In progress: Phillies rally in first, Chooch leaves game

Game chat: A pair of RBI doubles by Jimmy Rollins and Ben Francisco scored three in the first, then Shane Victorino clocked his fourth home run of the season to give Cole Hamels an early 4-0 lead over the Diamondbacks. The Snakes got one back in the bottom of the second to trim the lead to 4-1. Meanwhile, catcher Carlos Ruiz left the game and was replaced by Brian Schneider. No word on that situation. The Phils are trying to salvage a win in the series before returning home from their seven-game road swing. For those just tuning in, Raul Ibanez sits for John Mayberry Jr. in left. Roy Oswalt, as reported, has left the team to see to his family in the wake of destructive tornados that swept through Oswalt's Mississippi town on Tuesday. Discuss the game in the thread below.

Update: Carlos Ruiz left the game with lower back tightness, according to Twitter reports.

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Comments

[Cyclic]

Uh oh. The jinx is on.

[jdogg13]

Why was Chooch taken out?

[Scotch Man]

Maybe Chooch got traded.

[Willard Preacher]

JW stares down the jinx and simply laughs. So smug, that Weitzel.

[JAY]

lol-scotch man

[GBrettfan]

I blame the fact that we didn't score this inning on this game thread appearing.

[Willard Preacher]

So, does the city of Phoenix have a very low unemployment level, or do they simply not care about their team? So many good seats still available on a gorgeous day.

[rauls grandpa]

Blanton has stated that he may very well do a bad job during the next game due to his concern for the protesters in Syria.

[Willard Preacher]

GBrett, either the game thread appearing, or my adjusting my office chair.

At any rate, just to be safe, I re-adjusted it, discomfort be damned.

[JAY]

cole dealing now.....

[Cyclic]

Hamels 49 pitches through 3. More Stutes today?

[GTown_Dave]

Franzke: "Still no word from the Phils bench regarding Carlos Ruiz."

[Cyclic]

Ahh Willy Valdez

[Willard Preacher]

TBag's manboobs make me feel even more uncomfortable than my office chair. Why put a camera on he and Sarge? Talk about faces for radio.

[HammRadio]

@Gtown -- clearly the Phillies don't care about their customers.

[GBrettfan]

Way to sacrifice your body for the team, Preacher!

[Willard Preacher]

GTown, that's a surprise, isn't it? The Phils are usually pretty forthcoming and timely with their injury updates. Just like Penn State football.

[bay_area_phan]

Saunders has a Kendrick-esque career strikeout rate but, against the Phillies, he manages to look like Sandy Koufax.

[Cyclic]

Gelb- No update on Ruiz yet. Phillies busy drafting a long statement, I'm sure.

[bay_area_phan]

Other than the 4 runs allowed, that is. If Koufax faced this Phillies lineup, he probably wouldn't allow 4 runs all season.

[Bob]

Missed the thread about Roy heading home to Mississippi to check on his family. Hope everything, and most importantly, everyone is okay. For me, here's a guy with his priorities well in order, and I have this sense somehow from what I've heard, that he is as capable of tcb there as he is on the mound. Hope to see you soon, ViceRoy.

[JAY]

Ruiz left with lower back tightness. That's official word from clubhouse..

[Willard Preacher]

I know it's taken a good solid 8 months of development, or so, but I gotta say it - Cole with a goatee just doesn't look right at all.

[GTown_Dave]

Jim Salisbury (via Twitter) "Ruiz left with lower back tightness. That's official word from clubhouse."

[Cyclic]

The back issues are spreading!

[johnnysanz3]

Back tightness = Spine snapped in half.

[johnnysanz3]

*tinfoil hat

[Cyclic]

FATALITY

[clout]

JAY: Told ya it was contagious.

[Cyclic]

Coler Coaster is rolling

[clout]

Wheels has left the broadcast booth with lower back pain.

[bay_area_phan]

Hopefully, Cole can make it through 7 innings so we don't have to see any Phillies reliever not named Bastardo or Madson.

