Phillies outlast Mets 3-2; face Pedro this afternoon

Chase Utley’s two-run homer tied the game 2-2, and the bottom of the Phillies’ lineup used small ball to score the winning run in the 10th, as the Phillies held on to beat the rival Mets Friday night. The Phils remain 1 1-2 back of the Padres in the Wild Card.

The Phillies finally got some pitching help as the game featured quality efforts from starter Jamie Moyer and the back of the 'pen. The game also included some outstanding defense on both sides of the ball (multiple Web Gems issued on Baseball Tonight).

In the 10th, Greg Dobbs pinch-hit sacrifice fly scored Jayson Werth, who reached second on a throwing error by Aaron Heilman on Carlos Ruiz’s bunt, then a picturesque bunt by Abraham Nunez moved Werth to third. For Dobbs, it was his 14th pinch RBI, which leads the league. Utley’s home run was his 20th, which gives the Phils five players to hit 20 homers in a season for the first time in franchise history.

Tom Gordon picked up the win and struck out three in 1 1-3 scoreless innings. Brett Myers pitched a perfect 10th for his 16th save. Jamie Moyer lasted a full seven frames for the first time since July 27.

The Phillies sixth-straight victory over the Mets wasn’t enough to gain ground in the Wild Card race, as Khalil Greene’s walk-off homer in the 10th gave the Padres a 5-4 win over the Giants. The Phils still trail the Pads 1 1-2 games in the Wild Card.

Game chat: Kyle Lohse (8-12, 4.47) against Pedro Martinez (2-0, 1.80). Pedro has looked good in winning both his starts since offseason shoulder surgery. First pitch is 1:10 p.m.

Comments

[Mike H.]

Pedro has also faced the Reds and the Astros this year, two teams whose seasons were over in July and who have rarely faced him in the last three years.

Burrell is 0-17 against him lifetime. All other current Phils are 24-74 against him, or .324.

[mike nutter]

lohse hasn't been bad and the phils are in the mets heads. they way the mets get rattled against the phils is great. those guys keep self destructing against our guys. especially that jerk faced racist gambling addict paul "chubby chaser" loduca. dude is out of hand. he gets tossed in a tightgame and his replacement blows it. hilarious! ever since he hit that homer off hamels, and danced around like a douche and was subsequently beaten and laughed at by hamels, the guy has been nothing short of a god send to the phils. keep it up buddy.

[bsg]

Jason, Welcome back, just in time for a great game! Hope to see more pictures of your trip

As reported in the Allentown Morning Call, Never good news when you hear Boras involved!

Boras drops by: Super agent Scott Boras was seated behind home plate during batting practice and took a minute to say hello to client Kyle Lohse, who will be a free agent after the season.

Lohse, 28, is 2-0 with a 4.12 ERA and four quality starts in eight games since the Phillies acquired him in late July. Boras said Lohse would consider a return to Philadelphia, but Boras is known for taking his players on the open market.

''I think Kyle Lohse is going to be very good because he's one of the few guys that are in that batch of 27-, 28-year-old arms,'' Boras said. ''There's not that many guys that fall into that class. And the other thing about Kyle is he's been durable. And he's pitched in the playoffs.

''He's got a resume a lot of teams will look at because he's been successful.''

[limoguy]

The Phils simply do not have the arms to make the playoffs, so if they do make it into the postseason, it will be by a fluke or because the teams ahead of them in the wild card race are actually worse than them. I was following them closely part of the season but just couldn't take it. I don't have Comcast, so I can't watch many of the games on tv and it's a godsend that they're knocked off WEEU a couple of days each week because of the station's commitments to high school football and the Eagles. This assists me in my attempt not to follow them too closely.

[phillieanthropist]

I couldn't sleep b/c I went to bed with dreams of being half out. It really burned to wake up and learn what happened.

Two thoughts:

1. If I'm not mistaken, we're the team that embarrassed Pedro Martinez in his final game before he finally came clean on his injury last year. He'll either be out for revenge today or will say something got tweaked if the Phillies jump on him. I would bet on the latter.

2. As for the Phillies making the playoffs and their lack of pitching, who cares how. As long as there's still hope, I for one will choose to believe. I will just try to understand that heartbreak at some point is likely.

[NY Fan]

a yanks fan here saying that you guys will take this division next year depending you get some more pitching in the offseason. GO PHILS

[from the district]

"The Phils simply do not have the arms to make the playoffs, so if they do make it into the postseason, it will be by a fluke or because the teams ahead of them in the wild card race are actually worse than them."

