Recharged Phillies battle Mets in series opener

Following a day of rest, there will be no excuse for lifeless play as the Phillies engage in their most important series of the season.

The jabs have already begun on New York’s end from catcher Paul Lo Duca, who told WFAN he hopes to "bury" the Phillies.

"We’re playing well, but this is a series we need to go into and just bury them," Lo Duca said. "I mean, if we can come in here and win two of three, or even sweep them, we can move nine, ten games up in the loss column and that’s huge…

"So, this is a big series for us. And I know they’re gonna be pumped up, because this is where they can try to cut the deficit in half. So, we need to come out and play well, and, like I said, we can put them in the freezer and hopefully bury them by the end of the series."…

The Phils should tack this up on their bulletin board and remember it. Frankly, Lo Duca gives the hometown nine a lot of credit for being" pumped up." We haven't seen it in too many games.

Prove him right. Become ruthless and relentless. Show him that June 13 is too early to bury anybody, especially a team that's only a few games back.

A lifeless showing here, similar to the way the Washington series ended, would be devastating for this fan and should be unacceptable for the Phillies’ front office. The Phillies have enough good players to hang with this team, especially playing at home. Tonight’s game is the start of a nine-game homestand. They are 16-16 at home this season and that needs to improve right here.

The Phils and Mets are knotted up at three games a piece in their season series. The Mets come in as the hot team in the division, having won five straight to improve their NL best record (39-23, .629). The Phils (33-30, .524) are returning from a 6-5 road trip, which ended on a sour note by dropping three-of-four to the Nationals.

Ryan Madson (6-3, 5.71 ERA) will look to build on his best and longest outing of the season, a 7 2-3 gem against Arizona on June 7. His last appearance against the Mets was the 16-inning game where he took the loss on a walk-off homer by Carlos Beltran after throwing 7 shutout innings in long relief.

Tom Glavine (9-2, 3.06 ERA) looks to become the National League’s first 10-game winner.

Press notes: Getting better against lefties
--- As a team, the Phillies are 8-9 when a left-hander starts against them, but 8-5 in their last 13 games against a lefty. Individually, Pat Burrell is tied for second in the NL with 7 homers against LHP; Ryan Howard is tied for ninth with 5.

--- The Phillies’ bullpen has allowed only 10 earned runs in their last 53.1 innings (1.69 ERA) and have a 3.16 ERA, best among all major league bullpens. Still, if the battle boils down to the bullpens, the Mets still have the edge.

--- Since April 12, the Phillies are 32-24 (.571), which is the third-most wins in the NL over that span.

Comments

[Phiting Mad]

Is it just me, or do I feel a three-game sweep by the Phils coming on right here??Bury THIS...

[Ed in Westchester]

Oh, Phiting Mad, you are so witty. The Mets live in fear of your sarcasm.

Good series the Filets had this past weekend against the Nats. How did Hamels do again?

6.5 and growing. That is the Mets lead, your IQ is 65 and falling.

[RickSchuBlues]

I don't see Lo Duca's comments as particularly incendiary - he didn't say anything disparaging of them as a team. But I will agree that the way the Phillies play in this series will reveal a lot. It will be hard to establish any momentum against Glavine, so that's a big strike against them. But an overall lackluster showing here will in fact bury the Phillies, especially in the minds of the fans.

[J. Weitzel]

Burrell: "Did you find Paul's comments about us disparaging?"

Utley: "No. I found nothing particularly incendiary."

This isn't a tea party, Rick. He's talking about putting the team in the freezer and the season isn't half-way over!

Arg! Who are you, Mike Lieberthal!?

[Ed in Westchester]

Seriously, the man is stating facts. If the Mets take two of three or sweep, the lead is going to be a lot to overcome. Not that it can't be, but 9.5 is a lot harder than 3.5 or 4.5 if the Phils take 2 of 3 or sweep.
It's not like he said "We will bury them". He is talking about what happens if they do.
If the Phils need "bulletin board" material in June, they are in deep trouble. They should be amped in any event.
Look at the Mets versus the Braves the past few years, Braves beat the snot out of them, and the Mets were done. Yanks have done it to the Sox at times as well.

[NY METS]

I really dont know why lo duca said that. It always seems to rile up the other team. I think tom will shut you guys down this game. the rest of the series is up for grabs. I still think we are going to be first in our division no matter what happens this series though.

