Seven runs in four games should do it. Four runs in three games is even better.
Still no sign of the offense as the Phils dropped their fourth straight last night. Oswalt made his return to the rotation and looked pretty good in the five innings he was able to go. The Phils went into the eighth down 1-0 and got a gift run with the help of a dropped popup to tie things up, but Baez started the ninth and allowed hits to the first three men he faced and St Louis pushed a run across on a walkoff single to win 2-1.
The Phils are 25-16 on the year after losing to the St Louis Cardinals 2-1 last night. They have lost four games in a row for the first time on the season and are 7-8 in May.
Oswalt got the start for the Phillies and went five innings, allowing a run on seven hits and a walk. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double. He struck out three.
He got Ryan Theriot to line to Rollins for the first out in the bottom of the first. Then he struck Jon Jay out swinging 2-2 for the second out and Albert Pujols out looking 3-2 to end the inning.
Matt Holliday fouled out to Howard for the first out in the second. Lance Berkman was next and he singled to center but was forced at second for the second out when Allen Craig followed and grounded to short. Yadier Molina moved Craig to second with a single to right, but Oswalt got Daniel Descalso to pop to Rollins in foul territory to leave both men stranded.
Pitcher Jaime Garcia led off the St Louis third and grounded to Oswalt. Theriot and Jay followed with back-to-back singles, with Jay’s sending Theriot to third. Oswalt got Pujols to hit a double-play ball to Rollins to keep St Louis off the board.
Oswalt walked Berkman with one out in the fourth and Craig moved him to second with a single to center. Molina was next and he singled to left. Berkman tried to score and looked like he didn’t have much of a chance, but the throw from Mayberry came in on a hop and a little up the third base line. The ball and Berkman arrived about the same time with Berkman sliding in to avoid Sardinha’s tag and the Cards led 1-0. It brought Descalso to the plate with men on first and second and he grounded to Valdez with Molina forced at second for the second out. Oswalt struck Garcia out for the third out, leaving runners at the corners.
Mayberry didn’t make a great throw, but Sardinha still had a chance to get Berkman and missed the tag.
Pujols doubled to right with two outs in the fifth, but Oswalt got Holliday on a ground ball to second for the third out.
Stutes started the sixth and made just three pitches before hurting his back and exited for Kendrick. Kendrick walked Berkman and Berkman moved up to second on a ground out by Craig and then third when Molina was retired on a ball handled by Kendrick. Kendrick walked Descalso intentionally, putting men on first and third for the pitcher Garcia. Garcia grounded to third to end the inning.
Another intentional walk for Kendrick, who has walked five intentionally in 21 2/3 innings.
Kendrick allowed a two-out single to Pujols in the seventh, but Holliday lined to Francisco to leave Pujols stranded.
Two scoreless frames in the game for Kendrick. He has a 1.15 ERA and a 1.09 ratio over 15 2/3 innings in his last eight appearances (one of which was a start).
Bastardo started the eighth with the game tied at 1-1. He got Berkman and Tyler Greene to start the inning before Molina doubled. Bastardo walked Descalso behind Molina and switch-hitter Nick Punto hit for the pitcher Garcia with two men on base. Bastardo struck him out swinging 1-2 to leave both men stranded.
Baez started the ninth. Theriot led off with an infield single. Jay moved him to second with a real single and Pujols blooped a ball that fell in right for another single, loading the bases. Holliday was next and he hit a ground ball to short. Rollins fielded and threw home to force Theriot for the first out. Berkman was next and Romero came in to face him, forcing the switch-hitter Berkman to hit right-handed. Berkman hit the ball over the head of Martinez, who was playing shallow in center, to plate Jay and give St Louis a 2-1 win.
Berkman is hammering both lefties and righties this season. Over his career he’s been better against righties (308/424/590 against righties and 261/365/418 against lefties). So no argument with Romero.
I think you can have an argument about no Madson in the ninth. Baez’s line looks awful, but one of the singles he allowed was an infield hit and another a softly hit ball by Pujols.
Over his last four appearances, Baez has allowed six runs on ten hits and two walks over four innings (13.50 ERA and a 3.00 ratio). Last year with the Phils he threw to a 5.48 ERA and a 1.64 ratio.
Stutes and Romero were both pitching for the second day in a row, but I’m going to be surprised if we see Stutes any time soon. Kendrick threw 24 pitches in the game, Bastardo 21, Baez 13, Stutes three and Romero one.
Stutes will see a doctor today.
