Blanton was better
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Blanton was better
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
Lost in the shuffle of a cold offense, two tie games blown by a shaky bullpen and 12 innings of baseball was Joe Blanton's rebound.
The Phillies' fifth starter was more effective than his first two outings. In seven innings, he pitched in and out of trouble and allowed only two earned runs on seven hits. He struck out four.
"He pitched better," Charlie Manuel said. "He was moving the ball around."
More importantly, with runners on base, Blanton was improved. Milwaukee had the leadoff man on in five of Blanton's seven innings. But the Brewers were 2 for 14 with runners on base against Blanton.
In his first two starts, Blanton let two innings snowball and derail the night. Pitching coach Rich Dubee said it was about Blanton executing better but the pitcher said there was a "small adjustment" he made when pitching from the stretch Monday. He wouldn't say exactly what it was but it had to do with the placement of his feet when he came set.
"I felt a little better out of the stretch," Blanton said. "I had a lot of innings when I was in it."
With two runs already home in the third and another big inning looming, Blanton induced a fly out from slugger Prince Fielder, stranding two runners.
In the fifth, with two runners on, he struck out Fielder on four pitches -- two of them changeups.
His best pitch was the changeup, which Milwaukee batters swung and missed at seven times. He threw 17 changes and 14 for strikes. In his first two starts, opponents swung and missed at the changeup just four times total.
"The changeup went a long way for me [Monday]," Blanton said. "I threw it when I was ahead in the count. It was a big pitch for me."
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This should have been a win - but you knoe the rest of the story...— M60tanker- I liked what Joe did last night. Better-than-average #5 pitcher stuff, and more than enough to win if we'd had a bit more pop in our bats. One thing I REALLY liked were the three or so curves he tried. Not good enough to do the job, but definite improvement and possibly a quality pitch for Joe to use on occasion in the near future.— PeteInPhilly
- Definitely should have been a win. Their closer was trying his best to give us the W in the 9th. Shane, your eyes are not the strike zone. He would have walked them in if Shane and Rollins had any plate discipline.— jaxforprez
- Rollins looks terrible as the 3 hitter.— lefty1117
- Blow by a "shaky bullpen"??!! Blown by a horrible performance by Kendrick, not the bullpen. I don't think I have ever witnessed a worse performance by one pitcher, in one inning. It was painful to watch.— pajamas
- Hmm.. Isn't Kendrick part of the bull pen? Wasn't Madson's inning just as bad? Ok, only one run by Madson's but he still blew it. No, this was a game lost primarily by poor at bats.
— Tiller - Blanton is a notorious slow starter. Still, he needed this outing to restore some confidence
- Guess Tiller and I watched different games. Pitching the 12th inning with a tie score, KK allowed 3 walks, hit a batter, gave up a sacrfice fly, had a wild pitch, a throwing error and gave up THREE runs and the collective "bullpen" is at fault for the loss??!!— pajamas
- Pitching or bullpenn isn't the problem. Once you begin to get into those extra innings, you start to use the guys in your bullpenn that you'd rather not use. It's like that for any baseball team. Madson has been lights out this year, so he was due for a poor outing. The real problem is their offense. All the pop that they once had is gone and now they're trying to reinvent themselves as plate disciplined singles hitters. Well, that's not how it works. You can't expect a team that's been swinging for the fences for the last eight years to all the sudden become contact hitters. Now, they'll win the division. They're just flat better than anyone else in the east. However, going to the world series, let alone winning it will be tough unless they find a way to improve their offense. Utley will help, but who knows if he'll be even close to the player he was. Francisco is what he is, a solid bench guy and Ibanez looks really old. Hopefully Blanton keeps pitching well because they might be able to package him for a bat because that might be the only real chance this team has of drastically improving its offense.— Hemingway
- I hate when the Phillies get into these offensive funks. It's very painful to watch. Ben Francisco is starting to show why he was never a full-time starter. The 2 through 6 hitters left 17 men on base last night. Who wants to help me pack J-Roll's bags when the season ends?— jpgulli
- Bastardo should never have been taken out. He pitched great in his one inning. Why pinch hit for Bastardo with two outs and nobody on base? So Mayberry can try to hit a two out game winning homer? One person cost the Phillies that game: Charlie Manuel.— Freedom Fries
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- It's OK to be a little grumpy after that lackluster offensive display last evening.....but we better get used to it! The only way outta this difficulty is with a trade. Unless of course people start getting on base and other people start driving them home. We all know how long of a leash Charlie has, and I have NO quarrel with his handling of the team. I'm certain we will win the NL East. And I'm HOPING we will once again be Destiny's Darlings in the playoffs. The Giants had a turn last year, and unfortunately they ran over us on their way to the Championship. REMEMBER! We have the best pitching rotation in Major League Baseball , a couple of GOOD bullpenners, but a mediocre group of hitters. On the Smile side, we have an EXCELLENT group of infielders, with a Golden Glover in Centerfield. We will not lose but one or two due to fielding miscues or ineptitude.— TBear
