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Game chat: Playoff spot on the line for Hamels, Phils

Preview: The Phillies can clinch a playoff spot with a win or a loss by the Cardinals. That's the headline tonight as the NL East leaders take on the Astros in the middle game of their three-game series. Cole Hamels (14-7, 2.60) takes the mound for the Phils. He is trying to match his career high for victories, set in 2007. J.A. Happ (5-15, 5.77) goes for the Astros. His struggles were discussed in the last BL thread. The Phillies are trying to avoid their first three-game losing streak since they dropped four in a row from May 31 to June 4. Lineup: No Shane Victorino for the Phils, who go with Jimmy Rollin SS, Placido Polanco 3B, Hunter Pence RF, Ryan Howard 1B, John Mayberry Jr CF, Ben Francisco LF, Carlos Ruiz C, Michael Martinez 2B, Cole Hamels P.

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Tuesday: J.A. Happ struggling big time for Houston

Remember when J.A. Happ went 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA for the 2009 Phillies? Remember when many of you - and likely some in the Phillies front office - considered him "untouchable" in a potential trade? Man, how far we've come.

J.A. Happ enters tonight's game against the Phillies with a 5-15 record and a 5.77 ERA. He is walking 4.7 batters per nine innings and has worked at least seven innings just three times all season, including only once since April 15.

Happ, who came to Houston in the Roy Oswalt deal in July '09, is one loss away from setting the Astros franchise record. Those days of him contending for the Rookie of the Year award are a distant, distant memory. John Finger over at CSNPhilly.com has more on Happ's brutal 2011 season.

Postgame: No juice for Phils at Minute Maid Park

One day, years from now, you’ll gather your grandchildren, sit them down in a circle, and regale them with tales of the 2011 Phillies.

You’ll tell them about Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and the rest of the Phils’ historically great pitching staff. You’ll tell them about the acquisition of Hunter Pence and how he proved to be the missing piece offensively. You’ll tell them about the miracle comebacks, the dominating performances and the thrilling victories.

Tonight's game was one that you will not be telling them about.

The Phillies laid an egg offensively, stunk up the joint defensively, and didn’t get the greatest effort out of Roy Oswalt in a 5-1 loss to the Astros. Pence did get two hits (as well as a nice ovation) against his former team, but the Phils managed little else against Brett Myers. The one item of note was Joe Blanton pitching the eighth in his first appearance since May 14. He gave up one hit and struck out one while throwing 7 of 11 pitches for strikes.

Next up: Cole Hamels gets the nod on Tuesday night against another ex-Phillie, J.A. Happ, in game two of the three-game set.

Game chat: Oswalt faces former mates in Houston

Monday: Life went on without Jimmy Rollins, briefly

The Phillies went 12-5 without J-Roll, who has been out since Aug. 22 and is expected to return to the starting lineup tonight in Houston.

The remaining two-and-a-half weeks could be the last we see of Jimmy Rollins in red pinstripes during regular season play. The franchise shortstop is up for free agency this fall and the market for shortstops is expected to be heavily pursued. Rollins returns to the lineup tonight hitting .267/.341/.400 with 14 homers and 28 stolen bases, better production than his last two seasons, although he doesn't have quite the same burst of speed he had in his prime. Because of their unbelievable depth, the Phils haven't missed a beat without him, even as they lost Chase Utley to a mild concussion, thanks to some lights-out starting pitching and a couple of big offensive bursts from the likes of Ryan Howard, Hunter Pence, Raul Ibanez just to name a few.

But it's difficult to say what life would look like without Rollins, and I don't think the front office believes they have a good enough insurance policy in case Rollins bolts. At least I hope they don't. Wilson Valdez, who came up with a couple of big hits over the last two weeks, is older than Rollins and can only match J-Roll's arm in terms of skill. Michael Martinez, as a Rule 5 pick, has to be considered a successful pickup, but he's hitting just .209/.264/.304 and still needs work if he hopes to stick as a utlity guy. Paul Owens Award winner Freddy Galvis made huge strides down in the minors, but the Phillies can only wish that Galvis becomes half the hitter Rollins has been over his Major League career.

Beerleaguer's prediction? Rollins signs back on a lucrative two-year deal, plus an option, but falls well short of expectations in his age 33 and 34 seasons.

Magic number: With Atlanta’s loss to St. Louis, the Phillies' magic number for clinching the division is down to six. The reason it isn't down to five? Yovani Gallardo, Francisco Rodriguez and John Axford pitched about as well as any pitchers who've faced the Phils in about a month. The Phils fell 3-2, but received another gritty start from Vance Worley.

