Game 83: In the words of Wheeler, Phils win 'goofy game' (45-38)

The Phils beat the Reds tonight 9-6, winning the 4-game series. Jamie Moyer pitched poorly, allowing six runs in 5 innings of work. His ERA is now 5.99. Charlie Manuel removed Moyer at the right time, and Chan Ho Park pitched very well in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings. Park, who began the season as a starter (started the season as a beginner?), was used in exactly the type of situation for which he was attained: a multiple-inning relief appearance when the starter does not pitch many innings. Ryan Madson was probably unavailable tonight, so it was certainly appropriate for Manuel to allow Park to pitch the 8th inning. Brad Lidge pitched an uneventful 9th inning for the save.

I do not have any complaints about the lineup tonight. Jimmy Rollins batted leadoff. Despite his low OBP, it's not terrible for him to bat there because of his recent hot streak andRaul Ibanez's injury. However, once he slows down, Manuel should consider batting him 6th since he has a lower season- and career-OBP than Victorino, while also possessing enough power and speed to spark the lower half of the order. Once Ibanez returns, we will more completely analyze the Phillies' lineup.

The Phils have certainly recovered from their awful stretch, and hopefully they can open up a more significant division-lead this weekend heading into the all-star break. They begin a three-game series with Pittsburgh tomorrow night at 7:05 pm when RHP Joe Blanton faces LHP Zach Duke.

Game 82: Good pitching helps Phils get back on track (44-38)

Lopez only went 5 innings because of a arm/shoulder problem. The Phillies bullpen were efficient using Durbin, Romero, and Madson to pitch 4 scoreless innings.

For some inexplicable reason, Dusty Baker permitted LH Chris Dickerson to face LHP J.C. Romero with two men on and two outs in the 7th.

I called the Werth home run on the exact pitch. No big deal.

Not much to talk about. I really wish L.A. were on the broadcasting crew so that the bulk of the Philly audience could hear just how despicable the umpiring performance was tonight. The pitch that Stairs was called out on was high and outside. The pitch that Mayberry was called out on was low and outside. A Red's batter was called out at first on a bang-bang play that seemed to show that he was safe. There are no repercussions for the terribleness that is MLB umpires.

Game 81: Four game win streak snapped (43-38)

I don't have much to complain about tonight. One big thing is that Brad Lidge was permitted to face Joey Votto, the Reds best hitter, to start off the 9th inning. Lidge isn't very good against lefties. My solution would be to use Romero, the Phillies LOOGY, to face his one left handed batter, and then take him out. Votto hit a double, and later scored.

Another thing I found pretty annoying tonight was Rollins' lack of patience at the plate. Ruiz led off an inning with a triple. Happ then worked Harang for 7 pitches, and while the PA ended in a strikeout, he should have walked. Then, Rollins came up, and swung first pitch grounding out to second and stranding the run on third. Later in the 8th, with runners on 1st and 3rd and 1 out, he again swung first pitch and grounded to Votto, who threw home and got Mayberry out.

Utley swung first pitch in the 9th, but with the way he's been going (.310/.432/.578), it's hard to question him.

Game 80: Phils score 22 runs; Hamels pitches well (43-37)

Well, no complaints from me tonight, obviously. The Phils scored 10 runs in the first inning, and 12 runs in innings 2 through 8. Impressive: it's the third time in two seasons they have scored 20 runs in a single game.

Cole Hamels pitched the first 7, while Tyler Walker pitched the 8th and Scott Eyre pitched the 9th. Charlie Manuel removed most of his starting lineup in the middle of the game after the Phils opened up a 15-run lead, and the Phillies' bullpen is now very well-rested for the final 6 games of the "unofficial" first-half of the season.

The Phillies had a +19 run differential for the season coming into today's game. They had a +21 differential in today's game.

The Phils look to take game 2 of the series tomorrow night at 7:05 pm when LHP J.A. Happ faces RHP Aaron Harang.

Game 79: Phils sweep garbage (42-37)

Joe Blanton pitched a good game in this pitcher's duel. Rollins hit his 30th career lead off homer, and Utley later tallied one of his own to make the score 2-0.

