Game chat: Phils gaze through the looking glass

Like Alice, the Phillies have experienced a reversal of reality since Mick Billmeyer peered through the lens in Colorado.

When the Phillies and Rockies last met, the series was marred by an alleged sign-stealing incident involving binocular-wielding bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer. It resulted in a warning by Major League Baseball. And as everyone knows, the issue turned out to be a big misunderstanding. Rockies skipper Jim Tracy has let bygones be bygones, while the Phillies, out to show that they'd never attempt to gain a competitive advantage through such backhanded measures, continued to produce as they always have, hitting .243/.311/.389 (.699 OPS) in the 62 games since, a mere .100-point drop in OPS since the first 33 games of the season. And down the rabbit hole they go ...

Pitching preview: Sinkerball specialist Aaron Cook (4-5 4.56) toes the slab for Colorado. Roy Halladay (10-8, 2.40) tries to rebound from one of his worst starts as a Phillie Sunday against the Cubs. Colorado is in the midst of an 11-game road trip and lost three of four to Florida in their last series. [Jump to the newest comments]

Comments

[Old Phan]

"Well, that game was refreshing, wasn't it? "

Like a cool rain on a hot day.

[Old Phan]

"Well, that game was refreshing, wasn't it? "

Or like a game thread where C----L---is never mentioned.

[GTown_Dave]

And now the Braves are back on top, 6-5. Bases Loaded, 1 Out, Top 9th in Florida.

[Reverend]

Roy Oswalt on a team picking up his option:
"The money part, I can work out with anybody," he said. "We can work on doing different things to restructure whatever they want to do. The biggest thing is making it work for both of us."
And
"I'm going to find a way to get it done if it works for both of us," he said. "I'm not going to go somewhere that's bad for me. I don't want to do anything that puts the Astros in a bad situation."

[Reverend]

Is that second comment a shot at the Phillies? Or am I reading to much into that?

[Heather]

"Is that second comment a shot at the Phillies? Or am I reading to much into that?"

The part about putting the Astros in a bad situation doesn't make sense if he's taking a shot at the Phillies.

By what I have read, the deal with the Astros/Phils was about to be done, except for Oswalt's objections. That indicates to me the Phils deal was the best for the Astros NOT "putting them in a bad situation"

So really I don't think you need to read anything into Oswalt's comments...just read them as "I really want to go to the Cardinals but I don't want to be perceived as an a$$ by outright rejecting any deals."

That's my take on it.

[Heather]

"And now the Braves are back on top, 6-5. Bases Loaded, 1 Out, Top 9th in Florida."

I dont know why they didn't put Nunez in. He's only one of the hottest closers in baseball right now....either a big mistake by the Fish manager or Nunez has pitched too many days in a row. W/E, just one more reason for me to hate the Fish if they don't pull this one out.

[cjp]

The Rat has one out with bases jammed and Uggla up. Please fail! Please fail!

[cjp]

Whoops, an intentional walk to Uggla loaded 'em up. There'll be a PH for Veras now.

[goody]

If he's refering to our "bandbox", which I think he has done before, we should point out the 3 straight shutouts during the heatwave, when balls are supposed to fly out of here. Unless he dosn't want his "buddy" Lidge closing for him?

[cjp]

Jeez, I'm an idiot. The IBB was to Ramirez and Uggla IS up with bases loaded.

[GTown_Dave]

Heather: "Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez said he "wants to stay away" from regular closer Leo Núñez if possible, because Núñez threw a total of 41 pitches in saving the club's wins Wednesday and Thursday."

Marlins have runners on 1st & 3rd w/ 1 Out, down 6-5, Bottom 9th.

[cjp]

Damn, Uggla K'd. Two outs now.

[GTown_Dave]

... & the assholes at MLB Network have switched away from a great game in Florida to show me motherf*cking A-Fraud trying to hit his 50th legit MLB HR. Brilliant.

[BloodStripes]

Tie game.

[GTown_Dave]

Passed Ball! Marlins tie the game off of Wagner!

[Reverend]

Heather I was referring to this comment
"I'm not going to go somewhere that's bad for me."
That I feel is a shot at the Phillies. I should have been more specific.

[seattlephan]

the rat just served up a wild pitch -- tie game!

[seattlephan]

the rat blows it!!!!! fish win!!!!

[GTown_Dave]

Base hit! A Blown Save & a Loss for Wagner!

