Phils find parting with the Mets to be such sweep sorrow
August 31 2007
Before this season even
started, Jimmy Rollins created a stir by saying that the Phils were the team
to beat in their division. A lot of Phillies' fans and local media
liked the move, liked the confidence, liked Rollins showing that kind of
leadership. I didn't. It's not just that I disagreed that the
Phils were the team to beat in the division, I found it hard to believe that
Rollins believed it himself. While I'm sure he had a lot well-deserved
confidence about what he would do this year, after seven seasons with the
Phillies I didn't know how he could.
One of the things that was fantastic about yesterday's win was that the
Phillies didn't need it for anybody but themselves. The fans and the
media would have been more than happy with three out of four. Jumped
out to a 5-0 lead but Lohse had a tough start. Just too bad, but
they've been playing better lately. Ahead again at 8-5, but they sure
do have some holes in that bullpen. What are you going to do?
Three out of four is solid. It didn't happen. Just the opposite
did. The Phils came out yesterday like they owned everything. The
ball, the field, the win. Like they believed they were the better team
and if the Mets were going to do anything they were going to have to take it
from them. And if they did it was some kind of affront to the natural
order.
So I'm glad that the Phillies have stopped saying that they're the team to
beat. But that doesn't matter much. What does matter is that
they've started to play like they believe it's true.
In the next few weeks we're going to see whether what happened yesterday was
the high point for the Phillies this season or not. I don't know if it
is or not, but I know a couple of things for sure. One is that the
Phils aren't going 29-0 the rest of the way. The other is that they
can't play with the intensity the rest of the way that they showed in the
four-game sweep of the Mets. I just don't believe it's possible.
If you think about the Phillies you saw yesterday and the Phillies you saw a
week ago they are two different teams, both of them were playing hard and
one of them couldn't win.
But the Phillies are good. This group can't be kept down forever, they have
too much talent and give too much effort. It may be this year or it
may not, but these guys are going to the next level. And when they do
they'll look a lot like they did yesterday.
The Phillies beat the New York Mets in dramatic fashion yesterday, winning
11-10 with two runs off of Billy Wagner in the bottom of the ninth.
With the win they improve to 71-62 on the year. They are in second
place in the NL East and trail the Mets by two games. The Snakes beat the
Padres last night, so the Phils trail San Diego by two games for the Wild
Card. The Dodgers have won four games in a row and are just a game
behind the Phils for the Wild Card.
Kyle Lohse got the start for the Phillies and exited early. He went 3 2/3
innings, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks. Two of the
hits went for extra-bases, both doubles. He struck out two.
David Wright singled into center with two outs in the first and stole second
with Beltran at the plate. Beltran grounded to first to leave Wright
stranded at second.
Carlos Delgado started the second with a ball off the glove of Rollins and
into center for a single. Lohse got Shawn Green and Ruben Gotay on
popups and Ruiz picked Delgado off of first with Mike DeFilece at the plate
to set the Mets down.
DeFilice started the third with a walk and the pitcher Orlando Hernandez
bunted him to second. Reyes moved him to third with a ground ball to
third, but Endy Chavez struck out to end the frame.
Wright doubled to start he fourth but Beltran struck out behind him. Delgado
was hit by a pitch, putting men on first and second for Shawn Green.
Green doubled to left, scoring Wright to cut the Phillies' lead to 5-1 and
Delgado went to third. Gotay grounded to first, Delgado scored and
Green went to third. 5-2. DeFilice drew a walk and Lastings
Milledge pinch-hit for Hernandez. Lastings singled to left, Green
scored and it was 5-3 with men on first and second. With Reyes at the
plate, Geary came into the game and got Reyes on a ground ball to first.
Geary returned for the fifth and gave up a leadoff double to Chavez. Wright
singled to right and Chavez went to Chavez (third). Beltran hit a ball
softly to Howard at first. Howard missed Wright going by and then
threw late to first. Beltran was safe and Chavez scored to make it 5-4.
Delgado flew to center and Wright went to third. With men on first and third
and one out, Green flew to right. Werth threw home but not quite in
time to get Wright, who tagged and scored to make it 5-5. Gotay flew
to center for the third out.
Condrey started the sixth and got the first two, getting the second out on a
nice leaping catch by Rowand center on a ball slugged by Jeff Conine, who
had pinch-hit for Schoeneweis. Reyes drew a two-out walk, but Chavez
flew to left for the third out.
