Game chat: Perfect attendence as Cole holds class

The regular lineup is back together for the first time since my birthday tonight as Bud Norris (6-7, 5.23) and Cole Hamels (7-10, 3.51) duke it out in the second of four from Citizens Bank Park. Keep those Chooch bobbleheads in the packaging if you're headed down to the park. The Weather Channel is calling for a 40 percent chance of rain. (Photo courtesy of some guy on Twitter). [Jump to the newest comments]

Comments

[Lincoln Hawkes]

"Barry was an ass, but your $25 million player should never go 0-7 with 5 strikeouts.

Ryan Howard = most overrated player in the game"

This is either extreme hyperbole or extreme stupidity.

Even Ruth led the league in strike outs five times.

[Mr. Mack]

How great would an Oswalt hit be to tie the game. Then we could all stay up until 2:00 AM, watching the 22'nd inning.

[Fatalotti]

Oswalt has hit a HR in his career. There is hope!

[brother]

Don't give up Roy, you can do it!

[Old Phan]

"This is either extreme hyperbole or extreme stupidity."

I vote extreme stupidity.

[GBrettfan]

I don't know. I think this game has become too strange to be a stinging loss.

[Fatalotti]

Oswalt should bunt to the pitcher and then throw his bat at the pitche when he goes to field it.

[brother]

Let's go OSWALT!

[Matt]

What a bullshit game. I'm disgusted on multiple levels right now.

[dlhunter]

Well, I could really have used the sleep.

[The Truth Injection]

Give Oswalt credit for putting together an at bat there.

[Jon]

this is an embarrassing was to lose. 16 innings and 2 runs. That is all that needs to be said.

[Thump Bump]

At least Oswalt made contact, Howard would have struck out.

[Fatalotti]

What a cosmic waste of time. What a pathetic offense. I can't beleive I just witnessed that.

[jason.tp]

im proud to say i left this game early. would have rather never shown up and will trash my stupid bobble.

[Old Phan]

Cool. Umpires decide 2 games in a row.

[GBrettfan]

Are we booing the ump(s) now?

[bay_area_phan]

Well, now we won't have to debate the worse loss of the year anymore. The case is closed.

[johnnysanz3]

That would of been Howard batting there btw if he kept his mouth shut. (umpire is still an a-hole, i agree)

[brother]

Tough loss, fellas. I think the Phils show some resilience and kick some butt for the next week or so.

[MG]

Sophist posted it the other day but I wonder what the Phils' record will be vs. .sub 500 teams after this series and the Phils lose 3 of 4.

[Sophist]

Another umpiring atrocity. By ony the Howard AB but to have Oswalt up there batting fourth as the winning run.

Bats didn't show up, but hard to get passed this crew once again.

[Sophist]

Another umpiring atrocity. By ony the Howard AB but to have Oswalt up there batting fourth as the winning run.

Bats didn't show up, but hard to get passed this crew once again.

[Jack]

Cool. Phils offense fails to show up 2 games in a row and we lose to the Astros.

The fact that it's even in the umps' hands in the 14th inning is the issue.

[The Truth Injection]

I will say this- that is not the kind of loss that demoralizes a team. That is the kind of loss that fires a team up. Well usually.

Hopefully it has that effect here because it would be nice to get on a bit of a tear over the next 10 days. It's a shame that we missed a chance to gain 2 games on the Braves the past two days though. Can't be happy about that.

[bay_area_phan]

I'll stand by my statement earlier that we cannot bring back this same lineup next year, minus its best hitter. A playoff contender cannot have this many games in a season in which it gets completely shut down, no matter who the opposing pitcher is. It's not acceptable and something significant needs to change.

[Thump Bump]

Hopefully Howard is suspended 1 or 2 games, he needs some rest to try to get his head straight.

[EastFallowfield]

I'd like to think this game fires up the Phils, but they've proven they can string together a bunch of losses to bad teams like the Astros and Pirates over the years.

[Jack]

bap: Are there any aging players in their 30's to sign to 3-year deals?

That's the kind of change Ruben can get on board with.

[Old Phan]

Howard should get suspended? Are you kidding?
That umpire should be suspended. Perhaps for life.

[Thump Bump]

Giants are rolling again so wild card lead is slowly fading.

[Fatalotti]

Yo, new thread.

[sdphillie]

Hopefully Howard got some pointers from Oswalt.

0-7, 5K?

Roy would have blooped at least a single in 7 AB's.

[slocs]

41st time 2 runs or less. I know Werth is hitting 300 but he looks bad, but victorino is insta-out. two games we should have won against the Astros, sounds like 2006 all over

[bay_area_phan]

I don't see a new thread.

[Kool Earl]

Right you are BAP. Like a leadoff batter for starters. I get a kick out of Rollins occaisional dramatics but if he is only going to give you .320 OBP, he belongs down at the bottom of the order

[Fatalotti]

You're right. Sorry, didn't even check it out.

[Jon]

Last night loss should have fired up the team. They will probably be too tired to even get a hit tomorrow. Every fan should be disgusted, but we have been playing like crap since Utley and Howard came back. The phillies need to get it together quick, cause there next off day isn't until sept 9.

[MG]

41st time the Phils have scored 2 runs or less this year. Their record is 10-31 in those games.

2009 (39 times): 5-34
2008 (36 times): 5-31
2007 (25 times): 0-25

[Jack]

Hopefully that ump is suspended, because he acted like an absolute jackass.