[CJ]

Now THAT'S the Billy Wagner I know and love. The rat sinks again.

[cjp]

And Murphy just hit an RBI single to win it off the flippin' Rat!

[BloodStripes]

Donnie boy wins it. Wooooo.

[Heather]

Billy Wagner, Phillies Savior?

BTW, thanks for the info on Nunez, Dave.

[CJ]

The Rat had 3 blown saves in his first 41 appearances. Two blown saves in his last two appearances.

[Heather]

The only thing I'm curious about with the whole Oswalt thing is that negotiations are still open with the Phils which suggests he didn't veto them outright.

I guess he's not ABSOLUTELY opposed to going here...just would rather not?

Who knows, we'll see how it turns out by the 31st I guess. :-)

[GTown_Dave]

Heather: No problem. I was wondering the same thing, which is why I looked it up.

[CJ]

Heather: Yeah, he hasn't ruled out a trade to Philly... but it sounds like he wants to get dealt to St. Louis. I'm not sure the owner wants to do that.

Ultimately, either Houston will decide St. Louis is the spot, or Oswalt will have to drop his demand regarding his option.

[CJ]

I'm still one of those keeping my eye on the wild card as well. Arizona beating SF would help. That would put us two out in the loss column for the wild card.

The division is still the easier path to the playoffs... despite the 6 game deficit... but the wild card is a back up plan.

[pblunts]

G-Town Dave, was thinking the same about MLB Network switching from the Braves/Marlins cliffhanger to A-Roid trying to hit another tainted HR.

Dear MLB Network producers: It is 2010. I can watch a game live, in high definition on a device about the size of my hand. Back in the 1980's or perhaps before, some smart TV exec invented something called the split screen. I know it's a difficult concept to grasp, but please try it next time in a similar situation.

Sarcasm aside, I would have to guess there must be a rule that says they can't show more than one game at a time. Then again, they are the MLB Network, shouldn't they be able to do whatever the hell they want?

Side note, nice to see the offense pick up and Halladay go back to form. The Rockies are reeling at the end of a very long trip and even Jimenez has been struggling lately. Let's take advantage!

[GTown_Dave]

Interesting doings in the Seattle dugout. Apparently Don Wakamatsu got into a physical confrontation w/ Chone Figgins &/or Jose Lopez over a missed cutoff man. I suggest the Mariners hire Milt Thompson, & immediately fire him. It'll fix everything right up.

[AFish]

The WC isn't as hard as it appears, b/c all the NL west teams have to play each other a lot going down the stretch.

[GTown_Dave]

Correction: Wakamatsu was not involved, but (perhaps) Russell Branyan was. Bottom line, there was a throwdown of sorts in the Seattle dugout. How happy is Cliff Lee to be free of that mess?

Yeah, I brought him up. Cliff. Lee.

[Old Phan]

Billy Wagner is my favorite!

[dlhunter]

Wait, wait, wait. Billy Wagner is familiar name...

[Old Phan]

You can't judge a manager until you Wakamatsu in his shoes.

[dlhunter]

OP- that really just sounds like doing something disgusting and foreign to his shoes.

[GTown_Dave]

pblunts: I'm still watching MLB Network, & they just showed a split-screen of two separate games in progress (Kelly Johnson going for the cycle in Arizona & Papelbon trying to close out the Mariners in Seattle). So they do, in fact possess the necessary technology, which means the A-Rod thing was a value judgment on their part. Booooooooo, MLB Network! Booooooooo!

[jason.tp]

i should be milt thompson:

Phillies vs Aaron Cook:

Rollins: 11-29
Howard: 8-20 , 1 HR
Victorino: 1-16
Werth: 5-12
Ibanez: 2-6
bighead: 2-3

Interseting one is(besides Vic's awfulness):

Ross Gload: 5-7, 2 doubles, 1 walk.

Maybe give Gload a start finally? Werth to center for game and let Vic take a seat? Having a switch hitter on the bench isnt such a bad thing, especially now that he's got some pop.

Posted by: jason.tp | Friday, July 23, 2010 at 04:02 PM

[dlhunter]

Jason.tp for Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Senate!

Chancellor Valorum is indecisive about hitting matchups.

[coach handbags]

Mere exposure to English doesn’t work; you have to blurt out a larger number of usefull sentences.

[EastFallowfield]

After 96 games:

2010: 50-46, 6 games back
1980: 50-46, 5 games back