Good luck philly, your gonna need it

Cheers
Dan

[Tony]

I would love to see LoDuca get buried by Victorino again.

[SamDracula]

I really don't think "bulletin board" material works in baseball. Get a team pumped up and the hitters may get themselves out and pitchers can press. It works better in all 3 of the other major sports but in baseball, momentum and that kind of stuff is only as good as your starting pitcher.
I agree with the fact that if the Phils need something to pump them up, then they have some real problems between the ears.

[Tony]

I didn't know they gave out division championships in June.

[yt]

Hey, be nice to the Mets fans, they have endure this theme song:

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-mets-newsong,0,7279509.mp3file?coll=ny-sports-headlines

Story:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=keown/060614

I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

[pawnking]

Hmmmmmmmm. I'm a player being paid millions of dollars a year to hit, catch, and throw. And yet, it takes a "we want to bury them" remark to get me motivated enough to care about the game's outcome.

Does anyone else find this an odd situation?

[Dylan]

Well mabye they can start now, because with the way the Mets are rolling, your lifeless Phillies stand no chance. i wish you were more competitive, but every time I turn the Phillies on they have this apperance of just seeming to not care. They make for easy-picking by a confident team.

[Tony]

So easy that the mets are 3-3 vs. them this year. You're a complete moron.

[Complete Moron]

As stated by your own "phans", two of those three Philly wins were dumb luck: the rain-shortened game and the game where Heilamn threw away the ball to first...

But, it's in Philadelphia's hands right now. Win the series or sweep the series and you are certainly still in it. Anything less than that, and you can Indian leg wrestle with the Nats and Braves to wear the "not as terrible as everyone else" crown...

[Dylan]

Tony- i never said the team was confident in the first series, thats why i added they are easy picking by a confident team, not the same New York mets you saw in april, mabye you are a complete moron.

[Billy Mac]

Hey Genious, Phils did not play the Mets in April. 6 games in May.

[Dylan]

Whatever, the only point i was trying to make is that they are confident in themselves now and were not then thats it.
Im sorry, saying the series was in late april when it was in early may is a felony. One of us will be happy 72 hrs from now and one of us will not be, and if the past week was any indicator the Mets should be the ones with at least 2 wins under their belt

[Dylan]

By the way genious, its spelled genius

[Lake Fred]

The Beerleaguer Comment section goes straight to hell when we play the Mets. This site is for Phillies fans not Mets fans.

[Billy Mac]

And one team hasn't won the NL East since 1988

[Billy Mac]

Dylan run "mabye" through your spell checker while you are at it.

[Dylan]

maybe was apelled like that because i accidentally pressed the b before the y, genious is spelled by somebody who obviously has no clue how to spell it, but thanks for the advice the spell checker said you were right!!

[Complete Moron]

I'm sorry, how many times have the Phils won the NL East since 1988? Hasn't it not been since they choked royally up in Canda was it?

[Adam]

I think it's indicative of the situation of both the Phillies and the Mets that this type of thing happens whenever our two teams play, yet we don't ever hear a peep from Braves fans when they come to town, as far as I can tell...

[Christian]

GREAT point, Adam. Where's all that stupid Tomahawk chopping these days???

[Book]

Rollins goes deep, means we have to watch him pop out every at bat for the next 4 games.

[Book]

Whitle taking a stroll through the all-star vote totals thus far and I am disgusted to see that if voting ended today it would be a NY vs. NY all-star game with the majority of vote leaders in the AL being Yankees and a handful from the NL being Mets...yuck!

[Book]

7-8-9 in the Phils lineup is atrocious!

[Book]

Ryan Madson sucks! No really, he's just not good!

[Book]

giving the f'in game to the mets...dammit!

[Book]

5 homers already and only in the bottom of the 3rd...holy crap!

[Panda]

Look at all these long balls! Gotta love Citizens. Nice to see Bobby with some power--let's close the gap.

[Panda]

Glavin's already thrown 60 pitches in 3... hopefully he wears out soon...

[yt]

on pace for 9 homers, not bad

[Panda]

I mean Glavine. Those Met's fans' inability to spell is rubbing off on me.

[Book]

wow, madson is really bad. get him out of the rotation. i don't give a crap who we put in there instead of him, he sucks! let's call the reading rotation up!

[Book]

anyone notice how bad utley has been slumping?

