Game chat: J-Roll benched again for finale

Beerleaguers cannot remember when a prominent uninjured starter had been benched for four-straight games, but that's the new, tough-love regime of manager Charlie Manuel. Jamie Moyer and Brian Tallet are scheduled in this important rubber match. First pitch is 1:07. In other news, the Inquirer reports that top prospect Carlos Carrasco could be recalled to pitch Thursday in Atlanta, with Cole Hamels pitching Wednesday and Antonio Bastardo sitting out with a shoulder strain. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Comments

[JB]

Jamie puts the oy in Moyer.

[valo]

It may be time to find out about Carrasco, but I'm guessing Carpenter gets the call. I believe he is due to pitch Thursday.

[NEPP]

Once again, I'm going out for the day and I don't even plan on checking the game on my phone. I figure if they won 10-0 yesterday with this strategy, its worth another try. Besides, its summer in Vermont, we don't get many warm sunny days here.

[denny b]

Reworked rotation until All-Star Break (if Carrasco pitches on Thursday):

Tuesday at Braves- Blanton
Wednesday at Braves- Hamels
Thursday at Braves- Carrasco

Friday vs Mets- Happ
Saturday vs Mets- Moyer
Sunday vs Mets- Blanton

Monday vs Reds- Hamels
Tuesday vs Reds- Carrasco
Wednesday vs Reds- Happ
Thursday vs Reds- Moyer

Friday vs Pirates- Blanton
Saturday vs Pirates- Hamels
Sunday vs Pirates- Carrasco

[Spitz]

We have 10 in a row at home to finish up the 1st half? Crap, talk about going into the break with no momentum.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Manuel and Rollins had to have words after his brain fart on Burrell's grounder in Tampa. I can't see this being merely medicinal down time. This is punishment.

Asked before - anyone know if Phils games are broadcast at teh Delaware shore?

[Rich]

Jimmy can use the rest, it is a long extended time that he is being rested though. I am not so sure that leaving him on the bench is accomplishing anything at this point.

He isn't the reason the Phillies had this terrible month of June. Utley has had more 0-4 and 0-5 games this month than I've ever seen as well. Is he going to be next to warm up the bench?

[ASod75]

Hello gentlemen (and ladies),
My question to you all is, does anybody want to win this division? It's scary how mediocre it is, although I for one will be glad to get out of interleague play. As a Mets fan, it's hard to take bludgeoning after bludgeoning from the Yankees (I know, no sympathy from you guys). I still view the Phillies as the favorites in this thing, especially if you guys can somehow swing a deal for another starting pitcher. I was ticked Omar didn't swing a deal for DeRosa, but at this point it may not matter. They might as well hold on to the few chips they have, because with half the team out with injuries (anyone else think having the WBC during spring training is stupid?), their offense looks like a AAA squad. Anyway, sorry for the rambling post as I know you guys hate the Mets, but Metsblog always puts my posts under moderation for some reason. If there are any Mets fans on here today, check out my new blog at http://asod75.wordpress.com. Trying to get some Mets fans over there to chat about the team. As you were, Phillies fans.....

[Kevin the Canadian]

lets go Jays lets go Jays!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jack]

mvptommys' favorite players, Howard and Mayberry, fail to bring in the runners. I thought we could live with their low AVG and OBP's because we are supposed to judge them on RBIs?

[Dukes]

Jack: Mayberry was batting with two outs so you can't fault him. But Wheeler basically called what was going to happen to Howard before he even saw a pitch. I thought that was funny. Not being able to play small ball kills this team.

[mm]

Don't know if it's the same in the philly area but in chicago, the cbs affiliate is playing the tim mccarver show right now with Charlie Manuel

[Jack]

Dukes: I can't fault our #5 hitter, who is hitting under .250, and who mvptommy called a future all-star, for not doing a 5 hitters job and bringing in runs? I disagree.

Bruntlett is awful. Just amazingly bad.

[Billy Mac]

Bruntlett now 0 for his last 15

[BobbyD]

In other news.. still waiting for a day when the sun comes out and stays out. I miss being hot and sweaty in the summer.

[heycholly]

This ump has a tight s-zone for both pitchers

[Dukes]

Jack: I don't know about your tiff with mvptommy, I'm just saying that Howard's situation and Mayberry's situation were very different. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out the ball NEEDS to be put in play. It is a free at bat. But two outs does not consitute a free at bat. And at least Mayberry didn't strike out (although the one pitch was VERY close).

Great - 3-0. Time to turn it off, mow the yard, and check back later.

[heycholly]

and this causers m-oy-er to pitch meatball in the center of the s-z

[heycholly]

causers = causes

[tw]

Congratulations are due to Jamie Moyer: he has just passed Myers and Blanton on the HR list. Sheesh.