Phillies sign pair of juco players: Former Wabash Valley College catcher and outfielder Chabriel Pizarro and Indian Hills Community College left-hander Delvin Perez, both of Loiza, Puerto Rico, recently signed with the Phillies, according to Baseball America.

Sunday chat: Four-game sweep in Phillies' sights

Preview: The Phillies have won 14 straight games in which Vance Worley (11-1, 2.85 ERA) started the game. The rookie right-hander has the ball today as the Phillies look to push their winning streak to seven against Yovani Gallardo (15-10, 3.71 ERA) and the Brewers. First pitch is 2:10 EST. Last night, the Phillies rallied in the 10th behind a big double by Raul Ibanez, who scored the go-ahead run on an error in the 3-2 victory. Meanwhile, the Brewers were limited to celebrating Casey McGehee's "extreme" homeplate collision with Carlos Ruiz. Chooch followed with a hard liner up the middle in his next at bat, while McGehee later grounded out in the bottom of the 10th for the final out of the game. The Phillies, at 94-48, are a club record 46 games over .500. Now that's "extreme." [Jump to the newest comments]

Saturday chat: Phils rolling as Howard eyes hardware

Ryan Howard, who has finished in the top five in MVP voting in four of the last five seasons, leads the league in RBIs (111), ranks third in home runs (32) and is working on a 1.259 September OPS. Howard rates only as the Phillies fourth most valueable position player this season, according to Baseball Reference's WAR stat, and is only 23rd in the league with an .843 OPS. However, voters typically value players from winning teams who lead in traditional categories, and Howard is considered the MVP face of the best team in baseball this season.

Game chat: Lefties Cliff Lee (16-7, 2.47 ERA) and Randy Wolf (12-9, 3.47) engage tonight beginning at 7:10 EST.

Watch: Sound victory, but Bastardo 'out of whack'

Ryan Howard belted a three-run homer to put the Phillies up early, and Roy Halladay allowed just a run over eight innings, as the Phillies extended their winning streak to five with a 5-3 win at Miller Park on Friday night.

Game chat: Orr batting 6th for your first-place Phils

Preview: After topping the Brewers 7-2 on Thursday night with their JV lineup, Charlie Manuel is getting even more creative tonight. Pete Orr, he of one major league hit since May 11, is batting sixth. He's playing in place of Chase Utley, who likely won't return on this road trip. If Orr's .273 slugging percentage doesn't scare the hell out of the Brewers' pitching staff, his 38 RBIs since 2005 certainly will. All kidding aside, the Phils are going with a more respectable lineup than they had on Thursday. Here's what it looks like. Also of note is Hunter Pence batting third for the first time as a Phillie and Raul Ibanez hitting fifth for just the second time since July 23.

Lineup: Victorino CF, Polanco 3B, Pence RF, Howard 1B, Ibanez LF, Orr 2B, Ruiz C, Valdez SS, Halladay P

Doc: Roy Halladay (16-5, 2.49) has won just once in his last four starts, though he has a 2.33 ERA in that stretch. He was hit hard by the Brewers on April 19, allowing a season-high six runs in 6 2/3 innings. Knock on wood, but Halladay hasn't allowed a home run in any of his last eight starts. He'll be opposed by Shaun Marcum (12-5, 3.11), who has given up four earned runs in 34 2/3 innings (1.04 ERA) over his last five starts.

Ex-Phillies report: Former Phillie J.D. Durbin was rocked for nine runs in 3 1-3 innings in Monday's start for the Lancaster Barnstormers. He's rocking a 5.29 ERA in 15 starts. … Pedro Feliz finished the season hitting .217/.217/.370 in 92 plate appearances with Triple-A Tuscon. The Padres picked him up from the Camden Riversharks earlier this summer.

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Beer nuts: Phillies' offense climbing the ranks

They entered Thursday positioned third in the league in runs per game (4.58) then added a seven-run effort to their tally.

They are the most dominant team in the league, and now the Phillies are inching closer to a statistical sweep in all three facets of the game. The offense, rated below average statistically through much of the season, trails only St. Louis and Cincinnati for the most runs per game. That's a remarkable achievement considering they rate only average to slightly above average, coming into Thursday, in most categories, like slugging percentage (7th, .401) and stolen bases (11th, 85). All that I can fathom is they've been uber-opportunistic with their scoring chances, which makes sense when you observe how they scored many of their runs lately. The Hunter Pence Effect has been perhaps the biggest explanation for the late-season spike.

