Game chat: Blanton hopes for better luck vs. Nats

In a rematch of Thursday's loss, Joe Blanton tries to rebound from his worst start of the season against Livan Hernandez, who held the Phillies to two runs in that same game. First pitch is 7:05 from the Bank. In other news, the Phils have activated injured reservist Greg Dobbs from the DL. Lineup are posted with the standard setup.

Comments

[bob]

JC threw a 25-pitch BP session and said he felt "outstanding." Steps to getting back to Phils: a total of 5 appearances, not including 1 BP session on Friday and a simulated game next week. It's like he's pulling a super-Pedro/Clemens - saving all of his bullets until the post-season, when he'll have a much fresher arm than any other reliever in the league.

And Lauber's blog made it sound as if Dobbs is being activated today DESPITE not being 100%. It sounds as if the calf didn't/isn't responding to treatment and that it's now a matter of playing through the injury for the rest of the season. That sucks.

[NEPP]

Must be a pretty serious calf injury if that's the case...what the heck did he do???

Also seems like the type of injury that means he'd primarily be a PH only type of guy...can't imagine UC running him out there to 3B regularly.

[ozark]

Fish take 2 in STL yet lose 2 of 3 at home vs Nats. As Wheels says, "It's a weird game."

[drake]

alright, let's go quality joe!

[drake]

so... let's discuss why joe can't throw strikes to the nats. i think he feels pity.

[bay_area_phan]

Slow night on Beerleaguer. I think the discussions about lawyers, Latin phrases, and Geico were all livelier than tonight's game thread.

[danger lad]

it's like a motorcycle, bap. it's always more comfortable riding up front, mate.

[G-Town Dave]

Well, at least the Phils won't be no-hit.

[goody]

bap: It's too early to argue pitch counts.

[denny b.]

"Also seems like the type of injury that means he'd primarily be a PH only type of guy...can't imagine UC running him out there to 3B regularly."

Yes, I was thinking Cholly would be playing Dobbs 2 or 3 times a week at 3B (sarcasm alert).

In game 144 last year, both Dobbs and Stairs were in the starting lineup. Blanton was also the starting pitcher in that game and we were up by 1.5 games in the East.

I'm thinking Francisco might actually get to play again tomorrow, against the lefty starter. Benny has only gotten 16 AB's in the last 20 games.

In fact, in our last 20 games, here are how many plate appearances our current bench have gotten:

Francisco- 16
Stairs- 13 (all as a pinch-hitter)
Bruntlett- 0
Cairo- 9
Mayberry- 0
Hoover- 0
Dobbs- 0 (injured)
Bako- 12

[Old Phan]

BAP, the night is young. I'm sure the Phils will do something to start the griping.

[joe l]

Nice.

[G-Town Dave]

You Are The Man!!!!!! :-D

[NEPP]

Chase Utley...YOU ARE THE MAN!!!

[PhillyBlunt]

Here comes JRo!!!

[AL]

Someone please explain what happened gamecasting in class on my phone

[bay_area_phan]

Most improbable Phillies stat of the season: Ryan Howard -- 7 stolen bases.

[danger lad]

geez, Al...care to venture a guess?

[Old Phan]

What the hell was he thinking throwing to 2nd? This is fleet of foot Ryno of 2009, not the lumbering Ryno of 2008.

[drake]

i've wondered why you don't see the double steal more, especially with a good basestealing team like the phils.

freakin' ian desmond owns us.

[AL]

Well I'm assuming Ryan stole second drawing the throw which chase used to score- I hate class

[craig_one]

Crawford yells @ Burrell in the Rays clubhouse. no details, really, but interesting;

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-rays-clubhouseargument&prov=ap&type=lgns

[Old Phan]

Al, you assume correctly

[bay_area_phan]

In the on-deck circle awaits Livan Hernandez. Career line against the Phillies: .306/.328/.484.

