Last night was one of those nights where you had your game story written by the end of the sixth inning, then spent the entire ninth inning hitting the delete key.
A few points to ponder:
1) So Taguchi came up huge, as any one watching the game is well aware of. What's interesting is that Taguchi wasn't the last hitter available. Eric Bruntlett was still on the bench. Taguchi was 0-for-16 as a pinch-hitter this year. Even more interesting is that Taguchi might not have been up had Charlie Manuel not been ejected. Bench coach Jimy Williams made the decision to put Taguchi in the game. Manuel was very complimentary afterward, both to Taguchi and to Williams.
2) Curious what the public reaction to Joe Blanton's start will be. All in all, it wasn't a terrible debut, even considering the fact that he gave up five runs. He never looked sharp. It seemed like he was behind in almost every count. But you also never got the feeling that he was going to implode. Certainly, the Phillies won't be satisfied with five runs in six innings every start. But I think its clear that the rotation has been upgraded. By how much, it remains to be seen.
3) Unsung hero of the game: Shane Victorino. The center fielder made a tremendous hustle play to reach second base safely on an apparent double play ball hit by Carlos Ruiz with the bases loaded and no out in the ninth. If Victorino dwadles down the basepath, the game is very much over there. Instead, he beats out the throw, slides in safely, and breaks up the relay to first. Oh yeah, he also hit a home run in the seventh. Off of Santana.
4) In the last two games against the Mets, the Phillies have scored 14 runs in the final three innings, versus three runs in the first six innings.
5) Caught up with Chris Coste prior to the game yesterday. He's currently mired in a 2-for-29 slump that included a pinch-hit strikeout last night. Coste isn't hurt - remember he had that nasty collision with Chris Duncan a week ago against St. Louis. He's just slumping. And believe me, he's well aware of the perception that as his playing time increases, his performance decreases.
6) Another very interesting game today. Sometimes baseball games are just baseball games. But sometimes the subplots are more interesting than the final score. Today is one of those days. Brett Myers returns to the mound. He didn't speak with the media yesterday, but really, it doesn't matter what he says. It's all about performance, and today is his first opportunity to prove that he has turned it around. Here's a question: what if Myers goes out there and gets lit up today? How much patience will the Phillies display with him the second time around? How much should they display?
Good afternoon from Shea Stadium.
The skies are blue and the sun is shining and the temperature is in the 80's, which is a far cry from the setting when we last visited here in early April.
One thing that isn't different is the fact that Cole Hamels won't be on the mound. A lot of readers have emailed me asking why the Phillies haven't gone out of their way to make sure the lefty pitches against the Mets. He's had just one outing against them. Johan Santana, meanwhile, will be making his third appearance against the Phils tonight.
What gives?
Bill Conlin disagrees with the set-up, which you can read all about here.
The Phillies have said they wanted to make sure they got Hamels enough rest over the All-Star break. He was leading the NL in innings at the break, and he's had some injury history, so that was probably the leading concern. No doubt they wanted to get Jamie Moyer an appearance at Shea, where he has pitched very well over the course of his career. And Joe Blanton hasn't allowed a run in 15 career innings against the Metropolitans, so that makes sense. But Bill thinks they still should have found a way to get their ace lefty on the hill against their leading competition for the division.
^
Now, about Blanton. . .
I'm sure there isn't a Phillies fan out there who isn't interestested to see how he does tonight. He's pitched well in two lifetime appearances against the Mets, one in 2005 and one in 2007. The Phillies haven't set many expectations for Blanton, at least publicly, other than his reputation for eating up innings. It'll be interesting to see how he fits in here.
Here's a story on the 27-year-old righty in today's Daily News.
Good morning/afternoon from Florida.
A few things to get to.
1) Brett Myers will indeed pitch Wednesday, manager Charlie Manuel confirmed today. That's not exactly a shocker, but its the first time anyone with the Phillies has definitively said that Myers will return to the rotation against the Mets.
