Lee? Not a ton. The Phils left just about everything late last night up to their hitters, who hammered and hammered away at the New York pen to get the Phils a win.
The game was a meeting of the two worst bullpens in the National League and the results were dramatic. Relievers for both teams combined to allow 11 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. The Phils got the best of it, though, outscoring New York 9-3 after the start of the seventh inning to win the game 10-6.
Trailing 3-1 in the top of the seventh, Carlos Ruiz delivered a pinch-hit two-run homer off of Bobby Parnell to tie things up. The Phils got another run off the Met pen in the eighth and six more in the ninth before Raul Valdes was charged with three in the bottom of the ninth.
The offense continues to produce for the Phils. After finishing twelfth in the NL in runs scored in April, the Phillies are second in the league in runs scored for May. Ty Wigginton was fantastic at the plate in the series with New York, going 6-for-11 with three walks, two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI.
The Phillies are 27-25 on the year after beating the New York Mets 10-6 last night. The Phils take the series two games to one. They’re still in last place in the NL East, let’s not get crazy here, but just three games out of first place. That’s the closest they’ve been to first since they beat the Braves 4-2 on May 1.
Lee got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, two doubles and a home run. He struck out seven. He has a 4.95 ERA and a 1.50 ratio over his last three starts. Opponents have hit 304/353/544 against him over 20 innings in those three outings.
He walked Daniel Murphy with one out in the bottom of the first before David Wright doubled to center, scoring Murphy to put the Mets up 1-0. Lee got Scott Hairston on a ground ball to third for the second out before walking Vinny Rottino. That put men on first and second with two down for Lucas Duda, but Lee struck him out looking to leave both runners stranded.
Rob Johnson singled to start the bottom of the second with the score tied at 1-1. Lee struck out Omar Quintanilla for the first out. Pitcher Dillon Gee was next and he popped up a bunt. Lee let the bunt fall, threw to second for the first out and the relay to first completed the double-play to end the inning.
Nice play by Lee to let the bunt fall and make a strong throw to second.
Murphy singled with one out in the third, but Lee got Wright to ground into a double-play behind him.
Hairston singled into center to start the bottom of the fourth. Lee got Rottino on a fly ball for the first out before Duda moved Hairston up to second with a single. Lee struck Johnson out swinging for the second out and got Quintanilla on a ground ball to short to end the inning with two men left on base.
Lee struck out Andres Torres and Murphy in the fifth.
Hairston doubled with one out in the sixth. Rottino popped to Rollins for the second out, but Duda was next and pounded Lee’s first pitch to him way out to right, putting New York on top 3-1. Lee struck Johnson out swinging for the third out.
The score was tied at 3-3 when Bastardo started the seventh. Quintanilla flew to center for the first out. Lefty Jordany Valdespin hit for Parnell and Lee struck him out for the second before Torres singled to left. Murphy flew to right to leave Torres at first.
Bastardo dropped his ERA for the season to 1.84 with the outing. He’s allowed one run in 11 1/3 innings in May over 13 appearances.
Contreras started the eighth with the Phillies up 4-3 and set the Mets down in order, striking out Hairston and Rottino.
That’s six straight appearances for Contreras without being charged with a run. Over those six appearances he’s allowed just one hit and now walks while striking out six over 5 2/3 scoreless innings.
The lead was 10-3 when Valdes started the ninth. Duda led off and homered to center. 10-4. Valdes got the next two before righty Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit for the pitcher Chris Schwinden and singled to center. Torres followed that with a double to left, scoring Nieuwenhuis. 10-5. Papelbon took over for Valdes and Murphy singled to center, scoring Torres. 10-6. Wright grounded to Galvis to end the game.
Using Papelbon there seems more than a little unnecessary. Pretty sure that Manuel wouldn’t have done it if today was not an off-day.
Valdes allows his first runs of the year, picking a good time to do it. Second time on the season for him pitching back-to-back days. The other was May 25 and he allowed a hit and a walk in a scoreless frame in that outing. The two-out single allowed by Papelbon tacks a third run on to his line for the game.
Papelbon has allowed one run in 8 2/3 innings over his last ten appearances while striking out 11.
Three innings overall for the pen in the game. They allow three runs on five hits and no walks while striking out three.
