Game chat: Phillies try to bring winning ways home

Owners of baseball's best road record (16-6), the Phillies return to Citizens Bank Park hoping to supply winning baseball to the home crowd.

It took a 10-game retreat away from Philadelphia for the Phillies to find their championship mojo, and for observers to get a sense of who they are and where they're going. Although they've played crisp ball of late, including a well-played series win in the Bronx, they've been a tight team at home, starting the year 8-12 with only one series win to date, coming at the expense of the 13-30 Nationals. Charlie Manuel recently suggested that distractions and commitments at home have taken the team's focus off baseball, something they're better able to achieve on the road.

While away, the offense went on a tear and the pitching showed signs of stabilizing. However, to this humble observer, they're still a starting pitcher short unless one of their struggling arms turns it around. One of those pitchers is Jamie Moyer (3-4, 7.64), who finally delivered an encouraging start his last time out. Once again, Moyer will be seeking career win 250. Twelve of his wins have come against the Marlins, against whom he owns a lifetime 12-1 record and 2.84 ERA. For Florida, Chris Volstad (3-3, 3.64) has the ball hoping to build on yesterday's 5-4 win over the Rays. The Marlins have really struggled since starting the year 11-1. They've gone 9-23 ever since.

Lineups are posted: Standard set, with Ruiz catching. Elsewhere in the division, the Mets host Washington. San Francisco leads Atlanta 3-1 in the sixth. The Mets and Braves enter play 1 1-2 games behind the Phils in the East. Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend.

Comments

[brother]

Go Phils! Go Jamie!

[goody]

I really expected Mayberry to start tonite. This would be a good week to take a look at him and Werth looks like he could use a day off.

[Dickie Thon]

Ah, Florida. Once immensely annoying, mosquito-like tormentor of all things Philadelphia sport. Now, we have our championship thanks to a gracious TB that didn't seem to try too hard and, actually, seemed like a bunch of nice guys. Another Florida team made the Mets choke possible. PtB now plays down there somewhere, and we sympathize with him and the others stuck in a pinball machine of a domed stadium in the Sunshine state. The marlins are comfortably down there in the standings - their cute little season opening streak a distant memory. Florida just doesn't seem scary any more, and I suspect I'm not the only one who has made the rays their AL team to follow. Heck, now that the Phils are playing well and we all feel a bit uneasy/guilty about that, we can secretly follow the rays into what is looking more and more like decades of impending futility ahead for them.

[mikes77phillies]

Fun facts:

Carlos Ruiz has the 3rd highest OPS of any Phillies regular.

Eric Bruntlett has a lower OPS than Chan Ho Park, Jaime Moyer and Brett Myers.

Cut Eric Bruntlett says Miguel Cairo.

[Billy Mac]

Warm evening. Two pitchers prone to giving up the long ball against good offensive teams; should be high scoring game. That means we probably see the opposite.

[bay_area_phan]

Given his history of dominance against the Marlins, and given the way the Marlins have been playing since their 11-1 start, I'd say tonight is a crossroads appearance for Moyer. If he has another bad performance, you'd have to really have your head buried in the sand to continue believing that he's going to turn it around. My prediction is something akin to the 6 inning, 3-run performance he had last time out. In other words, another performance that is neither good enough to quiet the skeptics nor bad enough for his staunchest supporters (including Cholly & Dubee) to begin losing faith.

[redbeard]

way to stay with it, jroll

[bay_area_phan]

Helms looked kinda safe on the replay, but man is he slow. Am I the only one watching this game?

[Andy]

Cairo shouldn't get too juiced; if they cut Bruntlett they'd bring up Harman, who has more options and is on fire right now.

[CRD]

Considering how bad bad Wes Helms is, it is interesting the Marlins seemed to trot him out whenever the play the Phils. I am sure it just seems like this, but I feel that he plays a lot against us.

[redbeard]

jimmy got greedy there

[J. Weitzel]

I'm expecting pretty low comment participation tonight. People coming home from vay-kay or squeezing every last drop of sunshine from the long weekend.

