Vance Worley threw his the first complete game of his career last night, holding the Giants to two runs on three hits and a walk as the Phils pounded San Francisco for a 7-2 win.
The Phils are now 9-2 on the year in the 11 starts that Worley has made — that .818 winning percentage is the best for any of their starting pitchers. They are 17-4 (.810) when Halladay starts.
Worley hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of his last seven starts. In those outings the Phils have gone 7-0 while Worley has thrown to a 1.14 ERA and opponents have hit .151 against him.
The bats have come alive for the Phillies in July. After scoring 3.69 runs a game in May and 3.78 runs a game in June, the Phils have scored 113 runs while going 14-6 so far in July. That’s about 5.65 runs per game.
The Phillies are 65-37 after beating the San Francisco Giants 7-2 last night.
Worley got the start for the Phillies and threw a complete game, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, a double and a home run. He struck out five.
Andres Torres was the first batter of the game and hit a ball over Mayberry’s head and off the wall in right. Torres moved to third on a ground out by Jeff Keppinger and came home to score on Pablo Sandoval’s fly ball to left, putting the Giants up 1-0. Aubrey Huff flew to right for the third out.
Up 4-1, Worley set the Giants down in order in the second and again in the third.
Keppinger led off the fourth with a single. Sandoval popped to short for the first out and Huff flew to right for the second. Nate Schierholtz grounded to Utley to leave Keppinger stranded.
Worley had a 5-1 lead when he started the fifth. Cody Ross led off and hit a ground ball to third. Martinez fielded, but his throw to first was bad for an error. Worley left him stranded by striking out the next three hitters, getting Mike Fontenot, Eli Whiteside and pitcher Barry Zito all looking.
He threw a 1-2-3 sixth.
Up 6-1, he set the Giants down in order in the seventh.
He got the first two in the eighth before righty Aaron Rowand hit for the pitcher Zito. Rowand hit Worley’s first pitch out to left, cutting the Phillies lead to 6-2. Worley got Andres Torres on a ground ball to second for the third out.
Keppinger flew to center to start the ninth. Sandoval was next and drove a ball to left, but Ibanez made a nifty catch, timing his jump and crashing into the wall, for the second out. Worley walked Huff, then got Schierholtz to fly to right to end the game.
The Phillies lineup against lefty Barry Zito went (1) Rollins (2) Martinez (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Victorino (6) Ibanez (7) Mayberry (8) Schneider. Tim Lincecum was supposed to start the game for the Giants, but was scratched due to the flu. Mayberry played right instead of Brown, who was in the lineup before Lincecum was scratched.
Rollins and Martinez both flew out to start the bottom of the first with the Phils down 1-0. Utley followed with a single and came in to score when Howard doubled into the right field corner, tying the game at 1-1. Victorino walked after that and Ibanez hit the first pitch he saw from Zito out to right-center, putting the Phils up 4-1. Mayberry struck out to end the inning.
Ibanez stays in the lineup against the lefty with Francisco on the bench and delivers early. He came into the game hitting 221/250/379 against lefties.
The Phils went in order in the second and again in the third.
Victorino and Ibanez went down to start the fourth. Mayberry was next and he hit a 1-1 pitch out to left center, extending the lead to 5-1. Schneider struck out for the third out.
Score another for Manuel’s lineup against the lefty Zito.
They went in order in the fifth.
Utley led off the sixth and drove a ball to center. It hit off the wall and rolled and rolled towards right. Schierholtz finally got to it and threw it into the infield, but Utley raced all the way around and slid in just ahead of (or at about the same time as) the tag. He was called safe and the Phils were up 6-1. The Phils went in order behind him.
Very close play at the plate. Whiteside’s tag was high cause the relay came in on the third base side of home plate, but Utley might have been out.
Mayberry started the seventh with a double to left. He took off trying to steal third, but left too early. Zito stepped off and threw to second where he was picked off for the first out. Schneider walked behind him. Worley tried to bunt him to second, but struck out fouling off strike two. Rollins flew to center to end the inning.
Up 6-2, Martinez and Utley went down to start the eighth before Howard pounded a 1-0 pitch out to center. 7-2. Victorino flew to left for the third out.
Rollins was 0-for-4. He’s 1-for-his-last-20.
Martinez 0-for-4. 2-for-his-last-16.
Utley 2-for-4 with a home run. 11-for-24 with four doubles and three home runs over his last nine games.
Howard 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and two RBI. 6-for-his-last-14. Twenty home runs on the year for Howard, all 20 of which have come against righties. He’s slugging .320 against lefties.
Victorino 0-for-3 with a walk. 6-for-his-last-16 with three walks.
Ibanez 1-for-3 with a three-run homer. 5-for-his-last-11. 279/309/498 over his last 285 plate appearances since May 3.
Mayberry 2-for-3 with a double and a home run. 353/353/647 in his last 34 plate appearances (12-for-34 with seven doubles and a home run).
Schneider 0-for-2 with a walk. He’s hitting .176 in 81 plate appearances for the year.
Cole Hamels (12-5, 2.62) faces righty Tim Lincecum (8-8, 2.90) tonight. Lincecum has allowed one run or less in five or his last six starts, throwing to a 1.66 ERA with a 1.13 ratio over those six outings. Hamels has allowed more than two runs in a start once in his last 11 outings. Righties are hitting 199/246/288 against him for the year. Over his last 14 starts he’s allowed just four home runs in 96 2/3 innings. That’s about .37 home runs per nine innings compared to his career rate of about 1.07.
