Saturday action thread: Phillies try to continue climb

The Phillies moved a little closer to their playoff goal with a comfortable 6-3 win over Washington last night, coupled with San Diego’s 14-inning loss to Colorado. The Phils hope to build on their night of fortune tonight at RFK.

Scheduled starters: RHP Kyle Kendrick (9-4, 4.05) and RHP Tim Redding (3-5, 3.73)

Preview: The Phillies have reached the point where they must feel confident in their chances every time their 23-year-old right-hander takes the mound. Kendrick is 4-1 in his last six outings and defeated St. Louis on Monday, allowing three runs in six innings, only to watch the bullpen make it interesting. The kid can definitely pitch. What I like most is he knows exactly who he is and how to win with his abilities, plus he's a strike-thrower. He forced double-digit groundouts for what feels like the 10th time this season last game, including that key twin-killing in the 5th. He and Pat Burrell's second half are the best stories of ’07.

For Washington, Redding, one of several cheap Nationals reclamation projects who's actually worked out, has been a pleasant surprise until recently. He’s got a terrible 37/36 K/BB ratio. After getting through Shawn Hill last night, the worst is definitely over for the Phils this series.

Last night, the Phils made fairly easy work of the Nats considering how many times they’ve needed to grind out victories of late. Great nights from Ryan Howard and Pat Burrellm and more good innings from the back of the Phillies bullpen, despite the heavy workload, keyed the victory. The game was pretty much in Phillies' hands after Adam Eaton was yanked after walking five, hitting two and giving up three in five-plus. He’s a total scrub, and for the first time all season, the Phillies broadcast crew called him out.

Action packed Saturday: The Mets and Marlins get underway at 3:55 p.m. and should be on FOX for viewers on the East Coast. Penn State travels to Michigan hoping to snap an eight-game losing streak. No Big Ten Network needed for this national broadcast. Kickoff is 3:30 p.m. First pitch in Washington is 7:05 p.m. The San Diego/Colorado nightcap begins at 10:05 p.m. Enjoy the action, go Phils, and go Lions.

Comments

[J. Weitzel]

Totally awesome site maintenance: Sorry for the late post today. Since Japan, I've been catching up on sleep; sometimes 10 or 11 hours of it.

Kdon mentioned my old music playlist. I promise to update my picks and get rid of the baseball cards soon. Any preference? Books? CDs?

Also, let me know if the site is slowing down for anyone because of the NCAA ad on the right. If it becomes a problem, I'll scrap it.

Also a reminder - now is the time to advertise if you're looking to drive traffic to your web site or spread the word about your business. Beerleaguer is busier than ever and it's a shame all these eyeballs (and revenue) are going to waste. Good spots are available.

OK - enough site stuff. Back to baseball.

[bsg]

Anyword on beltran and if he might play tonight?

[CJ]

From the AP:

"Beltran's status is day to day, and he might be able to play Saturday, manager Willie Randolph said.

'He just got banged up a little bit,' Randolph said. 'He should be OK.'"

[GM-Carson]

Here's the latest news on Beltran and the Mets- Screw Carlos Beltran, Screw Billy Wagner, Screw Jesus Wright and Moses Reyes...Screw the Mets!!!

[CJ]

The quote from Myers last night is music to my ears... he knows the score and he knows where we stand. He's ready to pitch every game he's needed. I know no onewants the guy to get injured, but if he has to take the ball, he will. Ever hear The Rat say the same?

Quick question... does the transition from starter make it easier or harder for him to continue to take the ball night in and night out?

I don't anticipate seeing him or Gordon or Romero pitch tonight. Alfonseca won't be back until tomorrow. I suppose Geary might have an inning in him tonight. But the rest of the bullpen will have to pick up the slack in the 8th and 9th at least (if we get 7 out of Kendrick, I'll be really happy).

The bats have to give us an easy one tonight. Let's give our big bullpen arms a good night to relax.

[denny b.]

Is Adam Eaton having the worst season in the history of major league baseball for a double digit winner?

6-2 in the final 8.

[CJ]

Beltran is apparently in the lineup for today's game, according to Metsblog. Lastings Milledge has dropped his appeal and will miss the next three games.

[CJ]

denny b.: Actually, he is, according to Jayson Stark. He'll pretty much have the worst ERA in history for a pitcher who's .500 or better and pitched at least 17 starts.

[bsg]

c.j. thanks, talk about site maintenance, Philly.com just changed their web-site and as far as i can tell their not printing a picture of the back sports-page of the DailyNews,.. What are they thinking, reading the sports headline is like getting my daily fix of beerleaguer,!!

