[Jump to the newest comments]

Comments

[Bake McBride was Here]

It begins.

[Collin the K]

It'd be nice to see Roy Oswalt start his "swan song" and go big in this game against these pesky Cards.

[Old Phan]

This feels like a playoff game.

[kilbillrain]

A bit of feel good news before the game kicks off.

Do the Phils have the audience to create a regional sports network for profit? Very interesting article on the Sports Busines Journal...read for yourself here:

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2011/10/03/Media/MLB-RSNs.aspx

These numbers say yes. We can and will have a high payroll for many years to come.

Top 5
Team RSN 2011 No. of households (Change^)
New York Yankees YES 319,000 (-5.3%)
Philadelphia CSN 276,000 (+16.0%)
Boston NESN 192,000 (+34.3%)
New York Mets SportsNet NY 163,000 (-19.3%)
San Francisco CSN Bay Area 127,000 (+23.3%)
Bottom 6
Houston FS Houston 33,000 (-38.9%)
Kansas City FS Kansas City 33,000 (+37.5%)
Florida FS Florida 32,000 (-25.6%)
Baltimore MASN/MASN2 31,000 (-6.1%)
Oakland CSN California 31,000 (+3.3%)
Washington MASN/MASN2 29,000 (-3.3%)

[CJ]

Jayson Stark says Charlie has been talking about using Cliff Lee out of the bullpen in this game since he came out of Game 2 on Sunday.

Matt Gelb speculates Oswalt for 6, Lee for 2, Madson for 1 if the circumstances warrant.

[Lake Fred]

I have a virus program on my home computer that when finds viruses, it puts them in "quarantine"; then, it lets me decide if I want to delete them or not. All this talk about Cliff Lee coming into tonight's game out of the bullpen makes me think that Cholly has quarantined a bunch of his pitchers. It looks like all the relievers and non-starters except for Madson are in quarantine!

[bay_area_phan]

This feels like a loss.

[Meyer]

Clear-eyed and alert at the moment, I foresee Bastardo striking out seven Cardinals in a row.

[Collin the K]

Holiday is starting in left tonight. Hope his finger likes an inside fastball.

[Scotch Man]

Oswalt for 7. Lee for 8 and 9.

[philwynk]

Leftover from last thread: I've been more than a little mystified by all the comparisons between BennyFran's home run last night and that of Matt Stairs against Broxton in 2008. The fact that they were both pinch-hit homers at crucial moments is obvious, but the similarity absolutely ends there. Matt Stairs had spent his entire career swinging for the fences, and reaching them a noticeable number of times. He was a pinch-hit home run hitter. That's who he was. So for him to hit a home run at that moment -- and a truly monstrous shot, it was -- was great for us Phillie fans, but the fact that he hit one was, well, not all that remarkable.

You can't say any of that about Ben Francisco. Franny has the ability to hit, but had not really fulfilled that potential all year. He hadn't had a single home run since May. Nobody has ever regarded him as a major slugging threat. Nobody was thinking, "If he catches one, we'll be up three runs" when he came to the plate (except me, and I was only thinking it because I knew Garcia was tired and beginning to make mistakes). The ball barely sneaked over the left field fence.

Stairs' homer was a great moment, a good piece of hitting, a well-timed hit, but it was not a shock. Fransisco's homer was a shock.

Vent over. Let's watch Oswalt shut down the Cardinals.

[phils and nova]

came close with my prediction of a 3-1 phils win in g3.... i'm going with a 6-4 phillies win tonight. think the cards bullpen blows a lead in the 7th or 8th. oswalt pitches ok and keeps the fightins in the game.

[Sjmatfan]

Anyone have numbers for batters following an intentional walk?

[whitey]

This feels like a loss.

Posted by: bay_area_phan | Wednesday, October 05, 2011 at 05:39 PM

Time to start celebrating folks!

[aksmith]

I don't know if anyone else has been doing it, but after the first game and a half, I turned the sound off on the TV broadcast. I'm not in the local market, so I can't get the regular local broadcast. But as soon as I turned the sound off, I started enjoying the games a lot more. It occurs to me that the announcing crew on TBS knows a lot less about these two teams than I do. And I'm sure they know less than most posters on this forum. I saw the Cards for about a dozen games and the Phillies for well over a hundred this season. I guess that makes me more of an expert than two guys who don't care and an idiot who dresses like my least favorite LSD flashback from the sixties.

[Cyclic]

No Lee from the pen.

What kind of message does that send to the guys in the 'pen? It's not like this is the last game of the playoffs and we won't be using our bullpen ever again this year.

Show faith in them. Be rewarded.

[bay_area_phan]

Another 6-pitch inning for Jackson! They are making this stiff look like Juan Marichal!

Sorry. Just some pre-game stretching of my anger muscles.

[mal-vern]

i listened to Casey Stern on XM & he says the pressure is on the Phillies to win. (Que?)

