Postgame: Brewers blank Phillies in two-hit atrocity

Randy Wolf and the Milwaukee bullpen out-pitched a pedestrian Roy Halladay and his so-called seventh-inning relief in dealing the Phillies back-to-back defeats and their first series loss of the season.

The Phils pounded out a double and bunt single before shutting it down over the final six frames. Halladay allowed 10 hits, battled into the seventh before getting the hook with his pitch count rising and two runners aboard. Those runners would score as David Herndon grooved a middle-in meatball for Casey McGehee to boom into the seats. Herndon allowed another hit before giving way to pinchable lefty Mike Zagurski, who surrendered a hit and a run charged to Herndon.

As much as I'd like to focus on Herndon, who's looking less and less like Major League material, there's no way to win without scoring some runs, and right now, the offense is just isn't cutting it. The frustrating part is there's no obvious fix as far as I can tell. Fortunately, the Phils have some opportunities to experiment in the 'pen. I don't see much point in staying with Herndon; I think we've seen what he's all about.

Toss this one out. Halladay didn't have it. Wolf pitched his game. The Brewers played great, making plays and staying patient. Salvage a win tomorrow with Cliff Lee set to go.

Comments

[Joe Cowley]

If it's any consolation Rivera just blew a save in Toronto.

[GBrettfan]

I guess if you're gonna lose, might as well lose big? Better to lose s Halladay stinker than a Halladay gem. But it still is the opposite of fun.

Please send Herndon away.

Our offense...I feel a bit like wanting to have my cake and eat it too, but I do miss the '08 offense, like Charlie. And the '08 Durbin.

[Joe Cowley]

The only feature missing from tonight's game from the 3rd inning on was the Vet.

[Bob]

Chase who?

[Joe Cowley]

Plenty of good seats available in Skydome...

[goody]

The Padres play a DH tomorrow, meaning they will need an emergency starter on Sunday. Probably call up someone from AA to make their ML debut and completely baffle the Phils.

[EMILE SABA]

STUTES, STUTES, STUTES, STUTES,

[PhilliesDude]

Was at the game tonight....in the Inquirer/Daily News Club Suite right behind home plate. What a shame to waste such a great vantage point on such a stinker of a game1
Some points - there was a full house tonight but little excitement beginning with the player intros and first inning onward. Don't know why. Maybe we can't get up to facing the Brew Crew. We just don't seem to dislike Milwaukee in the same way we don't like most opposing teams.
The umps did not cause Halladay's mediocre pitching performance. He didn't look sharp at all and his ball had little movement on it. No one complained about his removal from the game. He seemed spent at that point. Of course Herndon and Zagurski looked terrible - they did get the requisite boos.
Ryan Braun is a hitter. He has a very sweet swing.

[Mike]

Was at this one. Worst game I've attended in a long long time.

[Old Phan]

The ump may have sucked, but he most definitely did not cause Doc to lose. Simply put, he wasn't sharp and got hit pretty hard (for Doc). It's bound to happen from time to time, and the only thing I take away from this game tonight is like the ump, the team sucked. They'll win tomorrow.

[bay_area_phan]

Halladay obviously wasn't his normal self, but he sure wasn't bad enough to deserve the stat line that he ended with.

[GTown_Dave]

I wasn't at this one, but if I had been it would be the worst game I'd attended since 5 April.

[Bake McBride was Here]

"Those runners would score as David Herndon grooved a middle-in meatball for Casey McGehee to boom into the seats."

Can a meatball really be boomed into the seats? Wouldn't it, instead, just splatter on contact and land in a million pieces not far from the plate?

(Sorry.)

[Bake McBride was Here]

Herndon is on the list of Phillies Whose Presence on the Team Fills or Has Filled Me with Blinding Rage.

Wes Helms is at the top of that list.

[Old Phan]

I've never felt blinding rage for a Phillie, but if I had, it would have been for Eaton.

[mm]

Its April. We'll get them tomorrow. Or we won't and we'll still be over .500. If the offense is still listless in august, then i'll be worried. All of our pitchers are going to lose sometimes. And it's no surprise the Brewers were fired up coming into tonight. Let's face it, they have more power in their lineup then we do, and our park is a bandbox as we know. Sucks to be on the other end but that's the way it shakes sometimes. Herndon isn't worth a roster spot, just like he wasn't worht one last year. Time for rube to suck it up and send him down or out.

[denny b.]

Good point by Jason, on the Phils being able to experiment with pieces of the bullpen.

Herndon should have been on a very short leash to begin with. They got him through the year last year, when he didn't belong in the majors. They can put him in AAA now, where he belongs and see if he can develop with regular work in tight situations. I still think there is a Clay Condrey upside with him in the majors.

Zags was probably only here until Thursday anyway, no matter how he fared. He simply does not throw enough strikes and hasn't shown a ability to get lefty's out. Not a recipe for a LOOGY.

Stutes is the guy they want up here. He intrigues them and he impressed them in camp. He deserves a 2-3 week audition up here. If it doesn't work out, he can always go back to Lehigh and then come back again later in the year.

