Game chat: Set concludes under pristine conditions

It’s a beautiful afternoon for baseball in Philadelphia, where Joe Blanton (1-2, 5.49) and the Phillies try for the series split this afternoon against Ryan Dempster (2-4, 3.49) and the Cubs. First pitch is 1:05.

Preview: The Phillies have capitalized on a run of weak opponents and deep starts lately. Aside from the last two duds, the offense has set a torrid pace, leading the league in May hitting (.294) and OPS (.853). Pitching-wise, the last start that didn’t go at least six innings was Cole Hamels’ May 9 outing against Atlanta, and the Phils won that one. As a result, they've masked an ugly-looking ‘pen currently comprised of J.C. Romero, Chad Durbin, Jose Contreras, David Herndon, Antonio Bastardo, Danys Baez and Nelson Figueroa, which, in one man’s opinion, would not be able to withstand a playoff series. The competition will feel more like October in the coming weeks as they open the interleague schedule, starting with a three-game taste against Boston this weekend.

Perhaps that’s why Charlie Manuel has been sparing his bullpen and giving some of his regulars intermittent rest. Jayson Werth sits for the first time since April 14, clearing room for Ross Gload, making only his second start for the Phils. Paul Hoover also replaces Carlos Ruiz behind the plate. Cholly’s lineup reads Jimmy Rollins 5, Raul Ibanez 6, Gload 7 and Hoover 8.

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Comments

[Hugh Mulcahy]

This is very Mitch Williams -esque.

[GTown_Dave]

Phew.

[HammRadio]

Whew...

[Willard Preacher]

It's not too often you let a Soriano on to start the inning and not see the run score. Nice composure out there. This Contreras kid might be decent some day.

[p. Red]

Never a doubt, Joe Rival.

[bay_area_phan]

Nice job.

[MG]

It was an adventure with Contreras but got the W because he was able to get some Ks. Some timely hitting today by the Phils including JRoll & Ibanez too & Blanton's best start of the year.

[holy mackerel]

ditto

Phew.Phew.Phew.

3 outs

[NEPP]

I take it we won? (Gameday, Gamecast and Yahoo all froze up on me)

Great game then.

[bake]

Contreras is performing just like Lidge in 2008. Keep it up!

[CJ]

bap: "Now it does feel like a loss."

But of course...

Nice job getting out of the jam, Jose. Phils haven't lost a series since that road series in San Fran at the end of April.

[thephaithful]

anyone got a quick recap of the last two outs? mlb and espn both still say top9 for me.

[bay_area_phan]

NEPP: Yeah, mine went down too; all those real-time game tracker sites seem to be linked, so they always go down at the same time.

Fortunately, I have MLB.tv. I hadn't planned to watch it today, since I was working. But in an emergency, I was able to turn it on and catch the end. Contreras put runners on 1st and 3rd with no one out, but then struck out the next 2 & induced a foul pop-up to end it.

[GBrettfan]

That sure felt like a Brad Lidge save. Edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting, prayer-inducing, seat-of-your-pants save.

[GTown_Dave]

b_a_p: I realize the rest of Beerleaguer will find this shocking (shocking!), but if you do ever feel the need to work up a "This Game Feels Like A Loss" shirt (like The700Level did w/ "Why Can't Us?" in '08) I'll gladly pony up for one.

[MG]

phaithful - Ramirez chased a slider was that was 2 feet out of the zone to strike out and the last out was a lazy pop up to Howard.

[Voice of Reason]

what happened? espn and mlb BOTH crapped out after the castro strikeout. i thought someone had run onto the field to be tased?

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Sounds like Contreras did the job without command of his best pitch. Pretty impressive.

[Gsl]

Benny Fran with a hit off the bench and Raul with the game winner. What will the Beerleaguers do?

[Tom Goodman]

Don't thank Contreras; thank Aramis Ramirez. That pitch was so far outside it would have counted as balls 4 and 5!!

[Old Phan]

G-Town, you must have a lot of money to waste!