The pitching has completely separated from the rest of the pack; tops in ERA (3.05), K/BB (3.17) and an incredible 17 complete games including Cole Hamels' four-hitter Thursday night. The next highest is the Dodgers with seven complete games.

Reliability is the name of the game for the defense, which is tops in fielding percentage (.988) and third in defensive efficiency (.703). The takeaway here is that many of the subs - guys like Michael Martinez, Wilson Valdez, John Mayberry and newcomer Hunter Pence - haven't hurt the defense, and in some ways, have enhanced it, particularly in the outfield corners.

Postgame: No stars? No problem. Phils top Brewers

It was 2,553 days ago the last time the Phillies started a game without Ryan Howard, Chase Utley or Jimmy Rollins in the lineup – that is, before the Phillies “B lineup” proved to be enough Thursday night in a 7-2 win over the Brewers.

The pitching: Cole Hamels (14-7) pitched a four-hitter for his third complete game of the season. He allowed a pair of solo homers and two singles, while striking out two and walking two. It was the Phillies' 17th complete game of the season and the 10th of Hamels' career. 

The offense: After managing just one hit through the first five innings, the Phils erupted for six runs on seven hits in the sixth. Wilson Valdez started the party with an RBI double before Hunter Pence plated two runs on a triple that left Carlos Gomez searching for his GPS in center field. John Mayberry Jr., Carlos Ruiz and Ben Francisco added run-scoring hits later in the frame. All the damage came against Brewers starter Chris Narveson. Pence also had an RBI double in the ninth.

Notes: Utley, who visited with a concussion specialist Thursday afternoon, is unlikely to play in the rest of this weekend series. … Zach Collier, the Phillies’ sandwich pick in the 2008 draft, has been banned 50 games for testing positive for an amphetamine. The suspension will begin next season for Collier, who batted .255 with one homer and 36 RBIs in 112 games for Lakewood this season. … Meanwhile, here is the update on the Phillies’ minor league squads, which were scheduled to begin their playoff runs on Thursday night.

Next up: The Phillies and Brewers continue their four-game set on Friday night, when the Phillies will go for their fifth straight victory in this potential playoff preview. Roy Halladay and Shaun Marcum will square off in front of 40,000 baseball fans and five speedy sausages.

Game chat: Phils open statement series vs. Brewers

Preview: There may not be such as thing as a "big series" when you're 43 games over .500 and you just swept your chief division rival out of the water. But if there is such a thing, this is it. The Brewers are a confident bunch and they have the hot streak to back it up, having gone 31-10 in their last 41 games. There is definitely a good chance of these teams meeting at some point in the postseason. Cole Hamels (13-7, 2.63) is on the mound for the Phils tonight, looking for his first win in four starts. Fellow lefty Chris Narveson (10-6, 4.26) takes the hill for the Brewers, who are a major-league best 50-19 at home. The Phillies' lineup of course doesn't include Chase Utley, but he's not the only missing star: Victorino 8, Valdez 6, Polanco 5, Pence 9, JMJ 3, Ruiz 2, Francisco 7, Martinez 4, Hamels 1. Not exactly the '27 Yankees. Or the '11 Phillies, for that matter. Jimmy Rollins has been activated from the DL and is available off the bench, though he'll only be used in an "emergency" role.

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Thursday: Second-tier Braves go quietly into night

Discussing contenders, pretenders and crusty veterans.

Obviously, great night for the Fightins. Their magic number to clinch the NL East is 12 and five to guarantee a postseason berth. They'll wrap up the division with lots of time to spare, a guarantee made possible by five-out-of-five starters all performing at an excellent-to-elite level. Three games is all it took to verify that the Braves, who failed to make so much as a peep in three games, are not at the same level. We'll find out more about the Brewers beginning tonight.

So, great night for the Phils. Great night for those who thought Ross Gload had a big pinch hit left in his bindle. Gload is still their best pinch hitter and leads the league in the category. He'll be on the postseason roster. Actually, the Phillies' veterans had a series in the sun after setting up a retirement home in South Florida. Placido Polanco contributed big; Polly was 5-for-12 this series. This was also a nice set for Raul Ibanez, who has been every bit of the hot-cold-hot-cold-hot-cold hitter the Phillies knew they signed up for in the fall of 2008. Say all you want, but when he's hot, he can carry the offense. I'll take the 18 homers.

Say nothing of Roy Oswalt, whose late surge is like finally picking up your fourth ace on the river card. He's regular-season overkill, but one of the key reasons why most people will be picking the Phillies to win this thing.

