Another Series Win for the Phillies

The Phillies won their 5th series in a row, beating the San Francisco Giants at home, winning 2 out of 3 games. They had a chance for the sweep yesterday, but to be honest, were due for a letdown game, and really did not play well.

The Phillies won game 1 behind a strong performance from Roy Oswalt. The game was not going well, as Oswalt allowed two 1st innings runs, and the Phillies offense got off to a sluggish start against Giants starter Barry Zito. That was until the 5th inning. The Phillies put a 2 spot in both the 5th and 6th innings to take a 4-2 lead. After the Giants got one back in the 7th, the game was tight, and went into the 8th inning seeing the Phillies clinging to a 4-3 lead. In the bottom of the 8th, the Phillies loaded the bases, and arguably the team MVP, Carlos Ruiz, came to the plate. Ruiz ripped a double off the wall, the Phillies would go on to score 5 in the inning to win the game 9-3.

The 2nd game of the series started out much the same. Joe Blanton was on the bump in this game, and has to have the worst 1st inning ERA in the history of baseball. Not surprisingly, Andres Torres led off the game with a mammoth home run into the 2nd deck in right field. Blanton did calm down however, and would only give up 1 more run on a solo home run by Pat Burrell, his 2nd in as many games in the series. The Phillies offense, led by Jimmy Rollins, once again put up numbers. They got to Matt Cain, Jimmy Rollins ended up a double short of the cycle, and Dominic Brown hit a huge home run. The Phillies smashed the ball all game, and ended up with 2 doubles, 3 triples, and 2 home runs, and won the game 8-2.

The Phillies went for the sweep yesterday with Cole Hamels on the mound. The Phillies have not scored for Hamels all season, and that trend would continue. Hamels is usually able to keep the Phillies in games even when they are not scoring for them; unfortunately, this was not one of those nights. Hamels gave up 3 1st inning runs, and Jonathan Sanchez shut down the Phillies, as the Giants avoided the sweep and won the game 5-2. The Phillies 2 runs weren't scored until the 9th inning.

The Phillies have won 5 straight series, and that is really all you can ask for. If the Phillies keep taking 2 of 3 every series, they will be in good shape. Unfortunately, the Braves are playing way over their heads, and currently lead the Phillies by 2.5 games in the NL East. The Phillies do lead the wild card however now by 1 game over the Giants, and 2 games of the Cardinals.

The Phillies sit at 2-1 on this current 10 game homestand, and I really think you need to go 7-3 on this homestand. This means they need to go 5-2 against the Nationals and Astros; this is something they should be able to do against 2 bad teams. The Nationals come to town for a 3 game series starting tonight. Roy Halladay takes the mound tonight for the Phillies.

Phillies Take Series Against Dodgers

The Phillies won an amazing game yesterday when it looked like they were about to drop 2 of 3 at home to the Dodgers. Because the Braves won 2 of 3 from the Astros, the Phillies once again remain 2 games back in the NL East, and 1 game back of the Giants in the wild card.

The Phillies lost the first game of the series with Kyle Kendrick getting lit up, and the bullpen doing horribly. Kendrick pitched poorly from the start, which isn't surprising since even though Kendrick has pitched well, he gets lit up a lot. After Kendrick left the game, Antonio Bastardo let up a run, Herndon let up 4, Baez let up 2, and Romero let up 2. Even though Ex-Phillie Vicente Padilla didn't pitch well, he got the win. The Dodgers won the game 15-9. The Phillies couldn't pull out an amazing comeback. More on that topic later.

Game 2 of the series, the Phillies bounced back and got the 2-0 victory behind Roy Oswalt, who picked up his first win as a member of the Phillies. This was exactly how you draw it up from a managing standpoint. Oswalt pitched 7 scoreless innings, followed by Ryan Madson pitching a scoreless 8th, followed by Brad Lidge with a 1-2-3 9th inning to get the save. It didn't matter that the Phillies offense didn't give them much this day, as the pitching was phenomenal.

Game 3 of the series, the Phillies, behind more bad pitching would find themselves down 9-2 going into the bottom of the 8th inning. Blanton continued his first inning struggles by allowing 3 earned runs in the first inning, which always puts the Phillies in a tough hole to get out of. The bullpen was again bad. Chad Durbin this time allowed 2 runs, J.C. Romero allowed 2, but both were unearned, and Jose Contreras allowed 1 run.

