It's the Big Three against Atlanta
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
It's the Big Three against Atlanta
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The conversation was pretty simple.
"You're going to pitch Friday," Rich Dubee told Roy Oswalt.
"OK," Oswalt said.
And with that, the Phillies have aligned their three aces to pitch all six remaining games against the Braves, six games that could very well decide the winner of the National League East and the best record in the league.
Thursday's day off allows the Phillies to pitch Oswalt on regular rest Friday against Washington. Kyle Kendrick will be bumped back a day to pitch Saturday. Kendrick will start only two more games this season, both against Washington.
Oswalt said he feels strong -- about as strong as one can feel having thrown 2,910 pitches in a season with his right arm. Not having the extra day of rest was hardly a big deal, he said.
"There's no difference at this time of year," Oswalt said.
***
Jimmy Rollins has rejoined the team, but no one knows yet when he could actually return to the field. He remains "day to day" both Charlie Manuel and Ruben Amaro Jr. said.
Rollins has yet to test his strained right hamstring by running. There is no timetable for him to begin running. And until he runs, the Phillies won't have an idea when he could return. Typically, strained hamstrings could take up to three weeks to heal properly.
***
Righthander J.C. Ramirez, one of the three prospects acquired in the Cliff Lee deal with Seattle this past off-season, had hip surgery last Thursday. It's been, uh, quite the first year for all three of the prospects in the Phillies' system.
Read more about it in Wednesday's Inquirer.
H2O will pitch the first 3..... they then will pitch the first 3 inning the last 3 and be pulled to be given the much deserved rest before the playoffs start. The last 3 games will not mean much, as the Phillies will have already won the East!!— joeolive- It's about time this no-brainer decision was made official.— duffers
- Wow, love the confidence, JoeOlive. But what about getting the No. 1 seed?— Muckrakers
- Yes, yes, the Phillies have three stud pitchers who are pitching very, very well. However, look at one of the stats Knobler threw up there: Since Oswalt's first start, the Phils are 17-8 in games started by the "big three", with a 2.39 ERA for the starters. Over 25 total starts, the starting pitcher wins just 60% of those games (they are a combined 15-6). Included in those games are losses of 3-2, 3-0, 4-2, 1-0, 1-0, 4-2, and wins of 2-0, 3-2, 3-0, 1-0, and 1-0. The point of all of this is that no matter how good your starting pitching is, you still have to score runs to win games. The Phillies have been very inconsistent scoring runs the entire season. Forty-eight times the Phillies have scored 3 runs or less, including being shutout 11 times. That is 48% of your games you score fewer than three runs. THAT is the only thing that can keep this team out of the playoffs. Case in point, tonight they win behind Hamels, 2-1. Two runs tonight, 11 last night. Like I said, this offense is not consistent, and this was against a rookie pitcher. Twelve men left on base. Yeah it's great we have three stud pitchers, now we need a stud offense.— MrPhillie
- They'll clinch before that last Braves series
- Im fairly confident that if they wrap up the East with 3 games to go they will also have the best record no matter the outcome of the last 3 games.....— joeolive
- Excellent strategic vision exhibited by the Phightins. We are a triumvirate of menacing mound masters supported by a phearsome phalanx of bats and base-runners destined for the full measure of greatness accorded to the champion.— Stephen_Niksa
- MrPhillie...Your calculator needs new batteries. Counting tonight's game, the Phils have played 146 games. 48 games of 3 runs or less is nowhere near 48%. It's actually 32.9%. Your point is valid even if your math is not.— HisWhiteness
- There's no way his hamstring will be better this year. Just stretch it out as best he can and deal with it. It'll be a good 6-8 weeks for it to be "healed"— scootch
- Hopefully the Braves continue to struggle to where that last series can be used for the Phillies to rest.— PhillyTru
- As it stands now, the Phil's record is 85-61 (.582). On July 21st the Phils lost 5-1 @ St. Louis which left their season's record at 48-46 (.511). Since then, the Phightin's have gone 37-15 for a percentage of .712 Although their offense has been maddeningly inconsistent, the results have been impressive. Since 37-15which 84-61— HisWhiteness
- At least the Phillies have a plan, unlike the Republicans that are going to steal the election in November so they can renstate Bush's destructive policies and destroy Obama, who they hate because he is black.— eldiablodelsol2009
- Magic number to beat the muts is five. After that, it's all pretty much gravy.— KMG
- Hey come on now ~sol2009, I'm no fan of "Tea Party Mania", but let's leave politics to the, you know, political articles. As for the Phils - wow, has this season been managed well or what? I mean despite the monumental injuries (equal to or greater than what the mediocre Mets had to deal with) and the now obviously phenomenally poor trade of you-know-who (hint: rhymes with "Riff Blee"), this team is still facing the opportunity to lock down a playoff berth, this time with three of the most dominant pitchers in professional baseball. Hats of to you fightins', hats of to you.— 3-hit shutout
- Readers note: please add one additional "f" to each of my "of"s in the last post. Thank you.— 3-hit shutout
