Game chat: Phillies try for the trifecta tonight

Left-handers Jonathan Sanchez (8-8, 3.60) and Cole Hamels (7-9, 3.33) take stage in the series finale between the Giants and Phillies beginning tonight at 7:05 from Citizens Bank Park. Cole will try for his first win in six starts through no fault of his own. Over that span, he's posted a 2.14 ERA. The fourth-lowest run support in the league might have more to do with it. [Jump to the newest comments]   [In-Game Live!]

Comments

[Sophist]

Agree with BAP, though I had the misfortune of attending the game. Nothing to cheer about til the 9th.

Although, if we had Figgy I think we would have won this one.

[BloodStripes]

bap feeling the love. Of course, its all true but whoa.....are you feeling alright? :]

[phlipper]

Is someone posting under other people's screennames again?

[Old Phan]

Good to see Sweeney get a big hit.

[bay_area_phan]

Of course, we'll probably proceed to get swept by the Nationals, since the Phillies always seem to be at their worst in the series which they ought to win easily.

There, is that better?

[denny b.]

Tough night for the Fighten's.

Ran into a really good pitcher (Hamels seems to be bring out the best in the opposing starters) and Cole was a bit off his game. Much like the White Sox tonight, the Giants were desperate for a win to finish this series and got it.

Team still seems vulnerable against LHP. Werth's problems against lefty's this year is perplexing. Really hurts, when he isn't hitting in the middle of the order against LHP.

The bright side, is that the Braves only have 1 LH starter (and he's a rookie). Same with the Reds (who almost no-hit the Phils a month ago). The Cards only have one in Garcia. The Pads have 2, but LeBlanc may not even start in the playoffs.

With Halladay going against Marquis tomorrow, you like your chances of getting back on the ball. Don't expect much help from the Cubs against the Braves. The Cubs just might be the worst team in major league baseball right now. Giants and Cards should beat up on each other though, so ground could be made up with one or both of them.

Down on the farm, Worley won his first AAA start for LV. Solid 6 1/3 IP with 1 ER. Except for one stinker and one other outing where his bullpen allowed a few inherited runners to score, he has pitched very solidly for LV. He is the obvious choice (and truthfully, ONLY choice) to get the start in Florida in a couple of weeks in one of the DH games.

Another rock solid outing from Mathieson to get his 23rd save. Pretty good work to have that many saves, considering how few wins LV has for the season.

Rizzotti has finally started to struggle for the first time all year. I am sure he will start 2011 at LV (and possibly at a new position), so hopefully he can make some adjustments at this higher level. He is showing, he is not yet ready for any big league time in 2010.

Harold Garcia continues to have a terrific year. His numbers at Reading almost mirror his numbers at Clearwater. For the year, he is hitting .327 with 111 hits, 6 HR, 59 RBI's, 26 SB's and a .393 OBP.

Unless there is another minor trade/waiver wire pickup, I think its pretty obvious who the September callups will be.

-Dobbs
-Mayberry
-Brown (once Howard comes back, he is likely to go)

-Either Hoover or Sardinha
-Bastardo
-Mathieson
-Worley

That seems to be about the normal number that they add to the active roster. Still wish we had another guy besides Valdez, as the backup at 2B and SS. But they seem comfortable being a bit light there (and Utley and Rollins play everyday anyway).

[Old Phan]

Tomorrow is the Marquis match up of the series.

[Sophist]

Nice post, denny. The 9th showed just how desperate the Giants were - pulling their SP with a shutout going in the middle of an AB and then pulling Romo for Wilson with 2 outs in a non-S situation.

Oddly enough the Cubs trades still leave them with DeWitt, Soto (on DL), Castro, Ramirez, Soriano, Byrd, Fukudome, Nady, Dempster, Zambrano, Gorzellany, Silva, and Wells. Which doesn't *sound* like a terrible team, but their 4-13 in August and 11-21 in the second half. They're a horrific 14-30 in 1 run games.

[Baseball]

Baseball are really fantastic game.... I very much prefer to play it. From this i get health, wealth and entertainment and also increase my energy...... This game is very nice.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

beisbol been beri beri good to me.

Hamels was not sharp and the Giants hitters were, early. Sanchez was on. ONce he started piling up hte 0-1 and 0-2 counts, it was all downhill. Nice to see them play to the last out, as usual. I didn't reasonably expect they'd sweep that team. I do expect Halladay to put up a W tonight, though.