On Chase Utley, they said he didn't see it. It looked like he didn't see it. But everyone knows he isn't hard-wired to move. He'd move for a 90-mph pitch at his coconut, but nothing that would strike muscle. Drew and I have discussed in the office that the Phillies can never complain if an opposing hitter makes no effort to avoid an inside pitch simply because the Phils have Utley.

But I don't think it was the case here. He didn't see it.

Utley to have head examined, misses Milwaukee flight

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. tells CSNPhilly.com that Chase Utley will stay home for Thursday's opener against Milwaukee before receiving an examination for a possible concussion sustained on a 90-mph fastball to the back of the head Wednesday night. “As I told Chase, we’re not going to mess with the heart and we’re not going to mess with the head,” Amaro told CSNPhilly.com. “When you get a 90-mph fastball off the melon you have to be cautious about it. He’s going to be out at least a couple of days.” Jimmy Rollins will be activated from the disabled list, but is expected to fill only an emergency role for now. (AP Photo) [Full Story]

Cholly thinks Chase is fine following bean ball

Phillies sweep the Braves behind Gload's walk-off hit [Link]

Game chat: Ruiz, Phils go for sweep against Atlanta

Preview: Carlos Ruiz is 5-for-6 with a walk, two doubles and a home run in his career against Braves starter Brandon Beachy (7-2, 3.37). Ruiz also will look to call a good game for Roy Oswalt (7-8, 3.80), who is trying to win back-to-back starts for the first time since April 3 and 9. That April 9 victory came against the Braves, as Oswalt limited Atlanta to two runs (one earned) over six innings to notch his first career win against the Braves. A victory tonight would give the Phillies a three-game sweep of the Braves, lower their magic number to 12, and put them 10.5 games up in the NL East. It also would put the team 43 games above .500 for the first time in franchise history. The lineup for what may be another rainy night in South Philly: Victorino, Polanco, Utley, Howard, Pence, Ibanez, Ruiz, Martinez, Oswalt.

Protest denied: According to Todd Zolecki on Twitter, baseball has denied the Phillies' protest of Sunday's game.

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May, Galvis honored with 2011 Paul Owens Awards

The Phillies have announced that Trevor May and Freddy Galvis are the winners of the 2011 Paul Owens Awards presented to the best pitcher and position player in the organization's minor leagues. They will be honored prior to the Phillies' game against the Cardinals on Sept. 18.

May was 10-8 with a 3.63 ERA in 27 games for Single-A Clearwater this season. The 21-year-old right-hander struck out a whopping 208 batters in 151 1/3 innings and limited opponents to a .221 average. He is the first Phillies minor leaguer with at least 180 strikeouts in a season since Mark Davis (185) for Reading in 1980.

Galvis, 21, hit a combined .278 with 28 doubles, five triples, eight homers, 43 RBIs and 23 stolen bases in 137 games between Reading and Lehigh Valley. The switch-hitting shortstop was recently named the organization's Minor League Player of the Month for August after hitting .321 in 29 games for the IronPigs.

Last year's winners were Domonic Brown and Scott Mathieson.

The Phillies' press release, which typically would have included a statement from Chuck LaMar, instead included this quote from Benny Looper:

“We’re very happy with the seasons that both Freddy and Trevor had. At only 21 years old, Freddy rose to the challenge of triple-A ball and improved his batting average.  His defense was right where we expected it to be and his instincts on a baseball field are tremendous for a player of his age. Trevor’s strikeout totals in the Florida State League were very indicative of his progression in our minor league system. Both young men have very bright futures.”

Wednesday: Exploring LaMar's bizarre resignation

Chuck LaMar was granted his resignation from his post as Phillies assistant GM last night, though the speculation as to why is only just beginning.

LaMar, who had been with the team since 2007, is going to "pursue other opportunities," according to Ruben Amaro Jr. LaMar, a former GM with the Rays, was in charge of the Phillies' minor league system. According to Jim Salisbury, LaMar met Tuesday morning with Amaro and Benny Looper - the team's assistant GM in charge of player personnel - and resigned following the meeting. The timing of the resignation is obviously curious. Not only are the Phillies in the midst of a potentially historic season, but their top two minor league affiliates are about to embark on playoff runs, as well.

Asked why LaMar resigned, Amaro said: 

“You’ll have to ask Chuck. I guess the feeling was it was an opportunity to have other pursuits, either inside or outside the game.”

