Game chat: Phillies continue Wild Card fight tonight

Right-handers Tommy Hanson and Kyle Kendrick have the honors when the Phillies open a crucial home set with the Wild Card leading Braves. First pitch is 7:05. 

Beerleaguer: Time out to recognize Jimmy Rollins, who's been a September star and arguably the key reason why the Phils have stayed in the hunt. The press notes supply the details. He's hit safely in 16 of 18 September games. Check out these numbers: .338/.412/.662 with seven homers and 18 runs scored this month, some of the best production in the league this month. Simply one hell of a player with an incredible high motor. Lineup: Rollins SS, Pierre LF, Utley 2B, Howard 1B, Ruiz C, Brown RF, Mayberry CF, Frandsen 3B. Kendrick tries to rebound from a rough outing in Houston. [Jump to the newest comments]

Comments

[awh]

KK's lifetime ERA against the Braves is 2.83, with a .673 OPS against.

Let's hope he can keep it up tonight!

[awh]

Make that a 2.87 ERA.. (Darn fingers...)

[GTown_Dave]

Pat Gallen: "Darin Ruf just won best minor leaguer in Phillies system and is standing on the field. Closest he's been to the plate since Reading!"

[awh]

GTown, funny!

[3r0ck]

STL lost to the Cubs in 11.

[Iceman]

How did that ball from Prado not go out? Jesus that was a moonshot.

[GBrettFan]

I fully expect Chipper to go out with a bang and kill us this series.

[GBrettFan]

Of course, that's hardly a stretch, since he always kills us.

[GBrettFan]

Yay, Pierre!!! Come on, Chase & Ryan.....

[GTown_Dave]

Dammit. I like Pierre. I just can't help it.

[MG]

Nice done Pierre/Utley.

[GBrettFan]

Pierre having fun talking about it with the guys in the dugout. Fun to watch the animated conversation even when you can't hear it.

[Cyclic]

And Gnats up 2-0 on the Brew Crew. Nice.

Keep it goin....

[Iceman]

Every time I see Freeman he's taking a walk. He's got like 50 walks against the Phils this year.

[GBrettFan]

With that offense, the Brewers are never out of it. Like the Phillies a handful of years ago.

Come on, KK. You dominate the Braves, remember that.

[GBrettFan]

Oh now, McCann.

[Cyclic]

Not good, not good

[GBrettFan]

Supposed to say Oh No.

I'm happy it was a sacrifice rather than a HR.

[Cyclic]

So happy to see Chooch back this year, btw.

And yes, I would be saying that even if Kratz hadn't come back to Earth.

[Kyle Kendrick - Mayor, City of Brotherly Glove]

Thank you for your support.

[MG]

LaRoche is a good defensive 1B Wheels? Not really. He has had a nice year and some team will foolishly give him a 3 yr with a nice double-digit annual salarly

[Cyclic]

Frandsen, Kendrick, Rollins...

Sounds like run(s) to me!

[GTown_Dave]

Kevin "Home Run" Frandsen!

[Cyclic]

I wasn't even being sarcastic.

Feels good.

[GTown_Dave]

He's goin' streaking!

[GBrettFan]

I think Howard is finding his groove. Not bad for a gimp.

[GTown_Dave]

Chooch will not be forgotten!

[GBrettFan]

And Choooooooch! joins the party!

Yes! Still only a 3-run lead, but it's fun!

[BloodStripes]

Albatross!!!

[Cyclic]

Really wish they could score some other way besides HRs

[GBrettFan]

If only we'd had 1 man on before 2 of those 3 HRs....

[Larry Jones]

3 runs, meh, I'm not scared.

[GTown_Dave]

GBrettFan: But KYLE'S pitching! This lead is SOLID!

[MG]

Nice play Utley.

