Game chat: Rollins in, but Brown out, in Atlanta

Jimmy Rollins and Charlie Manuel have made peace and the shortstop returns to the top of the Phillies' lineup tonight in Atlanta. Meanwhile, Domonic Brown (knee) remains out of the starting nine, with Michael Martinez starting in right and Ty Wigginton in left against the southpaw Mike Minor. Playing time could get harder to come by for Brown when rosters expand tomorrow. Nate Schierholtz is expected to rejoin the team. Roy Halladay has the ball for the Phils as the Labor Day weekend begins in earnest. [Jump to the newest comments]

Comments

[GTown_Dave]

That was a pleasing win. Kinda figures the Phils couldn't touch an awful Mets bullpen, but slapped around a great Atlanta bullpen.

[MG]

Always love seeing the Phils beat the Braves (notice the huge amount of empty seats in the bottom of the 10th inning).

[NEPP]

That's Paptastic!!!

[GBrettFan]

That was sweet. Much more fun to rally from behind than to be the team whose BP blows it regularly!

[wes covington's ghost]

Sit down, pig!! Good job, boys!!

[Sil Campusano]

To call Paps' pace "deliberate" would be to insult avid hand knitters everywhere.

[Gregm]

Just out of curiosity, I'm not upset by any means, but what ever happened to Gregg Murphy?

[Buy sell]

That was same type ending K that kinske had back in 08..

[GTown_Dave]

Several great calls by Franzke in this one, too. Made for a a fun auditory experience, as well.

[EastFallowfield]

Phils do seem a lot more interested in the games vs Nats and Braves than vs the Mets for some reason....

[Sil Campusano]

The return of the Sarge postgame interview.

[Iceman]

The more things change (Phils not contending this year), the more things stay the same (punking the Braves in the last month of the season).

Would love to hang a sweep on these pricks.

[clout]

denny b: "Mayberry has actually been pretty good, offensively and defensively since the Vic trade and the move to CF. Tonight, he's been on base 4 times, hit the game-winning HR and he threw out a runner at the plate."

What's funny about that is the geniuses of Beerleaguer have been calling for his unconditional release.

[clout]

Gregm: "Just out of curiosity, I'm not upset by any means, but what ever happened to Gregg Murphy?"

Oh, Murphy? You won't see him no more.

[MG]

The Phils have gotten the Papelbon they were paying the big bucks for in the 2nd half.

Since he blew that Dodgers' game on July 20th, he's been very, very good:

18 GS, 19 1/3 IP, 1-2, 10 for 10 in SV, 0.93 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 10.7 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, 4.7 K/BB with a really high swing and miss rate (16%)

[GTown_Dave]

clout: "Martinez" & "Mayberry" are somewhat similar names in appearance, but they're actually spelled quite differently.

[cut_fastball]

Guess what -- I could care less if Jimmy whines, moans or has a second baby. This win has left them 8 back from ATL with 30 to play....

Please. Sweep ATL. Just win baby. Things will take care of themselves. Someone correct me, but this is nothing that a 10 game winning streak can't take care of. Especially with KK pitching like Doc.

Geez. Did I just write that? Hard to believe, Harry.

[MG]

Includes Papelbon's save tonight. Get that man some coffee.

[MG]

Could've have been 6 GB. Oh well. Get to play spoiler a bit.

[cut_fastball]

MG -- As much as the rollout of the 2nd wild card infuriated me, I'm all in at this point. One game at a time. Again, Geeezus.

[Iceman]

I forgot Kratz getting barreled into by Larry in the 4th. So he made a play that saved a run, then hit a HR to bring them back from the dead in the 9th.

He hasn't been Ruiz (nobody could be), but this guy has been top-starter quality filling in. Good for Kratz. He has earned the backup role next year and, hey, maybe the fact that he'll have a backup C that isn't an embarrassment at the plate will have Manuel giving Chooch more off days.

[clout]

GTown: You must not be reading the blog again.

[MG]

Matt Gelb - "Dubee said Halladay might have caught what Hamels had. But he didn't tell anyone until third inning."

There is a really nasty stomach bug going around right now.

[Sil Campusano]

Postgame report says Doc was sick today. Please resume the poop jokes.

[mainerob]

The problem is that Doc is pitching like the old KK, if you haven't noticed, cut.

[CN]

@Gregm: I think he went to Ireland... No idea for how long but I remember it was mentioned during Wheels' fashion error the other night.

[MG]

Notre Dame-Navy game?

[Iceman]

Rays get Ben Francisco.

It's funny, but he's probably a top 5 hitter on that team.

[davthom73]

Kratz hit his game-tying home run tonight off of a 99-mile-per-hour fastball from Atlanta closer Kimbrell -- on a 0-2 count -- and was only the third home run Kimbrell had given up all year.

[curt]

Kratz's HR was the 6th allowed by Kimbrel...in his career. And before that HR, opposing hitters on 0-2 counts vs. Kimbrel: 3-for-39, 34 strikeouts.

[aksmith]

The way Kratz and Frandsen are hitting since their promitions, I have to assume Ruf would be hitting well over .400 with at least a dozen dingers over the same period of time had he been brought up as well.

And that totally ignores the three or four no-hitters Tyler Cloyd would have tossed by now.

But seriously, Aumont looks okay. He clearly hasn't mastered a repeatable delivery and is therefor taking a few mph off his fastball. But if he can drop that curve on enough hitters sitting fastball, he's a major leaguer with just a little consistency.

[Bubba]

Kratz has been a real find for 2013, assuming he can perform anything like August 2012.
Chooch has enough mileage on him to need regular time off, and maybe Charlie won't be so tempted to wear him out if there is a very competent backup available.
One can hope.