My prayers may have been answered! Today, Blanton was permitted to start the 8th, and after allowing Luis Castillo to reach base, Blanton retired Gary Sheffield. The next two batters were scheduled to be Alex Cora and Daniel Murphy (both lefties). Manuel accordingly brought in Romero. After Romero plunked Alex Cora, J. Manuel used Fernando Tatis to PH. C. Manuel then countered by using a RHP!! While the pitcher was Chan Ho Park, it shows that Manuel actually might understand the concept of JCR not being allowed to pitch to RHB. While I would prefer to see Madson pitch in this situation, he probably was unavailable due to his use in a 5 run game in the 9th inning of Friday night's game. Park induced a double play to get out of the inning.

Brad Lidge struck out the 9th to record his 16th save.

Cheer the phanatic spraying Wheeler with silly string.

Game 78: Another good game (41-37)

Another good game all around by the Phillies. Manuel used Dobbs in the OF again instead of Mayberry vs the lefty starter. He made good pitching changes as well. Moyer went 6.1 IP, then Manuel used Durbin to pitch to get one out, then he used Romero to get out a lefty. Madson pitched the 8th, and Lidge pitched the 9th. It's almost as if Manuel understands that Durbin is better vs RHB and Romero is better vs LHB.

Moyer pitched well tonight. Rollins got on base 3 out of 5 times he came up. Victorino had another good night. I think Vic should leadoff, and Rollins should be dropped to 6th. It would take some pressure off of him while he gets back in the game.

Phils go for the sweep tomorrow. They will need to be on point against Johan. Santana vs. Blanton at 1:35.

Game 77: Phils open up series with Mets on a good note (40-37)

The Phillies jumped all over Livan Heranandez like they should have. Hernandez has pretty bad career numbers vs LHB, and we all know the Phillies are loaded with them. Manuel did a good job of taking advantage of this by starting Dobbs in the OF and Paul Bako at the plate.

While Rodrigo Lopez isn't the savior of the 2009 season, his career numbers are decent. The team could get away with him in the rotation for a little while, but definitely needs a solid number 2 if the Phils expect to go anywhere. Rollins, Victorino, Utley, Howard, Werth, and Feliz all reached base at least two times tonight.

One question. Why was Ryan Madson used to pitch tonight whent his team is up 5 runs? He pitched last night, and could very well be needed in the rest of the series. Very baffling.

Game 76: Phils swept in Atlanta as Madson fails again (39-37)

In the Braves lineup, there are not many left-handers. The only true lefties who started the game tonight were Brian McCann and Casey Kotchman. In the bottom of the 8th inning when the score was 2-2, McCann led off for the Braves. Charlie Manuel decided to let RHP Ryan Madson face McCann, who owns a career .894 OPS vs. right-handed pitching. Against lefties, McCann owns a .791 OPS. However, despite that LHP JC Romero was available and is only serviceable against left-handed batters, Charlie Manuel trotted out Madson to face McCann. Madson allowed a lead-off double and the entire inning went down the drain. Game over. Romero never pitched.

There is absolutely no harm in allowing Romero to face one batter, then removing him. In fact, that would guarantee that Romero would not face any RHB, who reached base at a .443 OBP last year against him.

Yes, the bats were quiet, and yes, Madson is not bad against lefties. But Romero is by far the best LHP in the pen, and McCann clearly prefers right-handed batters. It's about time Manuel learns how to use Romero effectively.

The Phils play the Mets tomorrow at 7:05 pm when RHP Rodrigo Lopez faces RHP Livan Hernandez.

Game 75: Hamels loses again (39-36)

There's really not much to say about this game. The Phils got crushed, and they are now only a half-game ahead of the second-place Florida Marlins.

As a result, I'm going to take this chance to explain what the Phils should do with Jimmy Rollins, who has a .250 OBP on the year. Unfortunately, this isn't a slow start to the season: the Phillies will be halfway through the regular season in about a week. Charlie Manuel has repeatedly stated that "Jimmy is our leadoff man." I think that is a ridiculous statement to make. Primarily, his career OBP is only .329, which is below average for an everyday player (let alone a leadoff man). When you have a player with such a low career OBP, it's extremely irresponsible to blindly name him the team's leadoff hitter. Shane Victorino is not the ideal option. His career OBP, however, is .345 and his season OBP is .360.

