Floyd looking to prove his staying power

A strong showing tonight should answer any doubts whether Gavin Floyd can hang with the big boys.

Believe it or not, Floyd (4-2, 5.30 ERA) is seeking his fourth-straight win. He is 3-0 with a 2.04 ERA over his last three outings after pitching that rain-shortened shutout against the Mets last week.

Floyd's biggest issue is he has allowed too many walks, 21, to just 21 strikeouts. Against the young, agressive Brewers, it shouldn't hurt him quite as much.

I like the Phillies to win this game, and for Floyd to have another solid start. One could make a strong case that Floyd, from his surprise addition to the starting rotation to his decent showing thus far, represents the nicest surprise of the young season.

Behind him, his teammates haven't been getting on base. Comments thread rumblings from yesterday's post have been calling for a new leadoff hitter, someone that will get on base with better frequency than Jimmy Rollins. J-Roll has the lowest on-base percentage (.306) among the seven Phillies regulars. That's only four points higher than Sal Fasano. Yuck.

The reality is, the Phillies offense hasn't produced. They're 11th in the league in runs (180), and 10th in on-base percentage (.336), after leading the league in on-base percentage a year ago.

The bats will face somewhat of a change this game, as Milwaukee sends a long-lost right-hander to the mound in Dave Bush (4-3, 4.17 ERA). This will be the first time I've seen Bush pitch. The 28-year-old former Jay has an excellent strikeout-to-walk ratio of 44-9.

Update: Jimmy Rollins remains in the leadoff spot tonight, but there are several changes. Pat Burrell gets the night off, as hinted in Marcus Hayes' story this morning in the Daily News. David Dellucci will start instead. David Bell also gets a breather. Abraham Nunez starts at third. That means Ryan Howard will bat cleanup. Shane Victorino slides into the No. 5 spot.

Live box score here.

Comments

[Tim]

it's time for dellucci to do something. i have a good feeling about tonight. as for floyd todays game will definately be telling.

[Dave]

Bush was drafted out of Conestoga High School, on the Main Line. I'm hoping for a strong showing from Bush, but ultimately the Phillies prevailing.

[RickSchuBlues]

This one's going to be tough to pull out. After Howard, the other four hitting slots are occupied by bench players, and Floyd is pitching besides.

[RickSchuBlues]

Although, Floyd is pitching well. Good to see, hope he can keep it up!

[theragtopguy]

It would be nice to see Nunez actually DO something for a change.

[RickSchuBlues]

Ah, whoops...didn't mean to jinx you there Gavin.

The bad feeling about this one is back with a vengeance...

[Tim]

how did that just happen to floyd? why did charlie bring in rheal when prince is destroying lefties? i called the dellucci shot.

A series of abominable pitches: first, Floyd's meatball to Bill Hall; then Cormier's identically flat sliders that tailed right over the plate and into the wheelhouses of Fielder and Koskie.

Party's over, folks.

[Tim]

would a loss tonight make tomorrow a must win vs a leftie?

[RickSchuBlues]

It's not a must-win. The Brewers are a confident team at home, and the Phillies look depleted right now. They've just run into a buzz-saw in Milwaukee.

[Jon]

If they lose tonight, they need to win tomorrow. The Phils cannot go into a weekend series against Boston after being swept by Milwaukee. I am still holding out for tonight, and I think Cole will do just fine tomorrow, so hopefully they won't be looking at a three game losing streak before facing the Red Sox.

[John Salmon]

The 20-19 Brewers are a buzzsaw?

Gotta re-think Floyd's rotation spot.

[Tim]

1. floyd gave up one hit before the meltdown. he is here to stay. 2. is alex gonzalez better than tomas perez? he needs to go. 3. any bum lefty dominates us. de la rosa = 6 straight outs. 4. once the mets trade for some lefties in the pen i fear they will own us.

[RickSchuBlues]

At home, the Brewers are a force. I doubt the Giants or the Reds would have considered the barely .500 Phillies a buzzsaw when they were swept, but that's what they were. I doubt they win tomorrow; the hot streak is decidedly over and they look as flat as the Brewers look sharp.

Floyd...Floyd, Floyd, Floyd. Well, I don't think there's any question he isn't ready for prime time. Will he ever be? I wish they'd provide another organization with that enigma. If you expect to contend, you can't send blatant question marks out there 20% of the time.

