Today's News
May 31, 2007
| By Dennis Bakay
| 
Discuss
Bourn Identity
Michael Bourn is the goat this time, gets thrown out on a double play to end the game
The Phillies have now officially undone the good work they did this past weekend in sweeping the Braves.
They are now back to under .500 and on the seesaw.
Once again stupidity is what cost them a game. Your goat for today is Michael Bourn. Of course, one could argue the Phillies wouldn't have been in the position to have had to rally back had Jamie Moyer been pulled out of the game when he had still only given up one run. I can't really blame Charlie Manuel for leaving Moyer in, because the bullpen is about as reliable as a dingy in a tsunami.
At any rate, he didn't yank him and he gave up a total of 3 homeruns (including 2 to Eric Byrne) and the Phillies marched back from a 4-run deficit to make it 4-3. And, then Ryan Howard came to the plate with Bourn on first base. Bourn then stole second base to get in scoring position. Anybody watching this game was licking their chops and expecting Howard to either a.) hit a game-winning homerun or b.) to knock in Michael Bourn.
He then hit a rocket to right field, but it was intercepted by Orlando Hudson who was in the right place at the right time. By that point Michael Bourn had foolishly run without thinking and was 70 feet down the line and was doubled up to end the game.
Of course the Phillies wouldn't have been in that position had they been able to do anything offensively. They had just one hit off Randy Johnson in his 6 innings of work and didn't begin to mount anything until the 9th inning when Jimmy Rollins tripled, thus scoring Rowand and Victorino.
Mark it down as another coulda, shoulda, woulda.
Tomorrow night they face off against the Giants in the first game of a 4-game series.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Snake bitten
Phillies get throttled 11-5 by Diamondbacks
It appeared that the Phillies were getting into their groove finally as they had swept the Braves and were at a season-high two games above .500.
Now, they've fallen back to the international line of mediocrity after losing a pair of games to the Diamonbacks including an ugly 11-5 loss last night.
And, Ryan Howard left the game in the 9th inning with what he described as "just a cramp." It appeared that he re-aggravated his quad injury when he made an attempt to dive at a ball hit by Alberto Callaspo up the first-base line. Howard stressed that it was just a cramp though and he'll be fine.
Jon Lieber was tagged for the second consecutive start, allowing 5 runs and 13 hits in 6 2/3 innings.
The Phillies will look to avoid the sweep tonight which would in effect undo the good work they did this weekend in sweeping the Braves.
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An Insider? Man calling into Eskin yesterday claims part of the deal to bring in Thome was to hire Charlie Manuel
A man called into the Howard Eskin show yesterday and claimed he was friends with one of the owners who told him that when Jim Thome was brought in originally he was promised that Charlie Manuel would eventually be hired.
He also went to say that the ownership group has a definitive budget set every year and they will not go over it because of the bank that they deal with. This bank would in essence force them to borrow more money in order to spend over that budget and they would be "taking a loss" as the man described.
Eskin told the man to remain on the line to get his information and he checked out the source. Turns out that Eskin in fact knows the man and his story was true and he verified it.
This is not stunning information because it just confirms what many of us suspected about this ownership group; that they put on a dog and pony show when Charlie Manuel was hired by bringing in candidates to interview for the job. In addition, it seemed awfully obvious that this team had a budget in the mid-90 million range over the past few years and would not go over it. Now, this has been confirmed.
Why else would they refuse to address glaring weaknesses in their bullpen that anybody could see? Why else would they refuse to eat part of Pat Burrell's contract in order to move him out of town?
Whoever this man is, is a mystery. However, he's pretty brave to come on the air because I'm certain the Phillies owners listen to WIP and will figure out by his voice who it was. So, he was risking friendship to get the word out there about it.
Kudos to him, whoever he is.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
So Close
Greg Dobbs delivers with 3-run shot in 9th, but Phils come up short losing 5-4
Last year Chris Coste was the feel good story, the 33 year-old rookie who came up big in the tight spots. Coste provided the Phillies with a nice boost when Mike Lieberthal was on the fritz.
This year Greg Dobbs is playing that role. He has seen his playing time increase over the past few weeks when Ryan Howard hit the DL and Abe Nunez being banged up.
Tonight Nunez returned to the lineup, but Dobbs delivered in the 9th with a 3-run pinch hit homer to get the Phillies back into the game. They came up short though for a variety of reasons.
In the 5th inning with bases loaded Freddy Garcia was allowed to hit. The smart move at this point would have been to bring Dobbs in to replace Nunez. It was a 3-0 game and Freddy Garcia gave them 5 innings, but lets face it they needed a better shot at winning the game and Dobbs would have provided that. Garcia ended up swinging on the first pitch and the rally was over.
Garcia wound up going 8 innings and pitched his best game of the year. However, he has averaged 5-6 innings per start and should not have been allowed to hit.
As far as bringing Madson in, they really don't have a lot of options, so it's hard to fault the manager there. The pitchers have to deliver in these spots and he didn't. Sure if that ball would have been 2 more inches to the left we'd be talking about the Phillies winning 4-3, but the bottom line is he didn't deliver.
Another costly mistake occured in the 9th inning when Michael Bourn was pinch running for Pat Burrell. Carlos Ruiz hit a grounder to first baseman Conor Jackson who let it go through his legs, but Bourn wasn't paying attention and hesitated. He ended up at third and could have easily scored on the play had practiced smart base running.
It comes down to fundamentals and when none of the hitters aside from Howard or Dobbs deliver, they had better refrain from costly mistakes.
This is a team that should be right there with the Mets. They have the talent across the board, but once again we see why they are 26-25. You can pin point about 7 games now that the Phillies have given away like this.
Oh so close.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Swept!!!
Phillies sweep Braves in Atlanta for first time since 1995
Aside from rebounding from a turbulent series against the Marlins, the Phillies did a few things that haven't happened in over a generation.
On Friday night Jamie Moyer beat the Braves for the first time in 20 years. And, then today the Phillies beat the living daylights out of the Braves (13-6 to be exact) to sweep them on their home turf. This was the first time they've accomplished a sweep of the Braves on their home field since 1995.
Ryan Howard is officially back. He made his return on Friday and went 1 for 7 on Friday and Saturday combined. He had some nice at-bats, but made little impact. Then today he had two homeruns including a very impressive shot to center field.
This was a very important series for obvious reasons. One, they needed to finally get over .500. Two, they needed to win this series against their division rivals who they trail behind in the standings. And, more importantly they needed a boost after suffering the loss of their closer and arguably the most important pitcher on the staff in Brett Myers.