Neither Howard nor the ump should be absolved by the actions of the other. By any standard, both were out of line--the ump far out of line given his role to stay out of the way, and Howard for pure stupidity in getting tossed in a game with no one left on the bench. I don't care if the ump told Howard he banged his mom--Howard has to show restraint as long as the game is going on, and give his team a chance to win. Sorry, but that's the truth.

Sure hope the ump is suspended though. MLB needs some accountability when it comes to that--it's one thing to miss a call. It's quite another to actively make yourself part of the game and get into it with a player. It's embarassing.

[The Truth Injection]

You know something that always comes up in debates that we have had these past couple weeks about the Braves and Phillies schedules is this belief that lesser teams just roll over and die for the better teams. That doesn't happen.

in the course of a season you are going to lose games to a team that is not as good as you. In fact, just last year we got swept in 4 games by the Astros on Labor Day Weekend.

That doesn't mean we should be happy about it, but people need to stop pretending like the Phillies are playing a bunch of buckets of sand.

the offense struggled tonight and that has been a theme this season. They'll hit a hot stretch yet and hopefully it comes when it's not too late.

[The Commish]

So usually I don't post unless I'm either a). drunk or b.) ticked. Tonight, unfortunately, is b.

I'm just so mad this minor league ump replacement and this entire umpiring crew has basically cost two games in the pennant race- where we would be a HALF game behind.

Apparently this Barry tossed Zimmerman out last week. How many ejections has Zimmerman had in his career before last week? Zero.

I need a drink.

[sdphillie]

MG - Exactly how many games do you expect them to win when being held under 2 runs?

[slocs]

old phan - the umps didn't decide yesterday or today. Awful approaches at the plate, swinging for the fences, not working counts is what has caused 5 out of 6 with 2 runs or less.

[Fatalotti]

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I don't think I'm going to watch tomorrow's game. I need a break from this. Last year, after the Phillies tore July in 2 and won 20+ games that month, they went through a little lull in early August. This may just be that lull, but this game really frustrated the hell out of me, because for 14.1 of out of our 16 innings, we didn't even muster up a scare as an offense. I just need a break, though I hate to miss a Halladay start.

[RSB]

It's pretty simple, the 3-4 guys in the lineup are killing them right now. They haven't gotten their timing back and when they do, the offense will pick up. As it stands right now, they were actually a better offensive team with Valdez and Gload.

Losing 2 games in a row at home to this triple-A team seems unthinkable, but recall that the Astros swept the NL Champs in 4 games last September. So maybe it is thinkable.

[mainerob]

I have come to believe that there is no such thing as a motivating loss or a motivating win. Possibly in the rah, rah days of yesteryear, a Knute Rockne moment might have meant something, but in this moment to moment world we live in nowadays, inspiration often lasts for just a moment.

I don't believe there will be any carryover effect facing Happ tomorrow. Just play the game and get over it.

What an opportunity to gain ground on the Braves, but they must have identical won-loss records over the last 10 days. Frustrating as hell!

[denny b.]

Their best hitter is Polanco, BAP.

This game should have been over in the 9th inning, if the Astros could have gotten 1 more out. The Phils were damn lucky to even get into extra innings.

No excuses, for not scoring a damn run in extras against some dude named Abad, Mark Melacanon and Lard Ass Fulchino. None.

Only saving grace is that Kendrick wasn't wasted. Then you would likely have had Oswalt starting on short rest on Thursday and Kendrick starting against Mat Latos on Friday. Not good scenarios in either case.

Phils have nobody to blame but themselves for this loss. Its the freakin' Houston Astros. And they can't beat them in August. Couldn't do it last year and aren't doing it this year.

[bay_area_phan]

sdphillie: Not many & I think that's MG's very point. In fact, thanks to the brilliance of Halladay, the Phillies are shooting better than par by going 10-31 in those games.

[sdphillie]

yo, new thread.

[The Commish]

The Phils win 9/10 of these games. Tonight is that one. Let's get'em tomorrow, boys.

[MG]

sdphillie - Not many at all. Points out to just how good their starting pitching has been this year and how bad their pitching was in '07.

[GBrettfan]

I'm tired of " sooner or later this offense will hit/ score.". If it doesn't happen sooner, there won't be a later. The slump/ funk is as much the norm this season as hitting, maybe moreso.

[bay_area_phan]

denny: Polanco is their best hitter for average. Werth is their best all-around hitter. At the very least, let's agree that he's their best right-handed hitter in a heavily left-handed lineup. The idea of fielding this same hapless lineup next year, minus Werth, & with Ibanez, Polanco, Rollins & Utley each another year older, is pretty frightening to me.

[denny b.]

No blame for Dave Herndon tonight? (just kidding).

Howard most certainly will be suspended, BTW. Hopefully its by tomorrow, so we don't have to see him flail away against Happ and Rodriguez the next 2 days.

Michael Bourn is a damn good baseball player, BTW. I wish we had a guy like that at the top of the order. Pretty hard to score runs, when

A. You have no leadoff hitter
B. Your #5 hitter can't hit with RISP
C. Your #3 and #4 hitters can't hit late in games against LOOGY's (whether they are good or not)

This is a fatally flawed lineup, with the way Cholly has constructed it. When is Cholly going to wake up?

1. Werth
2. Utley
3. Polanco
4. Howard
5. Rollins
6. Ibanez
7. Victorino
8. Ruiz
9. Pitcher

That should be the order in 2010. Why is this so hard to see?

[Right on, Mike]

The lineup needs another couple days to get on track. They've been out, timing's off. Plus, Halladay pitches tomorrow. Win.