Gone in a Flash
Tom Gordon served up a walkoff grand slam to Dan Uggla last night at Dolphin Stadium. The Phillies need to beat the Marlins tonight to avoid a sweep.
Gone in a Flash
Todd Zolecki
Before the Phillies rolled into Dolphin Stadium on Tuesday, fans had anticipated the possibility of a Phillies sweep.
They could get one.
It's just not the one they wanted. Tom Gordon served up a Dan Uggla walkoff grand slam last night in a 6-2 loss to the Marlins. So instead of the Phillies sweeping the Marlins and building a seven-game lead over their closest competitor in the National League East, the Marlins could sweep the Phillies and move within a game of them. To make matters worse for the Phillies, if they could have pulled out victories in the first two games of this series, they would have had a six-game lead over the Marlins and 8 1/2-game leads over the Mets and Braves. That certainly would have been a big lead for early June.
Gordon allowed five runs in 1/3 inning in a loss to the Washington Nationals on Opening Day. He allowed four runs in 1/3 inning last night. In between Opening Day and last night, he pitched 27 times. He went 5-1 with a 2.13 ERA.
"The bullpen has been so good," Cole Hamels said. "There's going to be times when you do stumble. It's obviously a learning point for our whole team. You can't just put all your reliance on the bullpen every single game, day in and day out. There is going to be a time where you need to pick it up with the bats and obviously pick it up with the starts. It happens. Flash has been doing real well for us all year. It's a little bump in the road. I know he doesn't take it too personally. He might, but I don't. Just because I know he's going to capitalize the next time he comes out."
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Jayson Werth bunted on his own with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning. Charlie Manuel wanted him to swing away. Both said afterward that it's one of those good plays/bad plays. It's good if it works. It's bad if it doesn't. But as soon as Werth bunted, I thought to myself, "There's no way Charlie wanted him to bunt there." Sure enough, he didn't.
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Another Hamels gem is wasted. He allowed three hits, two runs and one walk in eight innings. He struck out a season-high 13. The Phillies' offense has come up short three times for Hamels this year: Hamels allowed just one run in eight innings in a 1-0 loss to the Nationals on April 2, he allowed no runs in seven innings in a no-decision 1-0 victory against the Nationals on May 20 and last night's start against the Marlins.
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In the Phillies Notebook, Chris Coste has been playing more regularly than Carlos Ruiz lately. Interestingly, Coste left the team yesterday to be with his wife Marcia, who is expecting their second child. So what happens tonight if shomething should happen to Ruiz? Both Werth and Pedro Feliz have caught in the past. But I'm sure Manuel hopes it doesn't come down to that.
Mets bullpen just wasted a 7 inning-3 hit-10K-scoreless outing by Santana, featuring Billy Wags' third blown save in the last week. How 'bout we ship Myers up there so he can close for them? The only guy I'd deal for is John Maine, but I doubt they'd let him go unless a solid prospect or two is included. Maybe in another few weeks when they are ready to concede...— RAS
Even if the Mutts concede, I can't imagine them sending anyone to the Phils, where they can get hurt by him over and over again. Love to hear about Wagner's woes.— bobby- It's a two-way street. Who's to say Myers as the NY closer wouldn't burn us next year, or even spoil our chances this year? Anyone can be bought/sold/bartered for the right price. Recall the Braves sent Kevin Millwood to the Phillies for catching prospect Johnny Estrada. At the time, it was a real eye opener.— RAS
And don't forget the old adage that sometimes "a change of scenery helps". Case in point......Most of the pitchers the Phils have traded recently. Not to mention, a few position players.— Norma- CLINTON: I always root for Howard, but if he gets his money it will be from someone else.— bski
- Not so sure BSKI, cause if he slumps all year and next(I pray he doesnt for the team and all of the fans sake!)year, arbitration may not be so kind to him. If he turns it around this year and keeps it up the next few years, he will get paid by the Phils in abitration. THE PHILS BETTER NOT WAsTE THIS GEM BY MOYER!!!!!!!!!!— Clinton, NJ
- There should be a time when you don't have to explain to a ball player over 40 years old that maybe his best ball games are behind him.— wes
- And as far as Billy the Rat goes, I believe its his 3rd blown save in 3 days!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA— Clinton, NJ
- bski- there's something about moving bad pitchers around to differnet spots because, they are still going to be bad there too.— wes
- WES, for a second I thought you might have been talking about Moyer, then I realized you must be talking about Gordon. He isnt that bad, he just had a bad outing, it happens to the best of them man.— Clinton, NJ
- Hey, Zo, why can't I post on this site. I wrote two messages and neither of them showed up. Nothing I wrote was offensive nor too idiotic.— johnnyp
- Man if they cant score with Moyer and Rollins on and nobody out, they are going to lose this game! This offense has gone to sleep!— Clinton, NJ
- Well, we didn't crush Olsen like I had hoped. But.....The "old guy" sure showed him how it's done!— Norma
- SWEET WIN! MOYER IS THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!— Clinton, NJ
