The Phils scored five runs in their three-game series with Texas, but thanks to some outstanding pitching from Halladay and Lee it was enough to take two of the three games. Oswalt was fantastic in game three, but nobody is good enough to help you win when you don’t score. The Phils fell 2-0 in game three of the set, which featured Ryan Howard trying to bunt for a hit in the ninth inning with the Phils down a pair of runs.
Domonic Brown joined the Phils for the series, but didn’t get a lot of chances as the Rangers started lefties in games one and three. He started the second game of the series and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, leaving five men on base.
The Phils won the series opener 3-2. Texas pulled ahead 1-0 when Elvis Andrus stole home in the top of the first, but Francisco hit a two-run homer in the second and Ibanez added a solo shot in the fourth. Halladay went eight strong innings, but allowed a second run in the top of the eighth on a leadoff double that was followed by a pair of ground outs. Madson kept Texas off the board in the ninth to earn his eighth save.
The Phils took game two of the set 2-0 behind eight shutout innings from Cliff Lee. Howard put the Phillies ahead 1-0 with a solo homer in the second. Ibanez and Ruiz walked back-to-back with two outs in the sixth and Ibanez came in to score on a single by Mayberry, putting the Phils up 2-0. Madson again shut the Rangers down in the ninth.
Yesterday the Phils lost to Texas Rangers, falling 2-0 to drop to 28-18 on the year. They remain in first place in the NL East, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Marlins.
Oswalt got the start for the Phillies in yesterday’s game and went seven innings, allowing a run on eight hits and two walks. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, both doubles. He struck out three.
Elvis Andrus led off the game and ground out to second. David Murphy followed with a double to left and Oswalt hit Ian Kinsler with a pitch behind him, putting men on first and second for Michael Young. Young hit a ground ball back to Oswalt and Oswalt started the double-play to set Texas down.
Adrian Beltre started the second with a single, but Oswalt got Mitch Moreland on a fly ball to left for the first out and Mike Napoli lined to Rollins for the second. Craig Gentry moved Beltre to second with a single, but Oswalt got the pitcher Matt Harrison looking to leave both men stranded.
Murphy singled to center with one out in the third. Oswalt got Kinsler looking for the second out and Young on a ground ball to third with Polanco going to Valdez at second for the third.
He threw a 1-2-3 fourth. Ibanez made a nice sliding catch on a ball hit by Napoli for the third out.
He got Gentry and Harrison on ground balls to start the fifth before Andrus reached on an infield single. Andrus stole second and took third on a passed ball before Murphy walked, putting men on first and third for Kinsler. Kinsler grounded to short to turn Texas away.
Young started the sixth with a single and moved up to second when Beltre hit a ball out in front of the plate that Ruiz handled for the first out. Moreland was next and he doubled off the wall in left, scoring Young to put the Rangers ahead 1-0. Oswalt struck out Napoli for the second out and then walked the righty Gentry intentionally to get to the pitcher Harrison behind him. Harrison grounded to short on a great play by Rollins in the hole. Rollins made a strong throw to leave both men stranded.
Really not a fan of walking Gentry, who came into the game having hit .175 in 89 career plate appearances, intentionally. Worked out okay, but I think you need to try to get him out and have the pitcher lead off the next inning.
Andrus started the seventh with a single and moved to second on a ground out by Murphy. Kinsler was hit by a pitch behind him, but Oswalt got Young to hit into a double-play to end the frame.
Romero started the eighth with the Phils still down a run and gave up a leadoff double to Beltre. Moreland moved Beltre to third with a ground out to second. Herndon took over for Romero and hit Napoli with a pitch, putting men on first and third. Gentry was next and put down an amazing bunt with the squeeze play on. With Beltre breaking for home, Herndon’s pitch was right at Gentry, who somehow got the bunt down. Beltre scored to make it 2-0, Gentry was out at first for the second out and Napoli took second. Herndon struck Harrison out to leave Napoli at second.
Herndon threw a 1-2-3 ninth.
Impressive outing for Herndon in his first appearance since being recalled in which he threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings, hitting a batter but not allowing a hit or a walk. He took Mathieson’s roster spot on Friday.
Herndon threw 23 pitches in the game and Romero six. Neither has appeared more than one day in a row.
Madson was not available in the game after being hit with a ball on his right hand in Friday’s game.
The Phillies lineup against lefty Matt Harrison went (1) Rollins (2) Valdez (3) Polanco (4) Howard (5) Francisco (6) Ibanez (7) Mayberry (8) Sardinha. Valdez at second with the lefty Orr on the bench. Mayberry in center with Martinez on the bench. Brown on the bench against the lefty with Francisco in right. Sardinha catches the day game.