[BushLig]

Fasano, PH, and Rollins against Turnbow the hayseed. This should be depressing.

[Tim]

it's gotten good...

[Tim]

3 pitch k for utley. wouldn't have guessed that.

[BushLig]

Howard better not look at strike 3 to end the game!!!

[RickSchuBlues]

That's an *impressive* AB there from Howard. Hot damn!!!!

[Tim]

is burrell available?

[BushLig]

Now, it has gotten good.

[Jon]

Talk about a clutch 9th inning!! Abreu, Howard, & Victorino all come through!! Can we win it now??

[Tim]

lol - i could sense the early goodness i guess.

[BushLig]

I hope someone is available, I'll take Ryan Madson over Alex S Gonzalez...

[RickSchuBlues]

I was *so* hoping Turnbow would come to regret that little purpose pitch to Bell.

So ends the death knell, these guys are still hot after all! Even if they lose it, it's a hell of a comeback, 3 straight 2-out RBI hits to tie it. A HELL of a comeback.

[RickSchuBlues]

Alex Gonzalez? Where is Burrell, on a cruise?

[Tim]

A.S. Gonzalez

[BushLig]

There's our man Alex, hitting the tapper for the easy force out to keep the game tied. If Uncle Charlie rolls out Ryan Franklin, I'm changing the channel.

[Tim]

seriously - at least with tomas that would have been a l/r matchup.

[ae]

saving him for the 12th?

(don't know if anyone else is watching on FSN, but I can't stand the Milwaukee announcers. it's one thing to be a homer; these guys are ridiculous.)

[BushLig]

Still a good comeback though...

[Tim]

i'd like to point out that if burrell was originally put in for dellucci, or if dellucci were never pulled we would have had two more ab's with some chance to get a hit. (and we wouldn't have gone two innings with a ss in left field.)

[BushLig]

I'm glad someone mentioned the Milwaukee telecast. I am watching it. The man's name (the homer) is Daron Sutton and my ears are bleeding. I know this because I was moved enough to look it up. The Phils need not win this game for those who are posting on beerleaguer, they must win it for Daron so that maybe he'll tone down his act.

[Tim]

this is an interesting ibb.

[Tim]

yeah most managers walk guys with two outs to get to the three hitter.

[Bill]

a three hitter who was already 3-for-4 on the night - nice

[RickSchuBlues]

I had to suffer through that Brewers telecast as well. Maybe one of these years mlb.com will get it right and provide fans with a choice of home or away telecasts. Having to watch the opponent's broadcast sucks to no end...especially with an ending like that.

The Phils can hold their heads high, though. They gave it a battle, and if they come away with a win tomorrow, they can call it a very successful road trip.

[Jon]

Helluva comeback, BUT Manuel makes his typical bonehead move and has Alex Gonzalez bat instead of Pat Burrell which killed the 9th inning rally. Go after Bill Hall too!! What are the chances he will do it three straight games?? Jenkins is a proven clutch hitter. I don't care about the left-left match-up. I know this team has played great, but Manuel consistantly makes bonehead decisions that ultimately cost this team games. I don't get him and I don't think I ever will. I don't know if he can lead this team to where it ultimately wants to go. That may sound ridiculous after their recent play, but he installs very little faith in me...

[ae]

I personally liked the Hall IBB...

are we sure Burrell isn't actually injured? was he not suited up or something? that move really made absolutely no sense.

[Eileen]

Great comeback by the PHILS with 2 outs in the 9th but now they have to win tomorrow....:-(

[RickSchuBlues]

I disagree, I think you have to walk Hall there. The guy's red-hot, he kills lefties. I'd rather have had Rhodes face Jenkins than Franklin face Hall. It was the right move, Jenkins just came out on top.

Of course, if Gordon was in there to start the 9th...well, I guess I've already covered that argument. But there it is again, eh?

[Eileen]

I agree Rick - Gordon should have been in there...What a killer to lose back to back games in the ninth

[Jon]

I do agree that Jenkins versus Rhodes is better than Hall versus Franklin. I guess I am just sick of some of Manuel's moves, or lack of moves, like the Gonzalez over Burrell. I don't get it at all. Burrell must be in real bad shape, or Manuel isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. I am leaning towards the latter...

[Nat]

Every year there's a team that seems to win whenever I watch them and I get it into my head that they must be a pretty good team. Then along about July for August I look at the standings and see they have some sad-sack record and are 10 or 15 games out of first and I think, "Huh? I thought they were good." After the last few days of watching them take 2 of 3 from the Mets and 2 from the Phils, I bet the Brewers are going to be that team this year.