[Panda]

Yes! Bell singles! And now we have that powerhouse My Pal Sal up! I think the Lou Gehrig comparisons are apt.

Mets fans can look that last word up.

[yt]

Are you saying there is a disease named after Fasano?

Because I can't see the comparison otherwise?

[fletch]

Randy Wolf left the game in Clearwater today after being hit on the hand by a line drive. There's no word yet on the severity of the injury.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2482944

[PHillies suck]

ummm going to the bullpen this early for the phillies is not good...get ready for Condrey and Sanches and a 11 - 5 loss for the PHittin' Fartheads as i call them

[Pitching help]

ok i've absolutely had it with our staff 3 out of the current 5 absolutely suck...Lieber is too old and falling apart...Lidle was supposed to be an innings eater but he's barely going 5 2/3 innings per start and Madson is just plain terrible...bring up the young guys from Double A they can't be anyworse at this point. Plus we have a GM that has made 1 move since the start of the season (PICKING UP BONERNO SP???) Hey Mr. Stand Pat if you keep up this track record trust me you'll have a website asking for your demise quicker than your predessor!

[Jon]

Sickening... We continue to suck with runners in scoring position... We continue to suck with relievers trying to be starters...

[Jon]

What will it take before Gillick makes some kind of move?? Hell, any kind of move?!?!

[voice of reason]

Is LoDuca available?

[Dylan]

Great defense guys, its a shame that your team played such $hitty defense on a night where Glavine was bad. A lot of other teams would have taken advantage, but you are not a lot of other teams you are the soon to be 7.5 games back Phillies! Looking forward to the August series when ill be making the trip down to Philly. By the way i dont care if there is a typo in this last time i checked most blogs dont write rough drafts and correct them for replies on blogs, but you guys do so take pride in that. And I and all my other fellow Met fans here know what Apt means, smarta$$es

[J. Weitzel]

Please keep it clean. $$$ does not make it clean.

[Jon]

Nice to see Endy stinkin Chavez can hit one of Franklin's offerings over Rowand's head. Man, he sucks...

[J. Weitzel]

I didn't see the pitch to Chavez. What kind of game is Fasano calling tonight? It seems a lot of these hits are on bad pitches, including the high fastball to Beltran, the second in a row. Chavez shouldn't hit doubles over center field.

Lieber, Floyd, Madson ... not much consistency from the pitchers Fasano has caught exclusively.

[BlueMan]

Glavine reverting back to his normal Met form at least. Good to see him rack up the pitches but not the innings.

[Panda]

I was being facetious (Mets fans look that one up too) with the Gehrig comparison--workhorse/ great player vs. My Pal Sal's inability to hit or call a good game. Although we should coin "Fasano Disease". Maybe he should shave the Fu Manchu and he would get better. Like a reverse Samson deal.

My fiance keeps heartening me by saying the Mets will eventually choke, like they do every year. I tell her Phans don't hope, they just get angry and bitch.

On that note, our pitching is a freaking mess.

[yt]

I think Sal Fasano's disease isn't the kind of thing that afflicts one person, but rather a whole team, and the Phills have an acute case.

I say we amputate.

[clout]

If any of you seriously thought pre-season that the Phillies could make the playoffs with this rotation, please become soccer fans. Baseball is not your game.
P.S. I can live with David Bell being one of the slowest humans on the planet. I can't live with him if he can't field.

[clout]

Hmmmmm. Bell, Burrell, Fasano, Leiberthal, Howard. About a new nickname: The Slowskys!
Spotty on base pct., good power, poor team speed, inconsistent rotation, OK bullpen and below average defense at RF, LF, C, 1B and 3B. I think 85 wins would be quite an accomplishment, given that set of facts.

[Jon]

Nice!! Dellucci goes yard!! 9-7 now!!

[Jon]

Billy the Rat is warming up down in the pen...

[yt]

Interesting again.

[clout]

Why would Rollins try to steal down 2 runs?

[Jon]

Why is Jimmy running there?? The previous 2 pitches Billy the Rat just blew by Utley. Chances are he is going to stay with the heat, meaning a pitch that Lo Duca can handle. Stupid mistakes are killing this team tonight...

[Jon]

How did Wright catch that ball?? Should have been Phils with runners on 2nd and 3rd!! Ugh...