Condrey came back to throw a 1-2-3 seventh.
Romero started the eighth, pitching for the fourth-straight day. I
have no idea (okay, after I saw the guys who followed him I had some idea).
Fifth time in six days. Romero got the lefty Green for the first out,
but walked Gotay. Alou pinch-hit for DiFelice and Manuel mercifully
called on Alfonseca to pitch to Alou. Alou walked, putting men on
first and second. Marlon Anderson pinch-hit for Pedro Feliciano and lined a
double into right field. Gotay scored and Alou went to third with the score
8-6. Reyes, who was 1-for-15 in the series, was walked intentionally
to load the bases. Hate that play even if it works. In addition
to putting the go-ahead run on base it also means a walk forces in a run,
and Alfonseca can walk a fella or two. Chavez singled into center.
Alou and Anderson scored to tie the game at 8-8 as Reyes went to second.
With Wright at the plate, Reyes took off for third and Chavez for second.
Ruiz had no chance to get Reyes at third but threw anyway and Nunez didn't
handle the throw. Reyes scored to make it 9-8 and Ruiz was charged
with the error. Wright walked to put men on first and second for
Beltran. Mesa relieved Alfonseca and walked Beltran to load the bases.
Delgado was next and hit a slow chopper to short, Rollins got Delgado at
first for the second out, but Chavez scored to make it 10-8. Green
flew to right to finally end the frame.
Gordon came in to pitch the ninth with the Phils down 10-9. 1-2-3.
Gordon's inning is mostly forgotten with so many heroes yesterday, but it
was big.
If you want to worry about something I'd go with Lohse, who was hit pretty
hard. He's been really good with the Phils, but he was also knocked around
in the first inning of his debut against the Cubs. If Lohse getting hit hard
was a surprise, it was less of a shock that Alfonseca was a disaster.
He hasn't gotten an out in his last two appearances, but his numbers aren't
quite as bad as he's seemed on the field -- he's been charged with runs in
just two of his last 13 times out. On the other hand, he's thrown to a
9.00 ERA this month, so his numbers aren't great, either. He's gotten
more than one out in a game just once in his last seven times out.
Of the seven guys in the Phillies' pen, four (Geary, Condrey, Mesa and
Gordon) have an ERA over five with the Phils this season. Alfonseca's
is now up to 4.87.
It's also too much
Romero. The reward for pitching well out of the pen can't be
that you get overused. The Phils need a solution out there and I don't
know what it is.
The Phillies' lineup against righty Orlando Hernandez went (1) Rollins (2)
Utley (3) Burrell (4) Howard (5) Rowand (6) Dobbs (7) Werth (8) Ruiz.
Utley returns to the lineup after the night off against the lefty Perez.
Werth stays in right, even against the righty, with Dobbs at third.
Ruiz catches the day game after getting the start in the night game the
night before.
Rollins started the first with a double to right. Utley was next and
he flew to right for the first out and Burrell fouled out to the catcher for
the second. Howard followed with a home run to center that scored
Rollins and put the Phils up 2-0. Rowand popped to short to end the inning.
Werth singled with one out in the second, but Ruiz and Lohse went down
behind him.
Utley singled with one out in the third and Burrell followed with a home run
to left that made the score 4-0. Howard struck out before Rowand made
it 5-0 with another homer to left. Dobbs walked, but Werth struck out to end
the inning.
With two outs in the fourth, Rollins singled and Utley followed with a walk,
but Burrell grounded to short for the third out.
Howard led off the fifth with a single with the game tied at 5-5.
Rowand followed with a ground ball to third, Howard was forced at second
with Rowand safe at first. Dobbs flew to center for the second out, but
Werth walked to put men on first and second with two down. Ruiz
singled off the top of Gotay's glove and Rowand scored to make it 6-5.
Werth went to third. Victorino hit for Geary and he singled to center. Werth
scored and Ruiz went to third with the score 7-5. Rollins singled to center.
Ruiz scored and Victorino went to third. 8-5. Utley struck out to end
the inning.
Howard singled with one out in the sixth, but Rowand flew to right and Dobbs
struck out to end the inning.
Ruiz tripled with one out in the seventh and Nunez hit for Condrey.
