Sunday chat: Phillies conclude series in Windy City

Jamie Moyer (11-7, 3.81) faces the team that originally drafted him back in 1984 when the Phils wrap up their series in Chicago. For the Cubs, Carlos Zambrano (13-5, 3.53) tries to prove that his August slump was more mental than physical. First pitch is 2:20 ET.

Comments

[Hard4Harden]

LETS GO Z!!!! GO CUBS GO!!

[redbeard]

new screen saver thanks to j.c. and his heroic celebration yesterday.

grampy going hunting today for baby bears... lets go phils!

[clout]

"The Old Man and the Z"

[redbeard]

nice one, clout

[CJ]

Go Phils!

Big game here today. I think most of us would have been satisfied with a split coming in.

The good news, is that through three games, we've shown we can hang with the consensus best team in baseball. Had we not come in with an absolutely exhausted bullpen, things might have gone different.

[sdphillie]

Hanging is cool, but I prefer winning. Let's hope Moyer had his two bowls full of slow this morning.

[redbeard]

just read zambrano isnt pitching today and starting in place is sean marshall

[JKanef]

game isn't on MLB Extra Innings in NY. Anyone know if it is blacked out, what the deal is?

[not a met fan]

believe it was originally the espn game and got switched. Its on wgn if you get that channel.

[Jobbers]

Redbeard: Phillies.com has Marshall starting as well

[vegas]

Big Z has dead arm, he's pushed back to Tue. Sean Marshall starts today.

From MLB.com:
Marshall (3-3) has a 3.52 ERA in 27 appearances this year, including four starts. He held Florida to two runs and four hits in five innings and struck out eight in his last start on Aug. 16.

[MPN]

From last thread

clout: maybe then the Phillies could have a lefty and righty lineup with Werth. Against righties they put him in the 2 hole, and against lefties at 5 or 6.

[phargo]

"Its on wgn if you get that channel."

Oh dear- another afternoon on the couch eating junk food and watching the Phillies.

Thanks for the tip. And clout and redbeard, you guys are are funny.

[CJ]

Great news! No Zambrano. That is quite a break for the Phils.

[B-Mac]

Great news not having to face Zambrano today. Hopefully we can jump all over Marshall.

[denny b.]

Don't know if it was mentioned in yesterday's thread or not, but Kris Benson was released after the game in LV last night.

His LV career netted 1 win.

Hopefully he makes it back with someone next year (as long its someone in the AL).

[CJ]

1-0 Marlins already. First two men get hits against Pedro.

[CJ]

2-0 Marlins. Great start today!

[B-Mac]

Finally, the Mets are the ones who get jumped on in the first inning.

[MG]

Someone will take a flyer next on Benson again but the chances of him making it back to the majors in any kind of meaningful way are pretty remote.

It wasn't a bad signing but it was frustrating to see the Phils tout it as important signing when anybody with half a brain realized that it was a minor move that numerous teams make to give them a bit more depth in the minors.

[EastFallowfield]

But I thought the Mets had the best rotation ever!

[CJ]

Bah... 2-1, Beltran homers again.

[J.R. King]

Pedro gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and a wild pitch in the first inning.

Mets 1
Fish 2

[J.R. King]

It's so unnatural to root for Scott Olson

[Iceman]

You suck Olsen.

[Joe]

Anyone know of any bars in the DC/Alexandria area to watch the game? (Hopefully one with cheap beer?)

[PhillyPhan22]

Mets up 3-2...Evans and Wright back to back jacks. So much for that Marlins lead.

[stefan]

The Phillies WILL make the playoffs. And here's why:

The race is too close between the Mets and the Phillies to give any team an advantage in standings position. I just can't bring myself to say that the Mets and their horrible bullpen are going to make the playoffs. I will give that honor to the Philadelphia Phillies, who lead the NL with home runs as a result of a potent lineup stacked with the likes of Howard, Utley, and Burrel (each of whom has 30+ hrs).

Hope you enjoyed this post. For more insight on the MLB and the rest of the world of sports, check out my blog at:
http://talkaboutsport.blogspot.com/

Thanks,
Stefan

[Jack]

With Zambrano out, this is a huge chance for the Phils to get a win and get the split they needed. Need to jump on this kid early, stake Moyer to a lead.

