Durbin goes in series opener; Ennis to pitch tomorrow

The Phillies try to put a horrifying road trip behind them and climb back into the playoff hunt when they open a seven-game homestand tonight against the Florida Marlins. Meanwhile, right-hander John Ennis will start tomorrow afternoon, taking Adam Eaton's turn in the rotation.

Tonight's pitching matchups: Byung-Hyun Kim (8-6, 5.54) and J.D. Durbin (6-4, 6.27). Lineups have been posted: Jayson Werth, Greg Dobbs and Carlos Ruiz get starting nods. The Phils trail the Mets by five games in the NL East and San Diego by three in the Wild Card.

More on Ennis: Ennis finished the year strong at Ottawa and was called up for a second time when rosters expanded. In 37 games, including 7 starts with Ottawa, the 27-year-old was 4-4 with a 3.38 ERA and 83/38 K/BB ratio (88 IP). This will be his second Major League start, the first coming 2002 with Atlanta.  [Live Boxscore]

Comments

[parker]

@Mr. Mac: I have read Moneyball and I thought that it was interesting. I don't even disagree with a lot of the philosophy contained therin. What I do know is that Beane is potentially on the outs in Oakland because their farm system is completely barren right now. They have no huge prospects in the works. It was reported by Buster Olney that they were thinking about trading Haren, Houston Street, and Rich Harden just to rebuild their system. My point is, if he is such a great GM, and is building the organization from the ground up via prospects, where are they? That is what he is trying to do, right? And their payroll is only $10 million less than the Phillies, so it is not like he is working with chump change, or at that huge of a disadvantage to the Phillies. Its not like they are operating under Tampa Bay's budget. Coincedentally, Tampa is loaded with young talent in their system, yet I don't think that they are adhering to the Moneyball system. If you can explain the quandry that exist with the Beane system and the actual results, please do.

[Reed]

100 bucks we sign Enrique Gonzalez who was just dfa'd with Wickman joining the snakes.

[75]

i hope they sign him. A change of scenery might help. I'll take him. The market next year his thin.

Let's sweep the Fish. Go Phillies!

[Reed]

ahhh. the old 1-2-3 inning. feels pretty damn good.

doesn't happen enough.

[parker]

Good thing I have MLB extra innings so I can watch the game. Oh yeah, its not airing. SOB's.

[squatter]

Can Utley hit, or what? They throw at him, they throw away from him, doesn't matter.

[squatter]

He's at 343 now, anybody have an opinion on his getting 350?

[Mike Cunningham]

The NL East THROWS at Chase Utley...

Chase has been hit 50 times in his career. The Atlanta Braves have hit him 10 times. The Nationals... 7 times. Mets 6 times. Florida just 4.

Tim Hudson has hit Utley 3 times!

The Phillies play NL east opponents 46% of the time. The NL east hits Utley 54% of the time.

Ridiculous...

I know kim wasn't throwing at Utley... but something needs to be done about it. He's our best player. He needs to be protected.

[Andy]

squatter - he OWNS Kim.

[Andy]

I posted this on the other thread, but: they really need to hit somebody tonight. My choice is Cabrera.

[squatter]

Andy- Don't know the stats, but he does okay on just about everyone, right.

[parker]

Stros 1-0 on Muts. The Rat goes home.

[Andy]

squatter - baseball reference has a utility. Go to Kim's career figures, at the top there's a menu for against hitters. You can then either single him out or choose the3 entire Phils team. Utley and Rollins have good numbers. Dobbs is 4/6. Nunez has a couple hits off him too.

[CJ]

Chase is now 5 for 10 with a double, 2 home runs and 5 RBI in 11 plate appearances against Kim.

[squatter]

Andy- thanks, I'll check it out.

[CJ]

Hopefully this link works for Kim's splits vs. the Phillies.

[parker]

Durbin is horrible. Why is Ennis starting?

