Phils host Reds, playoff race heating up

The Phillies have a chance to gain ground in the NL Wild Card race when they open a three-game series against the Reds.

If the 52-61 Braves still count as having legitimate playoff hopes, more than 1/3 of all the major league games this weekend have significant National League Wild Card implications.

"You just never know," Randy Wolf told MLB.com. "This game is crazy. I think people have given up on us 10 times already. You look at what the Dodgers have done; I think they've won like 40 in a row now. You can make up a lot of ground quickly."

The Phillies have an opportunity to close the gap, or fall out of the race even more. Teams in the hunt are gunning for either 59-56 Cincinnati or 59-56 Los Angeles at this point.

If the Phils get all the right breaks this weekend, they could be tied for the Wild Card lead by Monday morning.

They can’t control the outcome of the other games, but they have an excellent chance to help themselves against a scuffling Reds club that has lost 8-of-12 and five in a row to the Phillies, who completed a sweep of the Reds at Great American Ballpark back on May 14.

Jon Lieber (4-9, 5.71 ERA) will try to build on a solid nine-inning effort against the Mets, but will also try to forget the critical throwing error that all but cost them the game. He’ll face right-hander Kyle Loshe (0-0, 4.50 ERA), making his second start for the Reds since coming over from Minnesota.

This is the start of a 10-game homestand for the Phils.

Comments

[JZ]

I hope they play like they have nothing to lose. Good luck, fellas.

[MG]

Lieber vs. Lohse. I would be shocked if either team is scores less than 5 runs. Talk about some mediocre starting pitching . . .

[Billy Mac]

Lieber went 6 2/3 perfect against the Reds in May. So, you never know.

[dane]

judging from lieber's last start maybe he is ready to put together a solid two months run for the Phils

[BloodStripes]

Leiber will want to make amends for his costly error in his last start. He ought to be fired up. Lets mash 'em Phillies!

[Mike H.]

This is the same Lieber that, post-All Star, is 1-3 with a 6.25 ERA and getting hit. He sounds POed in the media, though. He knows he should have won the Met game.

[dane]

liebers looking good so far. offensively though too many strikeouts

[BloodStripes]

That long ball should have been a double.

[Jon]

If we are indeed chasing after a potential wild card birth, we really need to address the third base position. Nunez is flat-out awful and just struck out once again in a crucial situation. Spare me the good defender bit. He gives away just as much with his weak bat as he does with his adequate defense. I would be willing to bet that Scales or King would put up a better than .164 average. I mean we don't even have a back-up option where we could pinch hit for Nunez if he must start...

[Mike H.]

What? Catcher interference?

[clout]

Jon: Why aim so low? Other teams make trades and actually get something of value in return. There are thirdbasemen available who would be a huge upgrade over Nunez without resorting to minor league lifers.

[dane]

atta boy jimmy

[Davthom73]

The big blaster strikes in the clutch!!

[Mike]

Only J-Roll would make me buy MLB Audio for the rest of the season....

[Bob D]

Way to go Burrell puts us up by one time to warm up Gordon

[Tim]

%$#*!

[clout]

Keep in mind, the Phillies are averaging 7 runs per game since the Abreu trade so this game is far from over.

[J. Weitzel]

Small. Very small. That's what Gordon has been in situations like tonight. Not all saves are the same. There are Mariano Rivera playoff-pressure saves, and then there are 7-5 lead against San Diego saves. Those are Gordon saves.

[voice of reason]

Clout, your a genius. Heh, heh, heh!

[Tim]

nice fundaments shane!

[Davthom73]

Chris Coste is a clutch hitter, period.

[clout]

Gillick could redeem himself a little by dealing one of the pieces of garbage he got from the Yankees to the Pirates for Joe Randa. Littlefield would do it in a heartbeat and the Phillies would boost their playoff chances by getting Nunez out of the lineup without giving anything of value.