The Phillies were able to overcome this however, as they put up a 4 spot in both the 8th and 9th innings. The Phillies made it a 9-6 game going into the 9th inning, but still had a lot of work to do. After Polanco was hit by a pitch, Sweeney and Werth walked to load the bases with no outs. Ben Francisco hit a grounder right to 3rd baseman Casey Blake, who let the ball go right through his legs. The Phillies scored 2, and then had runners on 1st and 2nd, with beast Carlos Ruiz coming to the plate. Ruiz ripped a drive deep to left center scoring 2 runs, and winning an unbelievable comeback for the Fightins. It was the biggest comeback victory in Citizens Bank Park history, and allowed the Phillies to keep pace in the National League.

Even though the Phillies won an amazing game, it masks the fact that the bullpen was very bad this series. Almost every member of the bullpen allowed a run in this 3 game series. This cannot continue to happen coming towards the end of the season if the Phillies want to make the playoffs, and go deep in the playoffs.

On the other hand, the offense played well overall, despite the injuries, and Carlos Ruiz continues to be an absolute beast. He is very close to Ryan Howard for the offensive MVP of this team right now. Ruiz seems to come up with every clutch hit that is needed lately for the Phillies. Shane Victorino joined the team last night, and the Phillies sent back down Antonio Bastardo to the minors. Victorino did not start last night, but probably will tonight.

The Phillies travel to New York to play the Mets this weekend in a 3 game series. They just have to keep taking care of business and winning ball games, no matter what the Braves, and other wild card teams are doing.

Phillies Lose 2 of 3 to Nationals

The Phillies closed out their series at Washington, and even though they snapped their 8 game winning streak with Roy Oswalt on the mound, they did salvage 1 game yesterday of the 3 game series.

Roy Oswalt made his Phillies debut on Friday to try to extend the Phillies winning streak to 9 games, but didn't fare too well in his debut. The offense didn't do anything either, and the Phillies lost the game by a large margin.

On Saturday, the Phillies didn't get off to a good start, and Ryan Howard got the night off after slumping the past few days. Joe Blanton continued his usual 1st inning performance and allowed 3 runs in the first inning. A Carlos Ruiz solo home run, and a Raul Ibanez 2 run home run made the game tied at 4 going into the 9th inning. Carlos Ruiz then had a 2 out, RBI single, which gave the Phillies the lead going into the bottom of the 9th. On came Brad Lidge. A single, out, walk, and Ryan Zimmerman bomb ended the game, and another blown save for Lidge.

Yesterday, the Phillies were able to salvage a game in the series, and won the game in the 11th inning. Brad Lidge worked a scoreless 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th this time, including putting out Ryan Zimmerman. This game also saw Ryan Howard go down awkwardly, as he rolled his ankle trying to slide back into 2nd base. It doesn't seem to be as bad as it looked, but he might miss a few games with a sprained ankle.

After the series, the Phillies sat exactly where they were before; 2.5 games back of the first place Atlanta Braves. Even though the Phillies lost 2 of 3, they have still won 9 of 11 overall, and travel to Miami for a 3 game series against the Marlins, which will start off with Roy Halladay on the bump.

Unfortunately, Brad Lidge cannot be trusted anymore. He has absolutely no command of any pitch he throws. He can't throw his fastball by anyone anymore, and has to rely on his slider. When Ruiz sets up outside, the pitch may come inside, when he sets up high, the pitch may come low; the point is, Lidge has no command, and his pitches really could go anywhere at this point.

The problem is there really isn't any other option. Ruben Amaro was too busy patting himself on the back and doing any interview possible talking about how amazing he has been to acquire Lee, Halladay, and Oswalt in about a year's time to address the bullpen issue that the Phillies currently have, and have had all season long.

Ryan Madson has not pitched very well this year, and even when he does pitch well, he has struggled in save situations when given the chance. I still think his still is better than Lidge's though. Jose Contreras has been good this season, and seems to have really good stuff, but not sure if he would be able to be the closer. J.C. Romero has also been very good, and while he can go up against righties, he is more in there to get lefties out, and has never closed before. David Herndon and Danys Baez have no business still being on this roster.

Another option to close is the Phillies triple A closer, Scott Mathieson. Mathieson has played with the big club before, but the Phillies seem retisant to bring him up for a long period of time for some reason. Mathieson has closer stuff, and an overpowering fastball, and could be the closer of the future for the Phillies.