[diggitydave]

Wheels makes a good point, in that with Marshall starting today only 1 lefty remains in the Cubs bullpen. Neal Cotts of course also pitched 1 1/3 innings in yesterday's game and therefore might not even be available for this game.
Not having a lefty to come in to face Utley, Howard, and turn around Jimmy and/or Shane could be a huge factor later on today..

[Sean]

I got a good feeling we are gonna get double digits. This guy hasnt got anything

[Andy]

Pat Burrell is actively hurting this team.

[Andy]

And now Howard is clogging up the bases.

[redbeard]

werth = cub killer

[diggitydave]

Lou looks like he's going to have an aneurysm in the dugout.. He's not happy..

[Andy]

And, Sean, remember after we knock out a couple Cubs' pitchers clout can call it: "A farewell to..."

Well. You know.

[Andy]

Are there any Jason Werth detractor's left?

[J.R. King]

Stephan:

We don't pimp our other sites on Beerleaguer. We complain about bad situational hitting.

Thanks,
J.R.

[Sean]

Jason Werth has been great. Hope we get him resigned...to me he is more of a priority the Burrell

[Adam]

Andy, I am a Jayson Werth detractor.

[Andy]

Johnson's career numbers against Moyer are pretty good.

[JMS]

Andy- oh, no question.

[The Theory]

Maybe someone can confirm or deny this, but it seems like it wasn't too long after Manuel stopped automatically pulling Burrell somewhere in the 7th or 8th inning that Pat started slumping again. It was last night when he got pulled in the 7th that made me think that it has been a while since we've seen Burrell gone that soon.

However, chronology is not a strong point of mine, so maybe I'm way off base here.

[Andy]

Thanks, Adam. Just checking.

[Andy]

Jamie blew him away with that 82 mph heater!

Incidentally, no one has faced Moyer more than Soriano (50 PAs); and Cedeno has pretty good numbers against him, too.

[Andy]

Theory - I don't know about stats, but it makes sense in a reverse jinx kind of way that the moment you place confidence in a player he slumps into oblivion.

[diggitydave]

"Line drive to center field, well hit... and it drops in front of the center fielder..."

Oy vey Harry

[redbeard]

love them bloops

[Andy]

Well, diggity, it was "well hit"

in a blooper kind of way.

[JMS]

I think Harry the K's trying to single-handedly fix the offense. I like to think the man has a direct line to God, but maybe not.

"If I call a HR, maybe it will be..."

[redbeard]

haha marshall forget to cover first

[Wfan]

"lets go mets, lets go mets!"

[JMS]

Now would be a good time for Burrell to get one of his infamous BBs.

[Andy]

Lee's reflexes are second only to Ryan "The Big (Awkward, Slow and Haphazard) Cat" Howard.

[THe DUde]

Burrell is what the back of his baseball card says he is...a .259 hitter with 30 hrs and 90 rbi's.. His hr's will be a little better than his career averages but the all the other #'s are in line with career avg's. I wouldn't expect to see him get a longterm deal here

[Andy]

I love how Burrell's strike one was further inside than ball three - talk about "automatic."

[redbeard]

how many times will burrell look at his curve before he measures it up and offers at it?

for cryin out loud, pat. take the damn bat off your shoulder.

[curt]

Burrell should be embarrassed. 2 men on & the bat never left his shoulder.

[Andy]

Wfan -
I see Pedro is exiting the game. Better keep cheering as that tough Met bullpen covers the last three innings.

[Andy]

curt - he should've walked on four pitches. The curve on strike three was tough. But yeah, he should have swung on "strike two."

On the bright side, he upped Marshall's pitch count.

[JMS]

C'mon Jamie.

[redbeard]

howard almost got jimmy hurt with that garbage throw

[JMS]

Oh my.

[Andy]

Ronny Cedeno is now 4 for 9 off Moyer. Kinda wish Theriot was in.

[THe Dude]

pathetic....Season = over!

[Andy]

yikes

[JMS]

When is Werth's AB?