[Dukes]

This is great - lose 6 games, score 10 in one game and talk about how great our offense is. Lose 3 more games, score 10 runs and talk about how great our offense is. Oh, and don't forget how great our pitchers pitch with 10 run leads. I guess we wait a couple days for another offensive outburst/pitching gem and hope the Mets continue to lose. Pathetic.

[BobbyD]

Today is why the Phils are in trouble. Hard to put together wins when you never know what you're going to get out of 4/5 of your rotation.

[brother]

Hmmm, Howard in the same spot.

[Dukes]

T-Mac announces that Howard makes contact. It's news worthy.

[brother]

Good grief, he better not strike out again.

[Dukes]

yay!

[brother]

I'll take an RBI groundout.

[king myno]

Jeez, Aaron Hill is a stud. 19 homers already.

[G-Town Dave]

Hey, Park's up! Guess he wasn't injured, after all. Must not take pain well, though. Quite a show he put on rolling around out there the other day.

[heycholly]

mayberry started to act like howard - strike out wise,

[denny b.]

I really don't know how much longer they can trot Moyer out there, every 5th day.

Its almost July 1, and his ERA is over 6.

Its time for him to become the long-man in the pen. He just can't be a big league starter anymore, on a contending team.

If Chuckles can bench Rollins for 4 straight days, he can sit Moyer down.

[AFish]

Who is the alternative to Moyer?

[brother]

Bruntlett!

[brother]

This is a big chance for the Phils. Vic's gotta be patient.

[G-Town Dave]

So Gnome -- freakin' GNOME! -- just bunted for a base hit ... has J-Roll done that even once this season?

[AFish]

Pretty nice small ball this inning.

[AFish]

Wow.

[G-Town Dave]

THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!! :-D

[heycholly]

way to go w-f- utley

[heycholly]

clutch ryno

[PS]

Boy, where would the Phils be without Eric Bruntlett?

Huge bunt there. The guy is the motor that keeps the Phils running.

[denny b.]

"Who is the alternative to Moyer?"

Anyone at this point, could give them what Moyer is giving them.

Maybe if you get the top 4 spots sorted out (Hamels, Blanton, Happ and maybe Carrasco) you can live with Moyer the rest of the year and hope you get a few wins/good starts out of him.

The trade that Ruben will undoubtadly make before the trade deadline, could be for Moyer's spot and not the Myers/Carpenter/Bastardo/Carrasco spot in the rotation.

I just have a funny feeling that Carrasco is going to come up here and pitch to his immense talent and give the team a big shot in the arm (literally). He will have the 2nd best stuff in the rotation (and easily the best fastball) once he gets here.

[denny b.]

RFD Jr. has had a tough time of it in Toronto. He put a good swing on his 1st AB and just missed it.

They still need to keep him up, when Ibanez comes back though. He'll work through this. Its not like a bunch of other guys aren't swinging and missing too.

[AFish]

denny b.: I don't think KK or Carpenter could give the Phillies what Moyer has been giving them. It is nice to say Moyer should be benched, but someone has to pitch. It is like all the people who say Rollins should be benched and then express surprise and exasperation that he is replaced by the Gnome.

[G-Town Dave]

AFish: As bad as he's been, Gnome has *still* been more productive in these past 4 games than J-Roll was in the previous 5.

[tw]

Wow, Tallet has been pitching terrified to Werth. Three walks, really?

[tg082]

That was an incredible catch, even though he made it incredible because he took a bad route.

[MG]

Nuts. Nice catch by Wells there to rob the Phils of 2 runs.

[G-Town Dave]

Aw, *bleep*!!! :-[

[king myno]

What a catch.

[MG]

tg082 - Haven't watched that much this series but it seems like Wells does take some odd routes to balls even if he covers a ton of ground.

[AFish]

Interesting decision to pull Moyer at 82 pitches.

[MG]

Moyer with another subpar outing today. He has generally pitched better the last 1 1/2 half but he is surrendering HRs by the truckload (on pace to give up 48 HRs in a season which would shatter Eric Milton's club record of 43 HRs allowed in a season). Unless he figure out to keep the ball better in the park, it is hard to see how his ERA will really begin to creep down.

[gm-carson]

Gosh I hope the Phils win this game. Too many runners left on base though, so that could easily come back to haunt them.

[AFish]

That was really a dumb move by Stairs.

[MG]

carson - Yeah. Couple of other plays too where they have ran themselves into outs too (Ruiz CS, Stairs getting thrown out at 2B, etc).

[curt]

There's a fine line between aggressive and dumb. Ruiz on the wrong side of it, Stairs not.

[MG]

Moyer's split 4.81 ERA at road vs. 7.15 ERA at home.

Largely due to the fact that Moyer has a 1.14 HR/9 on the road and 2.53 HR/9. That number will rise on the road after today but hard to see how Moyer is going to succeed at CBP surrendering that many HRs.