2) Joe Blanton will make his Phillies debut Tuesday, the first game at Shea against the Mets. The newly-acquired righthander hasn't given up a run against New York in 15 career innings (two starts). He pitched eight scoreless innings against them last season.
3) Pedro Martinez will not pitch against the Phillies thanks to a sore groin.
Here are the match-ups:
Tuesday: LHP Johan Santana vs. RHP Joe Blanton
Wednesday: RHP John Maine vs. RHP Brett Myers
Thursday: LHP Oliver Perez vs. LHP Jamie Moyer
It's official. Adam Eaton is no longer a member of the Phillies starting rotation. Pitching coach Rich Dubee and manager Charlie Manuel informed him of the decision when the Phillies arrived at Dolphins Stadium for their game against the Marlins.
Joe Blanton will likely start Tuesday night against the Mets, followed by Brett Myers.
More to come.
The Phillies got help for their starting rotation, acquiring righthander Joe Blanton from Oakland for three minor leaguers -- infielder Adrian Cardenas, lefthander Josh Outman and outfielder Matt Spencer. Cardenas was the No. 2 prospect in the Phillies' system, according to Baseball America, and Outman was ranked No. 4.
Blanton, 27, once considered one of the A’s top young prospects, but has had a disappointing season thus far. He is 5-12 with a 4.96 ERA and has lost six of his last eight starts. He has a 3.87 ERA in 17 of his 20 starts and is tied for sixth in the American League in innings (127), having gone at least six innings in 16 starts. Blanton has the seventh-lowest run support average in the AL.
In his four-year career, Blanton is 47-46 with a 4.25 ERA.
One of his victories this season came against the Phillies on June 24. Blanton’s only mistake in seven innings was a Pat Burrell home run in the A’s 5-2 victory.
"It's one of those deals where it's very bittersweet," Blanton told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I'm going to a very good team with a very good lineup. They're in the division hunt and they're out to win a championship, and that's what any player wants. But I've always been with the A's, and I have great relationships there. It's one of those double-sided coins."
Like Brett Myers did for the Phillies, Blanton was Oakland’s Opening Day starter. He gave up three runs in 6 2/3 innings in a loss to Boston in Japan.
“We’ve been attempting to upgrade our rotation and we feel like we’ve done that,” Phillies assistant general manager Mike Arbuckle said in a statement. “We think Joe is a very strong, competitive pitcher that has the mental makeup to pitch productively in a pennant race. He pitches a lot of innings and takes some burden off the bullpen.”
Outman, 23, was 5-4 with one save and a 3.20 ERA in 33 games (5 starts) for Double A Reading.
Cardenas, 20, was hitting .309 in 67 games for Single A Clearwater.
Spencer, 22, was hitting .249 with six home runs and 41 RBI in 84 games for Clearwater.
For what it's worth, here are some odds that were passed on to me by BoDog Sports (BoDog.com), an internet gambling web site.
