Saturday chat: Phillies hand ball to second-half ace

Notes: Kyle Kendrick (9-10, 3.83) is pitching at the highest level of his career. The right-hander reaches for an unbelievable eighth consecutive quality start, as well the fourth double-digit win total of his career, when the Phillies continue their Wild Card push against left-hander Dallas Keuchel (5.35) in the third of four with the Astros. First pitch is 7:05. Friday night's 12-6 assault brought the Phillies back to three games off the Cardinals' pace in the National League Wild Card, with the Cards, Brewers and Pirates all losing ground around them. Earlier today, the Pirates scratched out a 7-6 win at Wrigley, putting them a half game ahead of the Phils. The Cardinals and Dodgers get underway at 9:10. Milwaukee and the Mets are scheduled for 7:10.

Lineups: Rollins, Frandsen, Utley, Howard, Mayberry, Wigginton, Brown, Kratz. John Mayberry Jr. continued his hot hitting with a 3-for-5 effort in Friday's peppering of the Astros. All but one starting position player had multiple hits, and the only one who didn't, Domonic Brown, jacked one to the upper deck.

Let's keep it going against these chumps. 

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Comments

[bullit]

this is the time of year when a team as long in the tooth as the phils miss their greenies.

and i agree that playing in an empty park after the bank experience must be stultifying.

[MG]

If watching baseball after 20+ years, even teams that are playing very well for a prolonged stretch will inevitably have a terrible loss or two where they look flat and disjointed.

Problem is that the Phils dug themselves such a huge hole in June/early July that they simply can't afford to lose a game or two like this down this mad dash to clinch a playoff spot.

There are enough pieces and their record in the 2nd half gives me faith that this can be a potentially solid team. Issues are that they need rebound years from a couple of guys including Halladay and Howard, luck on the injury front, and Amaro to make the right moves to round out the roster.

I know Cholly will be back too but he's not the right guy to manage this team at this point. At the bare minimum, I wouldn't mind seeing a few coaching staff changes being made but I doubt he will see it.

[Sophist]

ak - I don't have a problem with being wrong on the Kratz point. It's a pretty easy mistake to make. I just wonder why you feel the need to bring ego into everything and make it personal. Many people said what I did about that play but for some reason you feel the need to call me out and try to question my understanding of the rules of baseball (stats 101 etc.). Just seems completely unnecessary.

[Sophist]

GBrett - Yeah, it didn't look good. And everything else looked bad too. But that ball fell in the only circle on the field it could.

[Sophist]

In fact, ak, I'm pretty sure LA said the same on the radio re Kratz. I guess no one with knowledge of baseball makes mistakes like that, though.

[Buster]

Thank god we didn't see ruf play first today so we could watch howard flail against left handed pitching all night.

[bullit]

obviously ruf has great hand-eye coordination. and howie is saying "i'm not seeing the ball at all." but we gotta beat that expensively rented mule.

[advantasux]

SERIOUSLY? YOU'RE GOING TO STAND BY THIS GUY?

Even now, with a young lefty on the mound and with a willingness to sit a guy like Pierre who has not been hitting lefties this year, he turns to Wigginton instead of Darrin Ruf. What better time to see if the kid can give you the needed power boost from the right side than tonight?

Can't do that, though; there are veterans to impress and stand by. Can't start a kid like Ruf when Wigginton might get embarrassed, right?

OK, he has two more chances to do the right thing. Having elected to sit Pierre, why not also Domonic Brown, he of the torrid .188 average versus lefties? No dice.

And how about that pathetically over-matched first baseman, Mr. Ryan Howard, he of the .176 average against lefties? Forget it, he's a star and our clean-up hitter, right Charlie?

Sure enough, with the sacks loaded, in the first and the chance to get off on the right foot, his hero Howard and his lackey Wigginton come up and go down and leave them loaded.

And that was the end of that. they deserved to lose for lots of reasons but the manager is just the most pathetic leader I've ever encountered.