The question then becomes who is the 12th pitcher, until Romero comes back. I don't think having a 2nd lefty is all that important. Especially with this starting staff. The #1 lefty (AB) just has to do the job on a regular basis. No safety net with Romero.

I think the next best major-league ready pitcher in the sticks is Worley. But I think they want to keep him stretched out and starting every 5th day. He has pitched well again at LV this year with an early season ERA in the low 2's.

Mathieson's control has been spotty, while learning the splitter and being used more in multi-inning outings so far in LV. I think he needs another solid few weeks down there to settle down.

What do the Phils think of Schwimer? They had him in ST with the big club for a while. He's not a dominant back-end guy, but he has done a nice job coming up through the chain. Could he be summoned? He'd have to be added to the 40 man roster (as Stutes would as well).

DeFratus isn't ready yet. He'd be more a September callup possibility. Aumont is in the same boat.

The problem as I see it, is there really isn't a solid/better option to replace Herndon right now. Not that I see from the minors. I think Herndon almost has to stay for a while.

Unless you just say "screw the 12 pitchers stuff" and go with another position player to replace Herndon. Maybe that happens when Utley comes back.

[PhilliesDude]

Charlie really likes Michael Stutes - went on record on three separate occasions during spring training to praise him and his stuff. Amaro said when he was demoted that we'll be seeing more of him. If he were on the 40 man roster, he'd already be with the Phillies. It's funny how high the Phillies are on him yet no one who tracks minor leaguers had him even in the top 20 prospects, let alone the top 10 and many Beerleaguer posters didn't seem to feel he had much major league potential during the first part of spring training.

[PhilliesDude]

* above should read top 20 "Phillies" prospects

[EastFallowfield]

From game thread:

One of the coworkers today brought up a good point - Phils are 5-1 vs. Mets & Astros (likely 2 of the worst teams in MLB baseball) and just 5-6 now against better competition in the Nats, Braves, Fish, and Brewers.

We're 5-3 vs the first 3 teams on the 'better' list, and 0-2 vs the Brewers. A loss today makes it 5-6, though, and the coworker would be right.

[Zudok]

Sure glad that Randy Wolf got to go home to LA, uh, San Diego, uh, Houston, uh, LA, uh, Milwaukee.

[NEPP]

Stutes wasn't on any Top 20-30 lists because his control, prior to this spring/early season, has been atrocious. He was fairly highly thought of out of the draft. He and Vance Worley were both pegged as future MLB quality reliever material but his control has been suspect since that 08 draft.

David Herndon makes me want to hurl my laptop into the wall of my living room every time he's on the mound...that's probably not healthy.

[NEPP]

***We're 5-3 vs the first 3 teams on the 'better' list, and 0-2 vs the Brewers. A loss today makes it 5-6, though, and the coworker would be right. ***

Honestly, that's not that unusual for good teams. Most good teams feast on weak teams and hope to break even against other good teams. If you do that, its a good formula to end up winning 90-100 games.

[Fatalotti]

"One of the coworkers today brought up a good point - Phils are 5-1 vs. Mets & Astros (likely 2 of the worst teams in MLB baseball) and just 5-6 now against better competition in the Nats, Braves, Fish, and Brewers."

Yeah, cause something like this really tells us a lot about a team 16 games into the season.

/signs

[Fatalotti]

/sighs*

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Hopefully, the Phils realize they don't have to keep Herndon on the roster all this season as well.

[phanatic's brother]

Today's headline
"I Miss Randy Wolf"

[STHS]

Tired of some buying into quotes like these: UC: "We need guys to "bounce back". Or Jimmy: "we'll hit." Why do so many fans ignore trends? There is a very good chance that Jimmy and Raul are at or nearing the end. Howard and Vic are streaky and often undisciplined. Many of the others are role players. Better quote: "We are who we are." Which is starting pitching and hope.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

BB - It seems Amaro is confused on that rule 5 stuff. Still, Randy F8c8in Wolf?

[Steve]

In retrospect, I think I'd like to go back to December and pass on Cliff Lee to pick up a righthanded power bat.

[Fatalotti]

My worry about Stutes: He pitches with the dreaded inverted W. Other notable pitchers who pitched with the dreaded inverted W: Mark Prior, Stephen Strasburg, Adam Wainwright.

What do they all have in common?

[NEPP]

Great stuff?

[Fatalotti]

Elbow and shoulder injuries was actually the answer we were looking for, NEPP.

[NEPP]

LOL...yeah, I know. If Stutes ends up getting TJ surgery, it wont be the end of the world IMHO.

[NEPP]

Before we go through an entire day bemoaning our terrible bullpen and offense, I'd like to point out that it could be far far worse. We could be the Red Sox who are now 5-11 on the season. If they're not careful, they're gonna dig a hole so deep that they will never get out.

[Fatalotti]

NEPP, there's not even a point in bemoaning our offense that much or our bullpen that much in general. We have 2 very reliable pitchers in our pen in Madson and Contreras, Bastardo looks to be a solid ML reliever (though, we need more data probably). Our offense, while not elite, is simply slumping right now, and will not be THIS bad all year.