Suffice it to say the Phillies delivered in a big way this weekend. They won all three games by a combined score of 27-13. They didn't allow the bullpen to burn them, notably due to getting a lot of their starters. On Friday Moyer gave them 7 innings and allowed 3 runs. And, Eaton and Hamels both gave them 6 innings and allowed 4 and 3 runs respectively.
The bullpen only yielded 3 earned runs the entire weekend in 8 combined innings of work and they all came courtesy of Clay Condrey today, who loaded the bases in the 9th inning.
The Phillies are now at 26-24 and at .500 for the first time this season. They are just 2 games behind the Braves, having closed the gap by 3 games with the sweep.
What a difference a weekend makes.
Now, they have an important 7-game homestand and will face the Diamondbacks for three starting tomorrow night at 7:05 at The Bank.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
No Love Lost
Phillies lose 5-4 in 11 innings in rubber-match of 3-game series
A rivalry has been born between the Phillies and Marlins. Marlins pitcher Scott Olsen stated how he hates the Phillies on two occasions since September. And, Olsen taunted Chase Utley after he annoyed him by calling a timeout in the batter's box.
And, it got uglier last night when Lieber thew behind Dontrelle Willis who reciprocated by throwing behind Lieber. After the inning ended is when both benches cleared and a donnybrook nearly ensued.
No punches were thrown and both sides went back to their respective seats.
The game ran deep into the night though after it was delayed for 85 minutes on account of rain; it ended past midnight as it went extra innings.
The Phillies didn't pull it off though. Once again Steve Smith exercised poor judgement by sending home Michael Bourn when he clearly shouldn't have been given the green light. This is the umpteenth time now that Smith has botched a decision to send a runner home.
This ends a turbulent series between the two teams which resulted in the Phillies losing their first series in a few weeks and possibly losing star pitcher Brett Myers.
They'll look to rebound against the Braves starting tonight.
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Myers to return this weekend?
Phillies beat writer Randy Miller was on the Angelo Cataldi show this morning on WIP and said that Myers did some drills last night and felt no pain.
Myers felt so good that he may be able to return this weekend. There is no confirmation yet from the team, but we'll know for sure later today.
This could be great news after a horrific ending to the game the other night.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Phils Win
Phillies win a cluster F-
If you didn't see last night's game, then you were spared some of the most dreadful baseball you'll ever see.
Joe Pesci uttered the famous quote in JFK about "it being a riddle wrapped in an enigma." The Phillies' 8-7 win last night was a cluster (expletive deleted) wrapped in a disaster.
For one, Brett Myers should have never been brought in a 7-3 game in a non-save situation. Thus, it's no shock that he blew the lead. A closer needs to be in a closer situation to have that mentality. This was anything but a save situation. It was another Charlie Manuel special, just a total blunder.
Then, after giving up 3 runs to make it 7-6 Rod Barajas was more gutless than a disembowled murder victim on the non-block. His lack of guts was only matched by his stupidity on this play.
Hanley Ramirez was out by about 15 feet and Barajas avoided a collision, plain and simple. He didn't bother to block the plate because he didn't want to risk getting hurt. This ranks up there with Bobby Abreu's failure to run into the wall on (insert number in the hundreds) occasions and Todd Pinkston alligator-arming a ball and blaming it on the lights.
A murder victim of Jeffrey Dahmer had more guts than Barajas.
And, for him to say after the game that they can laugh off some of these plays is an embarrasment in light of what ensued after his gutless, abomination of a play.
Brett Myers threw a wild pitch to the next batter and promptly injured in his throwing shoulder. He'll now have an MRI today.
The Phillies did get out of the inning and eventually won the game, but who the hell cares really?
They will likely be without a closer now for who knows how long.
Who is going to close for this team?
Antonio "El Poop" Alfonseca?
Ryan Madson?
Just shoot me in the head now please.
The Phillies have one option and that's taking their only reliable bullpen arm in Geoff Geary and using him as the closer.
This is what happens when you have an incompetent organization from the top on down. Dave Montgomery, Pat Gillick, and Charlie Manuel are now The Three Stooges.
Something tells me The Three Stooges won't do what needs to be done though and that's cut Rod Barajas a.k.a. the $2.5 million waste.
Barajas is a bigger waste than a pair of boobs on a bull.
And, Barajas is one thing and it starts with the letter "P" and ends in "Y."
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
See Saw
Marlins get to Hamels and he takes the loss as Phils lose 5-3
Once again, the Phillies failed to get above .500. Cole Hamels was cruising along until get unraveled in the 6th inning, giving up 5 runs.
Nobody on the Phillies could mount anything offensively. Take a wild guess how they got all three of their runs..............
Still thinking
Ok, you probably guessed it, homeruns. And, one guy hit them. Take a minute to think about who hit them....
You probably won't guess this one unless you watched the game or read a box score.
Jayson Werth.
Yep, Werth hit a pair of homers. One was a solo homer in the first inning and the other was a two-run shot in the third to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead.
Other than that, the offense was horrid. The rest of the lineup managed just 3 hits combined.
The seesaw around .500 continues tonight as the Phillies will look to get back to the plateau at 7:05 in Florida.
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Dave Montgomery takes Gillick into the whipping shed
After Pat Gillick called out the middle of the lineup Dave Montgomery called him into his office and chided him for being critical.
Just why would the head honcho call Gillick into his office, considering the Phillies have woken up since being called onto the carpet?
Well, it's simple. This is a President (and I use that term loosely) of an organization who wants a bunch of yes man around him like Ed Wade, Charlie Manuel, and Ruben Amaro, who are good ole boys that do what he says and acquiesce him. This is a co-owner who cares about one thing and that's selling tickets.
He wants his good ole boys to spin doctor and make disasters looks like successes, much like the Iraqi Information Minister did when the U.S. invaded Iraq.
Montgomery certainly doesn't want his people to say anything negative about the players because that may give the fans the impression that he lacks confidence in the team and maybe they aren't as good as they appear to be.
This is why this organization will be hard pressed to win a World Series under this current regime. They don't like to hear the truth. And, they certainly don't do everything it takes to field a real winner.
What evidence suggests that they have? They are mired in mediocrity much like the Eagles were under the Norman Braman regime.
Give Jim Salisbury credit for putting this story out there.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Sixers Sit
The Sixers end up with the 12th pick, but the Celtics end up with the 5th pick
Unfortunately, Boubacar didn't net the Sixers the top pick in the draft. The Sixers wound up with the 12th overall pick.
However, he cursed the Celtics and they ended up with the 5th overall pick. So much for tanking the season.
And, the Memphis fans have to be ready to vomit since they had the best chance of winning the #1 overall pick and fell all the way to 4th.
The Portland Trailblazers won the lottery and will likely get Greg Oden. The Seattle Supersonics got the second overall pick.