[diggitydave]

hey by the way, are the cubs bothering anyone else with the way that they're currently playing?
the only reason i bring this up is that it is a distinct possibility that, given the fact that the Cubs may never lose the rest of the season (because they're in the NL Central and therefore finish the season with teams like Cinci, pittsburgh, and Houston), the Brew Crew are eliminated from playoff contention by the time SD comes to play them.
that would be a real travesty, that SD would finish the season with 4 games against another team that would just roll over and let the pads sweep them...

[Jeff]

Don't bring PSU into this, it's like bringing politics in. SCREW PSU!

[Jeff]

CJ- I already emailed them and told them to get the daily news covers back, you should too.

[CJ]

diggitydave: I think it's gonna be tough for the Breweres to be eliminated before that final weekend. I imagine they'll have something to play for.

And, frankly, I'd rather see the Cubs in the playoffs than the Brewers if we're lucky enough to get there. For some reason, the Brewers scare me more.

[diggitydave]

i disagree - the cubs starters scare me in the playoffs. the prospect of facing 2 good lefties and zambrano in a 5 or 7 game series isn't very appealing. it's not like facing a brewers rotation possibly minus Ben Sheets...

and hey, i'm hoping as much as the next guy that milwaukee has something to play for the last weekend of the season. if they're still alive in the central race, you can bet your ass the stadium is gonna be packed and it's gonna be a tough place for the pads to play

[Mike H.]

Eaton is the announced pitcher for the 27th against Atlanta. This is a very bad thing.

[Alby]

It's not worth worrying about whether the Beermakers are eliminated by the final four games, because it's impossible to say how they'll play either way. The standard model says they'll play better if they're in contention, but we've all seen teams play tight in such conditions, especially if they're in a situation where they have to win every game and hope for the Cubs to lose. And we've all seen out-of-contention teams play very loose against contenders. In other words, try not to worry. Be happy. We won an Eaton-pitched game; who could ask for anything more?

[bsg]

With what could be the season on the line they can't be serious about pitching Eaton!!

[PhilsPhan1]

Does anyone know what is the latest an MLB season has gone without a single team clinching a playoff spot? It's amazing to me that with most teams only having 8 games left to play that not a single team has actually clinched. I know LAA@A are probably going to clinch today, but most years it seems as though at least one team has completely run away with the division by now.

[Sam Mc]

I saw "Go Lions" and thought, the Eagles arent that bad, but then i realized, Nittany Lions

[Mike H.]

Here's what I'd like to ask for - six more wins. The likelihood of one of those wins can be improved greatly by not pitching Eaton on the 27th at home.

[Tray]

Apparently some of the Phillies went to the White House yesterday... while they were talking to Bush, Manuel "spent most of the tour explaining to Specter why he had to pitch some of his less accomplished relievers so much." Myers was very impressed by Bush's knowledge (of baseball or the world, it doesn't say): "He knew everything," Myers said. "I couldn't say three words to him."

[AWH]

Carson, there's no reason to get sacreligious when discussing the Mets. The Phils need all the help they can get, and there is no point in angering the "man upstairs".

Remember:

"The fear of the the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Proverbs 1:7

[Mike H.]

Tell Proverbs 1:7 to Anthony Morelli. Because he is a dumb, dumb quarterback. That's my sole Penn State post of the day.

[Ben Rivera]

Go Wolverines!

[RSB]

Sheesh, two consecutive posts referring to Bush and then the Lord. Baseball, people. Baseball. We're at each other's throats enough as it is.

Jason, you had a great take on Kendrick: "What I like most is he knows exactly who he is and how to win with his abilities." That bodes awfully well for the future. The Phillies came up with a reliably effective starter out of thin air, six months after shelling out 24 mil for an absolute dog of a pitcher. Certainly doesn't speak to the omniscience of general managers.

[Tray]

Unfortunately, Willingham and Ross are out for the Fish.

[Slocs]

If Phills win wild card, they will likely face the DBacks in Arizona for the first two games. You can buy tickets on their MLB.com site, need this promotional code: PSX7W

Today, I bought two seats about 40 rows behind visitor dugout for $70/each for games 1 & 2.

If Arizona doesn't make playoffs, fully refundable. If Phils don't make, likely to sell at a profit. Same section is posted on Stubhub at $124.

[attytood will]

Ramiriz must be on the take...WTF with that throw? Sigh -- go Rockies, I guess.

[naylman]

Horrendous throw by Rameriz. It was freakin Moises Alou running pick it up and make the throw. It's simple.

