Game chat: Milwaukee in town for a three-game set

A pair of lefties, Manny Parra (0-2, 6.97) and Jamie Moyer (1-1, 6.55), take stage when the Brewers and Phillies begin their series tonight at 7:05. The game is available to Comcast cable subscribers only.

Summary: After facing a Padres pitching staff without a single left-hander on the roster, the Phillies get their first crack at a southpaw since the eighth inning of Thursday's game. The Phils have just 57 plate appearances against lefties this season, compared to 324 against righties. In his return to the rotation, Parra has had some control problems and has taken a loss in each of his first two starts. Meanwhile, Moyer has allowed four runs in each of his first two starts. He last faced Milwaukee in Game 3 of the Division Series.

Lineups are posted: Rollins, Victorino, Utley, Howard, Werth, Ibanez, Feliz, Coste, Moyer. Once considered doubtful for Opening Day, Feliz and Utley have started each game so far this season. One final item from the press notes: Chan Ho Park is listed to start this weekend in Florida, eliminating any doubt that Charlie Manuel would make a switch.

Knapp fans 14: Lakewood right-hander Jason Knapp, 18, leads the minor leagues with 30 strikeouts after fanning 14 today in a seven-inning shutout, tying the Lakewood record. Knapp, who earned a no decision for his efforts, was taken in the second round of last season's draft. ... In other minor league news, Lehigh Valley placed No. 4 starter Rodrigo Lopez on the DL with an elbow strain. The veteran is trying to make it back from Tommy John surgery among other setbacks. Right-hander Tyler Walker, who pitched as a setup man with the Giants last season, replaced him on the roster. ... Down in Double-A, outfielder Gus Milner was placed on the DL with a left oblique strain. ... Finally, former Phillie Fabio Castro struck out 10 in five scoreless innings before Double-A New Hampshire's game was suspended due to rain Monday.

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Comments

[brother]

YEAH, GO PHILS!!!

Patient hitting will win this game. This guy Parra walked 75 in 166 IP last year, and he's on a worse pace this year. Oh yeah, and he also led the league in wild pitches last year with 17. Lay off the crap, get on base, and watch chaos unfold.

[brother]

One more stat to throw out there--did you guys know that Jayson Werth has only grounded into 3 double plays in his entire Phillies career? That's 713 AB and 830 plate appearances. One of those GIDPs just happened last weekend actually. That's a pretty amazing stat for a guy who doesn't bat leadoff (it's pretty amazing even for a leadoff guy). To put it into perspective, Ryan Howard had 3 GIDPs just in one game earlier this year.

[curt]

This is a fine opportunity to skip over Geezer until the Fish are on the menu...

[curt]

The Brewer bats are probably already all congregated around home plate waiting impatiently for some of those 82 mph fastballs.

[J.R. King]

Brother: Does that include the playoffs? I seem to recall he grounded into a couple during the playoffs which surprised me because he only had 2 during the regular season.

[king0fprussia]

Are other local fans not seeing this on TV because of the Flyers? I'm all for supporting Philly in playoff situations, but I want my Phils.

[J.R. King]

Or, I could have checked baseball-reference and found that I was completely wrong. Jayson Werth has grounded into only three double plays in his Phils career, including playoffs.

[jms]

Well, there's something new.

[king0fprussia]

wow. 2ks and a long ball.

[Greg S.]

Nasty storm in Lancaster right now. If it is heading east, this game is in jeopardy of being delayed.

[G-Town Dave]

king0fprussia: I live in Philly. Here, CSN is showing the Flyers, while CNPH (CN8) is showing the Phils.

[joe l]

Oh for f... sake.

[king0fprussia]

thanks Dave! I hadn't looked there.

[john]

Without "Geezer" we probably wouldn't be defending WFC's. The probability of his achieving the level of success he had last year was very low. Why not give him sufficient opportunity to fail this year before writing him off? I think 2008 proved that character is an important component in victory. (and maybe the Brewer bats will nod off while awaiting the arrival of those fastballs- do you really think he'll reach 82 tonight?)

[Knight]

Good to see things haven't changed.

[ZT]

Oh God Vic is hurt.