A couple of BL readers' thoughts on the issue from last night/this morning:

"For an ex-GM like LaMar, he probably feels that he ought to at least be in control of his own little world, and if he's being overruled by the higher-ups (and it may have been happening on a consistent basis), maybe he felt it was time to go. It's possible he was against the makeup of the Pence trade; that is, he may have argued about giving up both Singleton and Cosart." --Bigot-to

"Was LaMar talking to the Cubs or something? Did he steal the Iron Pigs gate receipts?" --AFish

"LaMar was a Gillick crony. That, plus the odd timing of his resignation, leads me to wonder if he had some kind of conflict with Amaro." --bay_area_phan

Postgame: 90 wins in only 138 games? Yes, please.

Following a rain delay of nearly two hours, Vance Worley (six solid innings) and Raul Ibanez (three RBIs) fueled the Phillies past the Braves, 6-3, for their 90th win of this magical season.

The offense: The Phillies strung together four straight hits against Tim Hudson in the first inning, including a solo homer by Chase Utley and an RBI single by Ibanez. In the sixth, Ibanez added an RBI double. One inning later, he capped the scoring with an RBI single. Hunter Pence added two hits for the Phils, while Utley and Ryan Howard scored two runs apiece.

The pitching: Worley (11-1) allowed two runs, seven hits and three walks as the Phillies won a game he started for the 14th straight time. He struck out six batters while throwing 108 pitches. Michael Stutes allowed a run in the seventh while Brad Lidge worked around a pair of baserunners in the eighth. Ryan Madson got a key double play in the ninth en route to the save, putting the Phils 9.5 games ahead of the Braves.

Next up: Roy Oswalt faces Braves rookie Brandon Beachy in the series finale on Wednesday night. The Phils, with a sweep, could lower their magic number to 12.

Game chat: It could be a soggy night in South Philly

Preview: Vance Worley, with his personal eight-game winning streak and the team riding a 13-game winning streak in games he has started, will be on the mound tonight. Worley (10-1, 2.85) is facing Atlanta for the first time as a starter this season. He'll make sure to bring those wipers for his goggles, since it is expected to be a rainy night at Citizens Bank Park. In a rare instance of Beerleaguer linking to weathermen, John Bolaris isn't optimistic about them getting this game in tonight, while Hurricane Schwartz says there is "very little chance" of it happening. Meanwhile, Jimmy Rollins took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the team's recent weather issues. If things do stay dry, veteran right-hander Tim Hudson (14-8, 3.05) will take the hill for the Braves, who trail the Phillies by 8.5 games in the NL East. The Phillies' magic number sits at 16. The lineup is Victorino 8, Polanco 5, Utley 4, Howard 3, Pence 9, Ibanez 7, Schneider 2, Martinez 6, Worley 9.

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Tuesday: Zeroes becoming a theme for Lee, Phillies

Cliff Lee's latest dominant effort gave the Phillies their 20th shutout of the season on Monday night. Lee has six of those shutouts. No other Phils starting pitcher - not even Roy Halladay or Cole Hamels - has one. The other 14 are all combined shutouts.

Lee, who almost certainly is the Phillies' frontrunner for the Cy Young Award, has now enjoyed nine starts this season in which he pitched at least eight innings without giving up a run. Prior to this season, he had five shutouts in 218 career starts. This year he has six shutouts in 28 starts. Lee has a scoreless streak of 29 2/3 innings after having a 34-inning streak earlier this year. The last major league pitcher with two scoreless streaks of at least 29 2/3 innings in the same season was Don Sutton in 1972. Also from Elias: Cliff Lee threw 43 of his 100 pitches yesterday directly at belt-level. On those pitches, the Braves went 1-for-17 with three strikeouts.

Shutout Trivia: So, Cliff Lee has six complete game shutouts this season. From 2004-07, the Phillies had only six different pitchers throw a complete game shutout during that four-year stretch. Five righties and one lefty. Three of them are still pitching in the majors. See how many you can get. Answers posted at the start of the comment thread.

Roster move: Pete Orr has been recalled from Lehigh Valley. The veteran infielder has appeared in 32 games for the Phils this season, batting .227 in 66 at-bats. He was hitting .267 with 15 steals in 75 games for the IronPigs.

Lee dismantles Braves on the strength of his curve

Cliff Lee tossed his six shutout of the season on summer's unofficial end Monday night, the first time it's happened since Randy Johnson did it in 1998, according to a couple of reports. More on Lee's night and the Phillies' impressive team victory over the Braves tomorrow.

