Game chat: Moyer no stranger to visiting Blue Jays

Left-hander Jamie Moyer goes for his 14th career win against Toronto as the Phillies aim for another home win tonight at Citizens Bank Park.

Preview: The Phillies are back at .500 after Jon Lieber locked down the Jays last night. Lieber, who's been rock solid as a starter, allowed three runs on six hits with a season-high seven strikeouts in seven-plus innings, leading the Phils to a 5-3 win. The Phillies scored all of their runs in the 5th inning, taking advantage of Dustin McGowan's blowup. Until that point, McGowan hadn't allowed a hit. The Phillies are hoping to get more of the same out of Jamie Moyer tonight as he's given them all season. The 44-year-old left-hander is 4-2 with a 3.48 ERA, however several Blue Jays have hit Moyer hard in the past, including Troy Glaus (17-49, 4 HR), Alex Rios (6-14, 4 XBH) and Frank Thomas (16-45, 6 HR), although the Jays' DH could be out of the starting lineup. Toronto will counter Moyer with right-hander Shawn Marcum (1-2, 4.43 ERA).

Madson sharp in rehab assignment: Reliever Ryan Madson made his first rehabilitation appearance for the Reading Phillies Friday night, throwing a scoreless inning against the Portland Sea Dogs. According to the Reading Eagle, Madson, on the Phillies’ 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique, showed life with his 93-mph fastball and solid command on his breaking pitches during his 16-pitch outing. Madson will pitch tomorrow in Reading and is expected to throw 30 pitches.

Phillies sign RHP Allan Simpson to minor league deal: Listed on SI's Phillies transaction page, the Phils have signed yet another ex-Pat Gillick farmhand, right-handed reliever Allan Simpson. Simpson was a non-roster invitee of the Pirates this spring, but didn't make the roster and became available. The 6-4 right-hander has seen action in 45 games with Colorado, Cincinnati and Milwaukee between 2004 and 2006, all in relief. He spent last season pitching for Triple-A Nashville (Milwaukee) and got into two games for the Brewers. He's 2-2 with a 6.05 ERA and 57/32 K/BB ratio in the majors. A former 8th round pick of the Mariners in 1997, he's 32-39 with a 3.67 ERA and 40 saves in 10 minor league seasons. No word yet on where Simpson will be pitching.

Calloway retires: Outfielder Ron Calloway, 30, has decided to hang them up, according to an Ottawa Lynx press release. Calloway was hitting .200 with three runs batted in over 31 games with the Lynx this season. He also played for the Lynx in 2001 and 2002 and made his Major League debut with the Montreal Expos in 2003. He had a .278 career Minor League batting average in more than 1,000 games, spanning 11 professional seasons. His spot on the roster has been filled by outfielder Pedro Swann, who had been in Double-A Reading.

[Live Boxscore]

Comments

[Lake Fred]

Let's hope Moyer can get us above .500. I would hope he doesn't put out his grass cuttings on the wrong day, or else this game might be in jeopardy.

[erich]

I did some number crunching on Antonio Alfonseca after noticing that he has been lit up when pitching on consecutive days

The line on the two Alfonsecas are quite different. Playing on dates when he has pitched the day before, Alfonseca line is 6 games, 4.2 innings pitched, 10 hits, 8 runs, all of them earned, 1HR, 5 BB, 2 K, 15.43 ERA. With at least a day's rest, his line is 14 games, 15 innings, 15 hits, 3 runs all earned, 0 HR, 4BB, 6K, 1.80 ERA

It seems that Alfonseca is hittable even when he's on, but usually manages to get the job done if he's fresh. Let's see if Manuel learns to use him correctly.

Another interesting split, especially if you remember spring training, is Greg Dobbs. When Chris Coste is on the team, Dobbs is hitting .381. With Chris Coste in the minors and appearing to be less of a threat to Dobbs' job, Dobbs hit .222. The obvious conclusion is that Dobbs responds well to job insecurity and should never be given a long term contract!

[RSB]

Wheels did the stadium PA for the first two batters. Was Dan Baker on the throne?

[mark goldentyer]

Hate to criticize, but erich-that is the single most ridiculous post I have read this year, and trust me, I think a lot of them here are not that sharp. It is possible you were being "tongue in cheek" with your comment. I hope so. Dobbs got hot(no pun intended) in Phoenix-got his first HR-BEFORE Mr. Coste came up. If you are serious with your post, you get my knucklehead of the year award.

[Parker]

We took organizational filler for Abreu, maybe we should have used him as the organizational filler.

.236 38 H, 37 K, 2 HR, 21 RBI.

I'm sure anybody that is watching the game heard this, but the Jays pitcher had a no hitter into the 6th against the D-Rays last week. He left in the 6th, so hopefully he can't get too far because he is appears to be on fire right now.

[Parker]

Man great play by Moyer. I had a feeling that a pitcher who had never hit in the MLB, might make some decent contact against Moyer and his batting practice speed pitches. Also wondered if Moyer might lose some focus with the pitcher up there, but I should know better.