[Tray]

I'm a law student and I resort to Latin whenever possible. I particularly like saying arguendo instead of for the sake of argument. Saves time, sounds much more learned and pompous. Other favorites include ceteris paribus and a fortiori.

[drake]

craig, he's probably tired of pat the bat showing off his WFC ring in the dugout.

[G-Town Dave]

Chooch RULES!!!!!! :-D

[CJ]

I love Chooch.

[drake]

tray, you could campaign to save latin like max fisher in rushmore... which school do you go to, i have a good friend who's a 2L at temple.

[rhyno182]

Blanton's command looks terrible

[Old Phan]

I wouldn't mess with PtB.

[drake]

it's a happ-esque first 2 innings for joe

[drake]

do you think crawford realizes that PtB is part machine?

[Old Phan]

Losing 12 out of 13 will make you forget details like that.

[Kool Earl]

Note: Grab Ian Desmond om a lower round for my 2010 fantasy team roster

[Tray]

I am not, drake, at Temple. (Or in the Philadelphia area at all.) Latin doesn't need to be saved, though; millions continue to learn it in high school and take it in college. (Well, maybe hundreds of thousands, but it's quite common, even in public schools.) And all the phrases I cited are quite popular.

[bay_area_phan]

Ceteris paribus, I was pleased to get out of that last inning with no runs allowed. The gravamen of Blanton's problems, inter alia, is the prima facie evidence that he can't throw strikes tonight. QED.

[drake]

i wonder if ryan zimmerman will one day go scott rolen on the nats...

[bay_area_phan]

Kool Earl: Here are some numbers to sober you up. Ian Desmond has a .247 batting average in 2,027 career minor league ABs -- the vast majority of them in Single A. This year, he hit .251 at AA.

[drake]

wow, nice inning. i wonder what switch suddenly flipped for joe.

[SmokyJoe]

I'm just hoping we can get 6 innings out of Joey Bag O' tonight

[CJ]

And just like that, Joe Blanton throws darts, thwarting, at least momentarily, the top gripe on Beerleaguer. I'm waiting to see what we move onto next!

[rhyno182]

jroll sucks at the plate right now

[Tray]

Can problems have gravamens or just suits, claims and complaints? I believe it's just the latter.

[SmokyJoe]

I guess the Phillies feel as if they can't wear down rubber-arm Livan, so they might as well swing at the 1st or 2nd pitch.

[Scott]

So...how long until MLB impounds Blanton's cap?

[bay_area_phan]

Tray: I always thought of "gravamen" as sort of meaning "the crux of the matter." I think you're right; the phrase refers specifically to lawsuits. But if you're trying to think of as many Latin phrases as possible to get into a Beerleaguer post, you sometimes have to be a bit loose with your terms.

[Scott]

Watching Howard, I started to hear Chris Berman making those infernal "Whoop Whoop Whoop" sounds.

[curt]

The sight of Big Joe's on a tightrope is pretty scary.

[bay_area_phan]

"I'm waiting to see what we move onto next!"

I'd lay pretty strong odds that the evening's next hot topic will be the Phillies' continuing offensive futility.

[SmokyJoe]

With the cooler weather and wind blowing in pretty good, I'm not sure the Phillies will be able to score any more runs without stringing together some hits and/or walks.

[mike cunningham]

@rhyno182 -- JRoll in the last 7 games coming into tonight:

10-33 .321/.364/.419/.783

[bay_area_phan]

Actually . . . before CJ or Jack jump down my throat, I guess the stats say that the Phillies have hit pretty well for the last week or so. I guess my impressions are still colored by what happened for the 3 weeks before that.

[bob]

Blanton trying to make sure bullpen gets at least 1 inning of work tonight to make up for the 1 inning of work it should've gotten last night. Is Madson warming up yet?

[Scott]

Nonsense. Blanton will throw 170 pitches tonight. Now that that's out of the way, I reckon we can discuss the Phillies continued offensive futility.

