Another June Swoon?
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Another June Swoon?
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Last June 13, the Phillies erupted for 20 runs in a 20-2 win over the Cardinals in St. Louis. At the time, they looked poise to go on a summer tear. They were 41-28, up four games in the National League East, hitting .265 as a team, averaging 5.4 runs per game.
And then?
Well, the bottom fell out.
The Phillies lost their next two games against the Cardinals, then embarked on a disastrous trip through interleague play, losing six straight, including a sweep at home by the Angels. By the end of June, they were just five games over .500, and their lead in the NL East had dwindled to won. After scoring 20 runs that Friday the 13th against the Cardinals, they lost 11 of their final 14 games in June.
During that stretch, they hit just .206 and scored 47 runs, an average of 3.4 per game.
On June 13, through 69 games, Chase Utley had hit 22 home runs with 61 RBI and was batting .317. But he battled through a hip injury, which helped hold him to a .272 average with 11 home runs and 43 RBI the rest of the way.
Sound familiar?
The Phillies hope it only sounds that way. This year, the line of demarcation is June 11, when the team beat the Mets 6-4. At the time, they looked poised to go on a summer tear. They were 35-23, up four games in the National League East, hitting .263 as a team, averaging 5.5 runs per game.
Now, they have lost five of six, including a sweep at home by the Blue Jays. They are hitting .258 during that stretch, have been out-scored 45-30, and are plagued with an overworked bullpen that appears to be stretched to its limit.
One June 11, through
The good news for the Phils is two-fold: They have a three-game set against the lowly Orioles separating them from a grueling nine-game road swing that will take them through Tampa Bay, Toronto and Atlanta. And they are trailed by a Mets team that has only gained one game on them since this mini-swoon began.
the opposition hits loopers over the infield, bleeders through the infield, nubbers, nigglers just beyond fielders' gloves. and the writers say, gosh, if only. rollins boots three balls in one inning (all 'hits', mind), sure-handed feliz stuffs up two very important grounders, relievers give up walk after walk. geez, if only, the writers say. raul dropped 40+ points (nothing to do with achilles or hamstring or whatever; his batting just...died) and howard looks like a character from a george romero flick. this team is asleep, man. there's no bounce, no spring. who do you blame? um, who's running the show. thaaat's who you blame. the players like him? wonderful. they hated dallas green back then, but they played their tucheses off for him. stop making excuses for these overpaid athletes. i'm really tired forking out 50 bucks a pop to watch guys going through the motiions.if nothing else works, try electric cattle prods. start with the manager.— kiwi
Comment removed.- The boob managing the Phillies just won a World Series, his team has won the division two years in a row, and are still in first place. The boob managing the Phillies has dealt with a season-ending surgery to the number two starter, pretty poor starting pitching in general, a 50 game suspension to J.C. Romero, and a non-existent Jimmy Rollins at the top of the lineup. And they remain in first place. I have no issue with Mr. Murphy comparing the Phillies from last year to this year in order to illustrate the likelihood they are about to swoon - please don't use it as an excuse to blindly bash whoever steps in front of you misinformed tongue, all ye brash comment cronies.— pattisonpundit
- Second sentence: poise(d)--past tense.— jrwoznicki
- Cmon Murph...6th sentence, last word...you used the word "won" rather than "one"...do you spell check or read over this before you post it? Aren't you a "proffffffesional" writer?— Dr. Michael
- Their lead 'dwindled to won', eh? Spell check doesn't always watch your back.— cmp1968
- Rollins' offense has disappeared over the past year and a half; Moyer has suddenly realized he's 46, Hamels is paying the expected price for last year's uber increase in innings pitched, Myers is gone, Romero was gone, bullpen is fried because pitching staff consists of 5 or 6 inning starters and you want to blame Charlie??! Remove your head from your backside! Taschner and Condrey are stopgaps at best; we do not have a 4th outfielder and Bruntlett is stealing money. Except for Ibanez, what did Amaro do to improve the team in the off-season?— DONDEN31
- The Phils are so far looking good against Rich Hill and the 29-37 Orioles. (Insert sarcasm here.) At least we got to see Bruntlett bat...and strike out. (More sarcasm.) Yeah, this is quite an offense we have here in Philly. Yeah, the pitching staff has been bad, but nobody ever expected them to be the best in the league. The offense has been very inconsistent and really has been poor to average much more than they have been great. There's still time in this game to put it together, but I'm not feeling very confident.— MrPhillie
- First they are not doing too well against the AL. Second they still look like they are Moonstruck at home over having won the World Series. Somebody needs to give them a good dope slap and tell then to "Snap out of it!" Being in first place at All Star break may not happen.— atp2007
- "The good news for the Phils is two-fold: They have a three-game set against the lowly Orioles..." I'd just like to say, "HA HA HA!"— birdonamission
