Game chat: Playoff chase resumes tonight at Citi Field

Cole Hamels (15-6, 3.06) and rookie Matt Harvey (3-5, 2.92) are slated when the Phillies and Mets continue their rain-interrupted set tonight at 7:10.

Beerleaguer: The Phillies' outside shot at a Wild Card has detracted from the original August and September intent of looking toward the future. The moment they traded Hunter Pence, this season became all about Domonic Brown. The high-ceiling outfielder appears to be hitting his stride. Over his last eight games, he's boasting a 1.115 OPS with three homers and a .412 on-base percentage. He continues to choose his pitches wisely and - knock on wood - take the field competently. In fact, between Brown and John Mayberry Jr., who has been in lockstep with Brown lately and is a .294/.370/.471 hitter since becoming fulltime on Aug. 1, the Phils have reason for optimism as they look toward 2013. The two are paired with Juan Pierre in tonight's outfield. Carlos Ruiz starts behind the plate.

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Comments

[Willard Preacher]

Cautiously optimistic about Brown's defense so far.

Though, he and Mayberry both could use a good lesson in using the cut-off man.

[The Hook]

Think brown going to be ok. Really excited about offseason to what rube is going to do!

[Willard Preacher]

If you could pair the September Brown with the September Mayberry, you'd have a hell of an effective platoon next season.

That said, I suspect RAJ views Dom as an everyday player, which may be a mistake over the long haul.

I'd prefer he start him in a platoon, and when Dom "earns" the additional time, phase him into more of a regular role, like they did with Werth (phasing out Jenkins).

[Cyclic]

It'll take another long win streak to get me really excited, but hey, the Dodgers are losing again.

[GTown_Dave]

Preacher: The problem w/ the Phillies employing ANY platoon, regardless of the players involved, is one Charles Fuqua Manuel, Jr. He's simply incapable of doing so w/ any degree of skill or consistency.

[bay_area_phan]

1 batter into the game, and Milwaukee is already up 1-0 on Pittsburgh. They are SO gonna win this WC race.

[GTown_Dave]

The Brewers bore the hell outta me. No matter how good they are, I find them a dull team to watch.

[Cyclic]

Do the Brewers have any games left against the buzzsaw that is the Houston Astros?

[bay_area_phan]

GTown: I don't like them either but they do have the best offense in the league this year, even if they owe their success to cheating . . . er--, I mean ALLEGED cheating.

[Fatalotti]

Damn man, I was going to post a preemptive JIMMY!!!, but didn't for fear of reprisals if he got out.

Nice swing!!!

[MG]

Kind of fitting that Reyes got charged with the 500,000th error in MLB history. Used to be a solid defensive SS but has really slipped a bit after his leg injuries the past few years.

[GTown_Dave]

That's maybe the oddest HR I have ever seen. Man but I do love how he kills himself some Mets pitching, though.

[Cyclic]

J ROLL!

They might consider moving that wall back a tad.

[SLO Phan]

1 batter into the game, and the Phils are already up 1-0 on the Mets.

[MG]

JRoll having his best Sept in quite a while

[Cyclic]

SLO Phan-- They are SO gonna win this WC race?

[bay_area_phan]

Find the hole in the logic:

Cholly: Howard can't push off his back foot. As soon as we fall out of the playoff race, we may just shut him down for the year.

Cholly: But as long as we're still in the playoff race, we're gonna play him every day and bat him cleanup.

[MG]

Looked and JRoll coming into tonight had his split in Sept so far:

.333/.400/.652 with 6 HRs and 11 RBIs and 75 PAs

Even in 2007 he only put up .298/.333/.542 with 6 HRs and 18 RBIs in 138 PAs

Say what you want about Cholly's benching of JRoll during the game but he certainly has been on fire. Kind of like earlier in the year after his wife had his first child.

[MG]

bap - Argue that this is Cholly's worst season here as a manager with the exception of 2005 when he made some comically bad mistakes (screwing up double switches in a game).

[Fatalotti]

Nothing like creating narrative to explain something that every ball player goes through (a slump), but it's even better when you go to a cut-away to a field reporter to do it.

David Wright was playing way above his head earlier this season, and he's....gasp....regressed.

[GTown_Dave]

MG: Agreed RE: Charlie.

[Cyclic]

bap-- Yeah his position on Howard makes absolutely no sense to me, right now.

[NEPP]

Love seeing Rollins produce like this.

[MG]

As for Cholly, he came into tonight with 1282 games as the Phils' manager. Only Mauch was manager longer (1332 games from 1960-69) and Cholly will early May next year.