[J. Weitzel]

Well, I was willing to have patience with Nunez, to see if he could figure it out with regular ABs. It's time to make a switch. Even if they bring up a defensive player from Scranton, he's got to be better than Nunez at the plate.

GREAT defense, Phils! Let's do it!

[clout]

Davthom: And if Coste has struck out you would've been silent. LOL!

[Tim]

clout - do you ever watch the game? take a valium, stop complaining about gillick and enjoy the actual game.

ps - your boy bobby makes that play all the time, right?

[J. Weitzel]

Clout: Why rain on the guy's parade? Don't you like the Phillies? Seriously, you have such beef with these players, and embrace the players who are gone, you might want to consider some other team.

[Mike H.]

Yep, I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. Nunez has to go.

This game is crazy!!!!!

[clout]

Sorry Jason, just can't stand hypocrisy and double-standards.

[Tim]

he's so sad and lonely.

[Mike H.]

Yeah, Clout... what's the last good thing the Phillies have done?

[clout]

Mike H: Scoring 7 runs per game is pretty darn good. If you're asking about Gillick's moves, however, I'll have to think about it.

[clout]

Tim: I'm confident that someday you'll make an intelligent post here. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn!

[J. Weitzel]

"Double-standards."

Explain what that means.

[Tim]

let's all (but clout) cheer for madson and hope he can lock this baby down for as long as it takes.

[Mike H.]

I am asking about Gillick's moves. And I appreciate you thinking about it. We may disagree, but you are still a better man than any Mets, Braves, Yankees, Marlins, Nats, and Dodgers fans - combined.

[That Dude]

why the f do we keep taking Pat out in the 9th. In essence it's playoff baseball now, so u play burrell and not sandoval.

[Thom]

at least rick white won't win his second straight appearance; that might make the brass think about retaining his services...(sarcasm intended)

[Tim]

he probably couldn't walk after running like that. you have to take him out there for the D.

[clout]

This is a very odd subset here tonight. It's not enough to root for the Phillies. You have to pretend their GM is infallible, all their prospects are golden and every post is well-reasoned. Strange. Have to hope MG, Alby, Dude & Billy Mac show up to restore some sanity.

[Mike H.]

I do think Burrell's foot is pretty painful these days.

Nice job Madson.

[voice of reason]

Clout - what do infallible GMs and golden prospects have to do with a poster cheering a lead-off double by Coste?

[Thom]

let's make it #11 for madson! are they REALLY going to run Franklin out there? god i regret moving to SC and missing games like this.

[Tim]

no... you just have to root for the phillies, not start bitching in the middle of a gameblog.

[Mike H.]

The only infallible GM, prospect, or poster that I know of is Jason Weitzel.

[Bob D]

Wow Nunez 3SO - yeah keep getting him at bats. (sarcasm intened also). This aint working with him, 2 of those were in crucial situations.

[Tim]

who said freel couldn't play third before... i digress.

[Mike H.]

That must have been Farney playing third...

[clout]

Bob D: My point exactly. Again, Randa is available for peanuts and Gillick has acquired tons of those.

[Bob D]

He's up again. Lets see if he can hit a homer to end this w/ 2outs

[Thom]

a battle of twits...nunez vs. franklin...futility indeed!

[clout]

This is the Franklin we all know and love.

[Bob D]

The other teams 'Twit' walked him
Our Twit is better, maybe he will steal a few bases here

[Tim]

yeah and if gillick got randa here and he played like he has this year, you'd be killing him for it.

[Bob D]

The twit was unable to score

next inning

[Bob D]

Oh the days of David Bell as we all lament

[voice of reason]

Re: Battle of the twits.

For all you Monty Python fans: maybe Nunez will run himself over while driving out of the parking garage.

[clout]

Tim: Here's something even you can understand:
Nunez: .166/.232/.221
Randa: .289/.345/.408

[Tim]

1-2-3

[Thom]

the dead parrot would probably be at least at the mendoza line...meanwhile, nunez continues pining for the fijords instead of putting wood to cowhide

[MAW]

I'm getting weird flashbacks to that game where Madson pitched six or so shutout innings in relief against the Mets.