Bold analysis. The Phillies wont make the playoffs, unless they do and in that case the reason is that they are either better or possibly even not better than the other teams in competition.

And if you don't want to follow the Phillies, this might be a place you should avoid.

[AWH]

NY Fan, if Giles, Montgomery, Gillick and liar liar had done a decent job in the offseason with the pitching staff the Phils would have won the division this year.

The problem with next year is the lineup will probably not include Aaron Rowand, one of the Phils 20 HR guys and a force in the clubhouse. Management simply won't pay market value, not even for their own free agents.

Long-term, many of us have serious reservations as to whether this team will remain competitive. Of the home-grown, young "core" players: Rollins, Utley, Howard, Hamels, Myers, Burrell and maybe Ruiz and Bourn, only Utley is signed to a long-term deal. This greedy ownership group doesn't invest in their players, and players acquisition and development seems to be done on a shoestring budget in comparison to the other big market teams (see Latin America and draft slotting bonuses).

So, NY Fan, enjoy the fact that you root for a team who's owners and management actually care if they win, not just if the seats are filled.

[AWH]

NY Fan, the Yanks and Phillies were in the same boat early in the season: Both have the best lineup n their respective leagues, but early in the season, the pitching was non-existent.

The difference today: Yanks farm system is better run - more and better young arms to call up for help, and Cashman is a better GM than Gillick in terms of finding pitching through trades or on the waiver wire. Or, at least, he doesn't have the Giles, Betz, Buck, Buck, Buck, Middleton, Montgomery ownership group hung around his neck like an albatross. (see Abreu trade for reference)

[bigmyc]

I don't like LoDuca either. Matter-o-fact, it seems like the guy goes out of his way to make people dislike him sometimes, but I'm not sure that I'd call him a racist.

Where do you get that idea from?

[Chstk of Sffrng]

Ugh. Said a week or so ago that after they were done playing LA the Padres schedule was just too easy ... and last night shows why. It's going to be tough to pick up games. Phils are going to have to keep up their uncanny mastery of the Mutts and hope that the Giants don't fold every game like they did last night. And after the Giants, they have four games at home against Pittsburgh (which, as the Phils know all too well, may be not quite as much of a gimme.)

[Chstk of Sffrng]

bigmyc, earlier in teh season LoDuca said some very unpleasant things about how the Latino players on the Mets needed to be held more accountable or something of the sort, and said soething like "They speak English, you know."

[Bedrosians's Beard]

Eskin was reporting that Lohse has all but said he doesn't want to sign here for next year and beyond. Eskin's been wrong before, but anyone else hear that? With Boras being involved, I'd worry about having another Eaton in our rotation for big $.

[Andy]

Lohse may or may not want to sign here. The real barrier to his return, however, is that no Phils General Manager will (ought to?) deal with Bore-a$$.

[The Theory]

It seems to me that when the Phillies have played the Mets this year the luck of both teams switches. The Phillies, who usually have a corner on fluky/mistake-ridden loses, suddenly get all of the calls and the little bloopers to fall. The Mets, who are certainly in 1st for a reason, suddenly can't find their shoelaces to tie.

Not that I'm complaining. Other than the Mets being in 1st...

[mike nutter]

the loduca racist stoy goes like so. around june or july the mets pitchers were struggling. especially certin latino pitchers. loduca, being the catcher, was doing a ton of postgame interviews about the pitching problems. he blew his top, surprise, in one interview and said that he was sick of talking and that some of the other guys on the team speak english. also around the same time there were rumors of a white/latino divide in the mets club house led by julio franco. a week after loduca's comments julio was let go.

[bsg]

sounds like boras is starting the hype machine for loshe, it would be intersting if the phillies are willing to overpay for another mediocre arm , philliesflow has some good #'s about loshe, he has a combined reds/phillies home e.r.a of 3.05 not bad but 3-9 5.82 era on the road, but suprisingly he has gotten the least run support of any of the phillies pitchers w/ 4.16 runs a gm. it's hard to tell what we would get from him full a full season,doubt it could be worse than eaton i guess everything depends on if they even bother trying to sign rowand,or if they do put the money into more pitching. If rowand is looking for something like a 4 year deal , there's no way the phillies are going to do it. i can't wait to see how they spend their money . i can see them not signing rowand and then make a bid for tori hunter just as some strange p.r. move just the way they did with soriano

[mike nutter]

rowand has put the phils in a tough spot this year. the guy is not the player he has been this year. he is havign the definition of a contract year (which i generally don't buy into). he will most likely never hit this well again. he is a fan fav, but he his a below average cf. he takes bizzare paths to the ball and is too often nowhere near balls he should get to. he is the third best cf on the team. but he is having a huge year and could command a ton of money for a long time. does anyone really want to lock up a .275 15-20 homer guy for 4 years at a giant price tag. bad PR to let him go but maybe bad baseball business to keep him.