For more bullpen help, the Yankees just designated Chan Ho Park for assignment, and I don't think there is any reason the Phillies should not go after him, because he would obviously be more welcome on the roster than Baez. Also, along with Mathieson, the Phillies have 2 other triple A bullpen pitchers currently that I think would be much better on the roster than Baez or Herndon. Antonio Bastardo would be that 2nd lefty in the bullpen, and was actually on the playoff roster last season, and I think would be very good as a guy who can get lefties out in big situations. Vance Worley is another guy who I feel like should be in the Phillies bullpen currently, as he can get the job done.

The Phillies will probably wait to waivers to address the bullpen situation, but they will need to not only add a body to the bullpen, but also possibly figure out what they want to do in the 9th inning with a 1 run lead; or there will be more and more heart attacks in the Philadelphia area the more Brad Lidge comes running out of the bullpen.

Phillies Win 8th Straight

The Phillies have been on a tear lately, and a lot has been going on down at Citizens Bank Park, as the Phillies try to catch up to the Atlanta Braves.

The Phillies gained another game on the Braves today with their 8th win in a row tonight. They did it in walk off style to sweep the Diamondbacks, on an 11th inning RBI single from Wilson Valdez. How many people when the season started would have thought the Phillies would be winning a big game in late July on a walk off hit by Wilson Valdez, scoring Cody Ransom. Well tonight, the 6-7-8 hitters were huge, as Ransom, Ruiz, and Valdez all had good games. Ruiz has been ripping the cover off the ball the past few games.

This all comes the day after yesterday's 7-1 win... also known as the debut of Domonic Brown. Brown had a huge debut, going 2-3 with a double, a single, 2 RBI's, and 2 runs scored. Brown took his first at bat and almost went deep, taking a pitch and going off the top of the fence in right field. Brown is a 5 tool player who looks like he is the real deal. Roy Halladay's starts rarely go unnoticed, but when Domonic Brown was doing what he was doing, not many people noticed Halladay quietly dominating, as he has basically done all year long.

This is all being done as the Phillies are still missing key players in the lineup. Chase Utley remains out of the lineup, and will probably be out for another 3 weeks or so. Jimmy Rollins fouled a ball off his foot, and missed the last 3 games, but hopefully will return to the lineup. Shane Victorino strained his oblique in Tuesday night's game, which is why Domonic Brown is in the lineup. As much as I rip of Victorino, I don't like both him and Rollins being out of the lineup, as they are our 2 fastest players on the team.

With all the injuries, Ryan Howard has been a rock in the lineup. I believe there should start being some Ryan Howard MVP talk. Howard has struggled the past 2 days, but is batting .295 currently, and has been above .300 a lot of the season. He has 23 home runs, and leads the NL in RBI's by a long shot. Howard is probably around 2nd or 3rd in the current NL MVP pecking order but if the Phillies make the playoffs, Ryan Howard has to be strongly considered to win the award. Guys like Joey Votto, Adrian Gonzalez, and Albert Pujols are probably also in the mix.

Not only has Howard put up solid numbers all year long, he has been the guy who has stayed healthy. I am not blaming the guys who have been injured, but at any point if we lost Howard along with a Rollins, or Victorino, or especially Utley, the lineup would struggle big time. Howard has been the rock in the lineup, and there is no replacing him as the clean up hitter. Placido Polanco has been the only other guy who has been healthy and not gone into any type of slump.

Any way you look at it, the Phillies are playing great baseball right now, and hopefully will keep it up with Roy Oswalt joining the squad. The Phillies go on the road now, and start with a 3 game series in Washington. Roy Oswalt will be on the bump tomorrow night for the Phillies. The Phillies currently sit 2.5 games back of the first place Atlanta Braves, and it feels like they were about 7 games back a week ago.

Even though we were very frustrated as of recently, it is nice to have an enjoyable Phillies team to watch, and have a team to root for going into August and September, and then hopefully into the playoffs.

Phillies Trade for Roy Oswalt

For the 2nd straight year, the Phillies have acquired a top pitcher at the trade deadline. Today, the Phillies traded with their old friend Ed Wade, and got pitcher Roy Oswalt in a deal. In the trade, the Phillies gave up J.A. Happ, and minor leaguers Anthony Gose and Jonathan Villar.

All things considered, this seems like a really good trade for the Phillies. While maybe a little overrated, Roy Oswalt is still an elite pitcher in this league, and Ruben Amaro really got the best of this trade. The Phillies do not have to pick up the club option in the 3rd year of Oswalt's deal, which means his deal will only go through next season, and the Astros are paying $11 million of Oswalt's $23 million that he is owed through the next 2 seasons.