[Knight]

Hope Vic didn't pull/tear something.

[jms]

Thank God for small miracles and smart baserunning.

[Jim]

Watching the gamecast, what happened to Vic?

[ZT]

Weeks/Hardy made a retarded play and Vic looked back at it. When he did he didn't see the bag coming and stepped on it funny and started limping around.

[jms]

Jim,

He was looking at the debacle/Brewers tripping over themselves and landed on the 2B bag when he wasn't paying attention. He rolled his left ankle and kind of hopped it off. He's okay.

[The Truth Injection]

Jim: There was a ground ball tight to the bag on the second base side that looked like it might sneak through. Vic looked to see the play and the bag was closer than he thought. Looked like he just turned his ankle some.

[redbeard]

bang!

[ZT]

God, Werth is so complacent!

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Werthian!!!

[jms]

Make me love you, Raul.

[Brian G]

If only worth had his old intensity he would've at least tripled there.

[redbeard]

rauuuuuuuuul

[ZT]

Hahaha listen to those "Rauls", I think I might like this guy.

[bay_area_phan]

Stat of the day: With that RBI hit, Raul Ibanez took over the major league lead in non-complacency.

[Knight]

Hittin' Season.

[J.R. King]

Everybody hits ... woo-hoo!

[ZT]

BAP: Jimmy must be leading the league after that first pitch ground out.

[bay_area_phan]

Last time we had a first inning like this, things didn't turn out so great.

[Knight]

bap: Hah, I was thinking the same thing. I can only hope Moyer keeps it together.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Ibanez can hit lefties, at least this one.

Like him going opposite way.

[Hope SE]

BAP -- always have that positive spin

[J. Weitzel]

Year of the RBI.

Or RBIs.

Or Rs BI.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Coste=Rally killer (I fear not the wrath of the davethom)

[denny b.]

I like Jason Knapp's future. Kid brings serious GAS. And, he's only 18.

Where do the Phils plan on sending Zagurski, after he is done with his rehab work in Clearwater? (BTW, tonight he pitched 1 inning, with 1 hit and 1 K).

Will he be going to Reading or Lehigh? I'd guess, he'd go to Lehigh, but does anyone know for sure?

And, man, is Werth money against lefties? He just loves them.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

BTW: JArmillo just hit a double against Fish.

[bay_area_phan]

That was cool: an 8-4 force out. I'm not sure I've ever seen that.

[redbeard]

did vic do that on purpose or did he misread the ball?

[NEPP]

Pat Who?

Ibanez is looking better and better. Having a guy that likes to swing with men on is a good thing sometimes.

[bay_area_phan]

NEPP: The Burrell-Ibanez issue has been debated ad nauseum. One point that no one has brought up, though, is that Ibanez is a MAJOR upgrade when it comes to lack of complacency.

[NEPP]

I wasn't debating it again...I'm just pleasantly surprised by his bat so far...much better than I thought.

Ibanez is definitely a gamer.

Werth is looking good too as a full-time player.

[MPN]

Not sure if it has been raised elsewhere, but apparently the Phillies have signed David Newhan to be a player-coach at Lehigh Valley.

[jms]

Ah, great. The storms have moved in (I live in Chester County).

[Goody]

We need 4.5 quick innings here before intermission.

[thephaithful]

i live about 15 mins west of the stadium, its starting to get really dark but no rain yet

[denny b.]

Carrasco had a an absolute gem going tonight. Had a shutout going into the 7th, and then gave up a walk, a RBI double to Ryan Langerhans and then a 2 run dinger.

He leaves the game with this line:

7 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 K's.

88 pitches, 60 strikes. And, got a ton of groundballs too.

Great outing, but left on the hook for the loss.

[redbeard]

pedro! coste!

[bay_area_phan]

Feliz is really swinging the bat well -- which means that, when he starts reverting to career norms, it's going to be really ugly.

[J. Weitzel]

Nice start by Pete Happy, followed by a nice double by Coste. Really no complaints about the offense this season. Imagine if the lead-off man was getting aboard.

[king0fprussia]

I like Moyer trying to take out Parra for good measure.

