HAS A NEW USE FOR THE TIKI BAR
After throwing 110 pitches against Arizona on April 24, Vance Worley went searching for Cole Hamels. The ball was coming out of Worley's right hand just fine. But there was extra pain in his elbow.
He remembered Hamels often talking about the same thing last season, when he pitched with a bone chip the size of a Tic Tac in his left elbow.
"What is, exactly, a bone chip?" Worley asked Hamels. "Can you give me some of your symptoms?"
Hamels started listing a few. When he finished, he asked Worley, "Do you have any of them?"
"I have all of them," Worley said.
"You have bone chips," Hamels replied.
Three weeks later, when the pain was too much, two examinations — an ultrasound and MRI — confirmed Hamels' diagnosis of Worley: He has a bone chip. It will likely require offseason surgery.
Other than rest, what's the solution?
"Man up," Worley said. "That's the only thing I can do. I'll just grit and grind out there."
The 24-year-old Worley expects to test his elbow by throwing sometime this week. He's eligible to return from the disabled list May 27.
Worley informed the team of the pain in his elbow around the time of the Arizona start.
"It got to the point where it was affecting the way I could long toss and throw my bullpens," Worley said. "I started cutting everything shorter. I was just going out there on game day and pitching with everything I had."
That turned out quite fine. Worley posted a 3.07 ERA and 45 to 15 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his first seven starts. Now, he must manage the pain as Hamels did a season ago.
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Cliff Lee is winless. He has a 1.95 ERA. And, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, his ERA is the lowest for any Phillies pitcher who was winless through his first five starts since 1912.
This lineup will attempt to reverse that cruel fate Sunday:
1. Jimmy Rollins 6
2. Juan Pierre 7
3. Shane Victorino 8
4. Hunter Pence 9
5. Ty Wigginton 5
6. John Mayberry Jr. 3
7. Freddy Galvis 4
8. Brian Schneider 2
9. Cliff Lee 1
Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine has a depleted lineup of his own:
1. Mike Aviles 6
2. Dustin Pedroia 4
3. David Ortiz 3
4. Adrian Gonzalez 9
5. Will Middlebrooks 5
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia 2
7. Daniel Nava 7
8. Marlon Byrd 8
9. Josh Beckett 1
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The ceremony produced tears for Pat Burrell on Saturday, the day of his retirement. When he retreated from the field and into the bowels of Citizens Bank Park, he was still emotional as he removed his white No. 5 jersey.
Not surprisingly, he spoke whistfully about the day he led a parade down Broad Street.
"That's got to be No. 1," Burrell said. "I talked about this all day but when you turn the corner on Market and around that little hill to Broad — I don't think you could ever be prepared for that. The fans, the people, the sound — it's hard to express how powerful that was for me in 2008."
Then he asked a question to some writers.
"I could be wrong but wasn't that Halloween day?"
Yes, he was told.
"I didn't see a single costume," Burrell said. "All I saw was red and white and Phillies stuff."
And that is what he will always remember.
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Video: Joe Blanton allowed seven runs on nine hits in 4 and 1/3 innings as the Phillies' six-game winning streak ended with a 7-5 loss to the Red Sox. The Inquirer's Matt Gelb reports from Citizens Bank Park.
Laynce Nix is eligible to return from the disabled list Friday, but he only recently began walking without substantial pain. He is looking at a recovery time of weeks, not days.
Nix was diagnosed with a Grade 2 left calf strain. He has yet to run and just starting doing some exercise on a stationary bike.
"It's a pretty good tear," Nix said. "It's unfortunate."
Nix was quite productive at the plate before the injury. In 22 games (51 plate appearances), he hit .326 with a .979 OPS. In the 14 games he started, he had seven extra-base hits with a .317 batting average.
He signed a two-year, $2.5 million deal in the winter.
Jimmy Rollins suffered a Grade 2 calf strain in 2010 and missed a total of 56 games with the injury.
"It's going to be longer than the 15 days," Nix said.
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They will honor Pat Burrell with a retirement ceremony before the Phillies seek a seven-game winning streak against Jon Lester and the Boston Red Sox. Charlie Manuel spoke whistfully about the times Burrell's dog, Elvis, would come into his office and slip under his desk.
Those were the days.
Anyway, Manuel filled out his 34th different lineup in 41 games. This one does not include Placido Polanco for the third straight game. Manuel said his third baseman is still sore from fouling numerous balls off his left knee.
Polanco tested the knee with some running drills Saturday. Manuel said he could play Sunday.
Ty Wigginton is 8 for 20 (.400) lifetime against Lester and he starts at third in Polanco's absence.
1. Jimmy Rollins 6
2. John Mayberry Jr. 7
3. Shane Victorino 8
4. Hunter Pence 9
5. Carlos Ruiz 2
6. Ty Wigginton 5
7. Hector Luna 3
8. Freddy Galvis 4
9. Joe Blanton 1
For the Red Sox, David Ortiz finds himself in the field.
1. Mike Aviles 6
2. Dustin Pedroia 4
3. David Ortiz 3
4. Adrian Gonzalez 9
5. Will Middlebrooks 5
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia 2
7. Ryan Sweeney 8
8. Daniel Nava 7
9. Jon Lester 1
Nava, of course, is the guy who smashed a grand slam off Blanton on the first major-league pitch he ever saw two years ago at Fenway Park.