Even if Rollins somehow regresses to his career numbers, his OBP will be unacceptable for a leadoff man. If Manuel refuses to drop Rollins down in the lineup, the Phillies will have a very tough time scoring runs for the rest of the year.

Rollins should be the 6- or 7-hitter. His defense is invaluable, and he can steal more bases to spark the bottom of the lineup. His replacement at shortstop is Eric Bruntlett, who is not as talented on offense or defense. Manuel should not bench Rollins: even if Rollins bats 8th for the rest of the year, he can work on his offense while also improving the lineup as a whole since Victorino will bat in the leadoff spot. But, judging by Manuel's repeated support of Rollins as a leadoff man, I wouldn't count on seeing Rollins drop down in the lineup.

Tomorrow night the Phillies try to avoid the sweep when LHP J.A. Happ faces RHP Javier Vazquez at 7:05 pm.

Game 74: Martin Prado had an answer for everything (39-35)

Joe Blanton allowed 3 runs in 5 IP tonight. He's going to need to start going deeper in games than he has been in order to save the arms of our bullpen.

Good job by Manuel pinch hitting Mayberry for Dobbs vs the lefty. I approve of all the pitching moves that Manuel made. Park was OK in extra innings vs the bottom of the Braves lineup, but I don't like the idea that he was only in so that Manuel could save Lidge for "once the Phillies got the lead." Because as you can see, the Phillies never got the lead. Theoretically, Lidge is the best reliever at that point, and YOU SHOULD ALWAYS USE YOUR BEST RELIEVER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. However, with his recent struggles, he probably wouldn't have changed the outcome.

Pronger, Werth, and a boatload of know-how

On Friday, the Flyers made a deal that would bring defenseman Chris Pronger to town. In return, they shipped out Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa, two first round picks, and a conditional third rounder. Chris Pronger is an exceptional defenseman, but he is getting old, and is only under contract for one more year. This trade could be great for the short term, but I am still very unsure how I feel about it.

While Lupul was an average winger for the Flyers, he was a right-handed stick. Now, I'm sure this isn't as important as it is in baseball, but the Flyers currently only have 5 righties on their entire roster. Where this does play a large part is the necessity to have a right handed shot on the beneficial side of the ice on each line. As you see so often watching the game (and hear Steve Coates talk about it), it is very important in terms of being squared up to the net for a shot. The Flyers righties now are Knuble, Carter, Giroux, Briere, and Asham. They clearly have enough for the first 3 lines to have a winger who is a righty. However, there will possibly be a void in the 2nd/3rd line where Lupul fit in well.

Of larger concern to me is the departure of Luca Sbisa. Still a teen, he showed that he had the necessary skill/smarts to play in the NHL at this early age. Should he progress as expected, he could be an excellent NHL player in the future. I am very disappointed that I will not be able to watch him progress in the orange and black.

If Pronger lives up to his name, the defense will be greatly improved. Pronger, Timonen (arguably one of the best defenders in the game), Coburn, Carle, Jones, and hopefully Parent (not Alberts). A formidable defense.

Everyone who reads this site already knows my feelings for Jayson Werth. He is greatly underrated in my opinion. He possesses very good skills as an all around player. He has power, speed, a good arm, good range, and probably one of my most desired things in a hitter, patience. Jayson Werth currently leads all major leaguers in pitches seen per PA at 4.50, slightly ahead of Kevin Youkilis (the Greek God of Walks) with 4.47. Youkilis bats third on the Boston Red Sox.

People are probably saying, "seriously? He's lauding P/PA?". Yes, I am. It's not like he's not putting up good numbers across the board, because he is. His OPS is currently at .859. What a guy.

Game 73: Phillies actually win a series (39-34)

Well, the Phils have finally won their first series in what seems like months. They defeated the Blue Jays 5-4 this afternoon to take 2 out of 3 from Toronto. Jamie Moyer did not pitch very well, but he managed to pick up the victory after allowing 4 runs over a shaky 5 innings. Chan Ho Park pitched the next two innings (Park is definitely a good fit for the bullpen, and it's a shame he did not start the year there), while Ryan Madson pitched the 8th and Brad Lidge the 9th. This bullpen looks a lot better when Lidge is active.