[SmokyJoe]

Blanton's too winded to pitch now.

[SmokyJoe]

I was just thinking "Jimmy needs to go the other way with Livan".

[Old Phan]

The Nats are glad that Blanton got that hit so that he would wear himself out on the basepaths. That's what I call strategy.

[SmokyJoe]

Comcast totally just jinxed Vic..."48 straight at-bats w/out a strikeout".

[Old Phan]

Or we could discuss the Phillies problems with RISP. It's been minutes since that has come up.

[curt]

Not sure how the Mets let this guy get away.

[SmokyJoe]

Tim Redding & Livan Hernandez should rent themselves out to NL teams for games they play against the Phillies; whatever team is playing the Phillies on their 5th day, that's who they play for. I'm pretty sure the Phillies could not break .500 for the season, and both would be in the Cy Young voting.

[SmokyJoe]

Well, bullpen is rested.

[SmokyJoe]

No command tonight for Blanton, and a fairly poor ball/strike ratio.

And that's why they are the Gnats.

[Scott]

Imagine his command if he didn't have his "lucky cap" on.

[Old Phan]

Nice heads up play by JW.

[curt]

Lil' Joe's incredible tightrope walk continues...

[CJ]

There's that overrated Jayson Werth, gunning out another runner. Just like that overrated Chooch Ruiz did earlier.

[SmokyJoe]

Bad news of the DP is another inning of Livan.

[bay_area_phan]

CJ: The next time Pedro Feliz gets a key hit, I'll remember to make that same line of argument.

[Scott]

If I were Washington, I'd let Livan go 9.

[EastFallowfield]

"Not sure how the Mets let this guy get away."

I thought he was about to reach some incentive that they didn't want to have to pay him.

[bay_area_phan]

Scott: If they let Livan go 9, it might compromise his effectiveness come playoff time.

[CJ]

bap: I've long ago accepted Pedro Feliz for what he is. You'll have trouble finding me complain about him this season. He's a weak hitter with a solid glove.

[SmokyJoe]

Prime DP scenario for Feliz

[Old Phan]

10 extra pitches and his arm will come out of it's socket

[SmokyJoe]

And that's why they are the Gnats.

[NEPP]

A run is a run.

[RSB]

Well, Blanton has had better luck, all right. Against even a halfway competent team, the score would be reversed.

[SmokyJoe]

Dobbs

[CJ]

More proof on why defense and baserunning matter. The Phils are good at it. The Nats are not. 2-0 Phils.

[NEPP]

Welcome Back Greg.

[bay_area_phan]

Those who have lamented the Phillies' excessive reliance on the homerun ball should be exceedingly pleased with the 2-run onslaught we've put up tonight, courtesy of small ball.

[curt]

If we had a couple more runs, Blanton bats there. 3 BP innings are Cholly's idea of a bad dream.

[Old Phan]

It's everyone's idea of a bad dream.

[Scott]

Nice play, Chan Ho!

[NEPP]

Damnit.

[SmokyJoe]

Our Third Baseman would hit into a DP here.

[Scott]

Sweet!

[SmokyJoe]

And that's why they are the Gnats.

[Old Phan]

Another Nats "oops".

[G-Town Dave]

Oh great, Park's hurt again.

[NEPP]

Nice inning that was, eh?

[SmokyJoe]

Park pulled a hammy...another reliable BP arm goes down.

[Scott]

Life without our Ho just won't be the same.

[SmokyJoe]

I think he pulled it dodging the broken bat.

[G-Town Dave]

Sh*t like that is exactly why some of us disagreed w/ leaving Lee in a 5-0 game last night. Also, Madson is warming up in the pen. Again.

[Cipper]

What happened to chopper? I'm at the game and missed what happened since I followed the play:..

[tg082]

Madson better be warming up now only because he's going to be pitching the next TWO innings!

[SmokyJoe]

Looks like Madson will be pitching th 8th & Myers (or Lidge) the 9th.