[RSB]

This Marcum has some nasty stuff. Why is Thomas not starting against Moyer? Is there something in his contract about not playing the field?

Mark, I suppose it's none of my business, but that was obvious facetiousness from erich, and frankly you're the one who looks like a knucklehead.

[attytood will]

It's Yoel time.

[Malcolm]

We all saw this one coming.

[SVC]

Moyer, its time to say goodbye to that 3.XX ERA.

[attytood will]

At least there's one hero tonight.. that 10-year-old boy who threw the HR back on the field.

[RSB]

Can't you just see the repressed smiles in the owner's boxes whenever home run balls are thrown back on the field at CBP? "We just gave up two runs, but saved $6.98!" Probably makes them sit there hoping to initiate a new ballpark tradition of throwing back opponents' foul balls, as well.

[J. Weitzel]

Good time to pass along some totally awesome minor league news.

-- Phillies have signed RHP Allan Simpson to a minor league contract. Simpson spent this spring trying to win a job in the Pirates bullpen as a non-roster invite and has seen action with Colorado, Cincinnati and Milwaukee.

-- Outfielder Ron Calloway has retired.

More details have been posted to the header.

You won't find that kind of Saturday night coverage in the Daily News or Inquirer, right Will?

[attytood will]

We're leading the Sunday Daily News with the Calloway retirement. :-)

[MG]

Moyer is really get smoked. Just hope that Moyer can give the Phils another 2-3 innings to save the bullpen for tomorrow but it might be a good game to give the back end bullpen guys some work.

[mark goldentyer]

bullpen time if the Jays get their runner to third

[MG]

Ugh. A walk to the pitcher. It looks like we might get to see another appearance from Yoel before he is sent back to the minors when Madson is recalled.

[Malcolm]

Yoel for the rest of the game. I don't care if it becomes 22-0.

[MG]

Only possible good thing I can see possibly see coming out of this game is Castro finally getting to work in a non-pressure situation. A good outing might help to get him back on track.

[J. Weitzel]

I don't have access to the game. Is there anything specific Moyer is doing wrong? Isn't it always the same junk?

[MG]

Weitzel - Moyer was just getting behind every hitter because the Jays weren't chasing his changeup out of the zone. Moyer wasn't missing badly with location but he can't afford to miss at all really.

[J. Weitzel]

No hits again through four innings?

[attytood will]

LOL, everyone went out for the night.

Jason, Moyer was awful -- lack of control and command, with a lot of pitches up in the zone (like the HR balls). Pretty scary -- the last two outings Moyer has pretty much looked like...a 44-year-old guy still trying to pitch in the Show.

And if that's the case, then Gillick was right...the Phillies aren't contending until 2008.

Meanwhile, Yoel is looking like Cy Young here -- go figure.

[BloodStripes]

Saturday night palsy

[BloodStripes]

Smokin' error. Lets go Phils! Coste! My man

[BloodStripes]

Bummer. Back to sleep.

[Parker]

I love Coste, but that is the hole in his swing. I've said it before, the breaking ball away just beats him everytime. Tim Hudson absolutely owns him with a similar pitch. Damn, thought we might get a few more.

I make the comment about Coste because someone pointed out the whole in Dobb's swing the other night. I thought it was a good commment and I agreed with it.

Also, I missed the Utley HR, but I thought he just barely missed jacking one out in the first inning in an inside slider. I don't know if that was the same pitch, but he was right (Speedwise) on it and just missed it by inches. Anybody know if that was the pithch he hit it out on?

[Parker]

Man Utley smashed that ball, too bad it was right to Hill.

[MG]

Rosario throws hard but I honestly don't think that neither he nor the catcher know where it is going to end up. If Rosario had even adequate control, he would be a decent bullpen pitcher.

[clout]

Not much action on Beerleaguer tonight. I don't think it's coincidence Moyer's clunker comes against players who've handled him, as Jason pointed out in the intro. I see Parker's still trying to defend the Abreu trade as a good one. Yawn.

[Parker]

I think Condrey just earned himself a trip to Ottowa.

[Parker]

Clout, obviously I was joking in that comment. I've never said we got equal talent for Abreu. What I have always said is that I think Abreu is on the decline. I said he would have a bad year this year, and thus far he has proved me right. I have always said that the Phils knew what they had and they got what they could for Abreu. I also said that the Yanks would miss Sheffield in RF, which I imagine they do.

[clout]

Parker: Yeah, good thing they dumped him last year when they did. Sure couldn't have used him down the stretch. You still diggin' this bullpen? I wonder where BedBeard and kdon are.

[phila fan in dc]

Any chance Turnbow is going to come out of the bullpen tonight for the Blue Jays?

[bathtubhippo]

yea, parker, let's send condrey down and bring up all those movers and shakers we got in AAA with major league talent.

[Tray]

I don't know if the Yanks miss Sheffield, he's not lighting things up in Detroit himself, though he does have 8 home runs at least.

[Lake Fred]

I guess we should keep out Moyer for future interleague games and just use him against NL batters. A bad thumping tonight for the boys. Condrey sure hurt his cause. There's always tomorrow. Oops! It's already past midnight. There's always today to win.