I don't have any managerial complaints today, even though Jimmy Rollins was held out of the lineup yet again. I hate when Eric Bruntlett starts against a RHP, but today's pitcher was lefty Brian Tallet, so I can't complain about his presence in the lineup. In fact, his bunt-hit and his take-out slide in the 4th inning were huge contributions to the 4 runs the Phillies scored, which turned out to be the deciding inning of the game.

When a righty starts on the mound, however, and Manuel wants to bench Rollins and his .260 OBP, I don't feel like Bruntlett is an adequate replacement. His career OBP against righties is below .290, and his defense at the shortstop position is uncomparable to that of Rollins. As a result, Manuel should move Pedro Feliz over to short (he has done this before, and I can't imagine Feliz would be a downgrade at short from Bruntlett) while starting Greg Dobbs at third base. Dobbs, of course, is a much more suitable offensive replacement against RHP than Bruntlett.

If the Mets lose tonight, the Phils will somehow hold a 2.5 game division lead despite their horrible recent stretch. Hopefully the Phils can build on this series win Tuesday night in Atlanta at 7:00 pm, when RHP Joe Blanton faces RHP Derek Lowe.

Game 72: Oh-Em-Gee everyone!!! The closed door meeting worked!!1!1!!! (38-34)

Well why didn't we think of this before? All the Phillies needed was to be locked in a room with Uncle Charlie for 20 minutes. I mean after all, spending that much time alone with him is probably equivalent to being waterboarded . Just kidding. Seriously though, I think this whole thing is a joke. There is almost no way that today's 10-0 rout of the Blue Jays was due to the meeting with the manager last night. I mean what could he have possibly said/done that he hadn't been saying/doing for the past few weeks. Honestly, I'm still hesitant to think that they are completely out of their funk.

However, the Phils romped the Jays today behind a 4-4 performance by Jayson Werth, who again absolutely killed LHPs. He had 2 homers, a double, a single, and a walk. I guess we should be upset that he didn't hit for the cycle? I don't understand the praise people give to the cycle. Clearly, Werth's day today is better than if he had hit for the cycle. The homers garuntee that he scores, but I digress.

Happ also was quite strong today going 9 IP while allowing 5 H and 0 R. The Blue Jays' lineup is pretty solid vs. lefties so this is yet another impressive performance by the man that both me and Mr. Musser thought should have been in the rotation from Opening Day.

Phils go for the series win tomorrow as Moyer takes on Brian Tallet. 3 game series, 6 left-handed starters. Weird.

Game 71: Phils can't handle Romero (37-34)

The Phillies made themselves look like fools last night by swinging wildly at pitches in the dirt. Most of which weren't even good pitches.

Hamels struggled, and was yanked in the 5th. On his way off the field, he got loud with the home plate umpire, and was tossed. I agree with Hamels. There were a few awful calls in the 5th inning, and the Phillies had to get a couple extra outs. Additionally, Hamels should not use his curveball to RHB unless he buries it. The breaking pitch to an opposite handed batter is a very good pitch to hit.

Park relieved Hamels, and got hurt making the final out in the 5th.

Lidge was used for the first time since coming off the DL, and did not look good.

The Phillies never seem to do well against young pitchers that they haven't seen much of, and also tend to fail miserably against overwhelming groundball pitchers.

Game 70: Sloppy game; Bastardo exits early (37-33)

I don't understand why Manuel insists on using a slower defender in the outfielder when a reasonably faster player, who has outfield experience, plays first base. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It cost the Phils 2 runs tonight.

Bastardo left the game early with an injury tonight. Besides that, he has shown recently that all he really likes to throw is his fastball. This is very unacceptable at the major league level. The batters learn very quickly that all they need to do is hit a fastball that isn't even that fast. He needs to develop at least one more solid pitch, and probably at the very least, something he can just roll up there once in a while.

Rough game tonight. The umpire was inconsistant. Pedro Feliz makes an awful baserunning mistake. I personally don't think Matt Stairs would have scored had he ran hard the whole way anyway, but he needs to hustle. The umpires also blatantly disregarded the rules for replay that say only permissible on HR calls. More disturbing? The umps (aside from breaking the rules) felt the ground rule double with a team up 6 runs was more important to review than a potential game ending HR in extra innings by Greg Dobbs.

Phillies lose yet another series. I was glad to see Rollins sitting. Whenever he might find his way back into the lineup, I hope he is dropped in the lineup.