[Doohickey]

Just got back from camping, myself. Missed the whole Yankee series.

[MPN]

Nope, not the only one b_a_p.

Yeah, Jimmy had bad situational awareness there.

Volstad's getting his pitches over. This could be one of those nights. Hopefully we can get to him. A hot, humid night in S. Philly. Feels like rain weather, too.

[Steve Jeltz]

That was crushed.

[MPN]

Maybe not! Off The Wall! (Not M.J. Off the Wall.)

[bay_area_phan]

So, Volstad walks the last batter and Howard goes up there swinging at the very first pitch. What an idiot. Oh wait . . .

[Andy]

This Howard kid stinks. Coste woulda hit that to Camden.

(j/k)

"crushed" is a major understatement.

[redbeard]

howard trying to put a dent in the brick wall ala 'watch out bro'

damn he got all of that one.

[EastFallowfield]

Comment!

[Phils Suck]

OMG!! Rollins didn't slide into second!!!!!

"He's lazy"

"He has entitlement issues"

"He doesn't hustle"

"Terrible baserunner"

[Phils Suck]

But holy God that was a BOMB.

[EastFallowfield]

Carlos Beltran out at home in NY, but at least he slid this time. David Wright forgot to get Sheffield's bat out of the way so Beltran had to avoid sliding on the bat...

[bay_area_phan]

It pains me to concede even the smallest point to this Mets troll. But it did look like Rollins might have been safe if he had slid.

[Phils Suck]

EFF:

LOL, read your last post. You should be ashamed of yourself.

[sifl]

Nice to see Howard start the homestand off with a big hit.

On a totally unrelated note, I just got back from a vacation in Japan, and Thursday night ran into Bobby Valentine at a Tokyo bar (Heartland in Roppongi, for those who might know). Seems like a totally nice guy, he talked to me Japanese friend. I thought about asking him how Cholly was perceived over there, but it was too many Suntories into the evening.

[IOP]

It is a good thing that this game is not on FOX, otherwise you would be hearing the soft sound of Joe Buck's drool oozing onto his microphone as they cut to studio clips of the "David Price Show."

Currently, the David Price show looks pretty good (drools..but not in a creepy Joe Buck kind of way).

[redbeard]

way to work it jamie

[Tray]

What's the thinking behind Helms in the 5 hole? Going into tonight's game, he was sporting an eyepopping .188/.182/.250 split against lefties. I'm not sure how one can even have a lower OBP than a batting average. Does OBP count sac flies as plate appearances?

[Phils Suck]

"Oliver Perez will make his first Triple-A rehab assignment Tuesday night in Buffalo against Lehigh Valley. Perez pitched in two extended spring training games in Port St. Lucie earlier this month, including a five-inning outing last week that apparently was so shaky the Mets refused to release the statistics from it." -- NY Post

[EastFallowfield]

Nats grab a 1-0 lead in NY...

[IOP]

Tray:

I think the Helms decision is the product of Fredi Gonzales going with his gut (and his numbers against Moyer).

In a matchup of guts Gonzales is a formidable opponent, however, he should have been wiser that to challenge the master, especially on his home turf.

A younger Charlie Manuel learned the same hard lesson years ago in a similar situation with Don Zimmer. The torch has since been passed.

[Phils Suck]

Plus Bonifacio has been beyond awful, basically since Opening Day. I'm talking epic awfulness. Can't even put him in the lineup anymore. Main reason Helmsy is in.

Whoever claimed earlier that it seems like Helms plays a lot against the Phils, you're right. Fredi for some reason likes to play Helms against his old teams, Milwaukee, Philly and Atlanta.

[CRD]

JW- since this is a Phillies blog, can you filter out posts like this?

"Oliver Perez will make his first Triple-A rehab assignment Tuesday night in Buffalo against Lehigh Valley. Perez pitched in two extended spring training games in Port St. Lucie earlier this month, including a five-inning outing last week that apparently was so shaky the Mets refused to release the statistics from it." -- NY Post

[Whelkman]

Moyer's OBP is now .421. Don't approve of his pitching of late, but at least he's putting in the effort.