The Sixers can look forward to hopefully getting Georgetown center Roy Hibbert at the 12th overall pick, or trading up a few slots to take Chinese power forward phenom Yi Jianlian or Joakim Noah out of Florida.
The good news out of the lottery is that both of the top picks will go to western conference teams. So, we won't have to look forward to the Sixers facing Greg Oden on the Celtics for the next dozen years. You can thank Boubacar for getting his curse to do that much.
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Lottery voodoo
Bummed out about the Sixers' chances to win the lottery? Fear not, Boubacar the Witchdoctor is here to help.
Ok. By now you know the odds aren't good of landing the #1 overall pick.
7 in a 1000 is what we're looking at.
Yikes.
Our odds are even worse than they were 3 years ago when the Sixers were the 9th seeded team and landed Andre Iguodala.
Last year our odds were slightly worse as we were the 13th-seeded team. Unlucky #13 of course.
Thus, I decided to seek out a witchdoctor named Boubacar to help the Sixers win the lottery (also shown in the photo above). Turns out Boubacar's hex didn't net us lottery gold. In fact, the Sixers traded back a few spots from their 13th selection and picked Rodney Carney.
The 76ers have a slightly better chance this year with 7 chances as opposed to 6 chances in 1000 of winning the Greg Oden sweepstakes.
You're probably saying to yourself right now. "What is Dennis Bakay smoking? He can't possibly think a witchdoctor is going to help the Sixers net the top pick."
Well, my retort to that is for you naysayers to try and find a better way to bring us luck. Think about it.
Ok, thought so.
Unless, you can get in there and personally rig the lotto machine yourself, then this is our best shot.
I know Boubacar failed us last year, but something tells me his magic will work tonight.
Or, it could be wishful thinking.
Screw it.
For once I'm going to be optimistic about something with regards to our teams. They let us down in a litany of ways and I like many of you expect the worst so I'm not disappointed.. Now, it's about time to think positive.
Boubacar will use his special powers to hex the lotto machine and in addition knock the Celtics out of the lottery into the #4 slot for tanking the season.
Mark it down.
So get behind Philly's Witchdoctor and let's hope for some lottery luck tonight!
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Trade Talks?
Eagles in talks to deal McNabb to Bears?
Don McKee is putting out a trade scenario and of course Angelo Cataldi was running with it today on his morning show. I mean why wouldn't he? He led the charge in '99 to boo Donovan McNabb at the draft and has been trying to run #5 out of town for the past few seasons.
This so-called trade scenario has the Eagles sending McNabb to the Bears for Lance Briggs. Hey, why not? Briggs is a malcontent who wants to sit out the entire season because he isn't getting his way. McNabb is a Chicago native and since they're in the NFC they can win the Super Bowl, while the Eagles can uhm...lose to them.
Makes total sense right?
In his defense McKee puts "(in theory)" next to the title of the piece called "A McNabb trade (in theory)." And, McKee cites a few NFL sources who say the Eagles may discuss trading their franchise quarterback.
To me this trade theory is assanine on a few levels.
#1 why the hell would the Eagles trade their franchise QB to a conference rival?
#2 why the hell would the Eagles take on a malcontent in Lance Briggs who is only that good because he plays with Brian Urlacher and behind the likes of Tommie Harris and Tank Daniels at defensive tackle?
#3 even if the Eagles have changed their philosophy from a team dominated soley by a franchise QB to a running-oriented and defense-first team, why would they give up on McNabb and hand the reigns off to A.J. Feely? And, don't give me the Kevin Kolb nonsense. He's a system QB who has to relearn how to play QB. A run and shoot offense in high school and college is bush league compared to a pro style NFL offense, especially one as complex as Reid's west coast offense.
The Eagles would basically be taking two steps back when their door for a Super Bowl is still very much wide open. That alone is reason why this trade will never happen. And, they're risking setting this franchise back for five years because nobody even knows if Kolb can play yet.
But, it's fun to theorize I suppose...
The link to McKee's article can be found here.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Smacked Down
The Phillies drop the soap and get raped by the BlueJays
The Phillies got treated like one of Simon Adabesi's cellmates tonight, getting slaughtered 13-2.
Jamie Moyer had his second straight clunker by turning in a 7 run effort in 2 2/3 innings. The miraculous thing is that Yoel "Horrendous" Hernandez (adopting the nickname from Roberto Hernandez) didn't give any earned runs in 1 2/3 innings of work. In fact, Clay Condrey gave up the other 6 runs in this contest.
This just in. Fabio Castro lowered his ERA far below the drinking age!
He went scoreless in 1 1/3 and it's down to 12.27. Woo hoo!
There isn't much of anything positive to take out of an ass whooping like this.
If you were at the game, hopefully you didn't eat any bad food. Or, hopefully you didn't get too tanked. Or, hopefully you didn't drink one too many and get nailed with a DUI. That would seriously suck to get nailed with a DUI when you're not drunk (it's quite possible with the new DUI law) after wasting your money on a ticket for this abomination of a game.
The Phillies will take on the Blue Jays at 1:35 and look to get back to .500. They just can't seem to get over the hump.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Lieber's Night
Jon Lieber on the money tonight, goes seven strong to lead Phils to 5-3 victory
This just in. Jon Lieber has been on fire since returning to the rotation. After winning tonight, he is 2-2 with a 2.50 ERA in 6 starts.
For a minute it seemed like Lieber's excellent start would go to waste. He exited the game after giving up a bomb to Matt Stairs.
And, then the pitcher called "El Poop" (at least on this website he's referred to as such) Antonio Alfonseca nearly gave up a homerun to Lyle Overbay. But, El Poop would not screw the Phillies this time. He finally got the Phillies out of a jam.
And, Brett Myers did his usual thing by coming into the ninth to close the deal, but made it a little dramatic by loading the bases. He did have 2 k's and continued his torrid strikeout pace. He is averaging 13.5 strikeouts per 9 innings.
All of the Phils' runs came in the 5th when they broke open a pitching duel between McGowan and Lieber. McGowan actually didn't allow any hits until the 5th inning, but fell apart like a cheap prom dress by giving up 5 runs.
The Phillies will look to get over .500 for the first time this year same time, same place-7:05 at The Bank.
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Sixers TV analyst Steve Mix gets the raw deal from the Sixers
The Sixers are not renewing Steve Mix's contract after 13 seasons.
And, really it's just another way of firing him. The way they are going about it is colder than Gary Heidnik's basement in the House of Horrors.
Nobody from the organization would give comment on it, and when asked they just said to refer to the statement. Here is their so-called statement:
"With the conclusion of the 2006-2007 NBA regular season, we are evaluating new ideas for our Sixers game broadcasts, and will not be renewing Steve Mix's contract when it ends next month. We would like to thank Steve for the insight and experience he has shared with our viewers, and wish him well in his future endeavors."