[bsg]

Mike nutter: i agree with all you said, and you know the phillies are going to try to lowball for him i think if they could get him for 2 years( no way that's's going to happen) i'd take it because i'd think you trade off some of his d-fense for his power over the next 2 years because you really don't know what kind of drop off in power and d, you would get with bourn and victorino in the of. i wouldn't be surprised if he lands with the twins if hunter is gone but i dont know what the outfield needs are for other teams

[The Theory]

I wouldn't pay a high price for Rowand, although I also wouldn't mind him staying. But I have serious doubts about him pulling off another year like this one. We would do just as well with the other guys we have... Burrell, Vic, Werth, and Bourn.

[clout]

Theory: How much offense would an OF of Burrell, Vic and Werth/Bourn produce? Are you one of those who think that Werth's stats this year would hold up for 500 ABs?

[Sophist]

Not great news for the Phils on the Padres front - the Pirates are taking their Ace out of rotation:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/
07258/817870-63.stm

[Sophist]

excuse me - he's not their "Ace," just a veteran.

[bsg]

also the thing about werth is looking at his no's he's never had more than 340 a.b's in a season IMO i don't think a platoon out field with vic bourn, adn werth would work just too much uncertainty. ......and as for todays game i just hope the phils are patient at the plate especially if pedro struggles with his command i see nunez is 3-6 with 4 r.b.i's against him in just 6 ab's god i hope thats not enough for cholly to start him , i mean if he puts nunez and ruiz in today,( i DON'T no-hit would get back 2 back starts. we have got to be patient with pedro and make him throw alot pitches we can't give this guy any help!

[Replacement Player]

Awoke this morning to find myself praising the 9th inning in the comments of last night's game, when I actually meant the tenth. Scorekeepers at home make note. Also, how *does* one spell retarded?

[Sophist]

Actually looking over the Pirates numbers, Armas' departure from the rotation may be a bad thing for the Padres - the guys isn't very good. 6.07 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 106 Hits and 37 BB in 92 IP.

[mike nutter]

replacement player, i know how! L-O-D-U-C-A

[Sophist]

Lineups according to ESPN.com boxscore:

SS Rollins
2B Utley
LF Burrell
1B Howard
CF Rowand
3B Dobbs
RF Werth
C Coste
P Lohse

SS Reyes
2B Castillo
3B Wright
CF Beltran
LF Alou
1B Green
C LoDuca
RF Milledge
P Martinez

[fletch]

Here's hoping for a replay of the Phils' last matchup against Pedro. Sure, a healthy Hamels was on the mound that night, but the Phils did pretty well offensively, too.

[Bruce Ruffin]

Lohse really is just an average starting pitcher. Of course that makes him one of the best pitchers on the Phillies, but no doubt he will go for more than he's worth on the free agent market.

[Sophist]

Is the game a black-out on MLB.TV today? I live in St Louis, and not usually blacked out of any Phils games, but it looks like I am right now.

[Ben Keeler]

anyone else here the pregame show on the radio with gillick....he kept talking about how the phils need pitching in 2008....nothing like looking forward to next year when you are 1.5 games out of the WC

the last caller "hung up" before he got on; he was probably calling to ask where mateo was

[Sophist]

I forgot they blacked out all Saturday afternoon games. Seems like it has been awhile since I've been effected by that policy. I don't think there's even a game on fox out here today - Cubs are playing the Cards on WGN and Fox Sports.

[davthom73]

Sophist -- For my part, I can't get the game on my DIRECTV Extra Innings package this afternoon -- and I haven't tried mlb.com TV yet, but the last few times I have atempted that on mlb.com, I get he "blackout" screen -- even though the only major league baseball team that is supposed to have blackout rights in my home town of Grand Forks, North Dakota, is the Minnesota Twins.

Any suggestions, anyone?

[Sophist]

davthom - I believe they black out all games on Saturday afternoons. I think Fox has sole coverage of such games.

[Sophist]

I'm just going to listen to it on MLB radio.