[J. Weitzel]

It's a shame to knock Glavine out in the fifth inning and not come away with the win, but the Phillies only wish it was that easy with Ryan Madson on the mound and the red-hot Mets at the plate. Mets look like a lock for this division, but I can see Wagner blowing the big one for them down the road. Otherwise, they're totally loaded.

Some positives tonight: Fasano had a good at bat with that early walk and a nice night at the plate overall. David Dellucci with a big-time three-run pinch homer. The Phillies haven't had many of those over the past few seasons. Abreu extended his hitting streak with a homer.

Some negatives: Pat Burrell bats fourth on this team, behind Abreu and ahead of Howard, to break up the order and swing the bat against left-handed relief pitchers like Feliciano. Come on, Pat. Don't stand there and look at it. I don't know what's going on with the Rollins steal attempt, either. And of course, Madson continues to lack the consistency necessary to be a starter. The Mets punished him hard. Defensively, three costly errors. The Utley play might have been the biggest difference in the game. He makes the simple throw, the inning may not have gotten quite as out of hand.

[theragtopguy]

This game was kind of like two boxers fighting it out, seeing which one would falter first. High pressure baseball indeed. Of course, the Phils cracked first having that bad error filled inning and from there, the outcome was never in doubt (in my humble opinion).

They continue to do themselves in committing stupid plays and actions.

Meanwhile, the Mets are showing that they know how to play, doing the little things necessary to win. Scoring 2 runners on that one play late in the game for example. Endy Chavez beating out a drag bunt.

I can't believe this is the same Chavez that a year ago couldn't hit his way out of a wet paper bag!

Glavine was indeed beatable tonight, but once again our pitching and stupid play did us in.

Well, there's another game tomorrow..........

[voice of reason]

And a winnable game at that! And the day after tomorrow too.

Phils are lookin' ugly but are still only 2.5 back of the wild card in the weak NL.

Yeah, I know the Phils would not go far even if they were able to make the playoffs but a little September excitement would be nice while we look toward 2007.

[Nat]

Another game tomorrow and still another 90-some after that.

Not that I hold much hope for the Phillies, but look at the standings for June 14, 2005, and tell me the Astros (14.5 GB, 5th place) look like they're World Series bound and that the Yankees (6.5 GB, 4th place) are in line to win the AL East. It's still a long season, Paul "The Quacking Undertaker" Lo Duca aside. Dollar-sign-hit happens. Or, in the simple eloquence of Joaquin Andujar, "youneverknow."

[Dylan]

ya know, does writing dollarsign-hit make it any cleaner than me writing $hit. I mean i wont do it again because whoever runs this site has the right to tell me not to and i respect that and i apologize but im just sayin its still understood to be the same thing...

[davidWrightisaGod]

One down, two to go.. I can taste the sweep. LET"S GO METS!!

[RickSchuBlues]

I'll put this more directly than any stinkin' Mets fan can: the Phillies are chokers. They're the 7-UP team: never had it, never will.

Okay, so it's negative. But DON'T accuse me of bandwagonism. I'll be watching, win or lose.

[theragtopguy]

Once again, I agree totally with you RSB.

Choking is our legacy, but we will always watch and root for this team.

Or in my case, listen at work.

Our Ace Myers goes tomorrow, let's get those Mutts!

[Book]

Bad game. I don't really care that we nearly came back...if you remember, we nearly made the playoffs last season too. I'm tired of this "nearly" getting the job done bull crap. I've been saying this since day 1, that the Phillies just are not a playoff team. I really enjoyed the person who said about the Astros and Yanks of last season at this point in the season being down...the Phillies are not that good. The 'Stros had a great rotation and bullpen, Phils do not, and the Yanks are the Yanks...they have a GM that is allowed to do whatever he wants. I just don't foresee a wild card for this team, but wait...I'm throwing in the towel right? Hell no I'm not, I'll still root my butt off and watch every game. I just don't put false hope into to a hopeless situation. But I know someone will come back firing darts at me, and I'll just let the Phillies play prove me right.

[Tony]

Tough game last night. They'll win the next 2.

[That Dude]

RickSchu, the 7up thing is great, The Phillies are the Un-clutch

[yt]

No darts for you Book, I just hope your wrong, and I hope you hope your wrong.