Game chat: Manuel sticks with Utley for opener

Chase Utley, who hit .121/.171/.182 on the roadtrip and went 0-for-7 Sunday afternoon, stays in the lineup when Cliff Lee (15-7, 2.49) and the Phillies open an important divisional set with Derek Lowe (9-12, 4.52) and the Braves beginning at 7:05 as rain, once again, is expected to put the game in jeopardy. [Jump to the newest comments]

Call in the cavalry; Kendrick, Kentucky Joe a-comin'

The Phillies will have Joe Blanton forgo today's scheduled rehab appearance for Lakewood in favor of big-league bullpen duty with the depleted parent club. Blanton was 1-2 with a 5.50 ERA in six starts, spending the bulk of the season on the disabled list with right elbow inflammation. Kyle Kendrick has also been activated from paternity leave. Meanwhile, the Phils haven't summonned a single soul from either Triple-A Lehigh Valley or Double-A Reading as both affiliates are competing for the playoffs. The Phils and Braves get underway tonight at 7:05 p.m. with rain threatening.

Spot-on commentary from Beerleaguer's best readers

A blow-by-blow from yesterday's debacle.

"The AP game story turns Joe West's lie into fact: 'Both managers complained. The Phils' Charlie Manuel wanted the play ruled a home run, and the Marlins' Jack McKeon wanted Pence called out.' Since when does it matter if we asked for a review? We asked for a review of Greg Dobbs' foul HR vs. the Red Sox x years back and they just said no." - EastFallowField

"West is an awful umpire, but the ultimate call on the fan interference was correct. His mistake was in consulting the replay. He should've simply consulted his fellow umpires." - clout

"The team just looked old. Chase Utley is horrible right now. He needs a week off. Ryan Howard's feet/ankles are obviously killing him. He usually moves ok for a big man, but he just can't move right now. He should've scored on Ibanez's double following the Pence debacle, easily. Polanco's error was bad, as was the complete lack of offense from innings 8-14. And I would expect multiple call-ups today, obviously. Frankly, it's pretty embarrassing to play today's game knowing you could have had expanded rosters and be stuck the way they were. Just bad management, all the way around." - Jack

"Can't fault David Herndon there much. He took one for the team today even if that last inning was brutal to watch; 23 LOB on base for the Fish. That's crazy even for a 14-inning game. Figure they call up a reliever for tomorrow and have Kyle Kendrick back." - MG

"Hope Kendrick is ready to go if the 60 percent chance of rain becomes 100 percent actual rain." - EastFallowField

Game chat: Phillies bid farewell to Sun Life Stadium

Roy Halladay and the Phillies play their final game in South Florida's sacrosanct Sun Life Stadium today at 1:10.

Preview: The Phils aim to take two-of-three from the cellar-dwelling Marlins. Halladay, who pitched his perfect game at Sun Life Stadium in May of 2010, brings a 16-5 mark and 2.47 ERA into the contest. Anibal Sanchez (7-7, 3.97) toes the slab for the Marlins. … The bottom of the lineup has had a very good roadtrip, including Carlos Ruiz (.471) and Wilson Valdez (.317, eight of his last 14 hits are for extra bases). They're both in the lineup again today: Victorino CF, Martinez 3B, Utley 2B, Howard 1B, Pence RF, Ibanez LF, Ruiz C, Valdez SS.

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Saturday loss exposes the hole in Phillies' bullpen

Beerleaguer: Ricky Bottalico verbalizes Saturday's takeaway in the clip above. In short: the Phils haven't settled on a guy to fill what would have been Jose Contreras' role, which was actually Ryan Madson's spot to begin the season. Mike Stutes is leaking oil and the Phils can't count on Antonio Bastardo to pitch every day. Perhaps Kyle Kendrick would have been the guy to pitch last night had he not been on paternity leave.

Nevertheless, the Phils must have already had conversations about which starter crosses the line into the bullpen come October. Is it Vance Worley? Roy Oswalt? Joe Blanton is an unknown at this point. If you're looking for something to sweat about from a team 41 games over .500, this is it.

Best. Phillies. Ever.

If you're not in awe, check your pulse.

It's Sept. 3 and the Phils are 10 up in the loss column over a Braves team that could conceivably win 100 games themselves. It's to the point where losses are actually shocking. And many of the losses should have been wins. They've ripped through this roadtrip like a buzzsaw and have won five straight. John Mayberry drove in three runs and smacked his 13th homer of the season Friday as the Phillies edged the Marlins 5-3 to climb 42 games above .500 for the first time in the franchise history. Roy Oswalt (7-8) pitched a workman's 6 1-3 innings, striking out seven while allowing three runs. There were times not long ago when a quality start was the best one could hope for through an entire turn in the five-man Phillies rotation.