[Bill]

Charlie will not give Ruf a start until they're eliminated from the playoffs. He'll rely on the veterans. Hell at this point I'd play Nix/Schierholtz over Brown.

[GTown_Dave]

Salisbury: "There's a guy on one knee proposing to a girl on the mound in HOU. Good thing she's not in scoring position cuz the Phils would strand her."

I'll say this, Salisbury has had some of the best lines of an otherwise dreadful season.

[GBrettFan]

I agree, GTown. I never knew beat writers were snarky before Twitter.

[bullit]

i think brown and mayberry need to rent a condo on the beach in puerto rico and play some winter ball.

[Let's Go Eat]

Dodgers win!

[GTown_Dave]

Somehow the Dodgers winning tonight only makes me feel worse. What a pitiful showing the Phillies have made.

[Bubba]

Gotta get it back together for tomorrow's game and then against the Mets.
It's really hard to root for a playoff spot, when both your observations and the standings show this to be a .500 team , and they needed a hot streak to get there.
Only a handful of series remaining, we surely can't go 1-3 against the worst team MLB has to offer and still have WC pretensions.

[Dragon]

"Only a handful of series remaining, we surely can't go 1-3 against the worst team MLB has to offer and still have WC pretensions." -- Bubba

To twist an old quote by Dave Cash, "No we can't."

[Dragon]

Houston - Field Of Nightmares. This little rush at the very end has been nothing more than an illusion wrapped in a mirage inside a fantasy.

[aksmith]

Sophist - You're wounded? I'm sorry you're so thin skinned. I get skinned on this blog all the time, sometimes warranted and sometimes not. We will both live.

And appealing to the authority of LA on that play? And the crowd of BL posters who agreed with you? Well, sorry. LA is a lot of fun to listen to mainly because he seems like he's half in the bag. He's never met an umpire who made the correct ball/strike call. I am not surprised he missed what happened on the play.

Hey, I made a statement that Wigginton was going to be the next coming of Wes Helms. It was not a minute by minute comparison of their lives from birth to the present. However, in the world of Sophist on BL, it became a point of honor to miss my point entirely and make an entirely different one. They are both slow, poor fielding, pseudo power hitters who are nothing more than journeyman ballplayers. That's as far as it went. But no, the fact that they're less than mediocre and the Phillies were going to depend on one of them to fill in for Howard (since Thome had told them his back would not hold up) on a semi-regular basis was too much for you to bear. So out came their birth certificates and credit card records.

Why do I single you out on this? Merely because you're so often a dickhead (Clout's word, not one I would normally use) that I guess everyone has become used to it. You're not a strawman dickhead like Clout. However, you've never lost an argument, even when you have. What would you call that?

[Iceman]

I don't know about you, but I woke up this morning thinking "I sure want to read aksmith's blowhard response to Sophist." Thank God he obliged.

I might go to sleep on west coast games more often. Dodgers are doing their part. In fact, the entire wild card field is behaving almost perfectly. Except for, you know, the phils actually beating a 100 loss team.

[The Hook]

F'n ridiculous. Should be one game behind heading into this afternoon. I just don't get it here. Hope doc can show a little vintage and get back on track. We are going to look back at these two games, and the last brave game where we lost major ground.

[3r0ck]

.... at least we're still 3 GB and not 5GB. Like The Hook said, we should be 1 GB though.

[norbertods]

I don't like when BL delves into reality tv territory. Snideness and disdain have no place on an Internet blog (tongue firmly ensconced in cheek).

Oh yeah. The Phils performance, I mean, lack thereof was pretty awful last nite. Made all the more worse by the cardinals losing. Oh well. Hope springs eternal and all that. Here's hoping Doc shuts them down today and the good guys can score more than the bad guys.

Deep, I know.

[docjoe]

We should be one game back. 3 games doesn't sound too bad but too many teams to climb over.
I bet the Cards destroy the Astros to eliminate us.