Updated World Series Odds
Odds to win the 2008 World Series
Boston Red Sox 3/1
Chicago Cubs 7/2
Tampa Bay Rays 9/2
Los Angeles Angels 7/1
Chicago White Sox 12/1
Milwaukee Brewers 12/1
Philadelphia Phillies 14/1
New York Mets 15/1
New York Yankees 15/1
Los Angeles Dodgers 17/1
Detroit Tigers 18/1
Arizona Diamondbacks 25/1
Minnesota Twins 25/1
St Louis Cardinals 25/1
Florida Marlins 35/1
Oakland Athletics 40/1
Colorado Rockies 60/1
Atlanta Braves 100/1
Texas Rangers 150/1
San Diego Padres 150/1
San Francisco Giants 150/1
Toronto Blue Jays 200/1
Baltimore Orioles 300/1
Cincinnati Reds 300/1
Cleveland Indians 300/1
Houston Astros 300/1
Kansas City Royals 300/1
Pittsburgh Pirates 500/1
Washington Nationals 500/1
Seattle Mariners 750/1
Odds to win the 2008 American League Pennant
Boston Red Sox 7/5
Tampa Bay Rays 2/1
Los Angeles Angels 7/2
Chicago White Sox 4/1
New York Yankees 8/1
Minnesota Twins 10/1
Detroit Tigers 10/1
Oakland Athletics 25/1
Cleveland Indians 75/1
Texas Rangers 100/1
Toronto Blue Jays 100/1
Baltimore Orioles 150/1
Kansas City Royals 200/1
Seattle Mariners 300/1
Odds to win the 2008 National League Pennant
Chicago Cubs 3/2
Milwaukee Brewers 7/2
Philadelphia Phillies 11/2
New York Mets 13/2
Los Angeles Dodgers 15/2
St Louis Cardinals 9/1
Arizona Diamondbacks 10/1
Florida Marlins 15/1
Colorado Rockies 25/1
Atlanta Braves 35/1
San Diego Padres 50/1
San Francisco Giants 50/1
Cincinnati Reds 100/1
Houston Astros 100/1
Pittsburgh Pirates 150/1
Washington Nationals 200/1
Odds to win the 2008 NL East Division Title
New York Mets 1/1
Philadelphia Phillies 1/1
Florida Marlins 4/1
Atlanta Braves 15/1
Washington Nationals 400/1
Brett Myers is scheduled to make his fourth minor league start Friday for Triple A Lehigh Valley against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, an IronPigs spokesman said. Game time is 7:05 p.m. at Coca Cola Park.
Myers could then rejoin the Phillies to pitch next Wednesday against the New York Mets.
He struck out 10 and allowed three runs, including the first home run since he was sent to the minors, in eight innings for Double A Reading on Saturday. His previous two starts were for Triple A Lehigh Valley.
Look at it this way: Chase Utley probably isn't the first person to tell New York sports fans to [bleep] off.
Although such comments generally play well in a city that has never hid its displeasure for its neighbor to the North, Utley apologized last night for a remark that was caught by a live ESPN microphone during introductions for last night’s Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium.
After the Phillies second baseman heard a chorus of boos from the crowd when he was introduced for last night’s derby, Utley was heard responding, “Boo? [Bleep] you.”
A clip of the remark was posted on the internet video site YouTube within an hour of when it occurred.
Utley, who was eliminated after hitting five home runs in the first round, later apologized.
“It was a poor choice of words,” he said. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I was kind of joking around with my buddy over there so I do want to apologize”
Utley was wearing a microphone for ESPN, but it isn’t clear how the remark made it over the airwaves. A spokesman for ESPN said the network was still investigating the remark and would issue a statement sometime after the conclusion of last night’s telecast.
Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee said today that Jamie Moyer will make the first start after the All Star break against Florida in Miami. Kyle Kendrick will follow him Saturday. Cole Hamels will then likely start Sunday, though that isn't yet set and stone. Dubee was noncomittal on the final two spots in the rotation, though he did say Brett Myers will get another start in the minors. Myers pitched Saturday night, so his next turn would likely be Thursday, when the IronPigs host the Red Barons.
That would seem to put Myers on track to start Tuesday against the Mets. But there's an off day mixed in there as well. So maybe Myers starts Wednesday. Who will get the other day? Will it be Adam Eaton, who has allowed 16 runs in his last 6 1/3 innings? Or will it be J.A. Happ, whom Dubee and Charlie Manuel would love to get another start?
We shall see.
PHILLIES SCOREBOARD
today's poll
express headlines
Promotions
photo GALLERY
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- News | What's Happening | Sports | Restaurants & Food | Arts & Entertainment | Living | Travel | Business | Health | Opinion
- Jobs | Cars | Real Estate | Rentals | Marketplace | Celebrations