This suggests there is no timetable for Contreras’s return and that Blanton may not return at all this year.
Gary Finkler has combined sports blogging and sketching at 7thinningsketch.com
July 27th, 2011 on 11:57 am
How about that Rollins? Looking like he wants a Jeter contract, isn’t he?
July 27th, 2011 on 12:05 pm
He’s still hitting 307/365/489 in July, so let’s not give up on him yet. 7/5 to 7/20 he was 22-for-51 with six XBH (431/463/706). I do think the Phils need to get Martinez out of the two-hole. Rollins slumping at the top plus Martinez not offering a lot as an offensive player makes for a lot of outs at the top of the order. Polanco should be back rapping singles soon, so hopefully it’s only for another few days. I don’t think Manuel is going to drop Martinez in the order.
July 27th, 2011 on 12:09 pm
Rollins is better for next year than anyone else available, isn’t he? His leather is nearly flawless. What he brings to the locker room may be irreplaceable. I wonder how many years/dollars/fan appeal that is worth.
July 27th, 2011 on 12:32 pm
Some would suggest that Reyes is a better option, and would give us a few more prime years. Overall I’d probably prefer Rollins just due to Reyes’s odd injury problems, but JRoll’s best years were ’07 and ’08, and those are starting to get smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror.
July 27th, 2011 on 12:33 pm
I think I mean ’06 and ’07..
July 27th, 2011 on 1:10 pm
Rollins has hit 254/314/400 in 1,530 plate appearances since the end of 2008. He turns 33 in November. Someone is going to pay a lot for him after the season, especially if he keeps hitting like he has in July (prior to the recent 1-for-20). I would guess it isn’t the Phillies.
July 27th, 2011 on 3:30 pm
I see multiple sites saying Jayson Stark reporting that Phils are offering Cosart, Singleton and another player for Hunter Pence and that the ‘Stros are turning them down. I’m not sure I would turn down that deal.
July 27th, 2011 on 3:39 pm
Here ya go. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/rumblings110727/colorado-rockies-shopping-ace-ubaldo-jimenez
I think it says Cosart, Singleton and a second-tier pitching prospect for Pence. I’d be pretty pleased if the Phillies got Pence for that. But I think that won’t be enough.
July 27th, 2011 on 3:51 pm
Reyes has mad skills. I just cannot abide him. Maybe its the orange and blue. Maybe he is just a self centered team wrecker. Maybe its just me.
July 27th, 2011 on 3:54 pm
The scary part is that I think that Michael Martinez is probably your 2012 starting SS.
I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit at the thought of it.
July 27th, 2011 on 3:55 pm
P.S. Singleton and Cosart is a huge price to pay for Pence. I know that prospects are just prospects, but those are two damn fine prospects. Carlos Quinton anyone?
July 27th, 2011 on 4:37 pm
Carlos Quentin sounds good to me. I’d be surprised if the White Sox are interested in giving him away for free, though. He really isn’t such a good defensive player, either.
July 27th, 2011 on 5:24 pm
Martinez probably makes the 2012 roster, but I think it’s more likely he’ll be the starting 3B than SS, and it’s more likely he’ll be on the bench.
July 27th, 2011 on 5:28 pm
If Michael Martinez starts for the Phillies in 2012 at any position it will be way, way more than I can handle. I really can’t believe they would allow that to happen. I can take him coming off the bench with the help of some therapy and a occasional deep-breathing exercises.
July 27th, 2011 on 5:34 pm
JUST ANNOUNCED: BELTRAN TO GIANTS
July 27th, 2011 on 8:50 pm
Brown. Another ball gets beyond him to the wall. Inexcusable. I wonder how often this will happen this year. I wonder how short the post season will be if he keeps doing this. I mean he is doing this nearly every game.
July 27th, 2011 on 9:58 pm
Yeah. That wasn’t good. He’s really bad out there. It’s weird that he gets to all the balls, he just doesn’t catch them. Most of the awful outfielders I think of are guys that don’t get to the ball. He’s always there, just not catching it.
July 28th, 2011 on 9:14 am
On Brown. What does everyone think? Is this fielding disaster something that is correctible and he is going through growing pains(ie, “all/most of the great ones do this when they are young, and they get over it”) or is this a guy who really is not as good as advertised and this fielding nonsense reveals something that can be improved with work but he just will never be one of the greats?
July 28th, 2011 on 9:38 am
What position did Brown play in the minors?
July 28th, 2011 on 9:58 am
Mostly right, but also some center.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=brown-001dom
I think Brown will get better defensively. He’s going to have to. I think his bat is good enough that he’s going to play a lot. We knew he was raw — the Phils drafted him in the 20th round and had to convince him not to go be a wide receiver for University of Miami. Again, I think it’s a good sign he’s getting close to the ball and just missing it. I think it would be worse if his routes were so bad he didn’t get close enough to misplay it.
July 28th, 2011 on 10:39 am
…and Brown was a receiver, so he should be able to catch something.
July 28th, 2011 on 10:56 am
All evidence to the contrary so far.
July 28th, 2011 on 1:58 pm
Question again… is “get better defensively” the standard here that makes him untouchable in trades? Or do we think that he maybe should not BE untouchable if he is only going to get better and not be terrific.
July 28th, 2011 on 3:36 pm
I think the reason to keep Brown is that he has a chance to be an elite player who comes very cheap. He sure hasn’t been so far, but I think it’s too early to give up on that possibility yet.