Oswalt initially seemed hesitant to want to come play in Philly for the next couple years because he is from the south, but I guess when some other teams, mainly the Cardinals, backed off the deal, Oswalt seemed like he would rather have a chance at contending with the Phillies than staying in Houston.

The Phillies not only now have 3 very good pitchers, they also didn't have to give up on their best hitting prospect, Jonathan Singleton, who is in Single A. J.A. Happ is a good pitcher, but he isn't anything special.

Ruben Amaro seems like he actually got this deal right. Unfortunately, it wouldn't even have needed to be done if Amaro got rid of Cliff Lee in the offseason for a few crappy prospects. Without Amaro saying it, this deal kind of admits that he made a mistake getting rid of Cliff Lee, which the fans have been saying since that deal was done. It still hurts not having Cliff Lee on the team, but Roy Oswalt should slide into the #3 spot in the rotation nicely. Oswalt is 6-12 with a 3.42 ERA this season.

Unfortunately, this probably means that the Phillies can't re-sign Jayson Werth unless they greatly increase their payroll next season, or they are able to trade Raul Ibanez or Shane Victorino. Getting a trade done for Raul Ibanez would be optimal, but it probably won't be able to be done. Another horrible move by Amaro was giving Ibanez a 3 year deal. I would have no problem trading Victorino this offseason if it means keeping Werth and sliding him to center field, and playing Domonic Brown in right field.

Either way, this was a very good trade, and it definitely makes the Phillies a much better team than before the trade, and they didn't seem like they had to give up much to do it.

Phillies Need a Lot of Help

The Phillies right now have a lot of issues, and will need a lot of help to not only try to win the division, but even get the wild card in the National League.

With the trade deadline a little over a week away, it looks like the Phillies have targeted an elite starter to attempt to acquire. Roy Oswalt is the name that has been mentioned most in this situation. It seems kind of stupid that the Phillies need to acquire a starting pitcher at the trade deadline this season when they had Cliff Lee on the team signed through the season. It's actually beyond stupid; it's moronic; it's asinine; and the series of moves that Ruben Amaro has made since taking over are basically all moronic, and they leave the Phillies in a horrible position as it stands right now.

Since the Phillies got rid of 7 of their top 10 prospects in the Lee and Halladay deals respectively, and since I would imagine Domonic Brown will not be traded, the Phillies don't have many prospects right now, and almost all the ones that they do are at the single A level. This means that the Phillies might have to include Jayson Werth and J.A. Happ in a trade. Since Werth is a free agent in the offseason, it makes sense to trade him; however, trading Werth really puts the already struggling lineup in an even tougher position.

If you trade Werth, you can replace him in the field with top prospect Domonic Brown, who is a natural right fielder. That is fine, as Domonic Brown is overdue to join the major leagues in my opinion. However, Jayson Werth, even though he is struggling, fills the #5 hole in the Phillies batting order, and is the right handed bat there. Batting behind Ryan Howard is not as easy thing to do. Domonic Brown is a lefty, and will join and already lefty heavy Phillies batting order. Also, you can't expect Domonic Brown to jump into the #5 hole behind Utley and Howard, as a lefty.

This means that you would have to probably put Rollins or Victorino in the #5 hole, both of whom are switch hitters, and unfortunately, both of whom are struggling at the plate. Rollins can hopefully turn it around and have a good end to the season; Shane Victorino just flat out sucks. If you put Rollins there, he can swing away like he always wants to anyways, but you then have Victorino at the leadoff spot, popping up the first pitch he sees every at bat. Either decision is not optimal.

Bottom line, the lineup right now isn't good enough to make the playoffs. In fact, the offense has been so bad that the Phillies fired hitting coach Milt Thompson tonight. Thompson will be replaced with Greg Gross, who has already been the Phillies hitting coach. The offense is flat out bad no matter who is the hitting coach right now, and I can't even remember the last time I said that about the Phillies. Chase Utley coming back obviously can't hurt, but I don't think it will do enough to revive the offense. Utley isn't going to fire anybody up with his personality, and Utley wasn't even hitting the ball anyways before he got injured.

Therefore, if the Phillies do make a trade, it will need to be for a pitcher, and this is what will need to carry the Phillies into the playoffs; because it sure isn't going to be the hitting.