[bay_area_phan]

This game looks headed for a Brad Lidge blown save

[Dukes]

i know starting pitchers work harder than we see - workouts between starts, etc. but how sweet is a job that you go out every 5 days and throw an avg. of 100 pitches?

[AFish]

Park has thrown 20 pitches. I guess Cholly's going Madson/Lidge, but I might bring Park out for one more.

[Ryan]

Hey kid in the red shirt, nice pick. Eww he fricken ate it, too

[Dukes]

Will Madson recover in his 8th inning role? How will Brad Lidge fair in his first save situation since coming off the DL. Sounds like another excited episode of The Pen (sarcasm).

[Dukes]

looks like ruiz is back to his pull happy ways.

[G-Town Dave]

b_a_p: Don't worry, Madson will have a chance to blow it in the 8th first.

[denny b.]

First guess here...

With as well as Ho Chan is throwing today, I'd keep him in there.

With as bad as this bullpen has been recently, when you actually have a guy throwing well on a given day, you better ride that horse.

But we all know we better "play it by the book" and use our bullpen "roles". Hope it works out. This has all the makings of a real "momentum" type of game, heading into a very big week of games. Need this one now.

[denny b.]

Boy, Werth hits a ball 900 feet yesterday and the Jays want nothing to do with him.

[MG]

denny b - Yeah I would go with the hot hand here too especially with Madson's struggles recently. If Park has struggled or was already at 35-40 pitches, then I would go with Madson in the 8th.

[PS]

you put up with those kinda plays from Bruntlett because of what he brings with his bat.

[bullit]

could cholly have put jimmy in got defense, or is he too rusty?

[PS]

Alex Rios is garbage

[AFish]

Cholly better not bring in JC with the bases loaded.

[king myno]

Ugh, Bruntlett. Disgusting. I hope they get out of this inning.

[cjp]

phew!

[tg082]

WHEW. I thought that one was dropping.

[curt]

Jays have us right where they want us -- only down by 1 in the 9th. 3 or 4 runs here would be nice.

[denny b.]

We better tack on a few in the 9th.

We might need them.

Might be overstating it a bit, but Lidge's season and if he is going to get it back or not, might be hinging on this upcoming bottom of the 9th.

If Lidge falters.....it might be Houston all over again.

[AFish]

After that play by Bruntlett, Cholly should bring in Rollins for the 9th.

[cjp]

Mayberry is, umm, struggling.

[G-Town Dave]

Ugh. Phils just terrible on the bases today. :-S

[AFish]

I think Wheels was a little harsh on Howard there. That play happened pretty fast.

[denny b.]

Dumb luck for RFD Jr there.

[Spoilt Victorian Child]

God, here we go.

[cjp]

Lidge time ... time to start liberally self-medicating

[bullit]

ledge time !!

[AFish]

I'd say Hill has a 30 percent chance of hitting a HR.

[cjp]

A guy that needs to be pinch-run for beats out a bunt single. Lovely start.

[AFish]

It was a good bunt.

[G-Town Dave]

Healthy, my a**. That throw was awful. Lidge practically hopped into the air to avoid pushing off on that knee. Why the Phils continue to mess around playing him hurt is beyond me. This team either has the most ignorant or most negligent medical staff in MLB.

[bullit]

laying down a bunt in front of gimpy. that was cruel.

[The Truth Injection]

Lidge almost blew that rundown by throwing the ball too quick. He had him fooled.

Great job though to big him off like that. Bad baserunning by McDonald

[PS]

Ah, I see the Phils are back to their old break-catching ways.

[curt]

Well, that was totally unexpected. But welcome.

[MG]

It wasn't pretty but the Phils won 2 of 3 and at least don't lose any of their lead. Hopefully this can carry over into two big series against the Braves/Mets.

[EastFallowfield]

Anticipating the baserunner trying to get a big lead or steal the bag and picking him off is catching a break?

I know the Mets don't really know how to play the game, but you'd think their fans would learn something watching teams like the Phils obsessively, or watching the Yanks smack 'em around.

[bake]

Lights out!

[bake]

Lights out!

[MG]

Lidge though had zero comfort out there. He must have grabbed the rosin bag several times during the first 3 batters and just kept pacing around on the mound.

[MG]

East Fallowfield - McDonald was in there to PR and he was a huge goat there for getting caught in a rundown with a guy clearly struggling out there. Have to give you hitters a chance to win it.

[G-Town Dave]

The Phils have gone 6-12 in Interleague play, which (in retrospect) seems like a really good result. Lidge is saying it's fine in response to questions about his knee in the post game radio interview. Of course, he said the same all the way up until he was DLed, too.

In other news, Billy Mays will no longer be yelling at you through your TV, as he has died at age 50. Bad week/year to be a celebrity ... :-S