This is the thanks he gets for giving 13 years to the organization?
Oftentimes in corporate America, especially in showbiz and the communications industry people are let go for no reason. They could do a great job and be the nicest person in the world, two things could be applied to Mr. Mix. And, they could give a (expletive deleted).
What the Sixers have done to him is foul, low-rent, and disgusting. And, for them to hide behind a so-called statement proves their cowardess.
Mr. Mix has declined comment on the situation.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
No Sweep
Phillies' bid for a sweep falls short, they lose to the Brewers 3-2
They came oh so close to getting over that first hump, the .500 hump. The Fightins haven't been there since the end of September last year.
They will have to wait until Saturday to reach that point, and that's if they win tomorrow against Toronto.
Ben Sheets dominated the Phillies today, to the tune of allowing 5 hits, 2 earned runs, and striking out 8 in 7 2/3 innings.
These are the types of games the Phillies lose, as we have so often seen. A look inside the numbers shows you the following:
11-as in the amount of runners left on base.
2-that's the amount of hits they got out of 1 through 4 hitters; Rowand, Victorino, Rollins, and Utley went 2-for-15.
1-they got one of their two runs from a solo homer by Pat Burrell.
Too often they have had little success in low-scoring games by either not getting any runs from anything beside solo homers, or just getting no production out of their big guns.
Their pitching didn't kill them today though, especially not their bullpen. Freddy Garcia once again made the bullpen work due to the fact that he only went 5 2/3 and through a staggering 114 pitches.
J.J. Hardy had great success against the Phillies in this series, but today it was Gabe Gross who killed them. He had a pair of solo homers, which was his first mult-homer game of his career.
The bullpen was effective today, giving up just one run in 3 1/2 innings of work. Fabio Castro gave up the run, which boosted his ERA ever closer to the drinking age. His ERA is now 19.29.
The Phillies will begin interleague play tomorrow night against the BlueJays at The Bank at 7:05 and look to get back to the .500 mark.
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'04 Eagles to face '80 Eagles in simulated championship
In case you have missed it WIP-host Glen Macnow has been running a Best of the Nest special on his nightly radio show this week.
What this special entails are imaginary games between great Eagles teams over 4 nights with the championship on Saturday. The Wildcard round pitted Dick Vermeil's 1980 Eagles against Ray Rhodes' 1995 Eagles. And, the other matchup was the 2004 Eagles against the 1988 Fog Bowl Eagles. The 1980 and 2004 squads advanced to play the 1949 and 1960 championship teams in the second round. And, the newer squads prevailed in each matchup in upsets. Ray Didinger set the lines on each game.
The 2004 Eagles were actually 3-point underdogs against the 1960 squad. And, the 1980 sqad took down the two-time champs from 1949.
There is a program on whatifsports.com where you can simulate games between great teams to sort of decide who was better. Macnow played these simulated games 300 times to determine who won and took the average of the games to generate the stats. Comedian Joe Conklin then did the voices of Merrill Reese and many others to add commentary during the simulated games.
The 2004 Eagles will face off against the 1980 Eagles in the championship game on Saturday during Glen Macnow and Ray Didinger's show at noon.
It's very innovative radio to say the least and while these games can never be played, this is about as close as you can get to settling a debate as to who is better. The replay of the games can be heard on WIP's website right here.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Back to .500
Cole Hamels goes perfect for 6 innings to lead Phillies back to .500
The Phillies are now back to square one. Charlie Manuel said a week ago that they would need to go on a little run in order to get back to the mark, the same mark they were at on April 2.
And, that is the .500 mark of course. After starting out 4-11 they have gone 16-9 in the past 25 games (good for a .640 winning percentage) to reach the level mark. Tonight it was all cole Hamels in this one.
Sure, they got production out of Rowand, Utley, Rollins, Burrell, and Nunez, but Hamels gave them 8 innings and 11 k's. And, he also helped himself at the plate by going 2 for 3.
He was perfect heading into the seventh inning and then gave up a homer to J.J. Hardy, who could probably hit a homer off Nolan Ryan in his prime right now. He has been that good. And, I'm not just saying that because he happens to be on two of my fantasy baseball teams!
Another amazing thing about tonight's game is 42,713-as in the number of fans and 92-as in the number of minutes the game was delayed by some nasty thunderstorms. This game was played lightning fast though; it was wrapped up in 2 hours and 17 minutes.
The Phillies have now won their 6 of their past 9 series'. They'll look to get their first sweep of the year tomorrow night at The Bank. And, this will be no small feat since the Brew Crew was the top dog heading into this series.
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Ryan Howard starts running
Ryan Howard began running today and could begin a rehab assignment within the next week.
They are looking to send him to Lakewood for a series on May 23-24.
This is just what the big man needed. He wasn't himself this year and was killing the team with his strikeouts and inability to get contact on a regular basis. Gregg Dobbs has done an admirable job in his place sans tonight-he had 3 strikeouts.
He can return as soon as next Thursday-the 25th.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Walkin' off
Carlos Ruiz hits walk-off homerun to lead Phils to 4-3 victory
Ok, this is getting scary.
The Phillies have hit with runners in scoring position in the past few games. And, they have scored 6 runs in the 8th inning on two occasions. And, they've found ways to overcome hiccups by their bullpen to win in the past few games. And, they are doing this without their franchise player Ryan Howard.
Tonight they got another clutch hit out of a supporting player in Carlos Ruiz.
Derrick Turnbow once again got treated like a cheap hooker at the hands of the Phillies when Carlos Ruiz belted his pitch to left-center field to clinch the win with a walk-off solo homerun.
This came on the heels of a blown save by Brett Myers, who made his first major mistake as the Phillies' closer. In fact, it was his first blown save. He has been stellar since taking over the closer role and the set-up role. In 15 1/3 innings of relief appearances he only gave up 1 earned run and had 22 strikeouts and 4 saves (4 in 5 appearances as closer).
Suffice it say that Myers was settling in just fine. But, he gave up a dinger on what didn't appear to be a horrible pitch.
Adam Eaton had his best start since his April 11th start against the Mets (he gave up 2 earned in 7 innings) by giving up 3 earned runs in 7 innings with 4 k's and just 1 walk.
He was so good that he lowered his ERA from a 8.18 to a 6.42.
One negative tonight was another boneheaded decision by the Phillies' third base coach when he sent Victorino to home and he was out by a mile. One has to wonder if Steve Smith, the Phillies third base coach is hitting some liquor during the games. Afterall, the guy has worse judgement than Mark Chmura at a party with high school girls.
Other than that, the Phillies got the job done-good starting pitching, grinding out runs, and clutch hitting.