[G-Town Dave]

J-Roll has been abysmal. Offensively, he's my pick as Most Infuriatingly Inconsistent Hitter.

[redbeard]

6-3

[G-Town Dave]

Redundant. Duh. Haven't had dinner yet. Must be lightheaded from lack of nourishment.

[bay_area_phan]

At the risk of jinxing him, this is easily the sharpest that any Phillies starter has looked this year.

[redbeard]

no jimmy no

[davthom73]

Inside/Outside the Parker -- Re: your last post above -- BTW -- Coste just hit a double in THIS game. No wrath -- just truth.

[G-Town Dave]

J-Roll came into this game w/ an OBP of .184, & he's gotten himself out 3 times on a grand total of 7 pitches so far tonight -- I think I'm gonna be sick. :-S

[Goody]

I never saw Feliz take a smoother swing than that one,and he went the other way!

[Spitz]

G-Town Dave: against a pitcher who doesn't have great control, either historically or tonight!

[Klaus]

Well, Moyer is locating like its 2008. Hopefully a portent of things to come.

[joe l]

*cough*

[NEPP]

Klaus...you were saying?

[Klaus]

And then Braun hits a two run homer

[Spitz]

Just as Sarge mentions that Jamie always hits his spots, Moyer throws up a meatball. Oops!

[Goody]

Bring on the rain! Moyer gets a complete game,and the BP gets 2 days rest.

[NEPP]

Anyone else think Ibanez would ever be batting .391?

[brother]

And he even steals bases.

[NEPP]

Ibanez showing off his "speed".

[brother]

Big spot for Coste before the Beerleaguer tribunal.

[G-Town Dave]

Heads up running by Ibañez.

[bay_area_phan]

Ibanez stole a grand total of 2 bases in his last 2 seasons with Seattle. I think he's just stealing all these bases because he wants to show fans all the things that he can do that Pat Burrell couldn't.

[J. Weitzel]

Way to go, Raul, creating that run. Everything about Ibanez has been surprising.

[NEPP]

Coste grounds out "softly".

Wow...he crushed that one. Ibanez should get the RBI for his heads up baserunning because Coste sure as hell didn't bat him in.

[Steve Jeltz]

They're pitching around Moyer to get to Rollins.

[redbeard]

aight james!

[NEPP]

Jimmy FINALLY gets a hit!!!

[G-Town Dave]

It's sad when going 1-4 can raise your BA.

[bay_area_phan]

Drabek is also pitching another gem tonight at Clearwater: 6 innings, 0 runs, 4 hits, 9 strikeouts. He's badly out-pitching the opposing starter -- none other than Dontrellle Willis.

[redbeard]

look whos warming up....

[bathtubhippo]

swindle sighting!

[davthom73]

An RBI is an RBI, NEPP. By the same logic, a blast to the wall caught for a third out should get some kind of credit, right? That stuff evens out, and Coste certainly has had several hard-hit balls caught this season.

[Klaus]

Swindle!

[NEPP]

Well, he's got more talent than Willis so that's not surprising.

[redbeard]

we can has more ribeyes

[bathtubhippo]

aw snap

[NEPP]

The point, davthom, is that he's not making good contact. Its not a good sign of things to come. I'm happy he got the RBI though.

[SC]

r.j. swindle vs. ryan howard with the bases loaded? Forget last October, this is the greatest moment in beerleaguer history.

[Goody]

Jamie is smarter than that blind traffic cop at 3rd.

[NEPP]

I fully expect the end of the world to come now...This is the seventh seal!!!

[Hincha de los Phillies]

I was at the ballpark last year when Beltran showed us how far a 55 mph curve can go the opposite direction. Let's hope Utley can do the same.

[SC]

errr, make that utley. i was getting ahead of myself. hopefully howard soon enough, though.c

[clout]

davthom: I think NEPP is yanking your chain. He's not that stupid.

[bay_area_phan]

What do you bet he strikes out Ryan Howard with that 55 MPH curve?

[clout]

This the way he pitched last year.

[SC]

bap - no bet, howard's a goner.

The books in vegas wouldn't even give odds on that sort of bet.

Here we go!