[Tony]

They're 2.5 games out of the Wild Card behind Cincinnati, the Dodgers, and Arizona. Teams with just as much problems then the Phillies (except maybe the Dodgers but they'll probably win the division). Yeah the Phils probably won't win the division but they're still right in the mix. I can't believe I'm hearing some people say they hope they lose. I never understood that.

[MG]

Very interesting stat by Tony. Gillick still does have another 2-3 weeks to see how this team turns out but they just don't have the starting pitching. Period. They needed Lieber to win 16-18 games (no way) and they needed either Madson or Floyd to have a breakthrough type season (12+ wins).

I agree with RSB that the Phils' fans are tired of almost making the playoffs. Another season of 82-87 wins just doesn't cut it. I would rather have the Phils take a step back this year and have Gillick make some intelligent moves that position this team well for the next 1-2 yrs. The Phils do have a young core of players to build around. Not like Gillick took over the Royals.

People also need to relax their criticism of Gillick. It really takes a baseball GM at least 2-3 yrs to make a mark on a team. This team is Ed Wade's team, the good and the bad. It will take at least 2-3 yrs before any of this year's draft picks are ready for the major league club. I am reserving judgement on Gillick til at least the end of '07.

Tough for Phils' fan to wait yet another year but that is what is most likely necessary at this point.

[Billy Mac]

MG, Don't you think Gillick deserves criticism for failing to try to address the starting pitching in the offseason ? And for sitting on his hands for 2 1/2 months as the staff ERA climbs over 5. As you mentioned, this is not the Royals, but a flawed but very talented teams where their core players are in their prime. I think there was an opportunity this season that was not seized. Again way too early to give up, but it is very frustrating to see inaction from the GM. I would argue that Ned Colletti of the Dodgers would disagree it takes 2 to 3 years.

[kuff6]

Billy Mac: there was only so much Gillick could do. Ownership set a payroll limit, and there was very little flexibility for him to work with. Once the contracts Wolf ($9M), Lieberthal ($7.5M), and Bell ($4.5M) expire at the end of this season, Gillick will have a lot more room to get things done. As for Colletti and the Dodgers, he inherited one of the top farm systems in baseball and they have gotten tremendous production from the prospects (Martin, Aybar, Kemp) who have been called up due to injuries. Plus Nomar is hitting .360+. Plus Penny and Lowe have been awesome. All of those guys were there when Colletti arrived. What moves has he done that has contributed to where the Dodgers are today?

[kuff6]

Whoops - I guess he did bring in Nomar. But I stand by everything else I said.

[Billy Mac]

Ok, Gillick had payroll constraints. So does nearly every other GM in baseball and in most cases much more restrictive than the Phils. So the best you do to improve your starting staff is Ryan Franklin.

With regards to Colletti, he made some bold moves acquiring Nomar and Furcal. I think Grady Little was a good hire. I would argue Tomko is better than Franklin. Sele was a good pickup. Even some cheap pickups like Lofton, Martinez, and Alomar have been more useful than Nunez, Gonzo, and Sal.

[MG]

I agree that Gillick didn't make great bench moves this offseason but you are totally overlooking the major moves he made that look they will help this team in the longrun.

1. Gordon over Wagner (for one less yr and alot less money)
2. Thome for Rowand, Gonzalez, and Haigwood (allowed Phils to keey Howard, free up money down the road, solidfy CF, and good chance that Gonzalez or Haigwood will help will team in another year or so).

Ryan Franklin is not the reason why this team is floundering. Can't blame Gillick for Lieber's awful performance and for the poor pitching of Floyd and Madson. I definitely don't have to see Gillick trade one of the Phils few decent pitching prospects at Reading for a retread like Tomko or Sele.

[Billy Mac]

I am not discounting the Thome deal. Gillick received a lot of praise for it. And I think Ken Williams deserves a lot of credit here too as a 50 hr hitter for $7.5M ain't too shabby. The Gordon signing is to be determined, but so far it looks good. Agree 100 % on Lieber being the prime culprit, but I do blame Gillick for counting on both Floyd and Madson as they were his 4th and 5th starters to open the season. And 2 1/2 months into the season, Madson is still being trotted out there every 5th day with an ERA of 6 and Floyd will likely start Saturday.

Sele was signed to a minor league contract prior to the season and Tomko was a free agent signing (like Franklin). They weren't acquired for prospects. As were Kenny Rogers, Sidney Ponson and other pitchers that are helping clubs.