trailing 1-0 and the Dodgers due to send up three righties in a row. Alfonseca got Kent on a fly ball to center for the first out and then lefty James Loney pinch-hit for Hillenbrand. Loney hit a ball back to Alfonseca who knocked it down with his bare hand and threw to first to get Loney for the second out. Martin drew a two-out walk but Gonzalez went down on a fly ball to center for the third out.

Romero started the seventh and gave up a leadoff single to Martinez. Billingsley hit for himself and bunted Martinez to second. Furcal grounded to second for the second out with Martinez holding second. Pierre blooped a single into center, scoring Furcal to put the Dodgers up again at 2-1. Ruiz threw Pierre out trying to steal second for the third out.

Gordon came into pitch the eighth and walked the leadoff man Kemp, who stole second. Kent singled into left and Kemp scored to extend the lead to 3-1. Loney singled into left as a sliding Burrell couldn't come up with the ball and Kent went to third. Gordon walked Martin to load the bases with nobody out. Geary replaced Gordon with the lefty Gonzalez at the plate. Gonzalez hit a ball back to the mound. Geary threw home for the first out and Coste, who had entered on a double-switch with Geary, threw to first to complete the double-play. Loney went to third and Martin to second with two outs. Looked good, but Martinez singled into left and both runners scored. 5-1. Martinez went to second on the throw home. Mark Sweeney pinch-hit for Billingsley and lined back to Geary for the third out.

Geary returned and threw a 1-2-3 ninth.

The Phillies' lineup against righty Chad Billingsley went (1) Rollins (2) Iguchi (3) Burrell (4) Howard (5) Rowand (6) Dobbs (7) Werth (8) Ruiz. Dobbs plays third against the righty. Victorino on the bench with Werth in right. Dobbs moved up to sixth after hitting seventh last night.  I'd expect to see Ruiz catch nearly all of the games started by a non-native speaker of English.

In the first, Rollins struck out, Iguchi grounded to third and Burrell struck out.

The Phils went 1-2-3 again in the second.

Werth started the third with a single, but Ruiz followed and flew to left. Castro bunted Werth to second, but Rollins grounded out to second to end the inning.

Iguchi started the fourth with a ball smashed to third, but Martinez made a great play to rob him of a leadoff hit. Burrell and Howard struck out behind him.

Rowand started the fifth with a single. Dobbs followed and struck out before Werth moved Rowand to second with another single. It put men on first and second with one out for Ruiz, who hit a double-play ball to short to end the inning.

Victorino led off the sixth, pinch-hitting for Alfonseca, and drew a walk. Rollins was next and flew to the warning track in right for the first out. Iguchi was next and struck out looking as Victorino stole second. Burrell followed and doubled off the base of the wall in center, Victorino scored to tie the game at 1-1. Howard was walked intentionally, putting men on first and second with two down for Rowand. Rowand struck out to end the inning.

Dobbs led off the seventh with a fly ball to deep left, but caught at the wall for the first out. Werth grounded to second and Ruiz popped to right for the third out.

Iguchi hit a solo shot with two outs in the eighth to cut the lead to 5-2. Burrell followed and grounded to second.

In the ninth, Howard struck out, Rowand struck out and Dobbs grounded back to the pitcher.

The Phillies had five hits and two walks in the game.  One of the walks was intentional.

Rollins was 0-for-4 with a strikeout.  2-for-10 with a double in the series.  288/341/519 on the year.

Iguchi was 1-for-4 with a home run.  1-for-10 in the series.  303/360/434 in 99 at-bats with the Phillies.

Burrell was 1-for-4 with an RBI-double and struck out twice.  2-for-10 in the series.  He's walked just one in his last 19 at-bats.  264/409/486.

Howard was 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.  2-for-10 with a double in the series.  256/381/556 on the year.  He was hitting 271/399/595 after the game against the Marlins on August 8.

Rowand was 1-for-4 and struck out twice.  4-for-11 with a home run in the series.  308/379/518.  3-4-5 in the Phils' lineup yesterday go 2-for-11 with six strikeouts. 

Dobbs was 0-for-4.  0-for-9 with bad defense in the series.  282/323/480.  I was surprised we didn't see more of Branyan at third in the series, especially in the game that Tomko started.

Werth was 2-for-3 with two singles.  4-for-7 in the series and 271/376/438 on the year.  He's hitting 322/437/559 in 59 at-bats in August.  Victorino was 0-for-4 with a walk in the series.  281/349/426 on the year.

Ruiz was 0-for-3 yesterday.  2-for-7 with two doubles and an RBI in the series.  264/329/405 on the year.  317/391/561 in 41 at-bats in August.

Jamie Moyer (11-9, 4.97) faces righty Greg Maddux (9-9, 3.90) tonight as the Phils play the first of three with the Padres.  Moyer has been good two of his last three times out, but was pounded for eight runs in four innings on Saturday against the Pirates.  He faced the Padres on July 21 in San Diego and allowed four runs in 6 2/3 innings.  Milton Bradley homered against him in that game.  Moyer has been better in his starts at home this season, going 5-2 with a 4.00 ERA in ten outings.  Opponents are hitting .277 against Maddux, but he's walked just 21 in 154 2/3 innings and given up just 11 home runs.  He hasn't faced the Phillies this season.  Maddux hasn't allowed more than three runs in any of his last seven starts, going 2-2 with a 2.14 ERA in those outings.

Big series for the struggling Phils.  The Padres come in off an emotional win last night as winners of three of their last four.

After last night's game, Castro was sent back to Ottawa and Brian Sanches called up from Triple-A.  Castro no doubt couldn't throw for a couple of days anyway after throwing 88 pitches yesterday, and the Phils need all the bodies they can get in the pen.  Sanches is 2-3 with a 4.75 ERA at Ottawa this season and has allowed 57 hits but just eight walks in 47 1/3 innings.  In 11 appearances with the Phillies this season he's thrown to a 6.39 ERA, allowing six home runs in 12 2/3 innings.  If math isn't your thing, six home runs in 12 2/3 innings is really, really a lot (he only allowed five in 47 1/3 innings at Triple-A).

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