The Phillies lineup against lefty Jaime Garcia went (1) Rollins (2) Martinez (3) Polanco (4) Howard (5) Mayberry (6) Francisco (7) Valdez (8) Sardinha. Polanco returns to the lineup and the three-hole. Martinez in center with Mayberry in left, Francisco in right and Ibanez on the bench against the lefty. Valdez plays second against the lefty with the lefty Orr on the bench. Sardinha catches with Ruiz on the bench.
Martinez singled to center with one out in the first and moved to second on a ground out by Polanco. Howard flew to center to leave him at second.
Descalso made a very nice play at third and a strong throw to first on a ball hit down the line by Polanco for the second out.
Mayberry led off the second with a single and stole second, but was left there when Francisco flew to center, Valdez popped to Theriot and Sardinha lined to third.
The Phils went in order in the third and again in the fourth.
With the Phils down 1-0, Valdez hit a ball just over Descalso and down the line for a double with one out in the fifth. Sardinha followed that with a walk and Oswalt bunted the runners to second and third with the second out. Rollins flew to Jay in left-center to leave both runners stranded.
Polanco singled with one out in the sixth. Howard struck out behind him and Mayberry grounded to third.
The Phillies went in order in the seventh.
With one out in the eighth, Rollins popped a ball up on the infield that Tyler Greene just dropped for an error. Martinez moved him to third with a single before Polanco flew to center for the second out, deep enough for Rollins to tag and score, tying the game at 1-1 with two outs and Martinez at first. Howard struck out swinging to leave Martinez stranded.
The Phillies went in order in the ninth. With righty Fernando Salas on the mound for St Louis, Orr hit for Valdez and struck out looking for the third out.
Rollins was 0-for-4.
Martinez had a nice game, going 2-for-4 with a big single in the eighth to help the Phils score their run. He’s 7-for-29 on the year with seven singles and two walks. Glad to see him have a nice game, but it seems pretty hard to argue that he’s a good use of a roster spot.
Polanco was 1-for-3 with an RBI. 222/258/259 in May.
Howard was 0-for-4 and struck out three times. If you want to make a ranked list of the problems with the Phillies offense, you need to put the fact that Howard has hit 208/300/431 over his last 150 plate appearances way higher than who the offensive players filling out the roster are.
Mayberry was 1-for-4. He’s 4-for-his-last-23.
Francisco 0-for-4. 218/327/346 for the season. Having a starting right fielder who has hit 218/327/346 on the year should go pretty high on the list, too.
Valdez was 1-for-3 with a double, which was the only extra-base hit in the game for the Phillies. The Phils are slugging .345 as a team in May. Valdez is on-basing .265 this season and .297 over the 463 plate appearances the Phillies have given him over the last two years.
Sardinha 0-for-2 with a walk. Unfortunate he wasn’t able to tag Berkman out and prevent the first St Louis run of the game. 3-for-17 on the year.
Ibanez didn’t play in the game, but it feels like he needs to be included in order to help fill out the list of things that are more important to the offense than the players filling out the roster. He’s hitting 223/280/338 for the year.
Cole Hamels (4-2, 3.19) faces lefty Jorge De La Rosa (5-1, 3.70) tonight. De la Rosa had his worst start of the year his last time out, allowing five runs in 5 2/3 innings to the Padres. In his eight starts, lefties have hit .107 against him with no extra-base hits. Hamels has thrown to a 2.29 ERA and an 0.92 ratio since his first start of the season.
May 18th, 2011 on 10:55 am
You know that thing were sometimes we wish the Phils would save some runs for later? Maybe that’s what they’re doing now.
Just saw the comments on the last post on the possibility of trading Worley. I think that would be a huge mistake. I didn’t like trading Happ either, and Worley looks better than Happ so far. The Phour Aces aren’t going to be able to go more than this year and, pending Oswalt, possibly next. Blanton hasn’t looked good at all, and has health issues of his own. We already lost Drabek in the Halladay deal, and I understand he’s doing pretty well on his own. Time to stop moving young pitching.
May 18th, 2011 on 11:39 am
I agree that it would be nice to be able to hold on to Worley. I think the Phillies are going to need to trade for some hitting before too long, though. I think Blanton has very little value. I’m also going to be stunned if Utley comes back and can give the offense a big boost.
May 18th, 2011 on 12:36 pm
Any lineup that features 2 of 3 of Valdez, Martinez or Orr with one of them hitting in the 2 hole is a recipe for bad. An outfield of Francisco, Mayberry, and Martinez is bad too. Trade Mayberry for Ibanez and it somehow magically gets worse! I’m all for giving Mayberry a long look right now though, let’s see what he can do when given regular at bats.