Polanco singled with two outs in the first and took second on an error when Gentry mishandled the ball in center. Howard popped to Andrus for the third out.
The Phils went in order in the second.
Sardinha walked to start the bottom of the third and Oswalt bunted him to second with the first out. Rollins popped to first for the second out, but Valdez singled into right. Sardinha held third, though, and didn’t score on the wild pitch that allowed Valdez to move up to second, either. Polanco went down on a ground ball handled by Harrison to leave both men stranded.
Ibanez singled to left with two outs in the fourth, but was left there when Mayberry followed and flew to right.
Sardinha singled to start the fifth and again Oswalt bunted him to second with the first out. Rollins flew to right for the second out on a nice sliding play by Moreland in right before Sardinha took third on another wild pitch. Valdez grounded to second to leave him there.
Second time in three innings that Sardinha led off an inning by getting on base and Oswalt bunted him along. Second time the Phillies didn’t score in the inning. Rollins didn’t do much either time.
Howard singled with one out in the sixth and the Phils down 1-0. Francisco hit into a double-play behind him.
Sardinha walked with two outs in the seventh. Ruiz hit for Oswalt and flew to right to leave him stranded.
Third time Sardinha had been on base in the game.
Down 2-0, Rollins, Valdez and Polanco went in order in the eighth.
Francisco walked with one out in the ninth after Howard attempted to bunt for a hit then struck out swinging 0-2. Ibanez followed and grounded to first with Francisco forced at second for the second out. With righty Neftali Feliz on the mound for Texas, Gload hit for Mayberry and flew to left to end the game.
Manuel picks Gload over Brown to hit for Mayberry as the tying run.
Rollins was 0-for-4 in the game and 2-for-10 in the series. He’s hitting 262/343/350 for the season.
Valdez was 1-for-4 in the game and 1-for-10 in the series. 234/261/290.
Polanco 1-for-4 in the game and 4-for-12 with four singles in the series. He’s on-basing .272 in May and hitting 335/374/420 on the season.
Howard 1-for-4 and struck out twice. 3-for-11 with a home run and a walk in the set. 243/320/480 for the year. 178/277/370 for the year.
Francisco was 0-for-3 with a walk, dropping his average on the year to .216. 1-for-5 with a home run and two walks in the series. 216/329/360 on the year. 5-for-45 in May. Brown didn’t play yesterday, but was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the series in his first action on the season.
Ibanez 1-for-4. 2-for-9 with a home run and two walks in the set. 232/292/361 for the year.
Mayberry was 0-for-3 to drop his average to .231. 1-for-9 in the series. 231/333/369 for the season. Martinez didn’t play in the series and is hitting 194/237/194.
Sardinha 1-for-1 with two walks in the game. He’s 4-for-18 with four walks on the season. Ruiz was 0-for-1, dropping his average on the year to .214. 1-for-6 with a walk in the set. 214/316/321 on the year.
Hamels (5-2, 2.92) faces righty Bronson Arroyo (3-4, 4.11) tonight. Arroyo was hit hard in his last start, allowing five runs to the Pirates over seven innings. Lefties are hitting 316/383/568 against him for the season, righties 238/259/438. Hamels had been fantastic since his first start of the season, throwing to a 2.19 ERA and averaging more than seven runs a start.
The Phillies activated Utley and sent Pete Orr to Triple-A. The linked article suggests that Utley will hit third tonight.
May 23rd, 2011 on 10:18 am
Let’s hope that Utley sparks the offense somehow…and also that somebody knows that he cannot play every day. It looks to me (knocks on wood) that no matter what this offense does, they are going to make the playoffs. So, I’ll take a couple of 0 and 1 run games from June through September in order to not see Valdez and/or Orr in October.
Dom Brown should not be batting second. Interested to see what the lineup looks like tonight. My guess:
Rollins
Polanco
Utley
Howard
Francisco
Ibanez
Brown
Ruiz
I’m hoping that seeing Utley’s name in the lineup wakes up the other bats more so that Utley lights the world on fire (although Utley with a line of .600/.800/1.200 after 50 plate appearances or so would be nice).
May 23rd, 2011 on 10:48 am
I really feel skeptical about whether Utley can help. I hope I’m wrong, but I feel like there’s a chance he goes a couple of weeks and decides to shut things down. I think a healthy Utley puts up monster numbers at Clearwater. His name sure does look pretty in the lineup, though, and it’s hard to imagine the Phils are better off with Valdez starting at second.