[Cyclic]

Hate good ABs that end like that

[bay_area_phan]

The surest sign that the Phillies lost their fans after the Houston series: 17 minutes without a post on a Beerleaguer game thread.

[Cyclic]

I thought I was killing the vibe in here.

[Fatalotti]

BAP, wrong. They're all still feverishly working out the permutations that will get the Phillies into the playoffs. It was easier earlier on, but now, it's harder than performing brain surgery while balancing on a beach ball.

[GTown_Dave]

b_a_p: This is like watching a pumpkin rot in real time, only far less engaging.

[Meyer]

I actually turned on the Yankees and PBS "Monarchy - Royal Family at Work".

[Fatalotti]

Man, that was one pitiful throw by Pierre.

[GTown_Dave]

Pierre. I wanna like you, man, but c'mon.

[bay_area_phan]

Pierre would have to hit like .340 to make up for all the runs he allows with his arm. I feel like I comment upon it in almost every game he plays.

[Dickie Thong]

What's the opposite of a hose? Because, that's what I would use to describe Juan Pierre's arm.

[GTown_Dave]

Dickie: Brose before hose. Never forget.

[Cyclic]

I knew they would score as soon as the Mets announcers said they had gone 11 straight home games not scoring a run in the first 3 innings.

[lorecore]

murphy was like 3 full steps from 3B and Pierre was basically 25ft behind rollins...and he scored easily. hah poor pierre.

[Meyer]

The lesser "Wet noodle"?

[HammRadio]

Why does Pierre even attempt that throw. He tosses that to jimmy. And jroll makes that play. At the very least it would prevent the runner going to second. Should be the routine. Ridiculous.

[NEPP]

1 hit?!? That's all we got???

[SLO Phan]

So, I guess the offense is packing it in after the first inning? Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2012 Philadelphia Phillies!

[Meyer]

And F8cking Paul Harvey shutting down the Phillies after the Rollins. I quit.

[SLO Phan]

Yep, Hairston. That's about right.

[Meyer]

Hairston. No Way.

[bay_area_phan]

Cole's actually pitching like crap. If he were pitching in a normal park, the Mets would already have 3 homeruns right now.

[NEPP]

Guessing we'll be seeing the bullpen soon...nearly 70 pitches through 3.1 IP.

[SLO Phan]

At least the BP is rested. So, there's that.

[Cyclic]

The Phillies Offense... once again going softly into that good night.

[bay_area_phan]

The top 3 most unbreakable records in baseball:

3. Joe Dimaggio's hitting streak.
2. Cy Young's career win total.
1. The 2012 Phillies' record for the least energized week of September baseball ever played by a team within 4 games of a playoff spot.

[Meyer]

Matt Harvey has a .353 Avg. That's it for me filling in.

[bay_area_phan]

I think it has been like a week since Frandsen DIDN'T bounce a throw to 3rd.

[SLO Phan]

Too bad the Phils offense has left the building. Otherwise, they might have had a chance to win this game.

[curt]

Replace Pierre with a FA CF, and Frandsen with Freddie and you're looking at the 2013 lineup.

[Iceman]

MG- about Manuel, are you saying strategically, or overall big-picture managing? Because if you mean the latter, your irrational loathing of Manuel is clouding your reasoning. This is one of his best big-picture jobs to date.

[bay_area_phan]

The scary part is that, other than Kevin Frandsen being replaced by the wretched Freddy Galvis, and Pierre being replaced by some unknown player, we're probably looking at next year's opening day lineup.

[Meyer]

Maybe an off day in NYC?

[bay_area_phan]

curt: Wow. I swear I didn't see your post before I wrote that.

[GTown_Dave]

curt: That would be an incredible fail, even by r00b's standards.

[Meyer]

Yeah Curt. Is Galvis healthy?

[Iceman]

Havent been watching, but BAP's comment that Cole sucks tonight and his nine K's through five innings are, well, an interesting contrast.

[curt]

bap lol

[Fatalotti]

Unfortunate, because Pierre smoked that ball.

[bay_area_phan]

Iceman: You haven't been watching, but you still feel it's your place to ridicule the comments of those who have?

[GTown_Dave]

Hamels extending his team lead in the category of HR Surrendered.

[Iceman]

BAP- your comments consistently fly in the face of reality, so I took an educated guess.

Of course, the first pitch I see him throw is a 400+ foot HR, so maybe you're right for once.

[GTown_Dave]

Now Cole, I like that move ... just don't talk about it later!

[Meyer]

Plug'em Cole.

[bay_area_phan]

If you had been watching, Iceman, you'd have seen about 4 balls hit like that.

[Kutztown Fan]

Is anyone else really pissed off at this game

[Meyer]

He's out. (Met's radio}.