I say if Victorino is hurt, lets retro DL him and get Brown up here and give him 10 days or so of regular at bats. Better yet, option 1 of the 3 mentioned above. It’s a better use of a roster space…
Oswalt sure looked good though and I was happy for that.
No lineup protection for Howard and a lefty with a breaking ball on the mound will always spell 0-4 with 3 K’s. If Garcia walks him, who cares, no one behind him will bring him in so dont let him beat you with the long ball.
May 18th, 2011 on 1:03 pm
As Manuel pointed out, a lineup with four guys who are marginal players (or, players trying to find their niche, as Manuel would say) in Valdez, Martinez, Sardinha and Mayberry is going to have problems.
I think we’re better off hoping that the players they have start playing better than that the Phils add new guys. I think you can get a minor upgrade to the offense by replacing Orr/Martinez with slightly better players, but the real problem is less that than Rollins, Victorino, Howard, Ibanez, Francisco and Ruiz need to hit and they aren’t. I think you have to let Utley, Brown and the hitter the Phillies trade for surprise you if they contribute. If Rollins, Victorino, Howard, Ibanez, Francisco and Ruiz don’t do anything the Phils are going to struggle. A lot.
I don’t think lineup protection is the problem for Howard — especially if he’s going to go 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Not exactly like people are afraid to come after him. 150 is a lot of plate appearances in which to hit 208/300/431 when you’re supposed to anchor the offense.
May 18th, 2011 on 1:27 pm
If the near-term production problem is injuries, I don’t really see what position a person we trade for would play. Unless you’re talking about moving Polanco?
We need to try Brown before we know if we should trade for outfield. I’d like to see him play more or less full-time for about a month before we get to the trade deadline and see if we actually need something there.
I don’t think you’re going to find better fill-in pieces than the crew we have. We just need to not use so many fill-in pieces at once.
May 18th, 2011 on 2:29 pm
In my eyes, Howard is doing what he does. hes on pace for 35 HR’s and 130+ RBI’s which is what he is supposed to do (should have 40+ HRs, I know). We may all want him to do more but HR’s and RBI’s is what he does. He’s gonna K a lot, always has. He’s slow, always has been. His D is better which is a bonus but he’s the big guy in the middle who smashes the ball. All pitchers know his weakness’s and if there is no reason to risk a fastball, dont, esp a lefty. put him on. he cant move up a bag and wont go 1st to home on a hit even if the Phils do manage to get one. Its taking two hits to score Howard and if I am the opposing manager, I take that chance against this group when you have Mayberry, Fransico, Valdez, Sardina, pitcher following him.
Utley getting back is huge. Having him take that 3 hole spot back and moving Polonco back to the 2 hole will be wonderful. Keep Rollins up top and when Victorino is in there, have him down in the 6. That instantly makes this lineup more crediable, no?
Injuries are tough, no doubt about it. Here here for the cupcake schedule to get some cusion which they did quite nicely. There were times when we all complained about the Phils playing poorly against teams they should beat. Lets get it picked back up tonight and give Hamels some support and see if we cant get one from the Rocks. Go Phils.
May 18th, 2011 on 3:16 pm
I hope you’re right about Utley. I’m worried that he’s not healthy and he’s not going to be all year. I’d do what you suggested about the lineup when he comes back, but I’m worried he comes back, gives it a few weeks and decides to have surgery. Hope that doesn’t happen.
I think as currently configured the Phils are counting on getting more from Howard than they’re getting. I think that might be a mistake, but if he keeps on-basing .331 it’s going to be a problem. He’s on pace to hit 36 HR and drive in 138 RBI, but the Phillies need him to score runs, too. He’s on pace for 87 and the Phils need more. A big part of that problem is the guys behind him, but .331 isn’t helping.
May 18th, 2011 on 9:57 pm
Eric, could it be that part of Howard’s RBI production is because he does not have Utley in fron of him driving in some runs?
Sardina scares the dickens out of me. Is he really the best we can do backing up? Isn’t there SOMEone in the minors who can at least make a tag at home?
May 18th, 2011 on 10:01 pm
Hamels was AWESOME. And apparently, Ryan Madsen can close. Wow.
May 19th, 2011 on 9:09 am
Polanco sure hasn’t been driving anyone in ahead of Howard recently.
Totally agree about Hamels. He was awesome, which is apparently what it’s going to take to get the Phils a win these days.