[redbeard]

center fielders dont lose balls in the sun, then duck out of the way.

pretty bonehead play by vic

[THe Dude]

Nothing is ever easy with this team. Howard is a bum and two times a week he hits a hr and has some sort of influence a game with his bat but other than that he's an absolute liability offensively and defensively. To consider him anything other than a DH is foolish. THe whole complexion of this inning would've been different if he could've made that throw to J$hit to start the doubleplay.

[Andy]

Dude.

The team is actively hurting the team.

[JMS]

Gosh, Howard. An RBI single and a walk-off double. Bum.

[jobbers]

Redbeard

but it was OK last week when it went in our favour?

[diehard]

Charlie must be pissed that we used the bunt there to move a runner, that's not baseball.

[THe Dude]

Victorino is a total piece of crap. He's the worst offensive and defensive player in baseball. He also is the worst guy i've ever seen at bunting. Completely worthless player that should be benched for Golson next week.

[Andy]

This is sad. We finally got runners on and now that Werthless guy is up.

[JMS]

Ugh, can we get THe Dude out of here, please? Being a Mets fan is enough of a mental disease, but can you actually watch a game before you spew nonsense?

[Andy]

nuts

[The Dude]

Jms - yeah not many good players hit .230 for an entire season. In fact no superstar players ever hit .230 in a season. And the fat man wants to get paid as a superstar so he better start to learn to hit at least .270 to get paid what he wants.

[diggitydave]

Come on Phils.. This is pathetic..

[THeDude]

THis is unreal to watch.

[Jack]

Does anyone doubt that not scoring runs this inning will come back to haunt us? This Cubs offense is really, really good. They will score more runs against Moyer and our bullpen. We need to take advantage of opportunities like this inning. That's terrible.

[Andy]

If Coste was in the line-up, I bet Feliz would have had an AB there.

Insead we got Chooch and Pappy with the bases loaded. Hope Moyer is better than his last start.

[redbeard]

jobbers, why would i mind if another teams center fielder makes a bad play while playing us and it benefits us? of course that would be ok with me, and not ok with the other teams fans/coaches/etc.

[THe Dude]

make it 2 games behind by end of today. And 3 games after tomorrow's phils loss and mets win. I was one game off when i predicted friday that the phils would be 4 games out by the end of the holiday weekend.

[Andy]

Anyone notice that Welke has a high strike zone today? I believe that's more of an advantage for the Cubs than the Phils.

[M.N.W.O.]

Met$ New World Order!

[N.M.N.W.O.]

Met$ Gnu Whirled Odor!

[Andy]

Now pitching for the New York Mets: Aaron Heilmann!

[Mike Piazza's Plumber Crack]

do you smell what I'm cooking? Its 2nd place and it stinks doesn't it?

[koolearl]

redpubichair- if you are a phils phan then you are a whiny phag

[JMS]

"The Phils bullpen will come in to play today."

Greaaattttt.

[koolearl]

make that the dude. hey i am drunk

[Andy]

k. earl -
Are you ever sober?

[Andy]

Phils absolutely had this guy on the ropes. They're just gonna let him walk. Stupid.

[koolearl]

damn, those 1st 2 outs were fluky

[THe Dude]

I think i'm going to make myself sick if someone else mentions that Gavin FLoyd will be a 16 -17 game winner this season. I do believe we got one win in that trade from FGarcia and also gave up Gio who THe Sox then flipped for Swisher.

I think THe Phils management should be banned from trading for pitchers from other organizations that at one time won over 15 games...more often than not they have not worked out lately with the exception of Moyer (Eaton, Millwood, Milton, Garcia, Lieber). Lots of wasted money for those guys that could've been used to sign some latin american players. Speaking of which, Baseball America has a report that the phils will be cutting a portion of their latin american program in the offseason to cut costs.

[koolearl]

andy- sometimes

[Jobbers]

Dude: I wish I had your powers of hindsight

[Andy]

k. earl -
Good to hear. But it's also good to know that the liquor industry should not expect an economic downturn any time soon.

[redbeard]

maybe stairs can give burrell a rest tomorrow, he looks like he needs it.