Nunez grounded to third and Ruiz had to hold. Rollins popped to second for
the third out. No run for the Phils after they put a runner on third
with one out.
Wagner came in to pitch the eighth and struck out Utley for the first out.
Burrell homered to left to make it 10-9. Howard struck out and Rowand
drew a walk. Helms hit for Mesa, who had been switched out so Nunez
could play third, and flew to right for the third out. Whether it worked or
not I thought it was a good move by Randolph to bring his closer in to pitch
the eighth against a) the Phillies' best hitters and b) the Phillies
left-handed hitters in Utley and Howard.
Wagner came back for the ninth and Werth led off with a single. Ruiz
bunted the first pitch foul but then swung away and flew to center. Iguchi
hit for Nunez and Werth stole second without a throw on the pitch that put
Iguchi behind in the count 0-2. Dobbs, Helms and Nunez were out of the
game, which meant it was probably Iguchi at third. Werth stole third without
a throw and the infield came in. Iguchi singled to left, Werth scored and it
was 10-10. With Rollins at the plate, Iguchi stole second. Rollins was
walked intentionally to put men on first and second for Utley with one out.
Utley singled to right, Iguchi scored and it was over.
The stolen bases by Werth were huge and nearly conceded by Wagner. It
turned a single into a man on third with one out.
I think the Phils were in
some trouble if the came went to extra-innings, cause I think Iguchi would
have some problems at third if he had to go out there. We'll have to
wait and see if he ever gets any time there. Coste was still available
and has played third in the minors. Would have been interesting.
Rollins was 3-for-5 with a double and a walk. 9-for-19 with a double and two
home runs in the series. 293/343/525 on the year.
Utley was 2-for-5 and won the game with a single in the ninth. 6-for-15 with
a double and a home run in the series, coming off not playing in month.
338/415/585 on the year. .585?
Burrell was 2-for-5 with two home runs yesterday. 5-for-15 with four home
runs and seven RBI in the series. 270/409/515.
Howard was 3-for-5 with his 36th homer and two RBI. 9-for-18 with two
doubles and two home runs in the series. 274/391/580.
Rowand was 1-for-4 with a home run and a walk. 3-for-16 in the series.
310/379/515.
Dobbs was 0-for-3 with a walk. 2-for-6 with an RBI in the series.
279/325/466. The Phils need him on base more if he's going to play
third every day against righties. Helms was 0-for-1 yesterday and
2-for-5 in the series. 249/299/372, just a miserable year for Helms.
Nunez was 0-for-1 yesterday and 0-for-6 in the series. He couldn't handle
Ruiz's throw yesterday, costing Ruiz an error, but Nunez was fantastic
defensively in the series.
Werth was 2-for-4 with a walk and two stolen bases that changed the game. He
also made a great catch in right. 315/411/476 on the year and 398/490/602 in
83 at-bats in August. Victorino was 1-for-1 with a big hit yesterday.
3-for-3 in the series and his speed changed the game where the Phils scored
on the Rowand dribbler. 288/355/433.
Ruiz was 2-for-5 with a triple and an RBI. 2-for-7 in the series.
260/331/402. Coste was 1-for-9 with a double in the series and is hitting
313/340/465 on the year.
Iguchi was 1-for-1 with a
huge single yesterday and 3-for-6 with a home run and a walk in the series.
311/368/454.
Kyle Kendrick (7-3, 3.89) faces righty Sergio Mitre (5-7, 4.30) tonight in
Florida as the Phils start a three-game set with the Marlins. Kendrick was
great his last time out, holding the Padres to a run over six innings on
Sunday. The 23-year-old has thrown way too many innings this season, but he
keeps plugging away. Lefties still hit him hard (.325 compared to .225 for
righties). He's made one start against the Marlins this season, on
August 9
he allowed just two runs over seven innings but took the loss. Josh
Willingham homered off of him in that game. Mitre started the year strong
but has thrown to a 6.09 ERA over his last 11 starts and has been charged
with at least five runs each of his last three times out. An extreme ground
ball pitcher, Mitre doesn't allow many home runs, just nine in 140 1/3
innings this season. In two starts against the Phils this season he's 0-1
with a 2.45 ERA. He started against them on
April 6 and
August 9.
In the April 6 start he allowed five runs, only one of which was earned.
Freddy Garcia's season is over after shoulder surgery.