[BloodStripes]

George just stomped the gimp

[GBrettFan]

It should be, GTown, becuase KK does well v. the Braves. I remember last year I had tix to a PHI-ATL game - was all excited to see Oswalt pitch, then he got hurt and KK filled in. I was less disappointed - but it ended up being the only game of the series that we won.

I never did see an Oswalt start. I've only seen 1 Doc start, and it was v. the BoSox when he didn't pitch well. I did see Cole and Cliff both pitch NLDS Game 1s, and those were terrific.

[Iceman]

With the exception of the game in Houston where they got shutout anyway, Kendrick has been the ace of the staff during the stretch run. But by all means let's rip him.

[MG]

It really has been a good year for catchers in the NL and that's even with McCann struggling a bit because of his shoulder.

Posey is probably going to win the MVP award. Molina's had a great year offensively & defensively. Chooch, Montero, Lucroy have also have very good years. Add a couple of other guys who have been solid including Hanigan, Grandal, Rosario, and Ellis. Maybe even McHenry.

[MG]

Confidence matters with any pitcher but it seems like it matters a bit more with some others than others including KK.

Just has looked completely relaxed on the mound since the 3rd and working quickly without any of the hesitation he has at times.

[sdphillie]

KK winning it with his bat!

[GTown_Dave]

GBrettFan: I've seen multiple excellent starts by both Halladay & Lee, & a thoroughly mixed bag from Kendrick (& that's being generous). Also a lot of Worley, mostly good. Oddly enough I don't think I've ever attended a really good Hamels start, even though he's the longest tenured starter. Just doesn't show up too often in my ticket plan, I guess.

[buy sell]

y do the camera men always pan the camera out to make every semi deep to deep fly look like a HR ... (Whether or not the ball even reached the stands.. gets old)

[denny b.]

Phils now have 26 HR's and 94 RBI's from the catching position in 2012.

Maybe the Braves ought to try and trade for Kendrick? They just can't seem to solve him.

[Cyclic]

Awesome

11 in a row set down by Kendrick

[Iceman]

Also, I'll get ripped for saying this, but with Ruiz in the lineup, I'd go to war with this team in the NL playoffs and take my chances.

A lot of teams like the Nats, Giants and Braves play the same game: rely on starting pitching and scrape together enough runs to get by. I'd take my chances against any of those teams. And they just seem to have the Reds number and play them tough.

I'd love to see what Pierre could do for them in the playoffs, also. Always seem to do better with him in the lineup and he's perfect in the 2-spot. Don't think he'll be back next year. It's a shame. I could see Rollins-Pierre-Utley-Howard-Ruiz giving teams some trouble in the playoffs. Oh well. Just thinking out loud.

[Iceman]

And I'll give you another one: I bet Kendrick would give you a better game 4 start than the stinkbombs we've gotten from Blanton/Oswalt the last three years. He's really found a groove since Cholly told him to ditch the cutter (had one dud last week- it happens). He'd give you at least 6 and 3 and give them a chance.

[MG]

Phils did catch a real break not facing Medlen this series.

They should have slight advantages the next 2 nights too. Normally, Minor-Halladay would be a huge mismatch but not with the way Halladay has scuffled his the last 3-4 weeks. Give the edge mainly to the fact that Minor has been pretty poor on the road (only 25 GS) in his career.

Phils can hold on here I would say they have fair shot of sweeping this series. Say 35% or so. Somewhere around a 58-60% chance of winning tomorrow and maybe a little less on Sunday.

[Meyer]

Ruiz knows how to hit.

[MG]

Iceman - The biggest difference though is that the Reds (if Chapman is healthy), Nats, and Braves all have deeper pens than the Pens will a couple of solid middle relievers.

That limitation along with the subpar defense and below average offense (with average/below average power) are the reasons why I don't see the Phils making much noise in the playoffs even if they miraculously make it.

Certainly could win a 1-game playoff but it is really hard to see this team getting through 2 rounds to the WS.

[MG]

Actually think this would be the weakest Phils' team going into the playoffs and by a decent margin.