The series was a battle between the NL’s two worst bullpens. The Phils come out with the better bullpen ERA for the year at 4.64 (15th in the NL). Mets’s relievers have thrown to a 5.45 ERA for the season after allowing eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings last night.
Valdes threw 23 pitches in last night’s game. Contreras 16, Bastardo 14 and Papelbon eight. They should all be ready for Friday after the off-day today.
The Phillies lineup against righty Dillon Gee went (1) Rollins (2) Pierre (3) Pence (4) Wigginton (5) Victorino (6) Polanco (7) Fontenot (8) Schneider. The lefty Fontenot plays second with Galvis on the bench. Wigginton again hits cleanup with Victorino fifth.
The Phillies went in order in the top of the first.
They were down 1-0 when they started the second, but Wigginton led off and hit an 0-1 pitch out to left for his fifth homer of the year, tying the game at 1-1. Victorino, Polanco and Fontenot all went down on ground balls behind him.
Rollins singled with two outs in the third. He stole second before Pierre grounded out to second to turn the Phillies away.
Pence and Wigginton both struck out as the Phillies went in order in the fourth.
Fontenot singled with one in the fifth. Schneider moved him up to second with a ground out, but Gee struck Lee out to leave Rollins at second.
Rollins and Pierre singled back-to-back to start the sixth, putting men on first and second. Pence was next and grounded into a double-play, leaving Rollins at third with two down. Wigginton drew a walk to put two men on for Victorino, but Victorino grounded to second to set the Phillies down.
The Phillies were down 3-1 when they hit in the seventh. Schneider doubled with two outs and Ruiz hit for Lee. Righty Bobby Parnell took over for Gee to face Ruiz and Ruiz hit a 1-1 pitch out to left, tying the game at 3-3. Rollins fouled out to the catcher to end the frame.
Pierre and Pence singled back-to-back off of righty Jon Rauch to start the eighth. It put runners on first and third for Wigginton, who struck out looking for the first out. Victorino was next and he hit a ball not very deep to center for the second out. Pierre tagged and scored despite an accurate throw from Torres, putting the Phils up 4-3. Polanco grounded to short for the third out.
No RBI for Wigginton as he strikes out with runners on the corners for the first out.
Lefty Tim Byrdak started the ninth for the Mets and walked Galvis. Schneider bunted Galvis to second with the first out. Mayberry hit for Contreras. Righty Ramon Ramirez came in to pitch to Mayberry and Mayberry moved Galvis to third with a single. Rollins was next and blasted a 1-1 pitch well out to right for a three-run homer, putting the Phils up 7-3. Pierre followed that with a double to right and righty Chris Schwinden came on to pitch to Pence. Pence hit a ball that Schwinden fielded. He looked and threw to second, where Pierre was too far off second base, but Murphy missed the tag and both runners were safe. It brought Wigginton to the plate with runners on first and second and he doubled to left, scoring Pierre (8-3) and moving Pence up to third. Victorino followed that with a single into center, scoring both runners to make it 10-3. Polanco grounded to third and Wright went to second for the first out, but a throwing error by Murphy allowed Polanco to move up to second. Galvis popped to short to leave Polanco stranded.
Rollins was 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in the game. 6-for-14 with a double and a home run in the series. 239/294/308 for the year. He has ten extra-base hits for the season and three of them have come in his last 19 plate appearances.
Pierre 3-for-5 with a double in the game and 4-for-8 with a double in the series. 324/361/366 for the season.
Pence 1-for-5 with two strikeouts. 3-for-12 with a double and two walks in the series. 262/333/480 for the year. He hit 270/361/548 in May after hitting 253/293/391 in April.
Wigginton 2-for-4 with a double and a home run last night. 6-for-11 with two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI in the series. 263/346/409 for the season. He has ten extra-base hits for the season and five of them (three home runs and two doubles) have come in his last 28 plate appearances.
Victorino 1-for-4 with three RBI last night and 1-for-12 in the series. 250/317/409 for the year. Like Pence, he was better in May than he was in April. 267/348/431 in May after hitting 228/276/380 in April.
Polanco was 0-for-5 in the game and 3-for-14 in the series. 275/303/345 for the year. On-based .307 in May after on-basing .299 in April. Six walks for the season and two in his last 116 plate appearances.
