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 Take 2 of 3 From Mets

The Phillies won earlier today, capping off the series win at home against the New York Mets, and winning the series. The Phillies held off the Mets and won the game today 6-5.

Friday night saw a solid start from Joe Blanton, but an offense that struggled, until the 8th inning. The Phillies went into the 8th inning losing 2-1 in the game, but put up a 6 spot in the inning, and held off a late Mets change to win the game 7-5. It is a good sign to see Joe Blanton pitch well, since he is basically the 4th starter on this team, and will need to pitch well late in the season for the Phillies to have success. New Phillie Mike Sweeney got 2 hits in the game, both coming in the 8th inning.

On Saturday, the Phillies lackluster offense continued, only this time it continued throughout the whole game. Again, the Phillies got great starting pitching, this time from Cole Hamels, who should have a much better record than he does. Hamels only allowed 1 run in the game, the only run the Mets would get; too bad it was 1 more than the Phillies would score on this day. The Phillies almost busted the game open again for a 2nd straight game in the 8th inning. They loaded the bases in the 8th inning against K-Rod, only to see Ross Gload ground out.

The Phillies were able to bounce back today behind Roy Halladay and the long ball. The Phillies once again had 1 big inning, scoring 5 runs in the 3rd inning, and knocking R.A. Dickey out of the game early. Halladay went 7 innings and struck out 10, but did allow 5 earned runs. This raised his ERA to 2.34; not too bad. Raul Ibanez hit a 3 run homer for the Phillies, and Jayson Werth also homered and went 3-4 at the plate. Werth's average is now back over .300. Brad Lidge pitched a scoreless 9th, getting the save. It was a good sign, as Lidge gave up a leadoff single, and this is when Lidge usually struggles a lot, with runners on base.

Lidge pitched well this weekend when he came in, however J.C. Romero has been struggling. I am a Romero fan, and still am, but he needs to turn it around and have a good end of the season. I still feel as if the Phillies need a 2nd lefty in the bullpen, and would be in favor of calling up Antonio Bastardo to the bullpen to give the Phillies that 2nd lefty, even if he comes in just to get 1 guy out.

On offense, I would really like to see Jimmy Rollins step his game up, and have a great last 2 months. We have seen what this team is capable of when J-Roll gets hot, and this team is scary good. If Rollins can get on a roll late in the season, and get Utley and Howard back, there is no reason this team shouldn't be as good as the team that went to the World Series the past 2 seasons.

2010 College Football Preseason Rankings

The ESPN/USA Today college football rankings will be finally released tomorrow, so I decided I would come up with my own rankings for the much anticipated upcoming college football season. The AP poll will get released later this month.

TOP 25
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
3. Boise State Broncos
4. TCU Horned Frogs
5. Texas Longhorns
6. Florida Gators
7. Virginia Tech Hokies
8. Nebraska Cornhuskers
9. Oregon Ducks
10. Iowa Hawkeyes
11. Miami Hurricanes
12. Wisconsin Badgers
13. Oklahoma Sooners
14. Pittsburgh Panthers
15. Arkansas Razorbacks
16. USC Trojans
17. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
18. Florida State Seminoles
19. LSU Tigers
20. North Carolina Tar Heels
21. West Virginia Mountaineers
22. Oregon State Beavers
23. Penn State Nittany Lions
24. Georgia Bulldogs
25. Utah Utes

Just Missed
Cincinnati Bearcats
Navy Midshipmen
UConn Huskies
Houston Cougars
Texas A&M Aggies
Stanford Cardinal
California Bears
Washington Huskies
Temple Owls
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

Carlos Ruiz is a Baller

Carlos Ruiz is the catcher on the Philadelphia Phillies, and is quickly becoming a fan favorite this year as he continues to play solid baseball, and pick up the slack for the Phillies while some of their stars are on the DL.

But beyond that, Ruiz has basically always been the man. Even in previous years, when his offensive numbers were not great, he is a great defensive catcher. He has a cannon arm, and all the pitchers like pitching to him. He controls every pitcher on the staff well, and knows which pitches to call in which situations. Also, combine that with the fact that Ruiz has been one of the best Phillies offensively the past 2 seasons in the playoffs; and it all adds up to Ruiz being an official baller.

Even though we don't get to hear Ruiz too much in interviews since he barely speaks English and is not seen as the star of the team, I am picturing something along the lines of a combination of Dave Chappelle's version of Rick James, and the Dos Equis most interesting man in the world.

You know when Ruiz goes back to his native Panama, he is an absolute baller. He probably parties harder than Pacman Jones and Michael Vick combined. He definitely has his choice of any chick he wants when he is out, and treats them however he wants as well, as his pimp hand is extremely strong. Making it rain pesos is a common occurrence for Carlos when he is out. Chooch, you are the man.

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.