The Phillies have two more games against the Brewers, so they'll need it tomorrow night to win the series. Same time, same place-The Bank at 7:05.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Rally Time
Phils rally in the 8th inning by scoring 6 to win 8-6
For 7 innings tonight it appeared that the Phillies were in for another one of those nights; they were held to 2 runs and couldn't smell any runs aside from Burrell's homer.
How many times have we seen it, when they can't generate any runs aside from a homerun or two from either the same player or a pair of players?
And, then came the eighth inning when they blew the doors open. After loading the bases against Milwaukee relievers Brian Shouse and Derrick Turnbow, the onslaught was on.
Rowand scored. And, then Utley singled and scored both Victorino and Rollins. Ruiz then scored Utley on a grounder. And, Helms singled to score Dobbs. And, finally Rowand came back up and hit a sac fly to center that scored Nunez.
Yes, they didn't choke during a clutch situation with runners in scoring position.
And, that's the difference between a 6-2 game and an 8-6 game.
This was the Phillies' fourth win in five games and they are now 2 games below .500.
Jamie Moyer didn't really have it tonight as he gave up five runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 before Geoff Geary came in. Aside from Geary's hiccup (he allowed 2 runs and 1 earned) the bullpen was very effective. Geary, Clay Condrey, and Brett Myers combined to allow one earned run in 2 1/3 innings of work.
The Phils will look to make it within a game of .500 tomorrow night at The Bank-same time 7:05.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Phils stymied
Lily holds Phillies to three hits in 8 innings to help Cubs avoid sweep
One day after winning one of their more dramatic games in recent memory, the Phillies were baffled today.
Yesterday they gave up 4 runs in the 7th, had an hour rain delay, then gave up 2 more runs, and promptly came back by scoring 6 runs on the Cubs' bullpen in the bottom of the 7th.
Today there was no such offensive fire; in fact their offense was quite offensive.
Ted Lily didn't allow a hit until the 5th inning and then retired 7 straight to hold the Phils to one hit in 7-plus innings before giving up another hit in the 8th. The Phillies wouldn't have scored a run, hadn't it been for an errant throw by Aramis Ramirez to first base while trying to double up Abe Nunez. Michael Bourn then scored on the error.
Jon Lieber had his best start of the season, going 8 innings and allowing just one earned run (he gave up two runs) and striking out 9. Antonio "El Poop" Alfonseca came in to allow 2 runs in just a 1/3 of an inning of work.
El Poop as he'll be referred to indefinitely has now raised his ERA to 5.30. He's officially in good company, with the likes of Jose Mesa, Roberto "Horrendous" Hernandez, Turk Wendall, and Mike Williams.
Once again, the Phillies couldn't close it out and get a sweep. The offense and El Poop were as effective as a concrete boat.
The Phillies are now 17-20 and will face off against the best team in the majors, the Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow night at The Bank at 7:05.
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Ryan Howard hits the DL
Ryan Howard's MRI revealed a strained quad and he'll be on the DL retroactive to May 10th.
He will be eligible to come off it on the 25th.
With all due respect to Ryan Howard, he hasn't exactly given the Phillies much production to this point. He's hitting just .204 with 6 HR, and 23 RBI.
The problems with this club aren't on offense, even with a struggling Ryan Howard. The Phillies are in the top 5 of all major hitting categories in the National League. They rank 4th in batting average at .272, 1st in runs with 187, 1st in OBP at .361, 5th in slugging at .438, 2nd in OPS at .798, and 2nd in steals with 32. They are last in the majors with baserunners stranded though and that is nothing new.
As far as pitching goes, they are among the bottom feeders ranking 12th or worse in 5 major cats and 10th in quality starts.
Rhino will be replaced in the lineup by Greg Dobbs most likely. Chris Coste (the second half hero from last year) has also been recalled and will play a little bit at first.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
He's Alive!!!
Pat Burrell comes back from the dead and hits 2 homeruns as Phils beat Cubs 7-3
Pat Burrell has been flying under the radar like a stealth bomber the past few weeks. The bullpen has been taking most of the heat and rightfully so.
Burrell started out like a house on fire in the first few weeks of the season, hitting well over .300, but his batting average has plummetted like the value of Ricky Williams football cards over the past few seasons. He was hitting .244 with 1 HR and 11 RBI in 97 at-bats entering the game tonight. These were Sal Fasano numbers. He was atrocious on their recent roadtrip, going just 2-for-28 in the 10 game trip.
Burrell then came back from the dead, from the depths among the bottom feeders of major league baseball to hit 2 homers with 5 RBI.
In fact, Pat Gillick and Dallas Green made Burrell a target of their criticism of the team today by calling out the middle of the lineup.
While the middle of the lineup hasn't exactly set the world on fire (ok they've sucked) they're not the main weakness on this team. Pitching and defense are what win in baseball, and grinding out runs are another key. And, the starting pitching has been inconsistent sans Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer. This team does score runs and that's not what ultimately wins. Look at the Cleveland Indians of the 90's. They set the world on fire with their offense, but how many championships do they have to show for?
It was nice to see them get a win like this off one of the better starters in the NL this year. Rich Hill was allowing opponents to hit just .181 in his first six starts.
The Fightins will look to make it three straight tomorrow night, same time and place.
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Ryan Howard has 2 MRI's
Ryan Howard had 2 MRI's today-one on his knee and one on his quad.
The MRI's showed no structural damage, which is a big relief. As the news of this permeates the area there will be a collective sigh much like a "wave chant" at a Phillies game.
Turns out he won't hit the DL and he'll just be day-to-day.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Gibson-esque
Ryan Howard steals the spotlight from Johnson and Moyer, hits grandslam pinch hit HR to lead Phils
Ryan Howard hasn't been himself at all this season. He's hitting just .204 with 6 homers and 23 RBI. Last night he stole the show from Randy Johnson and Jamie Moyer though. This was their night heading in. It was the matchup of the two oldest left handers in major league history.
Ok, maybe it's a bit of a stretch to say that sort of thing is a record, but never the less it was a big deal for this game.
And, they certainly didn't disappoint. Moyer went 7 innings and gave up just 3 runs, while Randy Johnson pitched 6 innings of scoreless ball before exiting for relief pitcher Brandon Medders.
Howard came in to pinch hit in the seventh inning and did his best Kirk Gibson impression by launching a Medders pitch into the right field seats for a grand slam. Randy Johnson was charged with 3 of the earned runs.
Just like Howard's predecessor Kirk Gibson, he has been suffering from leg issues. In fact, he still may go on the DL after the Phillies begin their home stand tomorrow.
The word around the grapevine is that the Phillies would much rather like to get Howard right now, and if that means shutting him down for 2 weeks then so be it.
