Phils 5, Braves 4 nightcap: XBH parade continues

After falling behind 4-2 following a four-run fifth by Atlanta, the Phils scored three unanswered and beat the Braves 5-4.

Tonight wasn’t as spotless as the last two games, but it was every bit as satisfying.

After the game fell apart for Gavin Floyd in the fifth, the Braves were in perfect shape to pour it on. Instead, the Phils answered right back in bottom half with a two-out double by Jimmy Rollins, extending his hitting streak to 19 games, followed by RBIs from Kenny Lofton and Chase Utley. Next inning, Mike Lieberthal drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single that scored Ryan Howard from second.

XBHs
The Phils have really piled on the extra base hits lately. Since I reported on their league-worst 340 XBHs back on Aug. 23, they’ve climbed six spots to 10th with 406. That’s a whole lot of extra-baggers in a short amount of time.

A shortage of XBHs, top to bottom, is the real reason they couldn't put runs on the board in July and August, not lineup construction. They added six more to their rising total tonight, including a triple from Lofton and a homer by Howard, his 17th of the season.

Before the night was over, Chase Utley drove in two runs, and before he was pulled for Jason “Not Enough Plate Appearances to Qualify” Michaels, Lofton finished 3-for-3 and scored twice.

Pitching
Floyd worked five shaky innings and gave up all his runs in one frame. He was lucky not to have given up more. The rookie didn't look too sure of himself, and I was glad to see the fifth inning finally end and Shane Victorino take his spot in the lineup. It looked like young Gavin was glad the night was over, too.

Aaron Fultz came in and pitched a perfect sixth for the win. This …

4-0, 2.25 ERA, 49 K, 22 BB

… is unbelievable production from a guy who was plucked off the scrap heap.

It's hard to believe he had an ERA over 5.00 last season, and was added because they needed a spare left-hander in the pen.

With the win, the ex-Twin continues to be the surprise story of the bullpen, making a strong case as their most effective arm next to Billy Wagner.

As for the three musketeers, Ryan Madson, Ugueth Urbina and Wagner did it once again, shuting down the Bravos in the seventh, eighth and ninth. For Wagner, he collected his 34th save.

Man of the game
My choice came down to Fultz, Lofton, Rollins, Lieberthal (for the game-winning hit and a timely bullet behind the dish that caught Rafael Furcal stealing second), and my eventual choice, third base coach Bill Dancy, who had the best game of his major league coaching career.

Dancy gave the green light to Lofton and Ryan Howard, both called safe on close plays at home. The veteran baseball man has had his share of critics this season, but for one night, he got everything right.

Come to think of it, lately, the whole team is getting it right.

Comments

[Oisin]

I'm in full agreement on the baserunning. I was watching from the top of the fifth, and was chuffed to see lofton waved on a very close but playable call.

Floyd came off and was setting drenched in sweat - I wrote at the time that I hoped it was the weather rather than nerves. His inability to locate his breaking stuff in the fifth, the way he was nibbling at the strike zone - well, I guess that tells you that the kid is still crapping himself. It's heartening that brito is maybe ahead of him in the rotation - as Tom Goodman has said, what we need now is fearless kids.

[Oisin]

The other thing which impressed was howards double - it seemed like he had hit the ball with the lower half of the bat rather than making contact with the whole body of the bat - and still a really solid drive. Damn, that kid's power is scary.

[Ankit]

I thought Floyd had a pretty good game, worked out of the jam in the 4th quite nicely. In the 5th, the lead-off walk hurt and Lofton made an "error" when he threw to 3rd instead of 2nd when McCann hit a single after the walk. That would have made it 1st and 3rd nobody out, instead of 2nd and 3rd.
Then the plate ump was getting fooled by Gavin's curve balls when Thompson was up. Those were strikes, called balls, that were right over the plate. His fastball had very good movement too.

Overall, he had a rough 5th but he is pitching a lot better than he did in AAA this year. I wouldn't mind if he was given another start against the Marlins this weekend.

[J. Weitzel]

I haven't been impressed with the Braves so far this series. Very impatient against Brito and Floyd. That's not very smart. I guess to each his own on Floyd. I thought he got pretty lucky.

[Oisin]

I'm happy enough with floyd in the fifth spot for now, and I hope the lessened responsibility helps him keep the pressure of himself. If we can get 4/5 4-5 run games and 6 innings per game out of him, I think that's all we should expect.

I think after this year he's going to be his own worse enemy, and I think he needs a lot of help and support to get through it.

