Kendrick, Phillies overcome by Brewers in extra sets

A walk and a throwing error is how it all started to unravel for Kyle Kendrick, who allowed three runs in the top of the 12th in the Phillies' 6-3 loss to Milwaukee Monday night.

The ugly loss included another punchless performance by the offense and a J.C. Romero blowout, with the reliever crumbling to the turf with a strained calf. With the bullpen suddenly running on fumes, the Phils could react quickly and reach for reinforcements, even with Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee set to pitch next.

It was an unsightly loss all-around. After Ryan Madson allowed a key run in an uncharacteristically poor performance in the eighth, the Phils had a chance to make the Brewers pay for their mistakes if they could have scored Pete Orr from second with one out in the ninth. Orr had just knocked in the tying run with a pinch single and was standing on second because Ryan Braun air-mailed a throw home. Unfortunately, Shane Victorino gave away an out by striking out on a head-high fastball, Placido Polanco walked then Jimmy Rollins popped out.

Really, the Phils were fortunate to have the Brewers at 3-3. The Phils' only other runs were aided by a pair of fielding errors. All nine of their hits were singles, and the best two came by way of pinch hits. Milwaukee starter Shaun Marcum had the Phils guessing all night, no one more than Ben Francisco, who finished 0-for-6, stranding 5.

On a positive note, Joe Blanton pitched his best game of the season, allowing a pair of runs over seven strong innings and striking out four. I'll have more thoughts tomorrow as we eagerly await the Phils' next move relative to the Romero injury.

Update: Twitter reports confirm that Romero will have an MRI Tuesday and is likely headed to the DL. The broadcasters mentioned that the left-hander had been bothered by a sore calf this spring; I don't recall if that was public knowledge or not. Left-hander Mike Zagurski could be recalled, or they could bring up right-hander Mike Stutes. The Phils have room on the 40-man roster for Stutes. Earlier in the day, the Phils returned injured right-hander Brian Schlitter to the Cubs, claiming that he was damaged goods. Schlitter had been on the disabled list with an elbow injury and was protected on the roster.

Comments

[Old Phan]

Judging from the commentary, I assume the Phillies lost.
Nice game by Kentuckessee Joe, though. That's a big positive.

[Old Phan]

My math may be off, but at this rate, the Phils will end up with a record of 109-53 if they only lose the first game of every series for the rest of the year.

[derekcarstairs]

Regarding Domonic Brown:

I wonder when he officially comes off the DL.

If I'm not mistaken, his time on the DL counts as major-league service time. Though April 18, that's 19 Days of Service this season. Last season, Brown had 68 Days of Service or so. That's 87 Days of Service and counting until Brown officially comes off the DL.

The magic number for free agency purposes is 172 Days of Service (= One Year of Service). That means that, if Brown accumulates 85 more Days of Service this season, through a combination of remaining days on the DL and time on the Phils roster later in the season, he will have one Year of Service in with possibly very little to show for it. In turn, that means Brown would be eligible for free agency after the 2016 season.

The Phils can delay Brown's free agency by one year by keeping Brown in the minors until some time in July. That's one additional factor to consider when making the decision to promote Brown to the big squad.

I agree with those who believe that Brown needs to get a significant number of ABs at AAA and get into a good groove again before the Phils bring him up.

[denny b.]

With the Pads being almost exclusively a right-handed hitting team, and playing 4 games against them next, I'd expect to see Stutes. He was the last cut coming out of spring.

We can survive with only 1 lefty reliever for a while (especially when you have 2 LH starters).

[Scotch Man]

I hear that Denys Reyes guy is available!

[Tim from Williamsport]

That game offensly went down the Schlitter real fast.

[Tim from Williamsport]

*offensively

[Bedrosian's Beard]

I see what you did there.

[lorecore]

I would also call up Stutes - simply because hes probably the best pitcher they have in AAA. Denny's points about Padres being very RH is also supportive.

[NEPP]

"Losing" Romero is the best thing to happen out of the entire game. This FORCES UC to use Bastardo as the primary LH Reliever out of the BP. Bastardo is by far the best option anyway so all this does is make it official. Hopefully this will also force him to use Bastardo against RHBs over Herndon or Baez as Bastardo has far better stuff than either of them.

This is the silver lining of the game.

[Heather]

I've always wondered what it would be like to watch a Dead Ball Era game. Now, with the Phils' offense, I know.

I will say this...combined with their pitching, it makes nearly every game exciting.

[Mike]

It was an ugly game but still exciting. Tough break for Kendrick. He played for the Lakewood BlueClaws back in 06' and that's when I started liking what he had. It will turn around it was a long game.