Transaction: Kyle Kendrick has been placed on paternity leave and Michael Schwimer has been recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where the IronPigs have regained a half-game lead in the Wild Card race following their 2-1 victory on Friday night. On a related note, the Phils haven't made any September call-ups yet, but opened a spot on the 40-man roster when Drew Carpenter was claimed off waivers by the Padres Friday afternoon. Jim Salisbury seems certain the Phils will entertain bringing Aaron Rowand back if he's released by the Giants.

Game chat: It's Cole Hamels and Ricky Nolasco tonight beginning at 7:10. Chat about it here; no seperate chat. Penn State hosts Indiana State in the day's other marquee matchup beginning at noon EST.

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Game chat: Phillies in Florida, Carpenter claimed

Roy Oswalt (6-8, 3.77) tries to find his rhythm heading into the home stretch as the Phillies open a weekend set at Sun Life Stadium in Miami. First pitch is 7:05 with the Marlins putting the ball in Brad Hand's hand.

Meanwhile, the Andrew Carpenter era is over in Philadelphia as the Padres have claimed the 26-year-old Quad-A stalwart off waivers. Carp made six relief appearances for the Phils this season, spending his entire season as a reliever for the first time in his career. With Lehigh Valley, he had a 1.79 ERA with a 9.7/1.6 K/BB ratio in 60 1-3 innings. The move drops the Phillies' 40-man roster to 39, likely to accommodate Joe Blanton's return off the 60-day disabled list, or possibly another move for the stretch run. For a bottom-tier team like the Padres, you can do worse than Carpenter, who should thrive in pitcher-friendly Petco.

Lineup tonight: Victorino CF, Polanco 3B, Utley 2B, Howard 1B, Pence RF, Mayberry LF, Ruiz C, Valdez SS, Oswalt P.

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Ryan Madson, a reliever for the Phillies' record books

Raise your hand if you saw this one coming in 2006, when Ryan Madson had a 5.69 ERA in 50 games (17 starts). His strikeout-to-walk ratio that season was worse than 2-to-1. His WHIP was approaching 1.70.

Fast-forward five years, though, and Madson is now the Phillies' all-time leader in relief appearances. It was kind of a sneaky record that he broke yesterday in Cincinnati. Not a whole lot had been said about it, but the ninth inning was Madson's 461st relief outing with the Phillies, breaking Tug McGraw's team record. In terms of career appearances for the Phillies - both as a starter and a reliever - Madson currently sits at 479, trailing only Steve Carlton (499) and Robin Roberts (529).

Madson, who pitched a 1-2-3 inning for the save on Thursday, is now 3-2 with a 2.96 ERA in 50 games in 2011. He has 26 saves in 28 opportunities and a WHIP of 1.15 - among the best of his career. He'll be a free agent at season's end - and that's a whole different debate altogther - but from a purely baseball standpoint, Madson certainly has come a long way over the last five years. And now he has the record to prove it.

Friday: Bastardo pitching himself into elite company

Here's a look at history's best single-season OPS against (min. 50 IP).

2003 Gagne: .374 (.133/.199/.176)
1990 Eckersley: .397 (.160/.172/.226)
2010 Hong Kuo: .403 (.139/.211/.192)
2011 Bastardo: .418 (.112/.200/.218)
1999 Wagner: .420 (.135/.208/.212)
2008 Rivera: .423 (.165/.190/.233)
1989 Eckersly: .432 (.162/.175/.258)

Antonio Bastardo's .112 batting average against would stand as the lowest mark in baseball history among pitchers with 50 innings or more. Too bad for that stupid homer the other day when Ian Desmond just dropped his bat head on it and jerked one out, as Wheels would say. Otherwise, he's sniffing Gagne's history-best OPS against total. Bastardo has thrown 52 1-3 innings this season, and he’s surrendered just 19 hits.

Don't sweat the small stuff: "The backup catcher position has been a constant cause of irrational posts for many years. Clearly, the Phillies are the only team w/out a first ballot HOF backup, and when the Phillies players and those outside the organization praise Brian Schneider, they are doing it because they feel like they have to, not because he deserves praise." - Bedrosian's Beard

Rowand: "On a totally unrelated issue, I was reading the local paper this afternoon and there was an article about the Giants cutting ties with Aaron Rowand. I know he has been a disastrous signing, but the timing of the move seemed bizarre since rosters were going to expand anyhow and the Giants didn't need to vacate his spot in order to make room for someone new.