[madubbs]

This team is done, no emotion at all...GO EAGLES....double A pitching doesn't win games

[Michael]

Is there a reason Wes Helms was playing so far off the line right then??? Other than being a dumb ass?

[squatter]

On Gameday, says that he doubled, error on Burrell. But he's on 2nd. Guy would have scored from third. Why the error if no move up?

[squatter]

Sorry, that didn't make much sense. Cabrera would have scored from third on a single, so no error. Ross got a double (14) and he's on 2nd. He could have got a single and advanced, but that's a single.

[squatter]

Wait, my fault. I did't see the other guy--Jacobs. The throwing error allowed him to score, right?

[bathtubhippo]

what a crappy throw

[bathtubhippo]

x2..olivo should have been a dead duck

[naylman]

This is pathetic.

[madubbs]

WOW, WOW , WOW... Navy vs Rutgers on ESPN..

[Michael]

No kidding, JD! See what happens when you actually throw STRIKES!

[bathtubhippo]

yeah madubbs i might have to switch over to the RU game instead of this.

[fuzzycopper]

I can't help but get the image of Harry cupping the microphone with his hand, turning to Wheels, and hissing "These guys s*ck!" like Bob Uecker in Major League.

[strange]

Bad throw by Howard, to be sure. But man, the Real Deal is absolutely dreadful.

[squatter]

Didja ever have a week like JD has had?

[squatter]

Fuzzy: lol

[naylman]

Throw strikes, please.

[Nails4]

squatter, Burrell bobbled the ball three times on Ross's double allowing the second run to score.
Kim bunted and Howard threw to third wildly and 2 runs scored on that error.

[squatter]

Nails, thanks. I might not ask anymore, I think it might be better for me mentally.

[squatter]

Phils have 2 errors, that means Charlie bats Nunez for Dobbs this inning.

[Michael]

My bad... I said Helms earlier. Meant to say Dobbs

[Michael]

Why are we chasing these breaking balls that start on the corner and tail WAY off the plate?

[Michael]

Kim is getting some low strikes.

[bathtubhippo]

flipped back just to see that, good timing! way to go pat.

[Michael]

Who woulda thought Pat Burrell would be lighting up that bell so much! GO PHILS!

[Hope springs eternal]

You have to give Burrell at least some credit -- he has kept his focus better than some of the favorites -- in spite of the error (which I couldn't see bc no Comcast out in the country).

[Slocs]

Real Shmeal. Howard having another ugly game. By the way does Chris Coste play for this team any more. He is down to one start a week. Is Ruiz really doing all that great?

[joe]

i think that i'd prefer eaton over jd.

[Slocs]

This strike zone is awful

[Slocs]

so what's wrong with Rowand?

[bathtubhippo]

well done there...and right after i had called for a "condrey special"--all inherited runners score before he gets out of a jam and gives up no runs of his own. nice to be wrong sometimes.

[bathtubhippo]

slocs, i'm one of his biggest fans, but is coste doing all that great lately? as i write that, barajas!!! he's the hottest hitting catcher we have. hilarious.

[Crazy Jon]

This game is closer than Navy - Rutgers...was just watching that.

[diggitydave]

you gotta be kidding me. this sucks

[Reed]

it's really a bummer to see this team so flat. they look defeated.

this ump sucks. wide zone for kim.

werth's run has officially hit a halt.

yet, this game is win-able and they better wake their f'n asses up and win!

[Michael]

Werth must've thought he had Go-Go-Gadget extending arms

[Michael]

It's looking like Kim gets a strike so long as the Marlins catcher gets his glove on the ball

[diggitydave]

alright geary.
gotta get at least one here with ruiz, guch (probably), top of the order.

let's go baby

[squatter]

On Philly.com they have a story that Richie Ashburn's son found a bunch of home videos from the 50's. He took them to NFL films- they have Richie, of course, Yogi, DiMaggio, Roberts, etc. There's a one minute sample on the site, they probably will sell a video tribute later.