[NEPP]

I'd call up Stutes because he's the best BP arm available, RH or LH. We've survived for long periods of time without 2nd Lefty, especially early in the season so its not a big deal to not have one now. Besides which, the backend of the bullpen (Madson, Contreras) has no issues with LHBs so its not a major concern. With our starting 5, how often are we going to run into 6th or 7th inning situations where we NEED a 2nd LH reliever beyond Bastardo? I'd much rather have another good RH arm.

[Bob]

Tough, ugly game. Only positives are Blanton's performance and maybe (I hadn't really thought of this one) NEPP's theory on solidifying and defining Bastardo's role.

It's just one game, and it is uplifting to know the Brewers will have to make their bones against Halladay and Lee. But you can see the outlines of a recurring theme starting to emerge. A well pitched game by a starter, chances for the team to win, negated by a sputtering offense.

[Heather]

Also, is it just me, or when the Phils' offense needs a big two-out hit, am I the only way who wants to see Polanco or Ruiz, in that order?

[curt]

Indeed, the pretenders hiding in the heart of our order are already being exposed.

[NEPP]

Heather, I agree that Ruiz should be moved up in the order...particularly against LHPs.

I'd go with the following:

Vic
Polly
Jimmy
Ryno
Ruiz
BenFran
Ibanez
Exxon
(pitcher)

Sure, the 6,7,8 guys are pretty much crap at this point but its the best bet to get some runs every few innings if the top half actually produces.

Also, some more XBHs would be nice...here's where we currently rank in the NL:

Doubles: 8th
Triples: 15th
Homeruns: 11th
ISO (Isolated Power): 14th

We do, however, lead the NL in BABIP which makes you wonder if its only going to get worse offensively.

[R.Billingsly]

Good start by Blanton. Another terrible performance by the offense. I know the starting pitchers are good, but they still need need to be able to put up a few (earned) runs. Marcum looked good, but this team just seems to give away too many at bats, especially in key situations. The Victorino at bat after the Orr single was horrendous. He swung at ball four twice.

But, the bottom line is that it is only one game. If recent history has taught us anything, they will win the next two, one of which will be a blowout and/or shutout.

[R.Billingsly]

Honest question:

Do the Ibanez defenders finally think Raul needs a day off every once in a while?

His bat looks really slow. His arm is noticeably weaker as well. It may not be a magically cure to Raul's struggles, but a day off against a tough LHP every now and again couldn't hurt. Wednesday would be a perfect day -- day game after night game with Naverson on the hill.

Finally, Francisco was fooled all night. Rough game for Ben. His decent start had to cool off eventually.

[curt]

Phillies with 1 RBI:

Orr (11 ab)
Martinez (9 ab)
Mayberry (9 ab)
Rollins

[R.Billingsly]

..."magical cure" not "magically cure".

I can't even use the "it's too early excuse." Just careless, non-proofreading.

[NEPP]

Well, teams finally did some advance scouting and realized that you should never ever throw BenFran a fastball. He'll swing at breaking balls all day long with no hope of contact.

Raul looks cooked.

[R.Billingsly]

NEPP: exactly. I like Ben Fran, but he is going to be eaten alive if doesn't learn to identify the breaking ball and/or make solid contact. It's not as if his defense allows him to be brutal at the plate.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

My thought on Ibanez had always been give him at least 15 games to try to get his stroke going. He's going in the other direction. I know his numbers against Wolf are decent but, coming off 12 innings and with a day game tomorrow, I give him at least today to ride the bench. Maybe two days. I like his bat as a pinch hitter for the next two. He really needs to get his sh8t together. The infield worms need a break, too.

[dannyboy81]

Yea, I'm starting to wonder if we've already seen the best of the Ben Francisco Treat......it's still early though so we'll see

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Kendrick probably had the worst performance by a reliever I've seen that didn't involve a long ball (other than Braun's monster sac fly). The Brewers batted 1.000 against him with one official at bat. The only thing he sucessfully executed was the intentional walk. (OK, the second sac fly was on a decent pitch. Don't think Mayberry would have gotten the guy at the plate but, mighthave had a chance with astrong throw.)

Shame to waste Blanton's first good outing but, that's how it goes. It's more frustrating knowing that Milwaukee tried to give the ball away with some atrocious defense and the Phils couldn't take it. Still, funny game - if that fluke bounce off Meat Tray doesn't land in Betancourt's glove, they're probably celebrating a win in regulation.

[EastFallowfield]

Yo, new thread

[GP]

"Really, the Phils were fortunate to have the Brewers at 3-3"

I think the Brewers were fortunate that it was ONLY 3-3 after Polanco's line drive off the pitcher / rally killing DP.