[Slocs]

Jason - how can we hound the Phils to not pitch Eaton, who can write to beg and plead.

With an off day on Monday, we can skip Eaton and only Moyer and Lohse will need to go on 3 days rest on next Saturday and Sunday with the season on the line and that will probably be OK with all the adrenaline they'll both have.

[Slocs]

"who can we write to, to beg and plead"...

[Sad Panda]

Good to see the Fish gave up another unearned run. That team lacks basic competence.

[GM-Carson]

I wasn't being sacreligious, I was making a joke. My wife has taking to calling David Wright- Jesus, and Jose Reyes- Moses, because the media (including Chris Wheeler) think they're the greatest thing since the Messiah and the one of parted the Red Sea.

Anyway, the Marlins are pissing me off. 6 errors last night and now 1 already today...c'mon and play baseball you pansies!

[Tray]

It's a shame the Mets are playing such bad teams, if they had some real competition we'd be a sure bet to catch them with the way they've been playing.

[dave]

the schedule is all relative - we play the same schedule, just at different times

[Sad Panda]

Can we somehow arrange for a trade whereby both Adam Eaton and Anthony Morelli are traded to a deserted island in the South Pacific for a rock to be named later?

[Mike]

5-0 Mets. Byung Hyun-Kim is the Asian Adam Eaton.

[Andy]

I think we should trade Adam eaton to someone in the East and volunteer to pay his salary every time he plays us or the Mets.

[Andy]

The Mets are a problem witrh a 5-run lead today cause it's Ollie Perez. As I write that, of course, the Fish score. Woohoo!

[attytood will]

Well, we all know that it IS possible to blow a 5-0 lead over the Marlins. We learned that the hard way, just three weeks ago. Remember?

In fact, it's already 5-1....

[Andy]

Kim has given those 5 runs on just 3 hits and two walks.

[Andy]

Every once in a while, people do comparisons of the shortstops in the NL East and give Ramirez lots of props for his BA. But he has a significantly lower range factor than J-Roll, and his 23 (3 in the last 2 days) errors are truly a significant downer relative to our "fearless leader's" 11. You can keep Reyes and Ramirez; give me Jimmy any day.

He's not just our MVP; he's THE MVP.

[kells]

The NBA scandal has completely changed my mindset watching Pro sports. Normally seeing the Marlins commit 6 horrid errors last night would lead me to believe they spent the previous night in South Beach getting hamered.
The Ramirez error today was schetchy. All of a sudden I'm believeing in the NY/FL Latino connection

[attytood will]

I know the conventional wisdom until now had been that we had a much better chance of catching the Mets, but I've flip-flopped -- I'm starting to think our main hope is catching the Padres or even Arizona.
Look at the relative schedules -- even though I think San Diego is the best team in the NL, I think they could split these next two v. Colorado and also split with the Brewers, assuming Milwaukee is still in the race.
Look at who the Mets are playing -- they can't out-err the Marlins, no matter how hard they try.
All we have to do then is...win out.

[Andy]

attywood - how 'bout if we beat'em all and get homefield throughout the playoffs.

Hey, a guy can dream, right?

[JD]

Gaining 2 games on the Mets with 9 left is entirely possible, but whatever it takes to get the Phils in, I'll take it.

[Andy]

slocs,
I wonder what would happen if about two dozen of us wrote to Ken Mandel's mailbag at the Phillies official site and asked him why the f do the Phils continue to pitch someone as sucky as Eaton. Think he'd have to answer it?

[The Nationals Enquirer]

Hey, how come Manuel keeps telling guys to throw at Wily Mo Pena (3HBP in the last 2 games)?! Still mad about John Lannan breaking Chase Utley's hand or something?

[Johnny Goodtimes]

Whine alert: why can't the MLB get it's head out of its butt when it comes to scheduling? first they schedule tons of early april games in detroit and cleveland, then they have the NL East decided in september in empty stadiums in DC and Florida. face it, MLB: The nationals suck and they will always suck. nobody cares about the marlins, even when they are good. the mets and the phils are going to be the teams to beat in the NL East for years to come, so quit having them play the nats and marlins down the stretch every year, teams that have been mailing it in since may. have them play each other to determine a champ down the stretch run.

[Ben Keeler]

Lets go Rockies. Lets go Dodgers. And Lets go Phillies.

[Sad Panda]

Another idea: Have Adam Eaton and Anthony Morelli fight to the death. Then shoot the winner.