He starts whipping out averages of the Cardinals v. Oswalt. - He forgot to mention that Holli-day is probably at 80%.

Then, he mentions that Worley never relieved in 2011- that's wrong.

He didn't relay to the listeners- that Oswalt beat the Card when we clinched the NL EAST

Also, they keep on talking ( the national baseball pundits) that the Cardinals' season record was 6-3, but failed to say that last 2 of those games were after the Phillies clinched and the Phillies were either too hungover or had the Iron pigs out in force in those two games to give a rat's as* about them.

I hate National Pundits...

[whitey]

Wow, I didn't realize Stockton is the same guy who called NBA games in the Bird-Doc era. I figured it was his son or something.

[mal-vern]

stockton is a native philadelphian

[Andy]

some might tell you
it is nice to win at home.
Kick. Them. To. The. Curb.

[mal-vern]

DO PHILLES!!!

[whitey]

I did not know that. He lost his accent.

[donc]

Stockton looks like Beetlejuice.

[Andy]

Do over:
Though some might tell you
it is nice to win at home:
Kick. Them. To. The. Curb.

[Lake Fred]

aksmith, I was in a burger joint last night in Pasadena, Texas. They had the game on a TV with no sound. We walked in with Bastardo pitching. We found great seats in front of the set to give us optimal viewing while eating our burgers. We watched all the action with the only commentary coming out of my mouth, mostly complaining about Cholly bringing in Lidge. I told my wife that it is like being in the stadium, where you watch a game without announcers. It was great. I lingered over my fries until the final out, satisfied with both the win and my meal.

[Little Ollie]

For all their flaws, Stockton and Brenly are loads better than those guys we got last year who got put on the Brewers-DBacks series. They were puke-inducing.

[Fatalotti]

I'll take that BAbip fairy!!

[GBrettfan]

Yes! Jimmy!

[whitey]

JIMMY SWINGING AT THE FIRST PITCH!
I mean, Jimmy swinging at the first pitch, woohoo!

[Andy]

I just noticed how that "JUmp to the newest comments" button works. If we ever go over 10,000 comments, it won't work.

[Fatalotti]

NICE START!!

[Little Ollie]

Woohoo!!! LaRussa about to bring in RP.

[gjs]

nice start.

[Unikruk]

That's probably the best, quickest start to the game I could have asked for. Such killer instinct from this team!

[SLO Phan]

Man, I'm listening to espn radio and it's like 2 batters behind.

[Little Ollie]

Everyone hits!!

[Andy]

That pretty much seals the deal. The Phils have lost every game in this series in which they scored in the first inning.

[kuvasz]

Club 'em like baby seals!

[GBrettfan]

Love the haiku, Andy!

Love the 1st inning, too.

[Iceman]

Not sure why there's consternation over using Lee. Let's look at the bullpen options for today. In an absolutely ideal scenario, Oswalt goes 7 innings and leaves with the lead. Manuel then turns to a bullpen with:

-Worley unavailable after so many pitches yesterday. He's out.
-Bastardo relegated to LOOGY duty, so he's not getting three outs.
-Lidge on back-to-back days. Nobody on BL wants him pitching under any circumstances, let alone a full inning.
-Stutes, who got absolutely bombed in mop-up duty and has been awful for months.
-Blanton, who is a lock to give up runs in his first inning of work. In this case, his first inning would be his only inning.

That leaves David Herndon and Kyle Kendrick. Keep in mind, this is under the ideal scenario that Oswalt can even get through 7 innings. Oh, and we've got a closer that had to pitch 2 innings yesterday and would be throwing for the fourth time in 5 days.

What could possibly be the downside of putting an extra arm in the bullpen? It's his side day. He won't be over-exerting himself. It's actually a great option to have. But I guess you'd rather have Herndon or Kendrick locking down the 7th and 8th?

[Lance Phillips]

I'M FREAKIN DONE! Four batters into the game and I don't give a crap that the Radio broadcast is out of sync with the TV broadcast I CAN NOT listen to Stockton for one God Damn minute more!

[bay_area_phan]

He was safe!

[Andy]

Nasty third strike to Howard. Props on that to Jackson.

[Iceman]

That might be the first time I've seen a double play where no legitimate out was actually recorded. Total BS.

[donc]

May have been ball four but Pence was definitely safe.

[timr]

I don't fault Howard for that. With all those pesky first-pitch hits, someone had to drive up Jackson's pitch count. Well played Ryno!

[MS69]

Good start, could have used a few more. Looked safe at second to me.

[Andy]

But still, if the runners moving and it's close and there's a Molina behind the plate, Howard probably shoulda swung anyway.

[GBrettfan]

I said out. My son said safe. Replay shows my son was right. Drat!

I wanted more runs. Next inning. Score early & often, right?

Let's go, Oswalt!

