There have been some low moments in Phillies history, but yesterday marks one of the high ones. With a 6-4 win over the Reds, the Phils completed a four-game sweep and moved to 41 games above .500, which ties them for the best mark in the history of the organization.
For the only time in the series, the Phillies didn’t get outstanding starting pitching in yesterday’s game. Worley pitched well early, but gave up a three-run homer in the seventh before leaving charged with four runs. The bullpen was very good, though, throwing three shutout frames after he left in which they held the Reds to just one walk and struck out five. The pitching overall held the Reds to six runs in the four-game set, three of which came on one swing — a pinch-hit three-run homer by Chris Heisey off of Worley yesterday.
The Phils outscored the Reds 21-6 in the four game series. Howard and Martinez both homered yesterday. The Phils hit eight long balls in the series — three for Howard and two for Pence with Ibanez, Martinez and Victorino all hitting one.
The Phillies are 87-46 after beating the Cincinnati Reds 6-4 yesterday afternoon. With the win the Phils complete a sweep of the four-game series. They are in first place in the NL East, 7 1/2 games of the second-place Braves. The Phils were also 41 games over .500 in August of 1976.
Worley got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk. Four of the hits went for extra-bases, three doubles and a homer. He struck out seven. Worley allowed two home runs in 62 1/3 innings to start the season. Since then he has allowed five in 42 innings.
Brandon Phillips singled to right to start the bottom of the first. Worley got Edgar Renteria and Joey Votto on a pair of fly balls before Jay Bruce flew to center to leave Phillips at first.
Worley started the second with a 3-0 lead. He walked Juan Francisco on four pitches and Yonder Alonso moved Francisco up to second with a single into center. Worley got out of it, though, striking Drew Stubbs out looking 0-2 for the first out, Ryan Hanigan looking 2-2 and getting the pitcher Mike Leake on a ground ball to third to leave both runners stranded.
Phillips doubled to start the third. Renteria was next and hit a ball to short, which Valdez made a fantastic diving play on, fielding and throwing to first for the first out with Phillips moving up to third. Votto followed with a fly ball to center, deep enough for Phillips to tag and score, cutting the lead to 3-1. Bruce singled to right before Worley struck Francisco out looking to end the inning.
First run allowed by a Phillies’s starting pitcher in the series.
Worley set the Reds down in order in the fourth.
First 1-2-3 inning for Worley and the first time that the leadoff hitter had not reached based. He had thrown 53 pitches through four innings.
Worley got Leake and Phillips to start the fifth before Renteria hit a ball that Ibanez may have misread. It landed for a double. Worley got ahead of Votto 2-0 and struck him out looking 2-2 to end the inning with Renteria at second.
Up 4-1, Worley set the Reds down in order in the sixth.
He started the seventh with a 6-1 lead. Stubbs led off and doubled over Victorino’s head in center. Hanigan moved Stubbs to third with a single. Righty Chris Heisey hit for the pitcher Jeremy Horst and Heisey lined an 0-1 pitch out to right for a three-run homer that made it 6-4. Lidge took over for Worley and struck Phillips out for the first out before walking Renteria. Bastardo took over to face the lefty Votto and got Votto to hit into an inning-ending double-play.
Heisey makes it a game again with the pinch-hit three-run homer. Lidge continues to walk way too many hitters, walking one of the two guys he faces. He has a 1.74 ERA for the year, but has walked ten in 10 1/3 innings.
Bastardo was back for the eighth and struck out the side, getting Bruce , Francisco and Alonso all swinging.
Golly. Bastardo dropped his ERA on the year to 1.38 with 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He has struck out 65 in 52 1/3 innings. This says that the .112 average opponents have hit against him is the best in history for any pitcher who has thrown more than 50 innings.
Madson pitched the ninth. He got Stubbs swinging 1-2 for the first out and Hanigan on a ground ball to third for the second. Righty Ramon Hernandez hit for the pitcher Francisco Cordero and Madson got him on a ground ball to short to end the game.
Madson has thrown two days in a row and threw 14 pitches in the game. Bastardo 18 and Lidge nine.
The Phillies lineup against righty Mike Leake went (1) Victorino (2) Martinez (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Pence (6) Ibanez (7) Schneider (8) Valdez. Schneider catches the day game after a night game. Valdez plays short with Rollins on the DL. Martinez plays third with Polanco on the bench. Ibanez in left against the righty with Mayberry on the bench. Martinez doesn’t really belong hitting second, no matter how many games you’ve won or who is hurt. I assume Manuel does it that way to keep the other players hitting in the same spot in the order, but I think I’d just go with something other than the who can’t hit hitting second.