'07 team didn't really have a solid starter after Hamels but they had a much better offense with tons of power, a bullpen with a few options that had been pitching quite well down the stretch, a solid bench, and was notably better defensively too than this team.

[bfpsu]

Could you imagine if a one game playoff game had ended up with Kratz's miracle homer against Kimbrel and the later win or the game where Chipper tore our guts out? Talk ecstasy and agony

[sdphillie]

What I wouldn't do for the production of Abe "No Mercy" Nunez at 3b right now.

The 2007 Phillies were a great team, just happened to be so unfortunate to run into a team on a record streak, for if it was any other team, they would have certainly destroyed the Sox.

[Iceman]

MG- with the starting pitching on this team you are flat out wrong that they're worse than 2007. I can't believe anyone would think that. Wow. The bullpen might have even been worse in 2007.

We all know what paper gets you in the playoffs (nothing), but on paper they are not nearly the worst. I'd give them a coin flip's chance against anyone in the NL. AL is a different story.

[denny b.]

Cholly's strangest (and dumbest) decision of the season will no doubt be using Diekman instead of Horst in Houston in that Thursday debacle of a finish.

Who knows how that series (or maybe even this season) plays out if the Phils would have just gotten that game.

[sdphillie]

dammit, it's Todd Van Poppel.

[GBrettFan]

I thought Horst was the long man? Not complaining, just confused.

[Meyer]

That's why Wiggy is PH'ing instead of Ruf. Warning track power.

[denny b.]

Here is what makes Sarge the expert baseball sage he is...

Scott F- "The Phils lost a 6 run lead and a 4 run lead late in Atlanta earlier this year".

Sarge M- "That's never a good thing".

Wonderful stuff.

[GTown_Dave]

I have nothing but a gut feeling, but my gut feeling says these Phils -- odd as they are -- would be set to make a nice run if they got into the Postseason. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen, because (among a plethora of other failures) they choked on a fat one in Houston last week.

[denny b.]

GBrettfan-

You likely wouldn't have needed a "long man" in that game had Horst come in and gotten a couple of outs.

He's the 2nd best lefty reliever on the team and has a ERA in the low 1's. I think you take your chances with him in the 8th inning of a game you desperately need to win. And if it goes to the 10th (and the back end blows it against one of the worst teams in the last 30 years), you didn't deserve to win anyway.

[MG]

Iceman - Halladay hasn't been pitching that well and yeah I am not sold on KK pitching well in the postseason either.

If you win in the playoffs with starting pitching, bullpen with 2-3 solid middle relievers with a good closer, sound defense, and power, the '07 Phils are better on 3 of those measures.

[buy sell]

y didnt they leave horst in,.,

[GBrettFan]

I don't disagree, denny, but where was that philosophy in Houston, I wonder?

[buy sell]

oh no - the french connection in the BP

[Iceman]

And I'm not looking to slam the '07 team or any other of the playoff teams. But let's not romanticize their success and act as if, objectively, those teams were powerhouses. The '07 needed a miracle collapse to win the division. They set a torrid pace down the stretch for sure, but the team was full of flaws and got swept out of the playoffs because their bullpen was garbage and their second starter was Kyle Kendrick. Didn't matter how good the offense was.

Even the '08 team, which will be my favorite Philly team of all time forever and ever, had to have a harmonic convergence of career years and improbable failures by opponents to do what they did. Look at that Santana thread again. There's a reason we were scared. The team wasn't great on paper.

This one isn't, either, except in one area- starting pitching- which would give them a punchers chance in the weak NL. And as I said, the top 5 of their lineup would manage to scrape together a few runs a game. More than can be said about the '07 squad against Jeff Francis.

[GBrettFan]

The later innings of a game make me nervous. I was nervous whenever Lidge pitched in his perfect season. I'm nervous if one of our starters puts runners on in later innings. I'm nervous when our BP enters the game - - although one can hardly blame me for that this year.