Teams go through these funks. We still have the best piching rotation, by a wide margin, in the majors, we have an average offense (will get better with the return of Chase Utley, and reports have it that he could be back within a month). Brad Lidge will return to the bullpen in the next 2 months, and hopefully he can be effective. The world, nor the season, is not cver.

[NEPP]

I completely agree, Fat. Its not nearly as bad as it seems.

[Fatalotti]

By the way, we're currently on pace for a 101 wins.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

To be fair to Boston, they ran into the A's No. 5 starter last night. Last time through for the A's rotation?

33.2 IP, 19H , 1ER, 10BB, 35K

6 of those walks by Gonzalez.

[cut_fastball]

Fatalotti -- Really? Stutes throws like that? I did not pay attention this spring. The poster boy for that windup might be Kerry Wood. All that torque on the shoulder and elbow makes for a short career.

Stratsburg's biggest challenge regarding a long-term recovery might be re-learning to pitch; with an over the top or 3/4 delivery and erasing that W. Ever hear anyone get beyond that? Lord knows Stratsburg's got some kind of leg drive; he’s got size 15 feet.

[Fatalotti]

Cut, picture: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies/The-case-for-Stutes-Worley-and-Zagurski.html

[THe Dude's PRison CellMate]

SEASON = OVER

[MG]

3.66 ERA (8th in the NL) through 16 games. That's a little surprising considering all of their regular starters haven't missed a start.

About the only thing we have learned about this team is that their middle relief is shaky. That's about it & not that surprising.

[Fatalotti]

MG, three of the big 4 have had an implosionstart. Only Oswalt hasn't yet. In fact, Oswalt has yet to have a really terrible outing as a Phillie.

Those two first Blanton starts, that Lee start, that Hamels start and last night's Halladay start will keep that ERA high this early in the season.

Not to mention that Herndon and Kendrick stink.

[cut_fastball]

Fat – thanks. Criminey... a ticking time bomb. I need to make more time to watch our youngsters. What an amazing illustration!

Maybe Stutes beats the “W” injury bug as it appears he's staying in the pen. Wood and Stratsburg threw a lot of innings early, and it ate them up.

[Fatalotti]

Yeah, cut, it does seem that throwing more innings makes the problem more dire. It creates a timing issue (pitching arm still rotating as you are driving toward the plate), so the less innings a pitcher throws, the less likely the damage will occur. Still not good.

[NEPP]

Herndon has really looked poor in every aspect of his game so far. His velocity is terrible, his peripherals are embarrassing and he his revamped slider is very very hittable. He doesnt throw a 95 mph sinker with great downward movement. He throws a 90-91 mph sinker that sits up in the zone and gets crushed by MLB hitters...that is, when he isn't simply walking them. He looks like a guy that should be in AA or AAA working on his stuff. There are easily 3-4 pitchers in our minors that could immediately provide better relief work than Herndon. There is no reason at all that he should have made the team out of ST other than his presence on the roster all last year. Its like they forgot why he was on the roster all last year and gave the "veteran" the inside track for that BP spot. I'd dump him to AAA for Stutes and dump KK down to AAA for Worley...but then I'm odd like that.

[STHS]

"Our offense, while not elite, is simply slumping right now, and will not be THIS bad all year."

This is also known as "whistling through the graveyard."

You're right,though; they'll hit against the mediocre and poor pitchers in the league. And Howard WILL see some 3-0 fastballs.

[NEPP]

The thing with Strasburg is that the Nats did everything they possibly could to protect his arm with strict pitch counts and inning counts and flagging high stress innings, etc. He still got injured because he was simply prone to injury. I remember the Nats pulling him in minor-league starts at around 80 pitches to keep his arm safe and it still didnt matter. It was completely different than Kerry Wood/Mark Prior getting tossed out there for 120+ pitches start after start by Dusty Baker.

[Fatalotti]

NEPP, good point. But that just tells me that Strasburg was a little more susceptible to the affects of his poor pitching mechanics than, for example, Mark Prior. The problem is that he will come back and still put undue stress on his elbow and shoulder due to his timing issues because he doesn't get his pitching arm into the cocked position until after he's already started driving towards the plate. The elbows issues can be managed more easily than the shoulder issues, and if he ever starts having shoulder issues, especially early in his career, he'll have a short career.

To get a great feel of what pitching mechancis should look like, watch any of our aces pitch. The instant their front foot hits the dirt, watch their pitching arm. It's fully cocked and ready to go. That's why our guys don't have elbow and should issues.

[lorecore]

I miss how unsustainable our BABIP/ RISP avg used to be and get posted daily every morning.

.083 and .000 must be sustainable I guess since I haven't heard many people say its not.

[Jbird]

Everybody knows our hitting will eventually fall somewhere between the first couple games and the last couple games. No one thought we were going to score 8 runs a game and no one should think we are going to score 2 runs a game all year.

STHS - of course they'll hit the "mediocre and poor pitchers in the league" while struggling against the elite pitchers. everybody does. That's why the good pitchers have good numbers.

[EastFallowfield]

Yo, new thread