[mainerob]

Charlie's still around next year? One cam hope not!!!

[aksmith]

Chooch is a seriously good catcher. But he doesn't have near the arm of Kratz. Phillies pitchers are notorious for not holding runners on well. But with Kratz, they don't have to work so hard at it.

There will come a time when teams will simply stop trying to steal on Kratz unless it's their very fastest guys and it's completely necessary. Moderately good baserunners seem overmatched against him.

How does anyone get that much zip on a ball throwing from his knees? I couldn't break 80 from a windup when I pitched. These guys are otherworldly. And I remember Coste doing the same thing, although with less regularity, before he had that awful collision at the plate that essentially ended his productive career.

[Bubba]

Lost in the excitement of an extra inning win is the fact that is now not possible for the Phils to have 100 losses in the regular season.

[cut_fastball]

mainerob -- the crazy thing is, who cares? This feels like, and please note this is an "over the top" observation -- a 2007 feel about it.

With the "kids" trying to prove themselves; e.g.; Kratz (age 32?? season?) and yaaberry (age 28 season??); and a resurgent Utley and Howard, who knows? Again, this team is in a desperate need of a 10 - 12 winning streak.

The Germans call it "schadenfreude". We went down like clowns against the Cards; who says we don't make that up with a huge finish this year?

As much as I hate this sound bite: "Just sayin'".

[denny b.]

What Kratz will do is prolong Ruiz's career.

Instead of having to run Chooch out there 6 days a week (and have him catch a couple late innings after pinch-hitting on the 7th day) they can use Kratz twice a week and get Ruiz valuable rest.

Hell, if I am another club, I'd take a look at Kratz as a starter. The guy has big power, has hit for average, has worked with the pitchers well (look at the team ERA since Kratz became the everyday catcher; is it a coincidence??? Who knows...) and has thrown rockets to 2nd base all year.

But I don't give him up. If he just continues to throw and catch well as he has this summer, he's a better backup catcher them most in baseball. The hitting is just a bonus.

[can_of_corn]

@Corn (no relation): I also keep thinking of the time earlier in the season Doc left with already- packed bags immediaely after a game for personal time. That seemed to be when he started being the non-Doc.
I hope that there isnt something more serious he isn't divulging.

[Brooklyn Phillies]

I keep watching that Chipper/Kratz collision replay over and over. I still can't believe it. (And I love how he showed the ball to Halladay instead of to the ump.)

Also, 8 games out of the wild card with 30 to play.

[Not Cliff Lee]

Nice win. Especially nice to see Dom step up.

[davthom73]

Kratz's gun for an arm should have been no surprise to anyone. What is amazing is that Kratz was stashed in the minors with his ability to virtually shut down opposing teams' running games -- first shown in the big leagues when Kratz had his 9-game cup of coffee with the Pirates during the 2010 season at age 30. See, the following link with Kratz gunning down three Cardinals baserunners in the same game:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=10454649&c_id=mlb

[Iceman]

They aren't making a run. They have to rip off a crazy streak and it's gonna be virtually impossible with these games against ATL and CIN (though afterwards they have quite an easy stretch).

I do think though that they will finish around .500 and 3 to 5 games out. Just enough to make us even more p*ssed at the 10-15 games they had no business losing.

It does beg the question- with everything that's gone wrong this year (underachievement and injuries in every area), if this roster (especially as currently constructed- several AAA players) finishes a few games out of a playoff spot, how the hell can people think they aren't going to compete next year with additions in free agency?

[Bubba]

Bklyn-
Agree- hard to see how he held onto that ball, the catch and collision seemed simultaneous. And against our friend Larry, too.
Mayberry needs some serious "attaboys" for tonight's performance as well.
He and Kratz teamed up on that play and provided the comeback power as well.

[lorecore]

Holy balls I just saw aumont freeze gun Uggla out at the bar and had to post on beerlesguer!! That was fn nasty hahaga

[lorecore]

Kratz off kimbrel on a 0-2 count Are you freaking kidding me?!?!??

[Fumphis]

Gotta say, you really can't complain about McCarthy and Wheeler tonight. Good calls by T-bag and let's face it: Wheels's baseball knowledge stacks up very well against the various braindead color guys around the league, and I don't get the hate for him. They even ripped on Sarge with some solid banter tonight (laughing at the idea that he would have pointed out that Mayberry has 1 walk against a lefty). Sarge is pretty useless, of course, but I feel like McCarthy has matured some this season and when Wheeler gets into a game, he can be invaluable.

As for the season--I stand by my prediction of several months ago that the team has had historically bad luck this year which doesn't reflect the underlying talent level, and that September could easily get interesting enough to make the apocalyptic fears of the summer seem silly.

[Dragon]

Come-from-behind wins are always great, especially against the Braves - can't stand that Indian war-chant and tomahawk chop stuff, never could.

[Luis]

Didnt read previous comments. Most of them is the same stuff by the same guys. Just on here to say wasnt sold on Kratz. That look on Crimbel's face was freaking priceless.

[Unikruk]

"Postgame report says Doc was sick today. Please resume the poop jokes."

It's a good thing Big Joe isn't around the clubhouse anymore!

[Meyer]

Some great game highlights with the morning coffee. Hope Kratz was packed in ice after the game.

[Brookyn Phillies]

Yeah, yeah, we all know the WC is impossible. But at least it's fun again.

[Not Cliff Lee]

I dread the thought that there is no free lunch. That we will pay for last night's nice win with... other... Yeah, I know...

[Edmundo]

Anybody worried that a late year splurge by John Maybeberry will convince the Phils that he is a solution as an OF starter? I mean I root for the guy and everything but ...

[EastFallowfield]

Yo, new thread

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