[Reed]

let get Gas Can a win!

[Michael]

If the Phils get another leadoff base hit and fail to score, I'm going to bash my TV with a shovel.

[diggitydave]

forget gas can, let's get a win for goya latina night!

[diggitydave]

great, great at-bat, and then he swings at ball 4. awesome.

[madubbs]

I hate wes helms and nunez, they are the horrible

[squatter]

si, si

[diggitydave]

helms is atrocious. he gives absolutely NOTHING to this team

[bathtubhippo]

phillies, no es bueno

[Andy]

hippo: how do you say - "suck big time" in el espanol

[RSB]

Charlie Manuel's really holding this team together. It doesn't look at all like they're playing with their heads down or anything.

[Crazy Jon]

No effin heart. Manuel does not have this team mentally ready to play.
He's officially overstayed his welcome.

[bathtubhippo]

no es bueno :(

[Crazy Jon]

How do you spell retard?

[Andy]

que reguero

[Andy]

crazy jon - you did fine.

[naylman]

Looking on the birght side,atleast the Phils kept us interested until football season.

[clout]

Hey Andy, great job by your man Durbin tonight. Durbin & Ennis, just like Koufax & Drysdale, no?

[Andy]

clout - he's the Real Deal, baby!

y'know - in some alternative universe.

Meanwhile, (and I'm a supporter of the left-field is for non-fielders hypothesis) errors by the bangers cost a bot tonight, too.

[Reed]

The gold glove Burrell and completely choking former MVP have done some defense damage

[Andy]

clout - I'm not about to claim Ennis, however.

And hey, Durbin's hitting like Drysdale.

[squatter]

Any of you on Gameday notice that the strike zone box is missing. Is this fallout from the Joe West debacle?

[clout]

In Durbin's defense, 3 of the 5 runs were unearned. On the other hand, he allowed 5 hits and 4 walks in 4.1 IP. And to think half of Beerleaguer had him penciled in as the #3 starter next season. Tsk, tsk.

[Andy]

squatter - I was wondering the same thing.

[clout]

Andy: I don't think anyone wants to claim Kane Davis either.

[Andy]

yeah, clout, I think he needs a year in Allentown (my fair city - originally) or two and maybe some serious psychotherapy. (Durbin, that is. The Kanester needs to not give up his day job.)

[BTB]

muts up 11-2

[Andy]

Okay. Cabrera's up next inning. If there's two outs when he comes up and no baserunners, (pop quiz) where would your first pitch be?

[clout]

On the good news front, Padres are losing 4-0 in the 3rd.

[parker]

Well, is Iguchi playing 3rd?

[clout]

Is the Marlins bullpen this good?

[Andy]

I'm guessing No-hit.

[clout]

Nunez will play 3B, silly.

[Reed]

If we had the Marlins bullpen, we would definitely be playoff bound...that how BAD the Phils bp is

[clout]

One upside of the Phils bad streak is all the idiot posters are gone. The number of idiot posters on Beerleaguer is directly proportional to how good the team is doing.

[parker]

Im looking at gamecast, so I can't tell clout. Wishful thinking.

[Andy]

Just out of curiosity, I checked Howard against Tankersley. 7 plate appearances, 5 Ks 2 BBs. Amazing.

[clout]

Reed: I think you're right. They don't dazzle you, but they have specialists, guys that are either lights out vs. righties or lights out vs. lefties.

[Andy]

clout - define "idiot"; we're the ones still following this team.

[Ben Keeler]

Hmmmm I dont think Durbin is going to be in the 2007 rotation. Especially if we have an abundance of good starters again.

[parker]

Andy: good point.

[parker]

Ben K.: Lol

[squatter]

No wait, Clout, I'm still here:)

[parker]

Here it is, do they tank it, or do they put up some effort?

[Ben Keeler]

Oh yeah, if we tie the game Roberson can come in for defense.

[squatter]

Mesa done good.