[Brooklyn Phillies]

Yep, add last night to this season's long list of woulda coulda shouldas.

LAD and STL are tied now, so PHL has to win today to stay at three back.

[Buster]

My buddy texted me a few days ago talking about how excited he was about this team going to the playoffs. I told him while I like thebeah Rey have competed recently, as soon as they get within a few games, they will start squeezing the turtle in every at bat . 0 for 10 was it with risp? Classic for the 2012 team.

[The Truth Injection]

Horrible.

Not the game last night- aksmith and his post chastising someone for being thin-skinned while constructing a post basically showing he is as thin-skinned.

Pot meet kettle.

[GTown_Dave]

I don't feel any better this morning.

[BMS]

Well if we win today, we'll be 3 back of someone and will have gained 3 games in the WC standings in a week. Sux that we should be 1 game back, but some consolation in cutting the lead in half in a week....

[EastFallowfield]

After 146 games, Phils are 3 games back of the playoffs.

In 2007, after 146 games, the Phils were 6 1/2 back. Sure, they had 3 games left with the team ahead of them and swept them (in games 147-149) to get within 3 1/2 (further back than they are now).

After that they went 9-4, catching up in game 159, going ahead by one in game 160, Adam Eaton in game 161, and you know the rest.

Yes, there are more teams involved, like the mighty Pirates and 28-43 on the road Brewers, but there's still a sliver of a chance.

[Iceman]

If they lose 3 of 4 to these bums, I might be done for the season. It just isn't worth it.

If the Dodgers and Phils win today, that will still be a slight gain for us in the standings, from where I see it. The Dodgers schedule is just brutal the rest of the way. I would much rather be 3 back of them, than 3 back of the Cardinals. Although the Cards are playing this juggernaut Houston team 6 more times, so who knows?

Basically they've put themselves in a position where they have to really beat up on some better teams to have a shot here. It's not like it isn't possible- they have swept the Nats (who are now Strasburg-less), and were one out and a Papelbon implosion away from sweeping the Braves. So they can do it. It just isn't very likely. And they can't afford a predictable letdown to the Mets, either.

[Chuck A.]

All these woulda, shoulda, coulda scenarios at the end of the season.... 1GB vs 3 GB. Point is if we WOULDA won a LOT of the games throughout the season that we SHOULDA won...we'd already be guaranteed a playoff spot of some type.

Still.... be at 3 back at the end of today...get out of that House of Horrors down there with a split and a pulse...and move on.

[bill barbrough]

Kendrick needs that cutter to succeed. And Dom Brown is an athlete, not a ball player.

These Phillies need more hustle and ground it out types. I'm thinking David Eckstein.

[Snooki]

"I don't like when BL delves into reality tv territory"

Huh? What's wrong with reality TV? All kinds of vapid skanks like me and the Kardashian sisters have been saved from a life of having to either say 'would you like fries with that?' or 'hello sailor, want a date?'

[donc]

Was stuck listening to the game on the radio last night. I'm no fan of Larry Anderson, in fact I think he's dreadful, but he was cracking me up last night torching that Koegle muscle guy on the mound. He said, and I'm paraphrasing here, how has this guy gotten 14 or 15 starts in the major leagues? In fact, how did he get to the major leagues at all?" He spent the entire night grunting after every pitch and professing his bewilderment that any major league pitcher could possibly make an out against him. Priceless. For those that had the (dis)pleasure of watching on tv, was the guy that putrid?

[Sil Campusano]

Donc - yes. Soft tossing lefty with no out pitch and poor control. Yet they flailed on him all night.

I fear what docjoe said above: the Cards rake these losers over the coals and that becomes the difference.

[Jack]

The term "must-win" gets thrown around a lot.

But today's game is about as close to a must-win in a non-elimination game as it gets. Doc on the mound against the Astros, and Dodgers and Cards tied meaning we need to win to stay 3 back?

Yeah, the only chance you have is to win this game. That's it.