[bay_area_phan]

Iceman: Yeah, the strikeout call was dubious too.

[Lance Phillips]

I'll give you Guys an Idea how old Stockton is...He called the famous Carlton Fisk wave the ball fair Home Run in the '74 World Series!!!!!

[GTown_Dave]

If the prior three games have been any indication having things generally break the Phillies' way in the early going is not good.

[GBrettfan]

Iceman, Herndon's not on the roster, Blanton made it over him.

[Andy]

I don't think the strike was dubious. If you want I'll post Brooks, but I'm betting it was inside the black.

[The hook]

Thought Jerry meals was at that base

[Unikruk]

The most concerting thing about the Howard at bat is the meaty first-pitch fastball that he stared at.

[Andy]

And if Roy's gonna get that pitch, like he did on strike one to Furcal, then there's really no sense complaining that Howard got it called on him.

[Fatalotti]

These effing Cardinal 2nd basemen...

[whitey]

Stockton isn't that old. He's younger than my father.

[Cyclic]

Uh oh. Oswalt hasn't topped 92 yet.

Panic?

[Andy]

http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/cache/zoneplotNonNorm.php-pitchSel=all&game=gid_2011_10_05_phimlb_slnmlb_1&sp_type=1&s_type=7.gif

You can see that Howard's third strike was clearly over the plate. It was a nasty, nasty pitch for a strike.

Pence was safe.

[Iceman]

Andy- you're right. I went and looked and it was a strike. Looked outside to me at first, but it was actually a very good pitch.

[Willard Preacher]

I'll take both teams having to battle the sun for a portion of the game than those games that are so cold that some of the players where those stupid ear-flap hats.

[Mick in Houston]

Is LaRussa really not staring Theriot?

What am I missing?

[Fatalotti]

Foul balls?

You don't say.

[Iceman]

Man these guys foul off a ton of pitches.

[whitey]

I didn's see the pitch to Howard as "nasty". Looked more like a hanging slider to me.

[GBrettfan]

Finally! How many pitches did it take for Pujols?

[SLO Phan]

It doesn't matter if Theriot starts. LaRussa could start MiniMart at 2nd base and he'd get a hit every time.

[Willard Preacher]

WTF was that Vic???

[Fatalotti]

What the hell happened to Victorino???

[gjs]

Victorino not having a gold glove series thus far.

[Iceman]

Mick- LaRussa/Theriot, what's the difference? Both are going to set on base 75% of the time in this series.

Vic with maybe the worst gaffe I've ever seen in CF, save for Canseco letting the ball bounce off his head for a HR.

[johnnysanz3]

Wow Victorino makes some ugly plays sometimes haha

[clout]

Bizarre

[kuvasz]

WTF! The return of Lonnie Smith?

[Neuronerd]

Put in Holliday for Theriot. Wish the Giants had done the same with Cody Ross.

[GTown_Dave]

That was the worst play in the history of baseball. Thanks, Vic.

[GBrettfan]

WTH, Shane? Groan.

[Kevin]

Son of a...

[The hook]

WHere is that f'n sniper at that was crazzzzzzy

[Iceman]

All right, he slipped. I'll change 'worst' gaffe to 'worst-looking' gaffe. Cost them a run.

[Fatalotti]

I can't wait for thefightins.com to put up a .gif of that Victorino play.

Watching it in slow motion is hilarious!

[olo567]

WTF Victorino. Track isn't wet out there.

Alright, time to get more runs. Jackson looks much suckier than Roy despite both allowing runs.

[Unikruk]

It's only been an inning and this game is officially GOOFY.

[Fatalotti]

By the way, I can't wait to never see Berkman at the plate again.

[GBrettfan]

Good job, Oswalt. I was afraid the Berkman hit was out of the park at first.

On Shane's ridiculous throw, would Schumaker have scored regardless?

[Old Phan]

Good to know the Cards are the first team in the history of baseball to come back from a deficit.

[Cyclic]

I'd like to see where the runner was when Vic tried to throw that in. Think it could have been a close play at the plate. Or maybe they would have held him.

[Andy]

G-town - I know that's hyperbole. But in case it isn't? That is the worst comment in the history of Beerleaguer over-reactions.

[GBrettfan]

Let's get some more runs, boys.

[Paulo]

God Vic is a spaz

[bay_area_phan]

Mick: Theriot is much better against left-handed pitching than he is against right-handed pitching.

[Old Phan]

Vic has some nerve slipping like that.

[Lake Fred]

My wife just called me at work. She was on the phone and failed to remember to start the recorder. Oh well, I'm sure that they'll replay the highlights of that first inning when each batter comes up to the plate next time.

[SLO Phan]

Good to see the Phils are working the pitch count this game...oh wait.

[Andy]

Wow.

What are the cances this turns out to be a 2-1 game?

[GBrettfan]

I hate making it easy on their pitchers.

[gjs]

Where have I seen this movie before?