[diggitydave]

hell i'll even take the audio feed right of the game right now. don't understand why they blackout every single game on saturday, even those that aren't on national TV...
how can i get the phils audio online??

[kdon]

sophist, I got the same thing in Boston. It's not a Fox game, but I think Fox has some lame deal with the league that *no* Saturday afternoon games can go out over MLB.TV.

I was ready to waste my afternoon watching the game, but not sure if I'm up for listening to Andersen for 3 hours!

[Sophist]

Good to see the Phils are taking pitches here.

[JMARR]

I can't get any of the MLB TV games here in Austin today - so they all must be blacked out.

[JMARR]

Big 2 out hit from Rowand

[Josh M]

Get we can from Pedro early boys!

[jobbers]

I can usually get blacked out games on mlb.tv here in the UK, but not this one

[Bridoc10]

Nice to see the boys jump to an early lead.

For those not watching the game, Pedro is playing with fire in arguing with and showing up the umpire. Could be interesting to watch as the game progresses.

[JMARR]

I would think Pedro is still on a limited pitch count --- would be nice to get him out of the game after 5 and take our chances with their pen.

[diggitydave]

anyone out there can help me with getting some audio for this game online??

bueller? bueller? bueller?

[kdon]

weird that its blacked out in England. I might venture a call

[JMARR]

25 pitch first inning for Pedro ... nice start.

[Sophist]

Solid first from the Phils: score a run, Pedro throws 25 pitches.

[JMARR]

I'm listening on MLB radio - even though the TV is blacked out.

[Sophist]

diggity - do you have MLB.TV? The MLB.TV package comes with the audio package included. You can listen to 1210 AM or WFAN. Or even the Spanish-language feed.

[Andy]

Lohse's command looks less than stellar so far.

[kdon]

Official word from mlb.tv is that all Saturday games before 4:00 are blacked out on TV.

Jobbers, they specifically mention the countries where the Sat. games are blacked out (Canada, Guam, Japan, etc.) but they *don't* mention the UK. You may have justification for a complaint.

[Sophist]

Lohse - you can't walk the guy before Wright.

Pedro went 5 IP in both his starts this year - 72 pitches in his first start, 92 in his second.

[Andy]

Coste knows how to keep people from stealing second on him.

[CJ]

Bah... you can't give these guys free bases. Catch the ball.

[Sophist]

Burrell!

[CJ]

Lohse has to locate his breaking ball to be at all effective.

[JMARR]

Big, big, big.

[CJ]

Pat Burrell??????????

He must be a Met Killer if he's making defensive plays.

[Andy]

Some pitchers use speed, some use guile and some rely on the favor of the baseball gods.

[CJ]

Hey... any of those Jackass Mets fans show up here last night as we completed our 6th straight win over New York?

[Mike H.]

This is usually where Pedro settles in. But a decent start to both sides of the inning.

[fletch]

The other day I stumbled onto a free, p2p streaming video program called SOPCast. Turns out you can use it to watch certain MLB games live, for free. Today's Phils game is available.

1) install SOPCast (Windows only, I think.)
2) go here and click the orange "play" link

That should be it. There's a note on that second page that says you might have to install VLC blah blah, but I didn't have to do any of that for this channel.

You can thank MLB.tv for blacking out the game. I never would have gone looking for an alternative otherwise.

[Andy]

CJ: none after the game started. Especially none after it was over.

[diggitydave]

sophist:
thanks so much! i had mlb.tv the whole time and i had no idea you could get free gameday audio with it.
only downside is now i have to deal with larry andersen all day, but what are you gonna do?

[davthom73]

Andy -- That was only Coste's second passed ball all year - and Coste has done an excellent time blocking low pitches this year -- as very few wild pitches have occurred in games in which Coste has been catching.

[Zach Morris]

Saturday games before 4:30 are blacked out on mlb.tv, as are Sunday games after 5:00.
However, the restriction is only for US, Canada, Guam, South Korea, and Japan. England should be able to get the game.

[JMARR]

would be nice for J-Roll to go yard here.

[JMARR]

Normally I wouldn't like Jimmy stealing there - but looks like they are going to go at Chase anyway.

[RSB]

Nutter - Rowand hasn't been quite as impressive on defense as we'd been led to believe, but calling him a "below average" CF is kind of ridiculous.