We'll learn whether or not he's going on the DL tomorrow once he's examined by the team doctor before tomorrow night's game.
The Phillies needed this win worse than an out of work actor needs a role. They were 3-6 on their road trip at that point and couldn't afford to drop another one.
They still headed home with their tail between their legs having blown several close games, and going 4-6 on the trip.
They'll be idle tonight and look to make it two in a row tomorrow night against the Cubs.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
McNabb Speaks
McNabb goes on mini press tour to explain his feelings on the selection of Kevin Kolb
As you know by now McNabb has spoken out on the Eagles' decision to take quarterback Kevin Kolb with their second round pick in the draft.
There were some interesting things that I took away from his interview on Howard Eskin and his other interviews on his mini press tour.
First, he asked Howard where he found out about the conversation he had with Andy Reid. He almost took umbrage to the fact that it "got out there."
Also, he hired the Eagles former public relations staffer Rich Burg to handle his PR. He said he was bothered by the fact that he's no longer with the organization. Furthermore, by taking on a former Eagles employee, especially in handling his PR, it signals that he's becoming more independent of Andy Reid. He also refused to give a written statement last week as the team requested of him.
If there's one thing I wanted to see out of McNabb, it's to become more independent of the clutches of Andy Reid, who can be an overbearing coach.
All in all, McNabb handled it beautifully and said all of the right things. Many people will try and read into the selection as an indication that McNabb is on the outs, but if he returns to form like he is capable of doing, then Kolb will never get on the field.
Make no mistake about it, this organization is committed to McNabb. He is slated to make $9 million on average the next 2 seasons which is a bargain for a starting quarterback of his caliber.
McNabb controls his own destiny at this point.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Breaking News!
McNabb finally speaks
When McNabb was asked what he thinks about the Eagles' decision to draft Quarterback Kevin Kolb he just said he was surprised, but not "to the point where he was upset."
As usual McNabb has taken the high road. He's not upset, isn't creating a shit storm, or demanding to be traded.
And, his career with the Eagles isn't close to over, at least not in his eyes.
When asked if he'll make Kolb wait until he retires to play he said, "If it's up to me, he will."
More will follow on McNabb's interview as we hear more information.
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Phillies' bullpen coughs up another one
I used to say there were three certainties in life. Death. Taxes. And, the Phoenix Suns are unbeatable when they play defense.
Now, there's a fourth certainty; the Phillies bullpen will find ways to screw it up.
Freddy Garcia finally went more than 5 innings. This time he went 6 innings and gave up just 2 earned runs. While he only had 2 strikeouts, he also didn't walk a single batter. Suffice it to say Garcia gave the Phillies a strong start.
Ah, curses they were foiled again when Antonio Alfonseca and Francisco Rosario gave up 2 earned in 2 innings. If Alfonseca keeps pitching the way he has, then his nickname should be changed from El Pulpa to El Poop.
And, that's all the snakes needed to defeat the Phillies. They knocked off the Phillies 4-3 last night.
The top of the order was anemic. Rollins, Victorino, and Utley went a combined 1 for 12 with 2 strikeouts and 4 left on base, just 1 RBI amongst them, and 0 runs scored combined. When the top of the order in this lineup can't deliver you need a lot of things to go right. And, one of them has to be the bullpen. And, the manager alos has to use his brain and not put the likes of "El Poop" and Rosario out there.
Abe Nunez was a bright spot last night though, going 3 for 4 and improving his average to .267. Wes "The Butcher of the Bag" Helms is hitting a little better than Nunez. Pretty soon he'll be on the bench of Nunez can put together more performances like this. He has him by miles in the glove department.
For the Phillies to be in the position where they have to use bargain basement schleps like Rosario (who they got off the scap heap) is a disgrace. And, it's all because the front office didn't want to spend a few extra bucks and get some real major league relief pitchers like Joe Borowski. How much longer will we have to endure of this?
Well we know how patient the Phillies are.
They're as patient as Job.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Garcia to start
Freddy Garcia won't miss his scheduled start tonight despite getting hit by a cart
This is a first for the Phillies. They've had players go down to a wide range of injuries over the years ranging from Mike Lieberthal's torn ACL running into first base and Aaron Rowand's broken nose while running in the wall last year.
Freddy Garca was injured yesterday when he ran into a cart that was parked on the warning track at AT&T Field in San Francisco while going for a fly ball in batting practice.
My question is why the hell was he shagging a fly ball in batting practice?
Unless you're blind you can see that he's not healthy. He can't go more than 5 innings and his fastball has just reached the high 80's this year. This is a guy who has thrown in the mid 90's throughout his career.
The last thing he needs to do is risk further injury. And, with the Phillies' luck over the years, it wouldn't shock me if Freddy Garcia somehow fell on his arm while shagging fly balls.
He bruised his shin during the incident but says he is ready to go tonight. The Phils take on the D'backs at 9:45 tonight.
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Heat dies down on the McNabb front
For the past week McNabb has been under fire for not saying anything.
Usually he's under fire for a litany of reasons ranging from under-throwing a receiver, throwing up (if you take notice that's only happened when he played in Florida-nothing to do with pressure), his facial expressions on the sidelines, and bringing up the draft. Or, of course the opinions his parents have; that gets him in hot water too. And, who can forget the appearance on Sportscenter when he feels like he has to prove himself every year? Yep, that too.
Off with his head for speaking his mind and making some errant throws in games.
He gets maligned by many people regardless. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.
This time it wasn't for what he said that got him in hot water, but rather his silence that enabled the rumor mongers to lead the charge.
"He's pissed off that the Eagles drafted a QB."
"He won't support Kolb or even try and help him once training camp starts."
"Why don't they just cut ties and move on?"
The week has been one of total absurdity. While I would have liked to have seen him say something about the whole situation, it's not the end of the world. It's another case of him getting bashed over something rather trivial.
And, also McNabb isn't going anywhere. If he is healthy and plays like the MVP caliber QB he is, then Kolb won't get on the field at all.
Why would the Eagles do that if McNabb plays at a high level over the next 3 years?
Remember, Tommy Maddux was drafted by the Bronocs in '91 and that was also 8 years into Elway's career in Denver. Elway was coming off shoulder surgery that year.
Kolb was drafted 8 years into McNabb's career. McNabb is also coming off surgery.
Elway went on to win 2 titles and of course had the supporting cast to do so in Shannon Sharpe, Rod Smith, and Terrell Davis, and an all-star offensive line.
McNabb has Westbrook and Reggie Brown. It's time for the front office to give him more weapons.
You can count on him returning and playing at a high level again. McNabb is a tireless worker and his a rehab fanatic.