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Maybe earlier in the year if Cole Hamels wasn’t on top of his game, a result like Friday’s 6-4 win over the Boston Red Sox wouldn’t have been possible.
Hamels battled, needing 113 pitches in seven innings. He gave up multiple home runs for the first time this year. He won’t get many style points for this one, but it showed he can fight even if he isn’t lights-out dominating.
“We were able to battle and gets runs and I was able to hold it,” Hamels said. “
It was interesting afterwards that both Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon, who earned his 12th save with a scoreless ninth inning against his former team, talked about regaining that winning feeling.
This is something that has been taken for granted the previous five years when the Phillies captured the National League East. Now that the Phillies (21-19) have won six in a row, they are starting to get some much needed confidence.
“It is great for our team to get over the hump,” Hamels said. “We’ve been battling the last couple of months to get over the .500 mark.”
Papelbon talked a lot before the game about what it meant to face his ex-teammates and mentioned it a little afterwards. Yet his focus was more on the Phillies turning the corner.
“We've been on a good little streak here, and we've got to keep this train rolling,” Papelbon said. “Like I said earlier in the season when we were struggling, we've got the capability to put 10 wins on the board real quick. We've got to keep staying at the task at hand."
It’s amazing how quickly a team can lose and gain confidence in a 162-game season. A week ago the Phillies had lost four of five and saw their record drop to 15-19.
There are still plenty of issues, with the bullpen looking like priority No. 1.
Other than Antonio Bastardo and Papelbon, the bullpen has many questions, especially getting Chad Qualls back on track.
Led by Carlos Ruiz, who is now batting .371, the offense is improving and the starting pitching remains a strength.
There are so many ups and downs in a season. The Phillies benefited from playing the likes of the Padres, Cubs, but the schedule gets much more difficult now. Even Boston, sitting in last place in the A.L East, entered the game having won six of seven.
And if the Phillies want to stay humble, all they have to look at the standings, where they remain in last place in the N.L. East. Yet the Phillies are only four games out of first place. That’s a place they used to occupy at will and take for granted.
Now they know they have to truly fight, just as Hamels did on a night that he wasn’t sensational, but good enough for him and his team to both earn their sixth consecutive wins.
Video: Cole Hamels threw seven solid innings and the Phillies beat the Red Sox 6-4. The Inquirer's Marc Narducci reports from Citizens Bank Park.
South Philadelphia will have a distinct Boston flavor. The Phillies host the Boston Red Sox in tonight’s beginning of a weekend series at Citizens Bank Park. Across the street, the 76ers and Boston Celtics will play Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal.
Both the Phillies and Red Sox are in last place, but in much better position than a week ago.
The Philies (20-19) have won five in a row, while Boston (18-20) has won six of its last seven.
Charlie Manuel is suspended for the game after his ejection with umpire Bob Davidson on Tuesday.
Here is the Phillies lineup
1. Jimmy Rollins, SS
2. Juan Pierre, LF
3. Shane Victorino, CF
4. Hunter Pence, RF
5. Carlos Ruiz, C
6. Ty Wigginton, 3B
7. John Mayberry Jr., 1B
8. Freddy Galvis, 2B
9. Cole Hamels, P
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel has been suspended for one game stemming from an on-field incident in the top of the eighth inning of Tuesday’s 4-3 win in 10 innings over the visiting Houston Astros.
Manuel will serve the suspension in tonight’s game against the Boston Red Sox at Citizens Bank Park. Bench coach Pete Mackanin will manage the team in Manuel's absence.
With a 1-2 count, Phillies starter Cliff Lee struck out Jason Castro, but the ball bounced past catcher Brian Schneider and the Astros catcher reached first base safely on the dropped third strike.
Manuel and home-plate umpire Bob Davidson got into a heated argument that followed with the ejection.
After the game when asked about it, Manuel said it was between him and Davidson, who was also suspended by MLB for "repeated violations of the Office of the Commissioner's standards for situation handling."
The incident with Manuel was the most recent of the repeated violations by Davidson, according to a person familiar with the situation.
The suspension came because MLB felt both parties crossed the line.
Below is video of the incident. Warning: This video contains adult language.
Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb team up for their third straight season covering the Phillies for the Inquirer and philly.com.
This is Brookover’s second stint writing about the Phillies, having joined the coverage team after seven years as an Eagles beat writer. Brookover was hired by The Inquirer in 2000 as the Phillies beat writer after spending 13 years writing about the team for two suburban newspapers. While on the Eagles beat, Brookover, who had covered just two winning Phillies teams in 15 seasons, saw the Phillies move into a cash-cow new ballpark and begin playing a brand of the game he found unrecognizable. Follow him on Twitter here.
Gelb is in his third season covering the Phillies. He was hired by The Inquirer in August 2009 after graduating from Syracuse University. He has also covered baseball at The Star-Ledger and Cape Cod Times. Born and raised in Bucks County, he attended Central Bucks High School West. Follow him on Twitter here.
To submit a question for Matt Gelb's Phillies mailbag, click here.
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