Saturday breakfast: Kendrick, PNC Park, Worley
PITTSBURGH -- You really don't want to hear more about Friday's game, so a few other notes to chew on before some more baseball...
Saturday breakfast: Kendrick, PNC Park, Worley
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
PITTSBURGH -- You really don't want to hear more about Friday's game, so a few other notes to chew on before some more baseball...
The Phillies will really need five innings from Kyle Kendrick. He's making the spot start against Roy Halladay clone Charlie Morton (5-2, 2.51). Kendrick estimated he would be good for 65 or 70 pitches, much like his previous spot starts.
Behind Kendrick, the Phillies have Mike Zagurski, who can throw multiple innings and almost certainly will be the first guy out of the bullpen. J.C. Romero has not pitched in five days and will likely see some work. Ryan Madson has had four days off, so expect him to grab an inning even if there is no save chance.
But Mike Stutes (25 pitches Friday) and Antonio Bastardo (18 pitches Friday) could be out. And Jose Contreras is coming off an elbow injury while Danys Baez nearly threw until his arm fell off a week ago.
The plan should work without them, so long as Kendrick goes five.
***
PNC Park is a house of horrors for the Phillies. They are now 12-21 (.364) in this ballpark and that is the worst winning percentage in the 15 active National League ballparks. Second-worst is AT&T Park in San Francisco, where the Phillies are 14-24 (.368). So it's not just you who is imaging the Phillies always stumble when they come to the Steel City.
A few quick words on the atmosphere Friday night: Very cool. This ballpark is gorgeous and it was fantastic to see the place filled. (A lot of Phillies fans helped make that happen.) The two fan bases were trading chants all night. They are expecting a sell out Saturday with fireworks after the game.
***
Encouraging news from triple-A Lehigh Valley on Friday night: Vance Worley pitched six innings, struck out nine and allowed only two hits a 5-1 IronPigs win over Charlotte.
Worley, who was sent to the minors to get his mind right and his arm stretched out, threw 93 pitches (63 strikes). He walked only one. Certainly what the Phillies were looking for from the bespectacled 23-year-old righthander.
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Vance - keep it going, you will be back...— M60tanker- So the Phills have about a 0% chance of winning today... wonderful— terb
- Nice 23yr old pitcher......— HO HUM
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- Relax folks. It's almost a baseball tradition for a top team to lose big to basement dwellers. Maybe it's mental but I'd bet there will be a big turnaround after the Pirates series. 162 games is a long road kiddies.— ziggy26
- Well it looks like it's up to the offense to get a win today, will they respond? I don't like our chances.— sla6yer
- .368 winning percentage at AT&T Park Park? Wow, I didn't know it was that bad out there...I am already filing today in the loss column, I will be watching today only with a slight amount of optimism...— PhilliefaninAZ
- Thanks for the update on Worley Matt...— PhilliefaninAZ
- Kendrick, Romero and Zagurski = Guaranteed loss— shawnmac
- how about taking a break with your whiny posts. come back when the phils go on an offensive tear and admit you are a moron. — ziggy26
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- oh so charlie isn't wearing a ring? which of the others up there are wearing one in a sport worth caring about?
— MPatt24 - The writer who said this was the SOFT spot in the upcoming games ought to go for a TIME-OUT. The Phils cannot hit and are getting killed for it. And the Mets are starting to hit again. Today, they lose again with Morton pitching. Kyle will do OK but the team will not hit....so... and on it goes. How this group of guys who used to be able to hit can have a collapse of this epic proportion aside from Polly and Ryan sometimes, is just part of the ole Philly jinx where a favored team goes off the tracks and we spend months trying to analyse them. Please not this time. Wake up team and play the game for fun and your own love for the game. This team can still win but footsteps from the Bravos and Fish are getting closer.— Koons
- worley == kyle kendrick #2. good in the beginning then trash once people figure him out. i don't understand all the love for this guy, is it because he wears the glasses? i have no idea because his stuff doesn't wow me.— MPatt24
- Hey shawnmac you are really annoying. how about taking a break and then start posting again when the phils go on an offensive tear.— ziggy26
- Hey Ziggy, whats so annoying about a guy who comments once an article?— paulNC
- There are no "soft spots" in a schedule. Phillies have never done well in Pittsburgh's new park. Predictions are oft exercises of sports following boredom. I stopped predicting after 1964, the year the Phils actually moped up during the soft spots, then folded when they came upon the Reds, Braves and Cards. With the way the team is hitting they can lose 2-1 to anybody.— retzlaff
- Which Kendrick will show up tonight? Chooch not behind the plate will be missed.— dogman5
- I would like to see Baez pitch tired. Maybe that is the key to success for him.— johnny eagle