Now, it's another thing if we can count on the Eagles giving him the weapons that Denver gave to Elway and New England just gave to Tom Brady.
They did it once in 2004. Will they do it again?
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Deja Vu
Phillies' bullpen implodes once again, giving up 5 runs in 2 innings
Jon Lieber had a decent outing this afternoon in San Francisco, going 6 innings and giving up 4 runs.
And, as the song "Same Old Song and Dance" by Aerosmith goes, it was the same old story, same old song and dance.
Francisco Rosario gave up one earned run in 1 1/3 innings pitched, which looks like Koufax numbers compared to what came next. Fabio Castro didn't even record an out and walked 2 batters, while giving up a hit. And, a scrub named Yoel Hernandez (making his major league debut) came in and promptly gave up a 2-run homerun. And, the result was a 9-4 Giants win.
It's a disgrace that the Phillies are resorting to using the likes of Yoel Hernandez in a tight game.
Teams like Detroit, Boston, New York, and Chicago go out and spend money on bullpen help when they see a weakness there. The Phillies just pick up retreads and bottom feeders. And, the biggest joke in all of this is their marketing campaign where they put out the moniker "goosebumps."
Their moniker should be stomach cramps when one watches this slop destroying games in the latter parts of games.
It's an abomination at this point and this is beyond Charlie Manuel who has no say in personnel matters because this organization would never hire a manager that would rock the boat.
It falls on Pat Gillick and Dave Montgomery's heads. Dave Montgomery deserves the blame for not giving Gillick enough money. Heck, when they're spending $90 some million they might as well spend another $10 million to get over the hump, but not with this team. They have to stick to a rigid budget.
And, Pat Gillick should get the rest of the blame in this instance for signing slop like Rosario and putting the team in a position so they have to use a bottom feeder like Yoel Hernadez who has been stuck in Reading and Scranton since 2003.
If the Phillies could somehow re-animate a corpse that could throw 90-some miles an hour they'd do it if they could save a few bucks.
This is why this team is not a playoff team as currently constituted and why they haven't been a playoff team in 13 years. They just do enough to get by and stay within Montgomery's budget.
Exit Roberto "Horrendous" Hernandez, Mike Williams, Turk Wendell, Amare Telemaco, Jose Mesa, et al and enter Francisco Rosario and Yoel Hernandez.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Web of lies
Tom Gordon is on the fritz, meanwhile the Phillies continue to lie and spin
This just in, the Phillies have recently consulted with Donald Rumsfeld on how to lie and spin. In fact, he has joined the ownership group and will serve as chief spokesman.
Ok, that is untrue! However, they must have consulted with Rummy on how to lie and spin because they have done a lot of it in recent days in regards to the Tom Gordon saga.
Here are some amusing anecdotes.
What do you get when a baseball team flies it's closer up to Philadelphia before the season and denies that the pitcher has anything wrong with him?
More so, what do you get when that team continues to trot that pitcher out there (who is shaky at best) and pulls their ace out of the rotation to become the set-up guy as that same closer struggles more and more?
And, even more so, what do you get when that team continues to deny anything is wrong, yet simply saying their pitching staff is better overall by having their ace in the bullpen only to finally put the closer on the DL for a problem they had looked at before the season?
Is your head spinning from that yet?
You get a team that gets lost in it's own lies. And, that team being the Phillies of course.
In fact, Gillick and Manuel can't even get their stories straight. Manuel indicated that Gordon's shoulder was bothering him as far back as spring training and he had it looked at during that unscheduled exam when they tried to sneak him into town. The timing was suspect since John Vukovich's funeral was going on, thus many reporters were focused on that and flew back to Philly by that point and nobody would've known about him flying into Philly had a reporter not spotted him at the airport that day.
Moving along, Pat Gillick "corrected" Charlie Manuel by stating that he didn't visit Dr. Ciccotti (the team doctor) for his shoulder in March. And, he stated that Gordon received a cortisone injection in his elbow, which was the same procedure that cost him time at the beginning of spring training last year.
Got all that?
The web of lies, denials, and double talking is something you would see out of the Bush Administration, but not a baseball team. Well, if you remember last year the Phillies created a fecal storm when they allowed Brett Myers to pitch one day after hitting his wife outside of a bar in Boston. And, then Bill Giles bashed the fans a few days later by saying people who called into talk radio shows were crazy people and that Myers definitely did not do anything wrong. Of course Gillick was rebuked by Dave Montgomery and Monty had to do damage control a few days later and say Giles had a "misunderstanding." So, it's not surprising that this team is handling the Gordon situation in such a piss poor manner.
And, of course Gordon had shoulder problems that surfaced in June last season, thus landing him on the DL. He started out great last year, even making the All-Star team, but he has gone downhill ever since having blown 7 of 25 save chances.
Just where will this thing go from here? If I were a betting man I'd say that Gordon will be this year's version of Jose Mesa and blow several more saves thus diminishing this team's chances of a wildcard spot. And, they'll continue to deny that anything is wrong rather than doing what should be done and that's shut him down for good, buy him out, trade for Brad Lidge and Derrick Turnbow. Then, they can move Myers back to the rotation where he belongs.
Even though he said he doesn't want to go back and forth, I'm certain he'd understand as long as he's permanently back in the rotation. And, of course they'd have two proven relievers who need a change of scenery that could set up and close.
Something tells me it won't play out like that though.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Myers Closes
Phillies win slugfest in San Fran 9-7
Whenever you have Adam Eaton pitching you had better put up some runs. And, put up runs is just what the Phils did.
Rollins, Victorino, and Utley were responsible for 6 of the 9 runs. J Roll tripled twice and drove in two, while Victorino singled twice and drove him in twice. And, Utley had a single and double thus driving in Victorino twice.
That's baseball 101 folks. Get on base and drive in the guy behind you. When you have the top of the lineup generating runs like, the odds are you'll get a W.
The long wait for Myers to close is over, even if it comes despite an injury to Gordon.
Myers came in for one inning and struck out one to record the save. The Phils and Giants will face off tonight; same time at 10:15.
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Sheldon Brown clarifies
Sheldon Brown called into the Howard Eskin show to explain the situation with his job.
Looks like Jim Johnson's comments were overblown in the article by Paul Domowitch, which stated that he was in jeopardy of losing his starting job to Will James.
According to Brown, Johnson just said that it will be a competition for the starting jobs like it is any other year, but if he plays like he has in years past than he need not worry.
It really wouldn't make sense to move Brown to safety. He has been the Eagles' best cover corner for the past 3 seasons, while Lito has been the big play guy. It would only make sense to move him to replace Brian Dawkins if they somehow procure another quality corner in the draft, free agency, or via trade like New England's Asante Samuel.