[Scott]

Rejoice, Beerleaguer, for today is Mini-Mart's birthday.

[norbertods]

Scott: I'm disappointed that you didn't post some awesome photoshopped picture commemorating Mini's B-Day.

[Chuck A.]

I don't want them to just miss it by 1 game. If they miss it it had better be by 3 or 4 so we don't have to debate WHICH game was THE game that they should have won. ... because, God knows, there are plenty to choose from

[MG]

I get it out of the way

Season = over.

[cut_fastball]

Question of the week, or weekly question (over the past few): yes, the chances are extremely remote, but all things under consideration, would it even make a difference if they "won out"? (16-straight; W - 89?).

It's my guess 89 wins guarantees nothing, so what's the point of getting "revved up" over a bad baseball team that has just had a mini-hot streak? There is no excuse whatsoever for not smashing the Houston f8ckng Astros. For 4 consecutive games.

And another thing. If your baseball team can't do that, they do not have a lick of pretension as a "playoff" club. Whatever that means in this dumbed-down world of ours.

If the Phils rip off 16 straight and get into the 1-game playoff, will I be thrilled? Damn sure I'll be thrilled. However, at this point, it really seems delusional to believe this team is going anywhere.

[can_of_corn]

Agree, Chuck. If we miss out, I’d rather miss by more than one game. Plus, I’d rather have us bite ourselves in the butt than play spectacularly but not have the numbers work to our benefit. That said, I’m still hoping this game was the proverbial hitting bottom before bouncing back.

Had to catch the game on Gameday. Was Ryan Howard as pathetic as it seemed? Each time he came up, I felt the same way I did earlier when Jim Thome was struggling-- a mix of dread and embarrassment. Only difference is that Thome was admittedly finishing his career.

[Chuck A.]

If they win 16 straight, yes, they will get in. But the chances of that happening are about as remote as ... I don't know....but they're remote.

Yeah, the Astros.... I think we all sort of saw this coming. Thank God that poor excuse of a team is going to the AL!

[aksmith]

I'm picturing Sophist, Iceman and TTI sitting together in one of their mom's basements now. Thanks for that.

The amen chorus on this site is predictable. Yeah, I think it's important to understand game situations when commenting on them. Just like Sophist would think it's important to know every sabermetric jot and tittle before commenting on any aspect of baseball.

Just wondering if anyone besides me is supposed to see the log in their own eye.

[Chuck A.]

can - Howard was awful. Period. No other way to put it. And I'm getting really tired of watching him go back the dugout just shaking his head like he does. It's beyond old.

[aksmith]

I know it's ugly to watch these games in that dark stadium with few fans. It literally sucks the energy from playoff chase baseball. But events have conspired to give the .500 Phillies yet another bite at the apple. I still think I hate the second wild card, but the level of mediocrity across baseball has never been more apparent and it's largely been exposed because of the second wild card. Unintended consequences?

[GTown_Dave]

Today's Loss: Rollins (SS), Pierre (LF), Utley (2B), Howard (1B), Ruiz (C), Mayberry (CF), Brown (RF), Martinez (3B), Halladay (P).

This loss feels like a loss.

[Iceman]

Thank God Ruiz is back in there.

Does it make me less of a person that I look forward every afternoon to cut_fastball's Freakout of the Day?

[Hugh Mulcahy]

One writer's apt summary of hte second wild card:

"Baseball always envied hockey and basketball, where more than half the skating and bouncing population makes the playoffs, so for years baseball officials chirped the buzzword 'parity.' This year, that's spelled 'p-a-r-o-d-y.'''

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/brian-oneill/pirates-playoff-pitch-is-equally-costly-and-iffy-653588/#ixzz26eHeUGfK

[can_of_corn]

Nope. MiniMart is the good luck charm. Win.

[aksmith]

Yo, new thread. Thank goodness.

[Chuck A.]

MiniMart's birthday will prove to be the answer for today.

Notice I didn't say WHICH answer...