I hope it doesn't end like that one did, though.

[Tim]

yeah and you'd still bitch about his 1-10 hr to k ratio. you kill gillick for everything, like he stole your girl (as if you ever had one). it's so pathetic. we're in the middle of a great wc game and you're bitching about not having a washed up 3b that struggles for playing time on the pirates.

[Thom]

i can't wait to see delucci and chase hit against franklin

[Bob D]

Does Nunez have a fan club?

And what would one be called?

[Mike H.]

VOR - LOL!

This is going to end now.

[voice of reason]

Good one Thom.

MAW - I think Madson has found his niche: extra-inning specialist!

[Tim]

i didn't think it was physically possible for franklin to k utley. wow

[Thom]

f that...i can't wait to see madson beat franklin

[Mike H.]

If this were the junior circuit... Howitzer would have done his best Big Papi imitation. And here comes Wolfie...

[Bob D]

Lets go Wolfe!
WoHoo our secret weapon

[Tim]

if wolf goes yard i'll send clout a yankee jersey of bobby. promise.

[Mike H.]

I was going to send him my Abe Nunez jersey...

[J. Weitzel]

The bullpen performances have been telling tonight. Madson back in form. Gordon can't nail down the big one. Franklin can hit 95 mph? You'd think he had a chip on his shoulder or something.

[Tim]

think something is wrong with rheal?

[Mike H.]

Harang warming up in the Cincy pen. This is not a drill.

[Jon]

Too bad the Wolf-Man could not win it on this full-moon night.

[Mike H.]

I think they are holding Frenchy for the Howitzer, if it came to that.

[Jon]

Geary better get is act together. He has thrown some real crap out there lately...

[Tim]

it's rough taking madson out there. i think it may signal he's offically a bullpen guy now.

[Tim]

i'd say a stat but i don't want to black cat...

[Bob D]

Wow another ex-Philly Milton pinch hitting for Franklin

[Jon]

Eric Milton...wtf? First pinch hitting appearnace ever and he lines one off of Geary...

[Mike H.]

That was a bullet. If Geary doesn't knock that down, there's a play at the plate. Fultz time.

[Bob D]

Did Geary get hurt?

[dane]

i cant say im surprised milton got a hit. how many times have the opposing pitchers hurt the phils this year?

[Tim]

i was going to say we lead mlb in induced double plays. don't need one now.

[Jon]

True, Dane.

[RickSchuBlues]

I hate to say it, but same old Phillies. Even in games where they manage to make a dramatic charge from behind, it always - I mean *always* happens that something will go wrong in the eighth or ninth to overcome the positive.

They just can't win these tight games at home the way good teams do.

[Jon]

Nicely done by Fultz. Now we have Rowand, Lieberthal, and Nunez coming up. Sounds like we are heading to the 14th inning...

[Thom]

i can't believe the phillies didn't pursue a "proven veteran" like hollandsworth...wow...3 k's...a very nunez-esque stat

[Tim]

rsb - games not over yet. don't go to clout-land on us.

[Bob D]

The black hole coming up
Rowand, Leiby, and our guy Nunez

[Jon]

Harang is in...

[BushLig]

Hard to believe, but with the departure of Bell, the black hole is even deeper. Yes, can we just fast forward to the 14th???

[Tim]

harang threw 117 two days ago. whether we score here or not, if we can hold them in the 14th i think we're good.

[RickSchuBlues]

I don't think you have to ever worry about me going to "Clout-land".

[Jon]

Damn, Harry thought it was out once again.

[RickSchuBlues]

Oh, Harry, you break my heart...it wasn't that close...

[Tim]

lol - i apologize for even considering it, rsb!

[BushLig]

I see a GIDP in the very near future...

[Jon]

Get the eff out of here, Nunez with a hit off of Harang... He still must be replaced.