Anyway, tonight's loss isn't the end of the world. The Mets lost, too, and they will apparently trot out Lima again tomorrow against the Cards. If the Phillies can pull out the last game of the series, they stand a good chance of being back to just one out.

But check your rear-view mnirror. Here come the Braves.

[RickSchuBlues]

Of course, here come the Braves. They're the ones the Phillies are going to be worrying about (or more likely, bowing to) in the end, not the Mets.

The Brewers are going to have to prove some mettle on the road if they're going to get anywhere in their division.

[theragtopguy]

I'd unload both Nunuz and A.S. Gonzalez for a bunch of used bats and balls. I believe they are both WELL BELOW the Mendoza line.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd take the pie-man back in a second over those two worthless piles of flesh!

[RickSchuBlues]

I can't believe you're saying that, either. Pretty harsh words for people you don't know a thing about other than the fact that they have low batting averages.

[MG]

Too bad the Phils wasted any momentum from the 9th inning comeback. Rhodes has got to throw some first strikes. He walked the leadoff hitter and was behind almost every batter. Ugh. Unlike last night, it made sense to use Gordon in the bottom of the 9th inning.

Still, Phils bullpen really let them down tonight. Cormier couldn't stop the bleeding and Geary's run came back to haunt them.

Also tired of watching Rollins hit pop-up after pop-up. He has no busines trying to hit the ball in the air so much. Wish Manuel would have the balls to take him out of the leadoff spot for a couple of games.

[MG]

Phils biggest need though right now is for a utility infielder who bats right-handed off the bench. Nunez and Gonzalez are killing the Phils in late innings situations. I know Gonzalez is making $750k but I hope Gillick has the guts to acknowledge a mistake and release him if he doesn't show anything by the end of May.

[RickSchuBlues]

We'll see if their momentum was robbed. I have a feeling the energy from that rally will carry over to tomorrow's game.

If I were playing, I'd much rather lose the game the way they did than not to have come back at all; it would have been much more deflating had Howard struck out or Victorino popped up. It's not as bad when the other team wins because they got the clutch hit instead of losing because your team failed to get one.

[Carson Book]

Ouch, back-to-back late inning losses. That's the kinda of game that demoralizes a team. I agree with some people that Thursday's game is a must win. If they get swept by the Brewers then go face a very tough BoSox squad, it could spell for a long losing streak. Gonzalez is batting .097 for the season, 3-31, flat out release him! Rhodes has walked 12 in 13.2 ip, with a whip of 1.90...not a good line for the 8th inning guy. Phillies pitchers can't only hit, but they can't bunt either. The pitchers are killing themselves with missed opportunities to move runners. I know it's only a 2 game losing streak, but I gotta say that it doesn't bode well.

"(don't know if anyone else is watching on FSN, but I can't stand the Milwaukee announcers. it's one thing to be a homer; these guys are ridiculous.)"

Same here, when Fielder go tthe hit off Cormier the playby play guy actually yelled "Bring on your southpaws, Prince will demolish them"

[gr]

i'm not sure that floyd isn't ready for the majors. aside from the jenkins home run, he cruised thru 5 innings getting pop-ups and only one or two hard hit balls. what he *does* need to work on is pitching from the stretch. his location suffers when he isn't "flowing". after giving up a few hits in the 6th -- pone of which was a chopper over nunez, he did get a tapper to nunez again who made no effort to turn a DP or go home for the force play. what's the point of playing in at the corners if you don't do either? and, as bad as the brewers tv commentators are, bob uecker does the xm broadcast all by himself. night and day difference.

[Carson Book]

Look at the utility infielders for the Phillies, Nunez and Gonzalez, their numbers are terrible. I still can't believe Nunez got a 2-year deal...that was pointless. Ramon Martinez would have been a better keeper instead. I'm really hoping Gillick steps up and cuts his losses in regards to Gonzalez, because not only is he not helping the Phillies, he's actually hurting them.

Hamels goes today, and although it may not be his debut, just as much "savivor" pressure will be on him due to the current 2 game skid.

[voice of reason]

For all you Sal fans - did you notice his game?
If Weeks steals second were probably not even talking about the comeback.

[J. Weitzel]

I noticed. Sal had a great game and is starting to hit a little.