[Bob]

Willard P,

My wife agrees with you on the Hamels goatee.

[SLO Phan]

Has anyone on BL decided to apply to the Drexel MBA program because of the game thread sponsorship? I'm curious. Are we the correct demographic to be advertising to?

[Cyclic]

Wow. Polanco.

[Matt]

Placido Polanco...what can't he do? Other than chiropracty?

[Cyclic]

WOW

[Cyclic]

Someone found some power

[HammRadio]

Obviously Jimmy Rollins is done.

[GTown_Dave]

Great. That pretty much guarantees a 5 year extension for Rollins.

[Baron von Hayes]

SLO Phan, I think some of our resident lawyers may want to consider, joint JD/MBA is a great combo, very marketable.

[Bob]

Welcome back J-Roll!

[philwynk]

We have entered the Twilight Zone.

Jimmy Rollins hit a home run.

[Cyclic]

Dare I say, back to back?

[johnnysanz3]

Polanco is really hitting the ball well. Damn that's nice. Hopefully Jimmy gets a good boost from this as well

[GTown_Dave]

Franzke: "Rollins was on pace to drive in 16 runs this year ..."

[bay_area_phan]

Ben Francisco: among the most quintessentially average players in MLB, according to that Wall Street Journal article a few days ago.

[GBrettfan]

Yay, Jimmy!!!!

[philwynk]

We have entered the Twilight Zone.

The Phillies scored six runs in a single game. Before it was half over, even.

Beerleaguers will be discovered wandering their homes with glazed eyes, muttering "What are these things? What are they?"

Somebody call b_a_p and make sure he still thinks he has a reason to live.

[HammRadio]

The Phillies are averaging 5.5 runs in the last two games.

#SampleSize

[philwynk]

Ben Francisco: among the most quintessentially average players in MLB, according to that Wall Street Journal article a few days ago.

Posted by: bay_area_phan | Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 04:56 PM

Ok, we can stand down on the b_a_p watch. He's fine.

[GBrettfan]

GTown, it's ok to be happy for Jimmy's HR. Don't have to look at it as a predictor of a bad contract-to-come. Really. ;)

[GTown_Dave]

GBrettfan: I was being at least 75% sarcastic w/ that post; honest.

[Jack]

My goodness. An offensive explosion.

[Cyclic]

Hamels 73 pitches through 5. Should have at least 2-3 innings left in him. Probably no need to push him though, with a 5 run lead.

[GBrettfan]

Ok, GTown.

[Little Ollie]

Polanco now sitting no. 2 in batting average.

[Cyclic]

Here comes Mayberry's HR

[bay_area_phan]

"GTown, it's ok to be happy for Jimmy's HR."

I must respectfully disagree. It is NOT ok to be happy -- and even less ok to openly display such happiness -- when the Phillies' offense does well. Like an 8th inning specialist, G-Town Dave and I have defined roles on Beerleaguer. Our role is to find the negative in even the most seemingly positive of events. I'm actually very proud of G-Town Dave for finding the negative side of Rollins' 2-run homer.

[Jack]

I think Mayberry has done enough to justify starts against lefties.

We all know, though, that Raul will have a good game soon against a righty, and will be back in the lineup every single day, no matter what.

[GTown_Dave]

b_a_p: Just you wait until I find the down side -- & trust me, there has to be one -- of the gem Hamels is polishing.

[HammRadio]

@Gtown -- hear you go... Hamels is showing no effect from his last outing which featured over 120 pitches which leads to Manuel consistently allowing Hamels to throw 120 pitches to the point he can no longer carry his dog in a backpack.

[Fatalotti]

So, this team CAN score runs. And in Hamels' starts???

Really? Well, that's great to see.

[Jack]

Question for our experts: Is lower back tightness for a 31-year old catcher age-related or not?

[bay_area_phan]

Cole has been great today, but where was he when the Phillies were getting drubbed in the first 2 games of this series?

[GTown_Dave]

HammRadio: Don't be usurping my role, now. This is a contract year & Boras thinks I'm capable of being the most negative poster on the entire internet.