The Phillies went in order in the first.
Pence doubled to left with one out in the second and Ibanez walked behind him. Schneider was next and he singled to left, scoring Pence to put the Phils up 1-0 with one out and men on first and second. Valdez reached on an infield single to load the bases before Worley singled into center. Ibanez scored from third (2-0) and Schneider tried to score from second but was thrown out by Stubbs for the second out. With men on first and second, Victorino singled into left, scoring Valdez (3-0) and pushing Worley to second. Martinez flew to right to leave both runners stranded.
RBI-single for Worley after Halladay knocked in three runs with a double in game two.
Utley, Howard and Pence went in order in the third.
With the lead cut to 3-1, the Phillies went in order in the fourth.
Victorino singled to right with one out in the fifth. Martinez was next and hit the ball hard, but Votto took the line drive and stepped on first to double-off Victorino and set the Phillies down.
Martinez hit that ball well, just into bad luck.
With one out in the sixth, Howard hit a 1-0 pitch out to right-center, putting the Phils up 4-1. Pence flew to center for the second out before Ibanez hit a ball to first that went under the glove of Votto for a two-base error. Schneider struck out swinging 3-2 to leave Ibanez at second.
Valdez singled off of righty Jared Burton to start the seventh. Worley bunted him to second with the first out. Victorino grounded to second with Valdez moving up to third. Martinez was next and he hit a 3-2 pitch out to right for a two-run homer, putting the Phils up 6-1. Utley and Howard singled back-to-back before Pence grounded to short to leave them on the bases.
Again Martinez hits the ball hard, this time out of the yard.
The Phils went in order in the eighth. With lefty Bill Bray on the mound for the Reds, Ruiz hit for Schneider and flew to left for the second out.
With righty Francisco Cordero pitching for Cincy, Gload hit for Bastardo and singled to left to start the ninth. Mayberry ran for Gload at first, but Victorino, Martinez and Utley all grounded out to keep the Phils off the board.
With Bowker available on the bench, Manuel gives the at-bat to Gload. Gload still being run for on the bases with his hip problem. Gload starts September with a hit after going 1-for-15 in August and coming into the game 3-for-his-last-29.
Victorino 2-for-5 with an RBI. 4-for-16 with three walks, a double and a home run in the four-game series. He’s hitting 307/382/538 for the year.
Martinez 1-for-5 with a two-run homer. He’s 8-for-his-last-52 (154/170/250) and hitting 212/249/312 for the season.
Utley 1-for-5 in the game and 3-for-18 with three singles and a walk in the series. 241/309/330 over his last 123 plate appearances. 272/355/444 for the season.
Howard was 2-for-4 with a home run yesterday and 4-for-18 with three home runs and five RBI in the series. 250/337/490.
Pence 1-for-4 with a double. 5-for-16 with a walk, a double and two home runs in the set. He’s hitting 312/366/492 for the year and 327/398/570 in 123 plate appearances with the Phils.
Ibanez 0-for-3 with a walk. 3-for-8 with a walk and a home run in the series. 240/280/416 for the year. Mayberry pinch ran yesterday and was 1-for-7 with a walk in the series to drop his line on the year to 264/329/514.
Schneider 1-for-3 with an RBI in his only action of the series. He’s hitting 176/248/275 for the year.
Valdez 2-for-4 in the game and 5-for-15 in the series. He’s hitting 247/292/335 for the year. 293/333/483 in 63 plate appearances since the beginning of August.
Oswalt (6-8, 3.77) faces lefty Brad Hand (1-4, 4.08) tonight in Florida. Hand had good numbers for the season before his most recent start, August 8 against the Braves, in which he allowed seven runs in five innings. He was sent back to the minors after that and returns to the Marlins for tonight’s start. He’s walked too many this year, giving up 25 walks in 39 2/3 innings. He’s especially walked a ton of right-handed batters — righties are hitting .211 against him for the year but on-basing .351 (he’s walked 24 of the 136 righties he has faced). Oswalt didn’t look good in his most recent start, which came against Florida a week ago today. He allowed six runs on 12 hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings. John Buck hit a grand slam off of him in the sixth.
September 2nd, 2011 on 10:50 am
I realize, of course, that anything can still happen.. but it’s very difficult for me to not think about playoffs right now. I was just thinking how Worley, who has still been good but just not quite magical, still has a sub-3 ERA and a nice win streak, but in all likelihood won’t get a playoff start. I have to think he’s passed Kyle and Joe Blo on the depth chart for 2012 though.