(frustrated)

[squatter]

Andy- I guess you can try to write, but if they did answer, it would probably be a bunch of BS about fielding the best team possible, we want to win, thanks for being a fan, and other lies and half-truths. No chance of a straight answer at all, so why bother.

[Mike H.]

Panda - I don't have twenty years to waste. But I like the way you think.

Pat Gillick is on the pregame radio show.

[Sophist]

Did the Mets really have two more errors today? Ag. And it looks like they'll win despite it.

[Sad Panda]

Mike: True. Through their incompetence, a full-contact match would look like shadow boxing.

Well, come on Phils. I don't feel like throwing any other objects across the room.

[Tray]

Does anyone have any idea why Joe Torre used 7 pitchers to pitch the 6th, 7th and 8th innings?

[Mike H.]

Hot and muggy down in Anacostia, DC tonight. Our mashers will have some fun.

[Sophist]

Why does LA think we need to keep track of Rollins' bats?

[Mike H.]

Oh boy...

[Parker]

# 100

[Sophist]

Chase!!

[Parker]

Followed by PTB

[attytood will]

Cut to the Chase!!!!

[Mike H.]

100 RBIs for Captain Smooth. What a great player. I don't hope for many things, but I'd like to have #26 retired by the Phillies one of these days.

[Sophist]

And Pat with a first pitch hit! Sounds like they came to play tonight!

[CJ]

Sophist: Isn't Rollins a couple dozen at bats away from the all-time record?

[JD]

The Fish are letting us down today. Go Rox!

[Mike H.]

Mets win.

[Mike H.]

J-Roll is at 683 ABs. The record is our good friend Willie Wilson in 1980 for the Royals, with 705.

[Sophist]

CJ: I think he's somewhere near 20 away. But what is the relevance of his actual bat?

[Sophist]

LA commented that Rollins' bat was a Mizuno.

[squatter]

All this guy does is throw strikes.

[enrico]

I was at the game on Friday night and the showing by Philly fans was impressive. I sat in left center and there was a large gathering of Phils fans in dead center, maybe 50-75+ Phils fans all chanting. You could hear them over the rest of the Nationals fans.

It was great. Also, they did a bit of taunting of a Mets fan.

[Parker]

Karl Kendrick, nice.

[Mike H.]

Efficient. Don't wait, just go. Awesome.

[squatter]

Mr. Kendrick appears to be in fine form tonight.

[Tray]

After Braun, is Kendrick the second best rookie in the NL this year? I guess Gallardo has pitched pretty well too, and you could also go with Tulowitzki or Pence.

[Parker]

Tray, gotta throw Lincecum in there as well.

[CJ]

Braun will win ROY with Tulowitzki second. The rest of the bunch will get otken votes, but not many.

[CJ]

Braves win.

[Parker]

Werthonian!!!

[Parker]

Come on Coste have to advance him there.

[Sad Panda]

Werth is such a smart player.

[Parker]

Werth, awesome.

[Tray]

Brewers fall 2.5 back.

[JD]

Nice heads up baserunning, Werth!

[CJ]

I LOVE the way Jayson Werth plays.

[Mike H.]

Have fun sleeping, Ronnie.

[Mike H.]

And yes, heads up, smart running by Werth.

[jeremy]

Someone watched the Houston-Cincinnati game last night.

[Sophist]

Tray - Lincecum has comparable numbers to Kendrick and has pitched more innings and games (146, 24). Peter Moylan has been excellent, but not as a starter.

[attytood will]

That was just great by Werth -- reminded me of the 11-10 game.

Too bad J-Roll reverted to his pop-outian ways there.

[JD]

Poor Lincecum has to pitch for an awful team

[Sad Panda]

Come on... get Belliard out. He's wasting the kid's arm.

[Sophist]

Tray - you may see some Chris Young votes as well, although he has 26 fewer hits in 27 fewer at-bats than Tulowitzki. I think Kouzmanoff is a rookie as well. Not I think he's better than Braun or Tulowitzki.

[Parker]

Man the ump caused Kyle Kendrick to pitch about 10 more pitches there with that lame call on Belliard (The should have been called strike 3).

[JD]

Yet another inscrutable strike zone.

[dmac]

I was just searching J-Roll's name on Baseball-Reference to see how far away he's from the at-bat and plate appearance records (AB 707, Rollins 684; PA 773 Rollins 745) and there's apparently another Jimmy Rollins in the minor leagues.

[Parker]

Blow RFK away already!

[Nick]

Huh. Did anyone else see that Mariners ad? during a PHL-WAS game? makes as much sense as anything else MLB.com does.