[That Dude]

DOWN ON THE FARM- Joe Savery pitched a Shut Out today. At Reading this year he is....

4-1 with a 3.49 era in 49.0 IP. OPPBA is 254. He is coming alomng nicely.

[Kool Earl]

I'm drunk. I givup I can not telarate mccarthy and Wheler for another inig. I will only listm to Frantcee and LA fgorm niw on

[That Dude]

CRD: why wou;d you want that filtered? That news is of interest to any Phillie fan.

[MPN]

I think I'd write a check for $100 to Phillies charities if I could hear Sarge and TMac re-create the Jules and Vince Vega soliloquy on Big Kahuna burgers from Pulp Fiction....

[Phils Suck]

Don't you have an update to give EFF?

[Kool Earl]

Pils suck- Thjere is a Muts game you shild be folwing, no? Why are you comnting on the Phils game whne 7y[u are a Mut fan?

[Phils Suck]

Thank you, That Dude. Just thought you guys would want to know so you could mock.

[EastFallowfield]

I only check the mEts game during commercials.

[clout]

Tough break.

[bay_area_phan]

When you're giving up homeruns to Wes Helms, Father Time is trying to tell you something.

[Knight]

Terrible call on the 2-2 pitch, turns into a 3 run home run. Terrible.

[IOP]

One more notch in the belt of Fredi Gonzalez.

[johnnysanz3]

31 strikes, 26 balls won't get it done Jamie.

[CRD]

I think I need to eat my words for calling Helms horrible.

[Kool Earl]

Man, Moyer cant avoid big innig against the Fish. This sux

[EastFallowfield]

You give Helms 4 strikes and he can hit.

[clout]

Well, it was a missed call. But Moyer threw a hangar to Helms right over the middle of the plate.

[EastFallowfield]

Nats allowed the Mets to tie them at 1.

[Kool Earl]

and loaded up2bags befrhand. Shite

[NUcappy]

Mitch Williams, commenting on the MLB network, was pretty pissed about the call on that 2-2 pitch that gave Helms another chance to hit that homer.

But still, Wes Helms? Really? Ugh.

[bay_area_phan]

The bad call is neither here nor there. Bad ball-strike calls happen every game to every pitcher. You can't turn around and serve up a homerun to Wes Helms, just because the ump blew a call.

[Adam]

Werth either needs to sit or be our closer, this is getting ridiculous.

[EastFallowfield]

Yeah, Werth hasn't done anything since he homered 3 days ago. Oh, yeah, threw out a runner at the plate in a one run win.

[johnnysanz3]

JW: You said about Ruiz hitting bad a couple weeks ago, and he went on a roll. You said about Feliz slipping away last night on the blog, and now he got 2 hits today. Maybe you should say more negative things about other players, moyer/lidge need some help =)

[MPN]

Feliz didn't get the memo that he was supposed to be cooling off.

[clout]

Moyer backing out pretty bad there.

[That Dude]

the HR p[itch wasnt the problem, the missed 3rd strike wsnt the problem. The 2 BB's were the problem.

[Adam]

I'm not saying Werth needs to sit full time... he just needs a few days off.

[Andy]

Pete Happy wit da leather.

[Andy]

Adam has this point: Werth has had some weak ABs lately.

But they all do that from time to time. Maybe a day off would be a good thing now that there is, at least, a "straight" outfielder on the bench.

[bay_area_phan]

A soon-to-be-raging-topic-of-debate-on-Beerleaguer: do we excercise the option on Pedro Feliz?

[MPN]

b_a_p: If the season ended today, yes. We'll see. Donald had better pick it up if he wants to be a factor in future plans.

[redbeard]

make em pay, raul

[Andy]

Very wide zone tonight. Did MLB give up on the "Season of Many Walks?"

NUTS.

[bay_area_phan]

I guess that should have read: "soon-to-be raging topic of debate." Didn't need all the dashes afther the word "be."

[That Dude]

I would wait on Pete Happy. I mean what is going to be the market on him in Fa anyway? No need to rush.