I think I was not nervous last year, but that's because we had such a good record that I took all losses in stride.

[buy sell]

fREEMAN???

TEA BAGGGG>>!!

HEYWARD!!

DOPY!

Posted by: buy sell |

[MG]

'07 NL sucked too. Go back and look at the playoff teams that year. Cubs were a weak team that won just 85 games. DBacks swept them in the first round but they weren't much home to right about either.

If the Phils had managed to win Game 1 because Hamels didn't wear freaking long sleeves, I think they would have won that series & ended up in the WS.

Would they have beaten that Red Sox that year? Probably not.

[GBrettFan]

Nicely done, Bastardo!

[buy sell]

ATTA BOY LARRY

[MG]

Bastardo has pitched much better of late. Still racking up Ks at a very impressive pace but his command has been better and more consistent.

[Iceman]

MG are you really going to use the b00b analysis comparing the two teams? Like, the difference between that defense and this one is the same impact (>) as that team's starting pitching vs. this one? Come on. Even you know better than that.

[GBrettFan]

Chase!!!!

[kuvasz]

HR derby

[MG]

b00b analysis has its merits. '07 team was just a better team in Sept than this team.

This team is playing well but if you look at the two teams I think the '07 Phils in Sept were a notably better team than this one.

[GTown_Dave]

Utley!

[Criff Ree]

Our 3-4-5 all hit homers tonight! I know their chances aren't good but these games are fun to watch.

[Jason]

Belieeeeeeeeeeve!!!!!

[The Hook]

Chase feeling hitterish

[Meyer]

Utley is having a good night. He must know exactly what his capabilities are for his future. 2013 will tell when the Phillies reveal their plan for a Chase full season.

[GTown_Dave]

I think the most impressive part of tonight's game is that the Phillies put up 6 runs the night after scoring 16 in NY. I would've guessed maybe -2 or so.

[GTown_Dave]

Zolecki: "The Phillies' four homers tonight are a season high.

Utley hit his 199th career homer on the night Howard hit his 299th. I'm not sure that means anything, but I'm passing it along."

[Phlipper]

Can anyone remember anyone at BLer predicting that Utley would would be as productive this year, let along going forward, as he has been since coming back?

[MG]

Surprised that Utley has continued to surge in Sept without really any time off.

They have to hope somehow that he can get on the field next year for at least 120 GS.

[MG]

Phlipper - This productive? I don't think so. Think the debate was whether he a .800 OPS or better guy.

[buy sell]

935 pm

pap will be finished at 10p

[GBrettFan]

Dom has been better in the OF lately. He's not tripping all over himself and looking completely clueless anymore, but is making the plays he should make.

[EastFallowfield]

2007 Phils were 17-11 in September. 2012 Phils were 13-5 in September before tonight's game.

[GBrettFan]

2012 Phillies can't afford to lose 6 more games. Going to have to have a better finish than the '07 team.

[MG]

Nice start to the series.

[Meyer]

Yes. Easy game.

[GBrettFan]

Papelbon's been pretty darn good, too. Just can't rely on him in a tied game.

Great job by the Phillies!

[GTown_Dave]

Good win. Now for Milwaukee & L.A. to lose ...

[Mike G]

Brewers just took the lead in the top of the ninth.

[GBrettFan]

Trying not to think about those losses in Houston.....

[Jason]

good guys win.

[bfpsu]

The Brewers are getting very annoying!

[Phlipper]

MG - Utley certainly has exceeded my expectations. I highly doubted that he could successfully come back after so little playing time for an extended period. I thought his skills would definitely deteriorated far more than they have. He's below career #'s in OPS, SLG, and AVG - but not by nearly as much as I expected, and he's above career #'s in OBP.

[GBrettFan]

Mike G. - Of course they did.

[lolwut]

ffffuuuuuuuuu clippard