[CJ]

Gsl: Don't see Beerleaguer short. They're already complaining about Howard swinging at the first pitch. There's ALWAYS something for them to complain about.

[Spitz]

GSL: Can Ross Gload or Greg Dobbs play LF? Because they sure need ABs

[GTown_Dave]

Old Phan: I bought my first Phillies Season Ticket Plan the year after they lost 97 games. Making intelligent financial decisions is not a part of my skill set.

[CJ]

If the Cards can hold on at home here (lead by 2 bottom of the 8th), we'll have a 5 game lead in the loss column again.

[Mike Smith]

bay_area_phan: you have a MLB.tv account and you didnt share. are you able to share?

[Lake Fred]

The sky is always brighter after a win. Durn computer froze up but BL gave me the scoop. Thanks!

[R.Billingsly]

I'm thrilled they won. The Howard play is now a non-issue. In fact, it became a non-issue when Ibanez drove the run home. So, I'm not going to dwell on it.

[MG]

It was nice to see the Phils win a BPS today. Anybody know the Phils' record during Business Person Special's sicne they moved into CBP? I would be surprised if it was better than .500.

[BloodStripes]

opposite field walk off slam in a 7 run ninth for Atlanta. Wow

[bay_area_phan]

G-Town: I'll let you know if I create the T-shirts. I think you might be on to a pretty good idea.

mike: I'd be highly surprised if 2 different people could simultaneously log onto MLB.tv under the same account. I'm sure MLB thought of that & took steps to prevent it.

[CJ]

Mike Smith: MLB.tv will block multiple log-ins.

[Old Phan]

Howard isn't the first player in history to lose a ball in the sun and he wont be the last.

[MG]

No pay service will enable simultaneous logins with the same user ID. That is an easy thing to prevent.

[Mike Smith]

bay_area_phan: i assume then, it will block the 2nd log-in? But if you're not going to use it for a day game, let sumone know (preferably me) :)

[p. Red]

G-Town: Something like this?

[Old Phan]

p.Red, the other side should say "This Game Feels Like A Win" just to confuse people.

[Voice of Reason]

Old Phan: the other side should have the rainout photo of the gnome.

[GTown_Dave]

p. Red: Absolutely! :-)

[Jbird]

Mike Smith: or you could just pay $90 to get it yourself. . . however if you're in Philly you'll only get the radio feed. Which, if you're in Philly, I'm assuming you could get for free.

[Old Phan]

VOR, very good.
How about "Season. Over."

[GTown_Dave]

Matt Gelb (via Twitter): "Both Brad Lidge and J.A. Happ will throw Friday. Happ in the bullpen, Lidge on flat ground."

"Roy Halladay did not throw a bullpen side session today, his adjustment for the heavy workload. Instead, he long tossed on flat ground."

Old Phan: I like the Season = Over idea.

[Pete Happy]

Back/front should be:

"This Win Feels Like A Loss"
"This Loss Feels Like A Win"

So, who is tracking TWFLLs/TLFLW for the year so far?

[Old Phan]

The losses are inevitable, the wins are lucky.

[p. Red]

I like it, we could have a line of Beerleaguer shirts.

"Yo, new thread."
"This game feels like a loss."
"Season = Over"
"He's actively hurting the team."
"Not a big enough sample size."
"Reverse Jinx!"

What else?

[J.R. King]

Many on this board think mlb.tv prevents simultaneous logins, but my friend in L.A. uses my account all the time and I never run into a problem.

Now, if only he'd offer to split the cost with me.

[Old Phan]

p.Red

"Interesting"

[bake]

"This T-Shirt is actively hurting the team."

[bay_area_phan]

Maybe the back should say, "If only we had a taller 3rd baseman. . ."

[bay_area_phan]

Of course, if we ever have that oft-contemplated Beerleaguer get-together, I'm having a special shirt printed for the occasion. It will say, "How 'bout that Abreu trade?"

[Yo]

Yo, New Post Game Thread.