[Cyclic]

Woulda liked to see a 2 out hit there, Shane. Make 'em pay for the walk and giving up a hit to Cole.

[Cyclic]

Cole will work out of this jam. 0 runs.

[HammRadio]

@Gtwon -- you looked like you were struggling... thought I'd help you out.

[GTown_Dave]

Leadoff Triple, followed by a cheap HR? This criticism practically writes itself ...

[Fatalotti]

Yeah, let's go after Andre Ethier. He would look nice in our lineup. The Dodgers are broke, so they'd be willing to part with him, right?

[Cyclic]

My prediction strategy is very much like a broken clock. It's got to be right some time.

[Fatalotti]

Chris Young is abusing our left handed starters.

[bay_area_phan]

And that's what happens when G-Town Dave and I allow ourselves to be even the slightest bit positive.

[Jack]

Young has some pop and it's a home run park. It happens.

This ain't the Padres in PETCO.

[Willard Preacher]

Personally, I can't wait for the glass is 110% full crowd to tell me that I've been down on the offense for nothing, and that it was just a slump.

Such is the pendulum that is BL.

[Fatalotti]

After having looked at some of his numbers a little more thoroughly, it appears that Ethier has only been worth over 2.3 WAR once in his career. Is his defense that bad?

[Jack]

Seriously, this is a good indication of how important context is.

Hamels' stuff looks exactly the same to me today as it did against the Padres. The difference? He's facing a good hitting team in a hitters' park, as opposed to the Padres in PETCO, and so he's given up 3 runs instead of 0.

[Fatalotti]

If Hamels gets through the 7th, but doesn't pitch the 8th, who pitches the 8th? Do we see matchups using Bastardo and Baez? Do we see just Bastardo? Stutes a possibility? Madson obviously closes, right?

[Cyclic]

I wasn't on BL last year. What were the comments like late last August when we got swept by the Astros in a four game series?

[GTown_Dave]

Preacher: Only 110%? Negative jerk.

[JAY]

i'm glad we don't have to play much here......lots of cheap hr's.....

[Jack]

Howard should crush this pitcher.

[Willard Preacher]

If Drexel was smart, they'd take the Volvo approach with silent ads depicting popular "DYK's" on Beerleaguer posts, sporadically throughout the Game Threads.

Something along the lines of:

"Did you know that DITHL was coined by the legendary mvptommyd?"
-----------------------------------------
Posted by: Drexel Lebow MBA Program| Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 05:19 PM

[dlhunter]

Placido Polanco, perennially underrated.

[Drexel Lebow MBA Program]

Did you know that GTown_Dave once proclaimed Raul Ibanez to be as useful as a box full of toenail clippings?

[Cyclic]

I missed it, how did Polly get to 2nd if JRoll grounded out to 1B?

[Fatalotti]

Wow, Howard laid off a close 3-2 pitch. Is he learning that he doesn't have to swing at everything?

[Jack]

Cyclic: He used his legs and ran 90 feet from 1st to 2nd.

[Fatalotti]

Ouch!

[Cyclic]

Francisco out with mid back tightness.

[BloodStripes]

There's a back spasm in that

[Fatalotti]

That was a kidney shot.

[Cyclic]

Jack- Thanks. Clears that right up.

[GTown_Dave]

Drexel Lebow MBA Program: That must have been one of my uncharacteristically positive days.

[Cyclic]

Good thinking, John. Strikeout to avoid the DP so Scneid can his a Grand Slam.

[Willard Preacher]

GTown, not sure that you ever said that, but you get the idea.

Would be clever marketing. Especially if it could link to especially ridiculous previous posts/proclamations.

[Drexel Lebow MBA Program]

Did you know that, in his time not spent publishing pamphlets calling for the return of the monarchy, Clout tends to the numerous aviaries throughout his compound and on Sundays sporadically sharpens his sets of knives?

[GTown_Dave]

Wow. Lucky, but I'll take it.

[Willard Preacher]

Think Chooch would have worked that walk?

(yeah, probably, but trying to find the positives)