I like your lineup. I think there’s not much question one through four. I wonder if Manuel will be willing to hit Francisco fifth. I feel sure he doesn’t want to, but he might do it anyway.
May 23rd, 2011 on 11:49 am
Looking forward to the Utley return and also hope he doesnt just blow his knee totally out and hes done for an even longer time. I also like your lineup Greg and hope the havey left handers can get some hits against Arroyo
How about this quote from Edinson Volquez about the run support from the Reds offense:
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/05/23/edinson-volquez-gives-up-seven-runs-points-finger-at-reds-offense/
complaining about 13 runs in 5 games!?? I bet the Phillies pitchers would KILL for that kind of support!!
May 23rd, 2011 on 12:22 pm
Greg’s lineup gives me a question. who can actually play center? Seems like it’s been Mayberry or Martinez..
May 23rd, 2011 on 2:13 pm
It sure seems like Martinez and Mayberry are the guys that Manuel is willing to put in center with Victorino on the DL. Martinez seems like he’s a pretty poor choice. Francisco started 37 games in center for Cleveland in 2009, but made just two appearances there for the Phils in 2010 and hasn’t played center in 2011.
May 23rd, 2011 on 2:25 pm
I was going with Francisco in center. He can handle it if he wants too, but wouldn’t mind seeing Mayberry in the lineup. Also wouldn’t be surprised to see Ibanez fifth and Mayberry/Francisco 6th.
I’m with Eric on the Utley thing. My expectations are pretty low at this point, but even an Utley at 75% is better than what they’ve been running out there.
May 23rd, 2011 on 2:38 pm
I’d be happy to see Fransisco in center tonight with Brown in right. I think it’s more likely we see Mayberry in center, Brown in right and Francisco on the bench. But we’ll see.
I don’t think I’d be real encouraged by the Manuel quotes if I were Francisco. “When you’re that kind of player, you have to do enough to stay in the lineup” would worry me in particular.
http://www.app.com/article/20110520/NJSPORTS033002/105200320/Francisco-s-homer-helps-Phillies-top-Rangers
May 23rd, 2011 on 3:24 pm
Greg, I have this feeling that we will see pretty much what you have here. Hard to argue with it. Having said that, I think I would put Brown in the 5 hole, move Chooch up one, and drop the other guys one notch. Yes. Ibanez in the 8 hole. I guess I just want to see what this Brown kid can do before the trade deadline.
May 23rd, 2011 on 3:25 pm
Mayberry in center would be alright with me also.
May 23rd, 2011 on 3:28 pm
lineup according to Philly.com:
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies_zone/Game-47-The-return-of-Utley.html
Interesting.
May 23rd, 2011 on 4:07 pm
Not the lineup I expected, but can’t really say that I argue too much with it either. I can at least see the logic, even if I don’t like Ruiz 6th.
May 23rd, 2011 on 4:11 pm
I don’t like Ruiz hitting sixth because he’s hitting .214 and is 4-for-his-last-43. I think you have to at least switch Mayberry and Ruiz around, even though Mayberry isn’t exactly hammering the ball these days, either.
May 23rd, 2011 on 4:46 pm
At the end of the day, I am pumped to have Utley back in any capacity. He is a great player and as of right now, he in no way hurts this team so bring it on.
Taking 2-3 from Texas, I think, was a big deal. only scoring 5 runs is definitly a problem but lets take the W’s when we can. I like the Reds coming into town scoffling a bit so lets put the pressure on and start tonight with a big night vrs Arroyo.
May 23rd, 2011 on 5:08 pm
The thing is, we are talking about the batting order as if the right arrangement will solve what has been happening. I am trying to believe that the batting order will make a difference. I am trying very hard. I hope to God that Chase lights a fire in this monumental lump of clay that is the Phillies everyday players. Somehow. But the mounting evidence over the past 18 months suggest to me that the order is not the issue; the component parts of that order are. The munting evidence is that this is NOT merely a slump.
For the first time, the crowd intuitively understands something no one has the courage or the awareness to say; these guys are not good. They are not even average. Watch the people leave the park, earlier and earlier in the game.
Amaro has to be watching the effect that Utley has on this team. If Chase cannot light the fire, then Amaro HAS to know that there is no fire to light any more.
Expect a major trade of a core player if this continues. This team as it is working now does not get to the post season past the Braves.
May 23rd, 2011 on 9:45 pm
Monday night. About 9:45. Been a long, long time since we’ve had a game like this one. And it feels good.