[Fatalotti]

I'd like Hamels to get any and all bad starts out of his systme before the final two series against the Braves. If it works out that we can get Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt to start every remaining game against the Braves, and if they are sharp, I see no reason to think we can't take, at minimum, 4 out of 6 from them. And if we do that, we pick up 2 games on them. That means we just need to stay within 2 GB in the loss column, but I think we can get closer over the next month.

[Bay Slugga]

Nice post, denny.

[Bay Slugga]

"I haven't really followed the wins and losses," Hamels said. "I try to just completely blank that out. It's one of those statistics that is really starting to fade away for a starter in this day and age. I don't think it really defines what they're doing."

Hamels reads BLer.

[MG]

First time this team missed a key opportunity in probably a month since the Cubs series where they laid an egg.

Shame they can't figure out Sanchez because he has been from great lately and even last night it just looked like the Phils had a general lack of patience/poor swings that resulted in a bunch of weakly-hit balls.

Sanchez had 3 swing & misses all night and got the Phils out primarily just using his 4-seem fastball.

He did have pretty good control of it though last night which makes him a much more effective pitcher.

[MG]

Much maligned combo of Herndon/Baez did a really nice job last night of keeping slim hope alive by keeping the Giants scoreless for 4 IP.

Felt early in the game if the Phils could have gotten it back to 2 or 3 runs they had another chance to steal this game. 5 runs was just much.

[Bay Slugga]

MG: I don't think the Phils had much of a chance to be patient. Sanchez was throwing darts for quick strikes, and was attacking the zone. Hat tip to the guy for a nice start.

Tonight's game is almost a gimmie. Unfortunately, they still need to make the putt.

[Bubba]

Interesting contrast between our current CF and ex-CF on tough plays deep last night.
Rowand made a difficult playlook ez for an out on his; and Shane did a double turn around - kick the ball for a double.
Not saying that I would rather have Rowand, that's not the case, at all.
Just that Vic can take some little league approaches to balls with bad outcomes.

[Bob]

On W/L record, I think Hamels is correct. Have to credit BL for giving me a better depth of understanding here. The phrase "20 game winner" will always have a certain cachet to it (as it absolutely should), but I think more and more people are starting to get a grasp of more advanced metrics and realize it can deepen understanding and enjoyment of the game. Still very much a work in progress for me.

In a weird way, I'm kind of glad that if the team was going to struggle at the plate, Hamels chose this occasion to pitch a poor game. He's going to do that from time to time, and it may be better to get a night like last night out of his system than to lose another 1-0 heartbreaker. Hopefully next time the team can give him some decent run support.

[Sophist]

3 all night? Texas Leaguers has more than that:

http://pitchfx.texasleaguers.com/pitcher/456043/?batters=A&count=AA&pitches=AA&from=8%2F19%2F2010&to=8%2F19%2F2010

Just 2 swings and misses on 73 FB but 69% for strikes and the Phils only swung at 40% of them, well less than half. I'm not sure that suggests a lack of patience on the FB.

But they swung at a large majority of his curves and sliders, popping up or grounding out weakly on most pitches. I can think of one hard hit out to LF prior to the 9th. There was just 1 swing and miss on a curve; 4 on the changeup; and 1 on the slider.

Texas Leaguers backs this up noting that there was just 1 lineout last night out of 29 AB. Compare that to 5 pop-ups and 4 groundouts and 7 K. You throw your FB for strikes, and you'll get bad contact on the breaking stuff. Surprising to have just 8 swinging strikes and 7 K -- if you're only going have 8 that's the way to do it. But he threw well over 70% of his pitches for strikes.

[Dave X]

the title of this article is sure to arouse some on beerleaguer

double entendre intended

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/cardinals-acquire-feliz-are-now-worse/

[Bay Slugga]

The silver lining from last night's game is the work of Herndon and Baez. Those two guys really saved the pen, and that could wind up being huge since we don't have an off day for awhile.

Cole only had 85ish pitches too.

[Sophist]

Bubba - Vic made a spectacular catch earlier in the game, harder than the one he missed or the one Rowand reached. I was sitting just above the Radio guys, to their left, and had a view of all 3 plays. Rowand made a nice play, but his relative lack of range made it look better than it was. The ball stayed up just enough for him. The one Vic booted was a liner. Tough play. The one Vic caught was something to watch from the seats. Ball looked like it was going to be way over his head - just turned and sprinted to the perfect spot.

[Bay Slugga]

Dave X: I just saw that - classic.

[Bruce Ruffin]

Missed the game. Just as well. Props to Cole Hamels who appears to be showing that he is ready to win if only the run support shows up. If only.

I'm wondering if the predatory Ryan Howard comes back (front foot planted, watching the sweet spot of the bat rifle the outside breaking ball the other way) or confused Ryan (looping swing more than several inches above said breaking pitch). We really, really need him back in his "Get me to the plate, boys..." frame of mind.

[Joe Cowley]

Can't take the Nats for granted either, they're still the Expos to me, the winnable series that comes back to bite us in the end. We have to make a statement and light them up all 3 games.

I guess Jerry Manuel sees the writing on the wall in NY, last night calling his offense pathetic and stating that his pitcher had the best at-bat of the game.....

[Sophist]

Doc v Marquis
Kendrick v Strasburg
Oswalt v Olsen

Kendrick beat Jimenez. Why not Strasburg?

[MG]

Sophist & Bay Slugga - Didn't realize that Sanchez threw so many first-pitch strikes (20/29), strikes in general, or that when he threw his offspeed stuff he was able to get so many strikes.

Basically, Phils did get behind in the count in almost every AB and Sanchez did a nice job of getting his share of Ks and weak contact.

Give him more credit than especially after looking at some the numbers.

[Bay Slugga]

I don't feel bad for Jerry Manuel. He is a joke as a manager, and he should be treated as such.

[MG]

The funniest part about the Feliz trade? It was for a 'fringe reliever.' Ed Wade's fascination with 'fringe relievers' will never die as a GM.

[Bay Slugga]

MG: I was pretty pissed at the game, but Sanchez pitched a hell of a game. The Phillies hit a few balls hard that found some gloves which helped the Giants too.

I think last night was just a speed bump, because this team does seem to have regained some of their swagger. Once Howard comes back that swagger will be at "100 thousand, trillion."

Also, is there a better word for swagger? It really is over used.

[Sophist]

Yeah. Pretty clear that he threw the changeup as his K pitch with 2 strikes. Phils fouled off 1 of them and put 0 in play, missing 4. Figure 4/7 K came off a 2 strike CH.

Phils only swung at 29 of 73 FB. Looks like they were making him prove he could throw it for a strike. They fouled off 10 of those 29 and put 17 in play. Means he threw 21 of the remaining 44 for strikes looking. He threw 18 of his other 25 pitches (curve, change, slider) for strikes. Tough night at the plate.

[Sophist]

I don't think the Phils had too many hard hit outs. 1 line-out; 6 fly-outs (but how many hard hit? Just the Rowand play maybe); Vic's GB single (his second hit was not hard hit).

That might be it. Phils hit 3-4 hard hit balls all night against Sanchez. Everything else was a pop-up, weak grounder, or routine flyball.

[EastFallowfield]

Is Feliz worth anything more than a fringe anything?

[Joe Cowley]

The best thing about the Mets is that they'll be in steep decline over the next couple of years, they're bogged down with long term contracts to bums and the team is losing money. They peaked over the past couple of years when they pulled their infamous choke jobs. Couldn't happen to a better organization.

[Bay Slugga]

The thing that really gets me about those educated Mets fans is that they think the Phillies have a wasteland for a farm system. Considering the talent the Phillies have traded away, they still have a lot of potential down in the minors. I would even go as far as to say we still have a better minor league system than the Mets. Admittedly, I don't know much about the farms of the other teams in our division.

But hey, if Keith Law says the Phillies are tapped out in the minors then it must be true!

[MG]

Joe - How exactly are the Mets 'burdened by long-term contracts' when most of their bad contracts are done at the end of next year including Beltran, Perez, and Castillo?

They are the only real large revenue team with as much playoff flexibility in the intermediate term.

[dlhunter]

@MG

"starting in 2011, the Mets owe [now 47 year old, 10 year retired Bobby] Bonilla $1.2 million per year for 25 years."

http://withleather.uproxx.com/2010/07/mets-ink-bobby-bonilla-to-25-year-deal

[Bay Slugga]

MG: Actually, a lot of reports are suggesting the the Wilpons' have very little payroll flexibility.

[Old Phan]

That Bonilla thing is amazing. Whoever signs that must have a seriously cringe worthy moment. At least it's only once a year.

[Joe Cowley]

Castillo will not start at 2nd next season so they have to pay him, Beltran may be dealt depending on what act he pulls in spring training (fake injuries, personal physicians, etc...) and Perez was a wasted salary this season considering he stunk and then refused to take an assignment to the minors, and there is no way he is in the rotation next season after what he pulled this year. That sounds bogged down to me.

[Sophist]

Mets have $108M in payroll commitments next year before Reyes option (which they'll pick up), Pagan's arb, Maine and Francoeur's arb (likely non-tenders), and Pelfrey's first arb year. Additionally, Wright, Santana, and Bay get more next year (Bay gets $10M more).

Probably pretty close to the Phils payroll commitments in 2011 and for less quantity and quality. They lose Ollie, Castillo and Beltran in 2012, but the Phils lose a bunch in that year as well (Lidge and Ibanez for starters).

[Joe Cowley]

Dont forget the loot they gave K-Rod that has no guarantee of being voided given the power of the player's union. No way he's on the team mext season either.

[Sophist]

Marquis

2 starts since returning from the DL

8 IP, 10 R, 12 H, 4 BB, 5 K, 3 HR.

[Bay Slugga]

Lidge's contract likely won't provide much value, but Perez is good for negative WAR for sure.

[Bay Slugga]

I'd like to see Brown play tonight, though I'm not sure how he fits in there.

Utley is going to have a good game tonight.

[Sophist]

Marquis was touched up early in both starts since he returned. 4 in the first by the Dodgers; 3 in the second by the DBacks.

[Sophist]

Just at quick glance, and without looking at player options or arb, Detriot, Boston, and the Angels seem to be the big spenders with the most salary coming off their books in the next 2 years. Something is up with Atlanta. They aren't exactly a big spender, but their payroll has been dropping drastically in the past few years.

[Bay Slugga]

Sophist: The Braves attendance is embarrassing. They could have a 200 million dollar payroll and they would still draw 15 thousand.

[Joe Cowley]

Buster Olney on ESPN this morning proclaimed the Braves as the team to come out of the NL this year due to the acquisition of Derek Lee, and had the Padres as the second best team down the stretch due to their bullpen. No mention of the Fightins. Obvious also-rans.

[Bay Slugga]

LOLESPN

[Bay Slugga]

Where is NEPP, btw?

[Sophist]

Braves payroll has been up and down over the last 10 years. Anywhere between $80M and $100M from year to year.

[jason.tp]

anyone see the fan last nite catch werth's foul ball while he was walking under the concourse? He snagged it with one hand while holding a tray of food and beers in the other.

Hero.

[Sophist]

3 games attendance:

PHI v SFG: 135,150
ATL v WSN: 50,609

[dlhunter]

Ummm....

"Tyson Gillies, a top prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies' minor-league system, was arrested early Friday morning in Pinellas County on a felony charge of possession of cocaine."

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/ml/philadelphia-phillies-prospect-tyson-gillies-faces-cocaine-charge/1116438

[dlhunter]

That C___ L__ trade looks better everyday.

[Sophist]

wow

[jason.tp]

Gillies getting busted for coke.

Zero.

[dlhunter]

As a Phuture Phillies poster noted, his hearing aid looks great in the mugshot:

[Old Phan]

I guess the hamstring was really bothering him.

[dlhunter]

OP- He could have at least held off till '80s night.

[R.Billingsly]

Gilles busted for coke possession? No wonder he's so fast.

[Dukes]

Maybe they should have kept Gose instead. Seriously though, this is dissappointing. I hope he turns things around both off and on the field.

[Old Phan]

"Gillies getting busted for coke.Zero."
I didn't know diet soda was illegal.

dl, I believe he was wearing parachute pants and the time of his arrest.

[Bruce Ruffin]

Re: Buster (pay me to read me) Olney:

* Yo, Holmes, exactly who at ESPN's top management do you have photos of? There are 3 or more folks on this site I'd rather read than Olney. Loser.

* On a more serious note, exactly what qualified Olney as a "baseball writer" anyway? I'd rather watch paint dry than read most of the free stuff (teasers?) that ESPN.com makes available from him.

