Game 152: Why mess with success?
Even with a lefty on the mound, Charlie Manuel is using his go-to lineup as the Phillies seek their ninth straight win at Citizens Bank Park.
Game 152: Why mess with success?
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
Chase Utley hits a solo homer against the Braves during the eighth inning. (Steven M. Falk/Staff Photographer)
Even with a lefty on the mound, Charlie Manuel is using his go-to lineup as the Phillies seek their ninth straight win at Citizens Bank Park.
Ty Wigginton had started in left field the previous three times the Phillies opposed a lefty starter. Juan Pierre, riding a hot streak, keeps his place Saturday:
1. Jimmy Rollins 6
2. Juan Pierre 7
3. Chase Utley 4
4. Ryan Howard 3
5. Carlos Ruiz 2
6. John Mayberry Jr. 8
7. Domonic Brown 9
8. Kevin Frandsen 5
9. Roy Halladay 1
Mike Minor throws for Atlanta. He has made three starts against the Phillies this season. They look like this:
8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Once again, the Phillies should have an idea once they take the field whether they can gain more ground Saturday. St. Louis is at Chicago and starts at 1 p.m. Milwaukee is in Washington for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
Chew on this: If the Phillies had won two more games against putrid Houston last weekend, they would enter Saturday one game back and only trailing St. Louis. Lots of "What ifs?" this season, but that sticks out.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Comments (15)
I know many fans (including this one) would love to see Darin Ruf get some playing time. However, while the team is in contention and the games count, Cholly simply cannot experiement right now. Ruf is a bench player w/o any MLB experience. If/when the Phightens get eliminated, Ruf will get some AB's. My hope, unfortunately for Ruf, is that he DOES NOT get in the lineup (means the Phillies are in it til the end and maybe, just maybe, make the wild cared). Sorry big guy, but Winter ball is your next stop.
— drhoffman- Amen, drhoffman. Even after that Astros series -- when I even thought it was over -- Cholly did the right thing by sticking with the lineup that gives him the best chance to win, because they weren't officially eliminated from the WC spot yet...and low and behold, there right back in this thing.
Props to this team either way. And we have alllll of next year to see what "Babe" Ruf can do.
- Could not agree more. As for the team, I do believe they can do it, but Washington and Cincinnati need to win today and tomorrow (it wouldn't hurt if Chicago won too).— Andrewsgvl
- Yep, still wondering how they didn't at least manage a split vs the 'stros. To me that was a sign that this team does not deserve to be in the post season. Of course that doesn't stop me from wishing it...but I think I have a better shot if I saved my wishes for the lottery.— Curse of Billy Penn
- God forbid you swap Howard and Ruiz in the lineup so a lefty can't pitch to 3 straight batters in the late innings. That would require a manager with a thought process more advanced than "this lineup won yesterday, lets use the same exact one today"
- I think maybe it was my fault. I went to 2 of the 4 games here in Houston. It's my last chance to see my Phils with the Astros moving to the AL West next season. I managed to score good seats for Thursday and Saturday, but saw two heartbreaking losses to a terrible Astro team. They just seem to have the Phils' number. 3 losses to them, plus that 9th inning crapout against ATL...this race could look a lot different.— akh
- Ruf should be playing today, but I can't argue with Pierre. As long as it isn't Wigginton.— wo_fat
- People saying Ruf should be playing today.....what are you basing that on? Who should he be in the line-up for?— Armyofthe15Monkies
- End of 1st, Doc looking BAD!!! Hope Cholly doesn't leave him in too long if he continues throwing baloons.— dogman5
- Dogman5....ive been saying all along Doc is done, i think hes still hurt. But Cholly keeps sending him out there, and watch, we will hear Dubee say well, i knew he was hurt, but, he wanted to pitch anyway.— huntnmike3666
- Wow 7 nothing already, wonder if the Mets paid them off!!!— huntnmike3666
- Wow Halliday is having a Hell-of-a-day, just when he's needed the most. Think maybe he really may be hurt? Duh, Rube won't shut any of the injured players down and pitched Worley into the ground. It might be time to play the kids.— Mystified
- If the on again, off again offense is our weak point and starting pitching is our strong point, with this showing by Doc, we're toast. It was a nice little run when it seemed hopeless, but now that the pressure is back on and the teams ahead of us are winning once again, I just don't see how we can get the 2nd wild card. Against the lefthander, Ruf should have spelled Howard at first. But, we all know that Amaro is afraid that Ruf will outplay Howard and that's the last thing he wants -- the fans clamouring for Ruf to replace Howard.— ghost of callison
- Halliday is pathetic. Yet, somehow the discussion will be about the lack of Phils offense today or some clueless fan saying that Ruf should be starting instead of Howard (homeruns in 4 straight games). What about Teflon Roy? Why does this guy get a free pass. He has killed the Phils this year. Dont want to hear about injuries. Exactly what was his injury again? Nothing that required surgery. Basically he stunk, had no velocity and was tossing up batting practice. Hmm -- just like today. Now I am sure every comment will be why are the Phils pitching him when he is hurt. What a joke. Im not confident he can come back next year as a viable #3 or 4 pitcher.— PhillyFanChicago
- When RAJ traded Pence and Victorino i thought that he has/had a
plan in place. Whatever he had is mind now isn't going to work.
Brown and Mayberry, so far don't appear to be everyday players.
They want to put Utley at 3rd & Galvis at 2nd. With that they
weaken 2 positions. Why Galvis? He can't hit, period. His 3 Hrs
this year were probably from the roids. So now they need at least
2 OFs 1 of which HAS to have power & a 3rd baseman with a little
pop in his bat. Bourne is not the answer, not for the money they
will have to pay for him. If Doc isn't Doc next year then the
pitching takes a little hit. Unless RAJ plays magic in the
off season, 2013 will be a mess. If they are a mess next year
then the Phans stop coming & they lose revenue and Phans will
stop buy Phils merchandise. With no money coming in then the
contracts the Phils have to honor for the next few years is
going to bankrupt them and have no money to purchase better
players. In other words, it appears the Phils are dead in the
water.— associate
About this blog
The Phillies Zone is the place for up-to-the-minute Phillies coverage from the Inquirer.
Matt Gelb
Inquirer Staff Writer
Bob Brookover
Inquirer Baseball Columnist
Search this blog:
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners:
Powered By:
