Game chat: Phillies seek another series win tonight

A third consective series win hangs in the balance tonight when right-handers Tim Hudson (11-4, 3.45) and Kyle Kendrick (4-9, 4.45) joust in the rubber match between the Braves and Phillies. First pitch is 7:05. Lineups are basically the same as last night except for Erik Kratz and Nate Schierholtz trading spots at six and seven. Not much else to say about this one, or observe about Tuesday night's clinic held by Cole Hamels, who showed why the Phillies made the massive commitment, and sacrifices, late last month to keep him in Philadelphia for the next six years. [Jump to the newest comments]

Comments

[Iceman]

From the end of the last thread:

NEPP- right on Upton. After looking at his numbers I'd definitely want him over Vic, especially considering the age difference. I thought his cost might be prohibitive, but if his market is 9 mill/yr he is worth the buy. He's 27 and you won't be paying for his decline years. Much higher ceiling than the alternatives.

Youk and Upton would bring some much pined-about balance to the lineup.

[Dickie Thong]

Per Matt Gelb, Indians have released RHP Jason Knapp.

[NEPP]

And here I thought he was dead...

Isn't he already attending classes at Penn? (with the money set aside for education in his initial signing bonus?)

[clout]

Hudson is 9-8, 3.52 lifetime vs. Phila.

[NEPP]

Isn't a 3.52 ERA about in line with his career mark?

~runs off to check B-R.com~

[NEPP]

Tim Hudson career ERA: 3.41

Damn, Hudson has had a really solid Hall of Very Good career.

[NEPP]

Question: Does Hudson have a shot at the Hall?

His numbers are fairly borderline but he's probably got a couple years to add some counting stats.

[Jbird]

Amended question: if Tim Hudson were a Yankee or Red Sock, would he be a 1st ballot HOFer?

[DH Phils]

211-144, 3.28 ERA during the Steroid Era is apparently only worth 2.1% of the vote. HOF voting is weird. I would vote for Hudson, but I don't think others will.

[Jbird]

DH: Wasn't Kevin Brown an active participant in the "steroid era".

[Cyclic]

Kendrick usually owns the Braves.

Feels like a loss.

[DH Phils]

I love looking to see the players who only got a few HOF votes. Brad Radke got 2 votes this year and Eric Young got 1 - how did that happen?

[DH Phils]

JBird: You're right. I did not remember that. I guess that explains it, then.

[MG]

Since the Hall of Fame is in Cooperstown, NY, where would the 'Hall of Very Good' be for baseball be located?

[Jr.]

Ruf another HR today.What do we do with him?
Cloyd tonight for Pigs. I guess FO thinks we're still in the playoff picture.Can't have Cloyd pitch instead of KK.3 more weeks,will he get a Sept.call up?

[Luis]

My one fear and i think someone said this before. Is that Frandsden dude plays well and Rube gets disillusioned into making him our starting 3B next year. Whilst i think he is deserving of a shot for a possible back up role. I wont hand him the reigns to be a starter. Im also not to fond of a Shierholtz/Mayberry/Nix/Brown platoon without a t least one solid proven starter somewhere in the mix. What we basically have is a starting outfield of 4/5 OF'ers and a uproven Brown yet.

[clout]

UNLEASH RUF!!!!!!

[3-Putt Territory]

Kendrick is 1 start away from a 100,000 bonus. Don't want to ruffle KK's feathers before 2013, where he'll become the linchpin of the rotation.

[NEPP]

If its one thing that excites me, its 25 year olds that hit well in AA.

Future star there!!!

[NEPP]

Sorry, he's 26 now, not 25.

[NEPP]

***Since the Hall of Fame is in Cooperstown, NY, where would the 'Hall of Very Good' be for baseball be located?***

Whitefish, Montana.

[Jbird]

I would have gone with Bedford Falls NY

[Jr.]

Yea would hate for any one that young
to finally make it.Would really screw up the average age for Phillies.

[Iceman]

"Sorry, he's 26 now, not 25."

Hey, if you hold him to the John Mayberry standard he's got two more years to prove he can be a below-average major league player!

[Jbird]

Hey, Chase Utley hit .281 as a 32 year old in A+ ball and the org still gave him a shot.

[Jbird]

apropos of nothing, since moving to Arizona, Chris Johnson has a 223 OPS+. On the other hand, since leaving Arizona, Ryan "Tat Man" Roberts has a 43 OPS+. I won't mention Youkilis's 138 OPS+ as a Chi-sock because it's too painful.

[MG]

'Bourn to Run' wasn't a funny the first time let alone the fifth time Wheels.

Too bad the Phils can't upgrade their TV announcers this offseason.

[Kevin]

Anyone else having problems with MLB.TV? As in, it's not showing an active link for tonight's game?

[MG]

JRoll!

[lorecore]

40 leadoff bombs, pretty sweet stat.

[ODB]

is MLB TV not working for anyone else? It won't let me select the game on my phone or computer.

[bullit]

ageless james !!

[Mike G]

Why is he swinging at the first pitch!

[NEPP]

Yeah, MLB.tv seems to be down.

[Gregm]

ODB, not working for me, either. WTF?

[Cyclic]

Down for me too

[coolhandluke]

lets hope the Phils get to Hudson some more before he settles into ground ball mode

[coolhandluke]

They just called Ryan Howard an athletic supporter

[Jbird]

I can only get the A's radio feed.

[coolhandluke]

I have MLB Tickect on Directv

[coolhandluke]

I wonder how long KK can go tonight

[Jack]

Kendrick looking great here in the 2nd.

[coolhandluke]

wild pitch on KK but kratz did a poor job of stopping it

[coolhandluke]

33 pitches already

[coolhandluke]

we are gonna need a lot of offense tonight i think

[Buy sell]

They s/. Definitely bring up Ruf, Cloyd, and possibly Hernadez..