Fontenot was 1-for-3 in the game and in the series. He’s 9-for-21 with a double for the Phillies so far this year (429/500/476).
Schneider 1-for-3 with a double. 2-for-11 with a walk, a double and a home run in the series. 11-for-his-last-31 with three doubles and two home runs.
The Phillies are off today. Kendrick (1-0, 4.10) faces lefty Mark Buehrle (5-4, 3.26) on Friday night as the Phils open a series with the Marlins at home. Kendrick had the best start of his career his last time out, throwing a complete-game shutout against the Cardinals in St Louis. He hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of his last three outings. Buehrle has issued just 11 walks so far this season over 69 innings. He faced the Phils on April 12 and was charged with three runs over 6 1/3 innings. Wigginton and Victorino both homered off of him in that game.
May 31st, 2012 on 4:16 pm
Speaking of pitchers that haven’t had a win in a while, Moyer’s been DFA’d.
May 31st, 2012 on 4:16 pm
Lee’s ERA is worrisome, if for no other reason than when any of these guys don’t perform up to their norm, one begins to fear something physical.
If Chooch doesn’t start the All Star game behind the plate, something is nuts. That two run shot was life giving. It’s hard to believe he can do this for a full season, but right now we’d be in a fix without him.
Kendrick has earned a better reputation than he has. I still cannot help but be anxious when he is going to start. I think we better get used to it, though, huh.
May 31st, 2012 on 4:30 pm
Definitely think we need to get used to Kendrick starting. Could be a while.
I think Ruiz will start the All-Star game.
Saw Moyer. I’m guessing the Phils aren’t that desperate. Yet.
Domonic Brown with a home run. That’s one. He’s 11-for-his-last-33 with two walks, two doubles and a homer. I don’t feel real confident that the Phillies have any idea what they’re doing with him. Playing him at center seems absurd to me. Seems like he could use all the practice at the corners that he could get. Course it’s not going to matter if he keeps hitting .264 at Triple-A with no walks or power.
May 31st, 2012 on 7:17 pm
I have a hunch that everyone knows this team needs some other players. Everytime I see the lineup card posted online, it makes me sad. And a little angry. I do not know if they know what they are doing with Dom Brown; they have shown no evidence that they do. But he sure does not seemn to be one of the “other players” this team so desperately requires.
I wonder what Charlie thinks when he makes out that card. Does he shake his head? The names on that card are pretty much what they have shown; they are not players a contender is built upon. They never have been. And the ones who actually have been do not look at all like who they are supposed to be.
My unhappy sense is that there will be no significant players added to what we are seeing right now’ amaro had his chance this past winter. It is too late now. We may get Doc back sometime. Maybe. But the front office apparently has decided to be honest with itself and us; they really have no expectations that either Chase or Ryan will be added to the mix this year either.
There is no “getting healthy” on the horizon. I cannot think of how they add anyone from outside the system at this point. What we see is what we have, for better or worse.
One question for Ruben: Are the owners pleased that he has wasted a year of contract time for both Lee and Doc, along with the $40 million dollars they are paid? A second question: Do Doc and Cliff?
May 31st, 2012 on 8:55 pm
I really don’t think it’s too late. The offense is playing better than I would have thought. Still 110 games left to go. Lots of talent with big questions about when we’ll see them again. Lots of places where the team can improve. As you pointed out, there’s a lot of money invested in this team already and I’ll be surprised if the team just writes the year off.
May 31st, 2012 on 9:46 pm
Geez, man, I hope you’re right. It just looked they did when they didn’t get left field filled in February.
What makes me sad is that they just might write it off because they are against paying luxury tax costs.
I so hope you’re right. Please be right.
June 1st, 2012 on 8:59 am
I got nothing to back this up but I swear I remember someone, somewhere last night talking about Utley working out in left. The Phils werent on so maybe it was the Pigs game where I heard it. anyways, I would be easier on the knees right?
June 1st, 2012 on 9:19 am
David Murphy tweeted that Utley was working out in left at Busch Stadium on May 24 (http://twitter.com/#!/highcheese)
I think there’s a good chance he could have been working out there with no intention he would ever play there. But I have no idea. I would try to get him back playing second base if I were the Phils.