[Joe Cowley]

He was busted for Coke Zero? I thought they werent making that low calorie cola anymore?

[Fatalotti]

Aren't you supposed to wait until you've, you know, "made it" before you start getting arrested for coke possession? I mean, I could understand if he was dabbling in marijuana or pills, but cocaine; that's reserved for the upper echelon celebrities....like Tim Allen.

[dlhunter]

Wait, did JW just take away his mugshot? Comcast policy I guess. All that's left is the alt text...

[johnnysanz3]

LOL, nice old phan, paracute pants, made me LOL for real

[johnnysanz3]

i dont think its showing up on the source site anymore dl

[Fatalotti]

Low calorie Joe??? LOW CALORIE!!??? It's called Coke Zero, as in ZERO CALORIES!!!!

[Joe Cowley]

Don't believe what's advertised....

[Fatalotti]

Whence come the calories, Joe? Whence?

[Old Phan]

Whoever came up with the idea of New Coke should have been arrested.

[Old Phan]

Bruce, you brought up something I have always been curious about. What do you get if you pay for "ESPN Insider"?
Does anyone here subscribe?

[Mike Scuilli]

http://www.twitvid.com/FRASB

that's the video of the catch, courtesy of the fightins' meech

[johnnysanz3]

I used to subscribe, it was something like 14.99 for the entire year i think, and ya you get all the "insider" news, which used to be a little more exclusive before the blog explosion.

I also received ESPN the magazine with that though, so it was pretty decent, i don't have it anymore though.

[dlhunter]

Good call, johnnysanz3.

OP- Somebody subscribed me awhile ago to ESPN the Mag, which was crap, but entitled me to be an "ESPN Insider". Nothing special, just whatever Olney and Stark doodle while they're taking a dump...

[EastFallowfield]

Postseason odds drop 6 percent to 52.7. Wonder how much they go up if Phils manage to beat Marquis with Halladay?

[Joe Cowley]

The new Coke was definitely a bust. Almost as bad as the Chicken Dogs introduced at the Vet right around the time Phanavision was unveiled.....

[Old Phan]

EFF, Accuscore has their playoff odds at 63.6 % and the division at 20.1%. I will say no more about that.

[Old Phan]

johnnysanz3 and dl, thanks for the info.
I just don't see Olney as some upper echelon writer that I want to pay to read. I can listen to the guys on the MLB network and actual ESPN for sports babbling.

[Sophist]

Isn't Gillies a Canadian? Wonder how this will effect his visa.

[curt]

"Tyson Gillies, a top prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies' minor-league system..."

I guess his awesome performance this year got him promoted from Single A lottery ticket to "top prospect."

[jason.tp]

curt: pretty good endorsement for cocaine.

.238/.286/.333 with 2 SB in 113 PA in Reading + doing cocaine = Top Prospect.

[curt]

Speaking of such, I wondered what had happened to all of the JC Ramirez updates, and went and had a look. I guess he's also a "top prospect" now too.

[Sophist]

51 K in 60 IP in AA as a 21 year old? Ramirez has had a good season. 23 K to 9 BB in his last 5 starts (about 27 IP).

[HammRadio]

its interesting that the arrest comes from an "incident that was alleged to have occurred in June."...

[NEPP]

Did gose realluy get busted for coke?

[NEPP]

If it is a felony charge he can kiss his visa goodbye...

[Alex]

Yes felony charge. Might be the last we see of him.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Possession is a felony in Florida? How much coke was he holding?

[steve]

you screwed up rube....to think we lost CL for a guy who won't be allowed back in the states, wonderful.

[Alex]

Not clear how much.

"Tyson Gillies, a top prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies' minor-league system, was arrested early Friday morning in Pinellas County on a felony charge of possession of cocaine."

[MG]

Ramirez has had a decent enough season at Reading but a 'top prospect?' Term that gets thrown around too much.

Gillies career is likely over. Guess Benny Looper didn't know the M's system as well as we thought . . .

[EastFallowfield]

Yo, new thread

[Sophist]

I think it is a felony in FL, yes.

http://law.findlaw.com/state-laws/cocaine/florida/

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Good find Sophist. It says possession of 28 grams is a 3d degree felony. That's an ounce of coke - a dealer's supply. If he had that much, he's either supplementing his income or he really likes to party.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

whoops. misread that. there's a period in there.