September 2nd, 2011 on 11:23 am
Yeah, will be interesting to see what the rotation looks like in 2012. For now, I’m still focusing on 2011 (which for somebody who’s been a Phillies fan as long as I have, not focusing on next year by September is an accomplisment!) I think the magic number is 12 to clinch a playoff spot and 21 for the NL East.
September 2nd, 2011 on 11:34 am
I feel pretty sure we’re going to see Worley in the rotation in 2012. I think it’s going to be tough for him to get a playoff start without an injury. If Worley continues to be clearly better than Oswalt the rest of the way, it will be interesting to see what Manuel does when he has to pick one of them to start a playoff game. But I will be very surprised if he doesn’t pick Oswalt. On the plus side, if he keeps pitching well the Phils could sure use him out of the pen. I still have flashbacks to the way the offense was shut down in the post-season by the Giants last year — I’m guessing that doesn’t happen again, but if it does the Phils are going to need all the pitching they can get in both the rotation and the pen.
2011 is pretty exciting. 41 games above .500 is rather impressive. 42 would be even better.
September 2nd, 2011 on 1:08 pm
What were Worley’s bullpen stats this year? I recall them not being fantastic.
September 2nd, 2011 on 1:18 pm
He’s only relieved in two games this year, for a total of four innings. Don’t know if you can draw too many conclusions from that. But, for what it’s worth, he has a 2.25 ERA, allowed 3 hits, has a 3/2 K/BB ratio, and allowed 1 homerun (to Gaby Sanchez), and has 2 holds.
September 2nd, 2011 on 1:19 pm
Worley hasn’t pitched very much in relief. He has only made two relief appearances so far this year. On May 9 he allowed a run over three innings in Florida and on May 13 he threw a scoreless inning against the Braves. In 2010 he made three of his five appearances in relief and threw three scoreless innings. Overall for his career he’s made five relief appearances and allowed a run on four hits and three walks over seven inning — 1.29 ERA, 1.00 ratio with seven strikeouts in seven innings.
He never pitched in relief in the minors. 76 appearances, 76 starts.
September 2nd, 2011 on 3:08 pm
Quick note on Howard, according to a Bill James creation dubbed the “Hall of Fame monitor”, tracked over at baseball-reference.com, R(o)Ho is a likely HoFer:
Note: Number in parentheses indicates all-time rank
Black Ink Batting – 25 (78), Average HOFer ≈ 27
Gray Ink Batting – 78 (308), Average HOFer ≈ 144
Hall of Fame Monitor Batting – 100 (156), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
Hall of Fame Standards Batting – 24 (537), Average HOFer ≈ 50
You can check out stuff in more detail over there (http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/howarry01.shtml). Basically the way I understand it working is the Black Ink stat is indicative of the number of times the player led the league in a major relevant category, Grey Ink is how often they finished in the top 5 or 10, and the Monitor and Standards metrics are for Hall-indicative milestones and whatnot.
Howard catches a lot of flak from saberists and he does at times frustrate for sure. 30/100 6 years straight is pretty neat, though.
September 3rd, 2011 on 10:50 am
42 games over. Jiminy. Hostory made, and we watched it. Amazing. This is what it looks like when the pitching and the offense are both working. Must be discouraging to other teams. And these guys are just going about their business. Not too high, and not too low. Just focused. If they transition this into October, they will be pretty hard to beat. Looks like Timmy and Matt may be gone, and the Atlanta staff is hurting. Jimmy ought to be back at fiull strength. These are good things.
Watching Oswalt right now is like watching a guy in spring training. I think he will be just fine when he gets a few more starts under his belt. That should make the oost season roster choices interesting as far as the pitchers left out and put in to that roster.
September 3rd, 2011 on 11:46 am
I agree. The team is really fun to watch right now. I worry about Oswalt a little. He wasn’t awful last night, but he isn’t looking full strength, either. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with him and Worley the rest of the way and into the post-season.
I think it may be close on Howard to the Hall of Fame. I think he still has work to do, but there’s no question what he has given the Phillies in recent years. I think the Phils hurt his chances a little by bringing him up so late. 30/100 for six straight years is tough to argue with, no matter how much you strike out. 45/136 or better for four straight years in pretty much impossible to argue with.
September 4th, 2011 on 1:56 pm
Went to bed at 4-3. Woke up at 8-4. Yeow.
September 4th, 2011 on 6:14 pm
Not near as bad as watching the game Sunday. Yech. What a terrible game.
September 5th, 2011 on 10:16 pm
Monday. Cliff Lee looks silly good sometimes.
September 6th, 2011 on 10:11 am
Like you say, two terrible games against the Fish followed by Lee comes up huge against the Braves. Good enough for me. Can’t believe what they did to Herndon in the last two games against the Marlins. Golly.