Eskin may be saying that Lohse won't re-sign on the basis of Lohse's anti-CBP comments. For all the Phils need pitching, however, it might be just as well. Adam Eaton eloquently proves it is not worth it to sign mediocre pitchers to expensive contracts just for the sake of having them to patch and fill a slot in the rotation. At least someone like Gavin Floyd could have notched a 6.30 ERA far more cheaply. I would much rather see the Phils go with a guy like Happ next year than another overpaid veteran dog pitcher. It would appear I'm starting to agree with kdon a little on this count, but I'm talking more about starters than relievers - note that for every ineffective Alfonseca and Mesa, there's been an even less effective Zagurski and Sanches.

[diggitydave]

do you think when rollins stole 2nd base and lo duca didn't even bother throwing, he realized that he has such a terrible arm that he has a better shot of throwing the ball into centerfield than catching j-roll stealing there??

[Josh M]

Good find Fletch.

[Josh M]

I like Rollins' steal there because it helps my fantasy team in the playoffs in that category.

[Zach Morris]

diggitydave -- we were asking that same question when Werth stole second (then third) a few weeks ago! LoDuca sucks!

[kdon]

Thanks fletch,

I've used sopcast before, but had no idea they had the games.

I won't offer anyone a guarantee, but I've always found sopcast to work well, with no spyware issues.

[JMARR]

It may mean a return to the rotation for Myers next year if no SP can be secured. Personally I think it will be easier to fill the pen than the rotation given what is going to be available and our limited trade resources.

Rotation:
Hamels
Myers
Moyer
Kendrick
Eaton

Bullpen
Geary
Romero
Madson
Gordon (unfortunately)
Need LHP
Need Set-up
Need Closer

However - I'm sure the brass will keep Myers in the closers role and we'll see something like:

Rotation:
Hamels
Kendrick
Moyer
Eaton
FA/Trade/Rookie

Pen:
Durbin
Geary
Romero
Madson
Mathieson
Gordon
Myers

[Mike H.]

Hamels did have a successful bullpen session. He will pitch on Tuesday in St. Louis.

[Mike]

I love how the fans at Shea need to be told when to clap and chant.

[Mike H.]

That was just reported by Scott Franzke, FYI.

[davthom73]

Mets' radio guys are saying that Alou was out by half a step at first base.

[Zach Morris]

Every time I've ever tried to use sopcast, it crashes immediately when I try to load a channel.
Bum luck, I guess, since there's no way to diagnose the problem.

[RSB]

Lohse has had a lot of trouble staying ahead of hitters in his last two starts. It's bound to catch up with him.

[Sophist]

The other thing that kills an average pitcher like Loshe is have to make an extra out in an inning (due to a blown call in this case).

Nice play by Utley. I suppose that's better than the DP?

[CJ]

LA thought it still could have been a DP but Coste had trouble finding home plate:-(

[RSB]

Metsies can't buy a clutch hit.

[Mike]

Everybody! OVER-RATED! OVER-RATED!

Reyes standing in there doesn't scare me at all. He's only tough when he can start causing problems on the bases.

[CJ]

that could have been a lot worse...

let's hope that was Lohse blowup inning.

[diggitydave]

btw, as far as sopcast is concerned, it's telling me the phils game is not being offered today...

[Sophist]

Nice work by Lohse. That kind of inning is usually a blow-up inning for a Phillies pitcher: a lead-off double, a blown call by an ump that should have been an out, a walk, and a HBP.

[Mike H.]

For having a crappy track record of getting out of jams, Lohse just got out of that jam.

[fletch]

Sorry, diggitydave. I don't know much about sopcast. This is the first time I've used it. All I can tell you is that it's working great for me.

[kdon]

fletch, I don't see the Phils listed under the sopcast channels.

What channel did you find it at?

[strange]

Davthom: you live in North Dakota? Ok, now I'm convinced you're related to Chris Coste.

[Sophist]

Howard's hit today was only his 8th this month. He's struck out 21 times in 47 AB. 7 BB.

Hear the Mets fans cheer there for the ball at Rowand's head? No class.

[strange]

Pedro's got 6 strikeouts already - 2/3rds of his outs. Wow. After he was out on the DL for almost the whole season, I figured he didn't have much left in him. He clearly came back with something to prove.

[fletch]

kdon, the second link I posted above -- myp2p.net.

[kdon]

Thanks fletch, found it. Even if I do have to listen to the stupid Mets announcers.

[RSB]

Sophist - no mention of huge cheers Alfonseca got in Philadelphia for throwing at Helton's head?

[Sophist]

RSB - I was joking.