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Eagles sign run-stuffer Ian Scott
Ian Scottt had visited with the New England Patriots a day earlier, but decided to go with the birds.
Scott started 10 of the Bears' 19 games (including their Super Bowl run) last season. He had 23 tackles, 2 tackles for losses, and 1 forced fumble for the Bears last year.
This likely means the end of the road for the Sam Rayburn since the Eagles now have 6 defensive tackles on the depth chart. They have Mike Patterson, Brodrick Bunkley, LaJuan Ramsey, Monte Reagor, Juqua Thomas, and Sam Rayburn. It's unlikely they'll go with 6 and since 5 of those guys are either newly drafted in the past few years or free agents signees, Rayburn will probably be the odd man out.
It's LaJuan Ramsey's job to lose-for the 5th defensive tackle spot that is.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Breaking News!!!
Tom Gordon to see team doctor tomorrow
For those of you who have been demanding Brett Myers take over the closer role wait no longer.
Tom Gordon will not join the team for their series against the Giants. He is going to see the team doctor tomorrow for the same problem that occurred in spring training when he flew to Philadelphia to see the team doctor for soreness in his shoulder.
More details will come out tomorrow. This will most likely preclude the Phillies from sticking with Brett Myers in the set-up role.
Expect him to take over as closer immediately.
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Garcia fails to go more than 5 innings again as Phillies fall to Braves 4-3
Once again Freddy Garcia failed to go more than 5 innings as he gave up 4 earned, while walking 2 and getting 2 strikeouts. The former ace of the Mariners and White Sox now has an ERA of 6.05.
Chipper Jones once again lit up the Fightin's as he went 1 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI. In total he used the Phillies like a cheap hooker in this series, going 4 for 10 with 3 homers, 1 double, and 7 RBI, and 3 walks.
Ryan Howard did hit his 4th homer of the year. He's still struggling though. In the first inning he was way behind on a breaking ball as he swung and missed for a strikeout. He is hitting just .217 on the year.
Jimmy Rollins had a 2-hit game and kept his average above .300.
The final out of the game occurred when Rod Barajas popped out to center field and it was a microcosm of the game tonight and the Phillies' struggles offensively. He popped out on the first pitch to record the final out-just another case of a batter on this team having zero patience. And, it's no wonder that aside from Ryan Howard, nobody else was able to generate any runs tonight.
The Phillies will travel to San Francisco to face the Barry Bonds circus and the Giants tomorrow night at 10:15. It's laughable that ESPN is touting this thing as the "Aaron watch."
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Trotter has lost his job and Brown may be next
Shelden Brown was highly irate about the situation as he stated that Johnson never went to him about it. And, for him to go to the media was out of line. This stems from a report by Paul Domowitch in today's Daily News.
It is wrong for Johnson to call them out in the media. Very true.
But, it gets better from there. Brown said that if the organization has other things in store for him then he'll pack his bags.
Sheldon Brown was the least of the problems with this defense last season. How about somebody named Mike Patterson who got mandhandled at the line? How about Sean Considine getting drug around repeatedly by big running backs? And, who can forget Dhani Jones' matador-style defense?
Jeremiah Trotter is receiving much of the blame, but he was left on an island. While he's not the player he was in 2001 or even when he returned in 2004, he took some serious abuse last season. Aside from Gaither, nobody in the linebacking corps gave him any help.
Right now, Chris Gocong is the front-runner to replace Dhani Jones, while Gaither could step into the middle. Will James, who vows he is fighting for a starting job could be the starting corner, come opening-day. That would mean Brown would move to the starting safety spot opposite of Brian Dawkins.
The Eagles are in training camp form and the season isn't close to starting yet. This takes a little heat off #5, who has been silent in the aftermath of the Eagles taking Kevin Kolb.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
Today's News
Gordon goes 1-2-3
Phillies beat Braves 6-4, Hamels starts out shaky then puts it together
Cole Hamels had a rough time in the first inning when he gave up a 2-run homer to Chipper Jones and an additional run. However, he went scoreless over the next 5 innings before giving up another homerun in the 7th inning.
Of course Brett Myers was brought in the 8th inning for set-up duty again. He retired the next 2 batters.
The story tonight was Tom Gordon. Yes, Tom Gordon came in and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the first time this season.
Some other observations tonight were the Braves going through not one, but two catchers. First Brian McCann had to leave the game after injuring his hand to the point where he couldn't catch the ball (resulting in a run scored). And, in the 8th inning, Pena was hit in the head by Gregg Dobbs when he swung like a rusty gate.
More on Dobbs, that at-bat was a microcosm of the Phillies' struggles with runners in scoring position. He started out with a 3-0 count and took the next pitch for a strike, which is what you must do in that situation. However, he then swung at a pitch in the dirt for a second strike. Had he taken that strike a runner would have been walked in. Again, it's the little things that these hitters don't do all the time.
All in all a nice win for the Phils as they knocked off the Braves for the first time this season. The Phillies have improved to 12-14 and will try to make it within a game of .500 tomorrow night at 7:35.
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McNabb and Reid spoke today
According to Howard Eskin, McNabb and Reid spoke today at the NovaCare Complex. The details of the conversation are unknown.
Philadelphia's biggest soap opera will captivate the populace once training camp rolls around though.
Many feel that McNabb is on borrowed time and for good reason. There is even some spin about him being due a bonus in the upcoming season or in 2008. That is false. His base salaries are in the $9-10 million range.
If anything this is an insurance policy. The reality is McNabb has been injured in 3 out of the last 5 seasons. I content that 2 of the injuries are of the bad luck variety. Anybody can have a broken leg and anybody can have a torn ACL. The hernia; that's a different story. Regardless, if he has another season-ending injury then it's likely his career in Philly will be over and Kolb will take the helm.
I never watched Kolb play in college and know two things about Houston (where he went to college). They produced two of the biggest QB busts in Andre "Underwear" Ware and David Klingler. And, they produced two of the most dominant big men in basketball in Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.
The skinny on Kolb is that he has good size (6'3") and a very good arm and accuracy. He played in a shotgun/spread offense which is quite different from Reid's west coast offense, but not a world of a difference from the offense they used to run at Houston.
Kolb will have to learn this system over the next 2-3 seasons.
According to Howard Eskin, Brian Baldinger, and Glen Macnow, the Eagles may make a decision after 2 seasons.
I see them waiting 3 years. If McNabb stays healthy and plays like an MVP for the next 2 years then I don't see them shutting the door on him. Andy Reid is as loyal to McNabb as he is to anybody, and just because you draft a quarterback high doesn't mean he'll play right away.
Aaron Rodgers will sit for the third consecutive year and he was chosen in the first round.
Contact Dennis Bakay at dennisbakay@phillypurge.com