"Turns out there's more to the story than just his pathetic on-field performance. He has apparently been a malcontent and has been whining incessantly about his lack of playing time. One unnamed player said that Rowand did everything he could do to get himself released, and even Pat Burrell vaguely alluded to 24 guys pulling one way, and one guy pulling the other (in fairness, he could have been referring to Tejada, who was also a malcontent and also cut loose)." - bay_area_phan

Postgame: Worley battles as Phillies sweep Reds

Despite a less than attractive lineup, the Phillies managed to top the Reds 6-4, sweeping Cincy in Cincy for the first time … in a while.

Vance Worley went six innings, getting the hook after surrendering a three-run shot to Chris Heisey with no outs in the seventh. He allowed a total of four earned runs on eight hits, striking out seven (six looking) and walking one. Antonio Bastardo, once again, was absolutely brilliant in relief. He coaxed Joey Votto into an inning-ending double play to escape the seventh unscathed, then punched out the side on 12 pitches in the eighth. Chew on this: Bastardo has now thrown 52 1-3 innings this season, and he’s surrendered just 19 hits.

The Phils’ offense got on the board in the second frame, putting six consecutive runners on base and totaling five hits to post three runs in the inning. Brian Schneider, Worley and Shane Victorino each slapped RBI singles. The fourth mark came in the sixth, when Ryan Howard smoked a solo homer to left center. The bomb was Howard’s 30^th, giving him six straight seasons with at least 30 home runs and 100 RBIs. Michael Martinez added a two-run shot in the seventh, driving in the pair of runs that proved to be the difference.

The win gives the Phils their first sweep of the Reds in Cincinnati since May 13-16, 1916. Here are a few 1916 nuggets to put that into perspective, courtesy of Drew Silverman: Woodrow Wilson was president, World War I was only halfway done, Charlie Chaplin was the biggest movie star in the world, Babe Ruth had four career home runs, Albert Einstein had just finished his theory of relativity, Virginia was about to embark on a period of prohibition and the light switch – the invention, not a particular light switch – was one month old.

Next up: Roy Oswalt (6-8, 3.77) will be on the mound tomorrow as the Phils take on the Marlins in Florida.

Game chat: Phils seek four-game sweep in Cincinnati

Lots to talk about Cliff Lee and the Phillies winning in impressive fashion last night and another game on the horizon at 12:35 today.

Standings check: Don’t look now, but the Phillies are 40 games over .500. Forty games over .500. They are on pace for 106 wins. They can go 14-16 in September and still reach 100 wins. The Phillies have 40 road victories – more wins than 23 other teams have at home. If the Phillies hadn’t even played a home game this entire season, they’d still only have seven fewer wins than the Astros. And it’s a good thing the Phillies are playing as well as they are, since the Braves and Brewers are both on pace for 96 wins. Meanwhile, it’s starting to look more and more likely that the Phillies will be playing the Diamondbacks in the NLDS. With all due respect to Charlie Manuel, the job that Kirk Gibson is doing with that team is really pretty incredible. Sure, the Giants have been ravaged by injuries, but the fact that the D-Backs are 78-59 is still very surprising.

Hot and hotter: Hunter Pence wrapped up the month of August with a seven-game hitting streak, during which he batted .393 with three home runs. Since coming over from Houston, Pence is hitting .330/.403/.573 with seven home runs in 27 games. Then there’s Cliff Lee. The numbers speak for themselves, but here’s one stat that’s going around this morning: Lee is one of three pitchers in major league history to post at least two months in the same season with at least five wins and an ERA under 1.00. Here is that complete list:

Walter Johnson, 1913 – 5-0, 0.24 ERA in April … 6-0, 0.81 ERA in July

Bob Gibson, 1968 – 6-0 with a 0.50 ERA in both June and July

Cliff Lee, 2011 – 5-0, 0.21 ERA in June … 5-0, 0.45 ERA in August

Preview: Vance Worley (9-1, 2.65) straps on the goggles this afternoon for a 12:35 start in Cincinnati. The Phillies have won 12 straight games started by Worley and they are 16-2 in games he has pitched this season. One of those two losses, however, came against the Reds on May 24. Worley gave up three runs in five innings (as well as a season high-tying four walks) in that 6-3 defeat. The Phils’ opponent today will be Mike Leake (11-8, 4.04), who leads Cincinnati in wins. He had a 6.91 ERA in two appearances against the Phillies last season. Including the 2010 NLDS, the Phillies are 13-1 in their last 14 games against the Reds. They have held Cincinnati to two runs and a .172 batting average through the first three games of this series.

Today’s Lineup: Victorino CF, Martinez 3B, Utley 2B, Howard 1B, Pence RF, Ibanez LF, Schneider C, Valdez SS, Worley P.

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