[kells]

Thanks to TIVO I watched this game in 60 minutes. Bottom line-Moyer has been clutch all year-no need to jump on him. We need to take the series tomorrow to ensure a great homestand. Without Howard in the lineup the Ohills have played well. We need Madson back ASAP.

[Ben Keeler]

moyer obviously entitled to one bad outing. win tomorrow and go 7-3 on the homestand. i can live with that.

[ROB D]

When will people get the fact that Madson sucks?. I don't care if he EVER came back on the roster. No upside at all..In fact he has gotten worse as time has past.

[clout]

ROB: I am worried about Madson too. Carson correctly pointed out that Madson didn't just have one bad season last year. He's been bad since All-Star break 2005. He's too young to give up on, but if he doesn't get into a groove with improved command he could be Brandon Duckworth II.

[GM-Carson]

I thought Moyer would get spanked, but I didn't expect it to get so ugly. A 13-2 drubbing is embarassing. Ruber match today to try and get back to .500 yet again. I hope I'm not going to be repeating that the rest of the season.

[SirAlden]

Madson was pitching quite well recently before he was injured.

[ROB D]

Carson-- "getting back to .500" WILL be a familiar refrain.. This club is average, at best, as long as the bullpen remains the same. 82 wins because the bullpen will have blown 7-10 games.. another "just missed" (w/ 2.5 million attending to line Montgomery's pockets)season

[Parker]

Tray, Shaffields line:

8 HR, 24K, 25, BB, 21 RBI, 36 RS (Emphasis added) .246 BA (Has been steadlily on the rise since horrible start at the beginning of the season).

Speaking of Sheffield: A lot of us talked about the Phils acquiring him in the offseason. Of Course he is not a long term solution, but it seems like Sheff's game would fit into CBP better than Comerica. Can you imagine how many of those line drive HR he would hit out of the short porch in LF. I'd say he probably has 11 or 12 HR now if he is in the bank.

B-tubHippo: Might not have a whole lot in AAA, but I think the Mayor of Cincinnati could put up Condrey's line yesterday (That was horrible).

Clout: I never thought Condrey was a solution to the bullpen (He did clear waivers not long ago if you remember). Other than Condrey the BP didn't allow any runs yessterday. Again I don't think the bullpen is great, but what can you do? Trade is the only option. Question is, who goes?

[GM-Carson]

We were lucky to win the first game of this series by scratching out 5 runs on only 3 hits. Last night the offense didn't do much better while managing to muster 4 measly hits. It's not like the Blue Jays were throwing Cy Young's Roy Halladay or Pat Hentgen at us, rather Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum.

The Phils lineup has been slumping lately, with Rowand (5-24), Victorino (5-24), Rollins (5-32), Utley (1-11), Burrell (4-19), Helms (2-14), and Ruiz (4-22). Collectively that's 26-146 for a pitiful .178 batting average.

[curt]

I wouldn't be belittling the Jays pitching. Remember, they couldn't find room for Rosario, and he's either the 3rd or 4th guy out of our pen right now.

[Billy Mac]

Every once a while you will have a clunker. But last night's performance was one of the most uninspired I've seen this season. If I am Gillick, Condrey and Werth are released today. I don't even wait till Madson comes off the DL. Bring up Bisenius and Roberson. Condrey is a AAA lifer, Quad A guy at best. Werth can't play; I've never seen such a feeble swing on anyone 6' 5" that isn't a pitcher. He won't help this team. Although these are minor moves, send the message that results matter.

[AWH]

Billy Mac, I love the way you rip Condrey after one bad outing.

Let me ask you a question, should the Red Sox and Braves pitchers who got shelled yesterday be released?

[curt]

Billy Mac -- Doncha know that Cholly is working with Werth, just like he turned Roberson into a hitting machine last year, and Endy before him?

[J. Weitzel]

There are a handful of questionable players on the roster, but the one who doesn't belong above all else is Castro. He's too young to be here. He walked his first two hitters yesterday. I don't care that he had a 1-2-3 9th in garbage time, he should be in AAA working on his command.

[Billy Mac]

AWH, There is a reason Condrey is 32 years old and has bounced around the minors for the better part of 10 seasons. And performances like last night get journeyman types (I am being generous here) canned. What exactly does Condrey bring to the table that you can't find on any AAA roster ?

[curt]

There are 5 "questionable" players in the BP alone, as we rediscover every time our starter doesn't go 7.

I shudder to think of next year, when the returning starters under age 45 are Hamels and Eaton.

[Billy Mac]

This maybe old news -- Ryan Howard will be a DH during rehab games on Wednesday and Thursday at Single-A Lakewood.

[clout]

Billy Mac: Roberson? Roberson? Do you even pay attention a little bit?

[Billy Mac]

Clout, Are you concerned about the team losing Werth's 1 xbh or striking out 1 out of every 3 ABs ? I haven't even seen hit him a homerun in batting practice yet. He's useless. Roberson at least can be a defensive replacement/pinch runner, so we can see if Bourn can play.