[bay_area_phan]

That was a pathetic effort by Howard, but the runner was out nonetheless.

[BUY SELL]

PHILS DONT DESERVE TO WIN THIS GM

WHY IS HOWARD SO UTTERLY INEPT AT THE PLATE AND IN THE FIELD

[Iceman]

He was so out it isn't even funny.

Speaking of funny, I'm willing to make a gentleman's wager with BAP or curt that their fantasy/doomsday lineup for 2013 will not come to pass.

[Meyer]

Apparenty, most have bailed.

[GBrettFan]

I just got home. How has Cole been? How has the Mets' pitcher been, since I see that we have only 1 run courtesy of JRoll?

[NEPP]

Howard is about to go under .700 for his OPS. Another bad PA or two and he's there.

[EastFallowfield]

The Phils little run got everyone thinking about the actual games being played instead of turning every thread into a treatise on what Rube should do in the offseason, then, after the Houston debacle, not many posts about the games, but at least we're spared most of the other stuff too.

[GTown_Dave]

GBrettFan: Cole has been meh, but hasn't gotten hit too hard mainly because the Mets are ... well, the Mets.

The Phillies, as usual, are utterly failing to hit a guy they ought to be taking advantage of.

[Mini Mart]

Oops, get me to the plate boys!

[bullit]

i think the phils are dazzled by that silver chain around harvey's neck. aren't they supposed to be tucked in?

[MG]

If there is ever a team that looked like they needed greenies, the 2012 Phils would be a pretty ideal candidate.

'Lethargic' is the word to describe them of late.

[MG]

Iceman - Your really going to argue that this was one of Cholly's better jobs as a manager especially if they finish at say 80-81 wins?

[BUY SELL]

CHUCKY IS INEPT AS THEY COME/

[Iceman]

MG- um, yeah? Do we need to go through everything that has gone catastrophically wrong this year that was out of Cholly's control, along with the roster that is woefully short on talent in a lot of key areas? Along with two key pieces being traded after the trade deadline?

The fact that this roster managed to climb back to .500 is a miracle of biblical proportions.

[Buster]

That conversation was hilarious with neikro during a game. Matthews actually complaining about hitters striking out in today's game, and chooses Dan uggla to focus on. Lol, really uggla, who has thirty homers. Gary, we have this first baseman who can't make contact at gunpoint. What a homer.

[curt]

Seems like Bastardo has yet to whiff anyone this year with less than a 3 ball count.

[GBrettFan]

Thanks for the update, GTown.

I figured the Brewers would crush the PIrates this series. Guess I'll have to fall back on the Reds as my NL team to cheer on in the postseason.

[curt]

Haha...there it is, although it took a few wild swings by Tejada.

[Meyer]

Tonight's the night for Ruf. Ruf it Ruf.

[GBrettFan]

I guess Jimmy needs to hit another couple of HRs if we're going to win this one. One lousy hit the whole game?

[Meyer]

The Cardinals figured out the Astros.

[cut_fastball]

Busted:

...The fact that this roster managed to climb back to .500 is a miracle of biblical proportions.

Posted by: Iceman | Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 09:21 PM

No, sir, you are profoundly incorrect; "...a miracle of biblical proportions..." would be a World Series Championship for the 2012 Phillies. Geesh.

[MG]

.500 is a miracle of biblical proportions? At best, this team played about up to their abilities if they end up at 80-81 wins.

Yeah the run was unexpected but the terrible baseball (early June through mid-July) more that balances that out.

More often than not too, Cholly has pressed the wrong buttons especially with bullpen management. He's a horrendous manager (Dubee desires some criticism there too) when it comes to making pitching decisions.

[Iceman]

MG- interesting point about the bullpen managing. I think you went about 2 or 3 hours without mentioning it. I forgot that is basically all that goes into managing a baseball team.

[bay_area_phan]

I'm no great scholar on the Bible. But I've read Genesis a few times in hotel rooms and somehow it doesn't feel like an accomplishment of "biblical proportions" to finish around .500 one year after winning 102 games.

[bay_area_phan]

That Dom Brown hot streak sure was fun. I enjoyed all 2 games of it.

[Meyer]

The amazing thing about Brown is that my friends, season ticket holders at L.V. predicted that Dom would never make it through the season. He didn't. They moved him to bigs. Wow.

[wes covington's ghost]

Would Nix be more effective blindfolded?

[GTown_Dave]

Nix is horrible. Really, really dislike seeing him in a Phillies uniform.

[Meyer]

BAP. It could be a matter of scale, as in "Oh my God". Every time a small god. eh?