We have a couple current minor league OF that could possibly turn out to MAjor Leaguers- ( don't laugh - Gillies, D'Arby Meyers)..

Ruf has been playing more and more LF lately.. He could be the next Greg Luzinski, ( probably better).. He has better Baseball instincts than amy of the following. Overbeck, Bull, Rizzolti.. If he can prove he is able to REALLY play LF, then we can move Brown to RF, then we need a CF to complete the OF..

[Chesty Morgan]

Hope Rosenberg is ready to go 5 innings tonight.

[coolhandluke]

1-1

[coolhandluke]

KK is not sharp

[Jack]

I will consider it a good offseason for Rube if he signs a decent FA starter so I don't have to watch Kendrick in the rotation next season.

[coolhandluke]

KK needs to stay in the bullpen

[coolhandluke]

pitching everyone away

[MG]

Ugh.

[lorecore]

thats pretty pathetic.

[coolhandluke]

un freaking believeable. Hudson hits a 2 run double

[Jack]

Miserable. Kendrick starts are just miserable.

[coolhandluke]

disgusting

[Cyclic]

A 2 run double by the pitcher. That's excellent.

Gameday is reminding me how much I love "In play, run(s)"

[MG]

Hudson does have good career numbers as a hitter coming into tonight:

.170/.204/.220

[coolhandluke]

Letting the opposing pitcher bomb you. very weak

[GBrettfan]

Just got home. What happened to KK owning the Braves? A 2-run double to Hudson?

Ugh.

I really like him better in the 'pen. So much better. Can't RAJ see that, too, for next year?

[Michael "Mini Mart" Martinez]

Kendrick's starts are actively hurting this team.

[coolhandluke]

now Hudson will get 27 ground ball outs

[MG]

KK has been terrible this inning.

[Cyclic]

28 strikes...25 balls

[coolhandluke]

get him the hell out of there

[NEPP]

Remember, this is our 5th starter next year.

[Jack]

Clout is thrilled with this start from his above-average 5th starter.

Just no way Kendrick should be in the rotation next year, assuming this team wants to contend.

[Cyclic]

Now we can kiss the playoffs goodbye

[coolhandluke]

By all means don't bring cloyd up

[lorecore]

Pitcing around Paul Janish makes it even worse when the pitcher strokes you.

[coolhandluke]

57 pitches in the 2nd inning tooo funny

[Cyclic]

lorecore, I was thinking the exact same thing.

[coolhandluke]

4-1

[Cyclic]

Is MLB.TV working for anyone yet? I can't wait to get my eyes on this slop.

[MG]

lorecore - I didn't understand at all especially since Janish is a RH bat.

[coolhandluke]

Kendrick blows

[MG]

Another subpar night of Phils' baseball. Happened an awful lot this summer.

[Jack]

Kendrick has had two strikes on the last like 6 batters this inning, and hasn't been able to get any of them out.

But yeah, having stuff that can miss bats is irrelevant. Totally irrelevant.

[Chris "Wheels" Wheeler]

"Oh boy......seem Tommy Boy..... he missed his spot.Unfortunate."

[wes covington's ghost]

Anybody think Rosenberg would have been a better choice to start tonight? Or Pierre?

[coolhandluke]

Someone mentioned how well KK pitches against the Braves

[sdphillie]

You guys with MLB TV issues should be counting your blessings. Us watching on MLB Extra Innings just saw Raul Valdez warming up, and the inning finally coming to a close after 50 pitches.

[coolhandluke]

50 pitch 2nd inning

[Jack]

Seriously, though, the idea of Kendrick in this rotation next season is an absolute joke.

I haven't found a single person other than Clout who supports the idea. And I'm pretty sure at this point that Clout is related to Kendrick--nothing else makes sense.

[denny b.]

They found a niche for Kendrick (where he didn't give up a run all of July) in the pen and now they go and screw it up by putting him back in the rotation.

I'm guessing this is the last start for Kendrick in 2012.

[coolhandluke]

DFA KK NOW

[Cyclic]

I just hope Kendrick blanks them over the next 2-3 innings so someone can convince us that this was a good start.

[coolhandluke]

Here come the ground ball outs now

[denny b.]

"I will consider it a good offseason for Rube if he signs a decent FA starter so I don't have to watch Kendrick in the rotation next season."

Yes, we need to spend another 100 million dollars for a starting pitcher.

[coolhandluke]

Game over

[Chesty Morgan]

The good news is that Cholly will be able to pinch hit for Kendrick this inning. I smell a rally!

[coolhandluke]

seriously, KK should never start another game for the Phillies

[sdphillie]

Hudson is 132-3 when given leads of 3 runs or more?

Have a good evening gentlemen, I'm going to catch up on my scrapbooking.

[The Truth Injection]

I advocate the Phillies trading Ryan Howard and Kyle Kendrick...only because Jack will have nothing to post about anymore.

Kendrick is- as clout has mentioned- a fine 5th starter despite not having swing and miss stuff. However, when you are not throwing inside to hitters in a start it really doesn't matter what kind of stuff you have on the mound. You won't succeed.

[Jack]

I doubt the Phils score another run off Hudson tonight. Which means I doubt they score again, unless the game is so out of hand the Braves don't bother using their top relievers, which is a distinct possibility.

[coolhandluke]

Yaawwwnnn

[wes covington's ghost]

Reminds me of that Pirate game when he choked up 5 runs in the first inning and went seven. He said after the game he was pleased with his performance because he gave the team a chance to win by going the seven.Truly amazing.

[coolhandluke]

This is gonna be an easy nite for Hudson now

[coolhandluke]

JROLL got em awake and KK put em back to sleep. Hudson will keep em asleep