[bay_area_phan]

That Dude/MPN: Answers like "We'll see" and "No need to rush" are totally unacceptable on Beerleaguer. Once this debate starts, you've got to take a position, be adamant about your position, and refuse to change your mind no matter how strong the case against you.

[Skeeter]

Give us one more good inning Jamie. Bats need to come to life.....hopefully the Phils can get Volstad out of there so we can face the dreadful bullpen.

[That Dude]

BAP: thats why I keep my commenting to once every 45 days lol.

Seriously though, I think we need to accept that Jason Donald is barely a ML utility guy.

[Andy]

There's a statement to make the Phils' hitters wake up: "Park up in the bullpen."

[Tray]

I would like to know who will be available in free agency before I take a position on Pedro.

[bay_area_phan]

That Dude: Well, if it's too ealy to decide Feliz's fate, isn't it too early to make such a bold proclamation about Jason Donald? I mean, the guy did have 2 excellent years in a row before this year.

[MPN]

b_a_p: Yeah, guess so. I say we resign him!

Now I know that when he is batting .239 for the year in September and he grounds into a DP in a crucial playoff implications game that clout will snip and waste "b_a_p: Yeah, guess so. I say we resign him!" into a thread. I'm okay with that. And on that note... my Saranac beer needs refreshing.

[MPN]

You're with me good leather Feliz.

[Andy]

Chooch with the good hands - that was a tuff foul tip to hold on to.

[Tray]

Moyer's really getting up in ye olde pitch count.

[Skeeter]

Time for Jamie to hang em up. He

[MPN]

WHat the hell is Moyer throwing a 3-0 meatball there with 2 outs and the pitcher on deck?

[Kool Earl]

Yank Moyer

[Andy]

Yeah. Even Chollie knew he was leaving him in too long.

For the Marlins, a smart move to green light the 8 hitter.

Phils need at least three for Jamie to get his 250.

Nice catch Vic!

[ASod75]

Yeah guys, you've got to walk Paulino there and take your chances with the .053 hitting Volstad, that's Baseball 101. Sheffield has just put the Mets up 4-1 with a three-run blast against the Nats. Looking forward to another great pennant race this year (with hopefully a different result this time). And sorry to post here guys but Metsblog has again shut down their comments section....

[johnnysanz3]

David Price tonight:

3.1 4in 2er 5bb 6so 100 pitches

How will Fox explain this?

[IOP]

Sheffield HR currently under review.

[redbeard]

kabooom

[Spitz]

Ugh - this is one of those really frustrating game. I think its due to the fact that Helms and Paulino have accounted for all the runs.

[ASod75]

Spoke too soon on the Sheff homer evidently

[bay_area_phan]

6 innings, 4 earned runs, and a 1.5 WHIP against a team that he owns, with a lineup that isn't even as good as some AAA teams. It's becoming increasingly difficult to make the case that Moyer's past performance is a better measure of his ability than his 2009 performance.

[That Dude]

BAP" If you look at DOnald's stats its not that they are bad, they are above avg, however not for his age at each level. see link.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=donald001jas

[clout]

BAP: Agree with everything you said except for this: "a lineup that isn't even as good as some AAA teams."

[IOP]

johnnysanz: By cutting to a shot of some random guy eating stadium food and claim that he is David Price's dad.

[MPN]

Come on Feliz, half way to the cycle already.

[ASod75]

Price actually wasn't pitching all that well in Triple-A. ERA around 4 with a 1-4 record or something like that...

[Tray]

Yeah, very few AAA lineups have 3 hitters as good as Ramirez, Uggla, and Cantu (though granted, Uggla hasn't hit at all this year).

[denny b.]

Jamie is a 100 pitch max pitcher.

Why Cholly left him in, with runners on, and over the 100 pitch mark, is baffling.

Moyer is about at the end of the line. He has been able to bounce back in prior seasons, when he has been beat on for a few starts in a row. He has only been marginally better, the past 2 starts, against weak lineups. Hopefully he gets his 250th win before the year ends.

[EastFallowfield]

Asod...

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