[Tom G]

I think after this year he's going to be his own worse enemy, and I think he needs a lot of help and support to get through it.

Yeah, and if anyone can nurse a young pitcher through struggles, it's the Phillies!

[Ken]

The way they play i am concerned about my mental health..all my assumptions about how the world works are being turned around. i left them for dead after the one run loss to marlins.

I'm especially impressed with lieberthal and rollins recent improvement..

i'm still sticking with my belief that abreu is the last hitter in major leagues(ok chavez) i want to see up there in a key spot

have phils won a game where tucker bats?? last nite maybe the key play was batting perez instead of tucker in 8th inning..

also, i'm nervous if we have to keep going to well with mads/urbina/wags every nite. they need a day off and likely won't get it tonite..

i'm kindof hoping for a blowout either way tonite..obviously hoping they win heh

can anyone disagree that howard and utley are future stars? what can we do (in the real world) with thome????

[pawnking]

Folks, I've had my issues with people who say Abreau isn't a "clutch" hitter. My main problem is that generally, those who call him a choker don't define what a "clutch" hitter is, relying on the "I know one when I see one" arguement. My main problem with that arguement is that anyone can make it, and frequently people disagree. If you had to be qualified to give an opinion, or if there was consensus about an opinion, I would give more weight to it. Anyway, the reason I bring this up is The Hardball Times has come up with a metric for being a "clutch" hitter, which seems to be based primarily on hitting with runners in scoring position. By this metric, Abreau is 12th in the National League in "clutch" hitting. Burrell, by the way, is 6th. I'm not saying this definetly proves Abreau is "Mr. Clutch," but it is one of the first true attempts to define such a thing and measure it.

[Ken]

hey!!! you talking to me!!!?? hehe..please note, i did not use the word "clutch" in my post. i do not think "clutch" hitting can be perfectly defined..

I said, i don't like watching him bat in key spots..i love watching burrell(this yrs version), howard and utley in big ab's.

look i'm first to admit i'm just a fan. I could get all uppity and say something like stats are for losers, but i wont!!!

i also know last night the bat never left abreu's shoulders in an important ab...

all i'm saying is , all things considered, if
i could pick who should bat in the biggest at bat, he's at the bottom of my list. I don't like his approach to hitting, especially late in the games.. same goes for pitchers by the way...you can see some pitchers try to throw perfect pitchs and nibble at the strike zone when the going gets tough..other pitchers, urbina comes to mind, take the other approach, and just try to throw their best stuff...

all that being said, i'd love Bobby A. to march to 30/30 club with a bunch of late hr's so i'm still gonna root for him

[Tom Goodman]

Terrific comments by everyone here.

Osin: Not only was the double a thing of beauty, but as Larry Andersen pointed out during the broadcast, Howard PULLED that tremendous home run in the second inning on an OUTSIDE pitch.

Ankit: Floyd is very much a work in progress. I'm not sure his ego is as fragile as many believe. He pitched very well for the first three innings (though more than a few balls were smoked for outs) and he showed me a lot when he pitched out of the jam in the fourth inning. He might have made it through the fifth with a call or two that seemed to fool the umpire as much as earlier batters.

Ken: I know. I know.

Tom G: Are you saying we don't develop pitching in this organization? Why, just look at...er...um...well.... Hey, you're right again.

pawnking: I really cannot understand why people are so hard on Bobby. Yes, his defense is maddening at times, but it really hasn't changed much over the years. Which brings us to his hitting, clutch and otherwise. He continues to hit around .300, drive in more or less 90 - 110 runs, draw at least 100 walks and come through fairly consistently. That may be the problem: people see him as consistent rather than spectacular.

[pawnking]

One last thing about Floyd: He's 22. What were you like when you were 22? Personally, I doubt if I would have been able to mentally handle the bigs, even if I had Nolan Ryan Stuff. Not all players are like Doc Gooden. But considering Doc's carreer, maybe that's a good thing. He has plently of time to develop into a major league pitcher, and do it with style. He's got all the ingredients, and most major leaguers don't bloom until they're 26 or 27. Be patient.

[Ankit]

Pawnking: kudos on the points for Floyd above. Him being 22 and up in the majors is a good thing. He will struggle early on but that is to be expected. Lets wait until the middle of 2007 to make judgement on how his career might be. Right now, its too early to call and definitely too early to give up on him and call him simply a mediocre/above-average-at-best pitcher.

As for Abreu in clutch/key situations, I would like to know the number of RBIs he has in those situations. Something similar to this article: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/tom_verducci/09/13/al.mvp/index.html

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