The Phillies offense came out of its shell for a second consecutive game as the Fightins pounded the L.A. Dodgers 9 to 2 in a nationally televised game to go up two games in this four game series.  Pat Burrell blasted his 30th home run of the season in the first inning plating three runs.  Burrell hit the ball off the left field foul pole to spot starter Cole Hamels with an early lead.    Hamels went seven strong innings giving up five hits and two runs.  He was touched for the two runs in the third inning as Russell Martin hit a two run home run.

The Phillies busted the game open in the fifth and sixth innings scoring three runs in each frame.  In the fifth Dodger center fielder Matt Kemp lost a fly ball hit by Pat Burrell in the high Philadelphia sky and the ball fell untouched for a double!  Jimmy Rollins scored on the play, Ryan Howard then smoked a double to center field to knock in two more runs.  In the sixth Burrell again figured in the scoring mix as he singled to knock in Hamels.  Shane Victorino then singled to knock in Burrell and Chase Utley.   Scott Eyre and Rudy Seanez finished out the game on the mound for the Phillies to book the win.

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Geoff Jenkins was placed on the fifteen day disabled list with a hip sprain.  Andy Tracy was recalled from Triple A to take Jenkins roster spot.  Tracy has previous major league experience as he played for the Montreal Expos and Colorado Rockies.  Tracy is a veteran player and is 35 years of age.  His primary position is first base but will serve as a left handed bat off the bench for the Fightins.  Pat Burrell had five RBI’s in the game matching his career high.  This has been a season of offensive spurts for the Fightins and hopefully this is a spurt that lasts thru the playoffs!  Sometimes playing better teams actually makes you play better yourselves and the Fightins certainly are in the midst of a challenging run with two left with the Dodgers, then two with the Mets and four with the Cubbies.  The last two games the hitters have been much more aggressive early in the count and have been successful, they are dead red fast ball hitters and if opposing pitchers try to use the heat to get ahead in the count this team can make you pay! 

Kyle Kendrick came into this game against the Dodgers having struggled in his last two starts.  Kendrick started out poorly in this one as well as he gave up a first inning home run to Andre Ethier.  Kendrick fell behind in the count to the first six batters he faced.  The key to this young pitcher though is his bulldog mentality and ability to battle thru “situations”.   Kendrick used that moxy and  settled down to give the Phillies 5 and 2/3 innings of three hit ball leaving the contest with a 3-1 lead.

Greg Maddux made his 2008 debut for the Dodgers having been recently reacquired by LA from the San Diego Padres.  Maddux held the Phillies at bay thru the first three frames but in the fourth Pat Burrell worked Maddux for a 10 pitch at bat earning a walk.  Ryan Howard then blasted his 34th home run of the season over the left field wall scoring Burrell ahead of him.  The Phillies scored thier third run in the fifth off Maddux as Greg Dobbs led off with a bunt single,  Jayson Werth followed with a line single to right field and Dobbs scored on a single up the middle by Chris Coste. 

Kendrick started the sixth inning and got two outs before the next two hitters reached.  Charlie Manuel went to the pen and brought in Chad Durbin who was able to end the inning with no runs scoring.  The Fightins busted loose in the home sixth as Pat Burrell and Shane Victorino singled, Burrell reached third on Victorino’s hit.  Jayson Werth then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Burrell.  Greg Dobbs followed with his second single of the game and then Chris Coste sent Maddux to the showers as he smoked a three run home run to left field!  I don’t know why Coste was in the minors and/or independent ball so long as this man can flat out hit!

Chase Utley hit his 31st home run of the season in the seventh inning to make the score 8 to 1.  Ryan Madson came in to pitch the eighth setting the Dodgers down in order.  Scott Eyre pitched the ninth for the Phillies to close out the game.  The Mets shut out Houston behind Johan Santana so the Phillies remained 2 and 1/2 games behind in the N.L. Eastern Division race.

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Geoff Jenkins started the game in right field but pulled up lame after legging out an infield hit and was replaced by Werth.  Jenkins will get an MRI tommorrow for a possible quad strain or hip flexor issue.  Dobbs once again got the start at third base as Charlie played the hot hand, wise move the way the team has been struggling offensively.  Chris Coste matched his career high for RBI’s in a game with four.  Jimmy Rollins continued to struggle at the plate and fans continued to let him know about it.  Rollins at one point was riding a 3 for 38 streak.  Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports speculates the FIghtins might entertain moving Ryan Howard in the offseason if Matt Holliday could be obtained.  He thinks in that scenario that Pat Burrell would be resigned to play first base……..food for thought but personally I would want Howard to be a Phillie for a long long time!

TIm Redding of the Washington Nationals came into this contest already having shut out the Phillies twice this season.  Redding is a right handed replicate of Jamie Moyer in that he changes speeds, sinks the ball and generally frustrates hitters into getting themselves out.  Phillies starter Moyer and Redding matched craftiness thru five frames as both veterans limited thier opponents to one hit and no runs.

The Nationals broke thru the scoreless tie in the sixth inning as Anderson Hernandez and Christian Guzman led off the inning with singles.  Moyer then struck out Ryan Zimmerman looking and coaxed Lastings Milledge to hit a ground ball to third that appeared to be a perfect double play.  Chase Utley however threw away the relay throw from second to first allowing Hernandez to score.   The Phillies bounced back in the bottom of the sixth as Jayson Werth doubled to right center field with two outs and was plated by Chase Utley who singled to left center. 

The Nationals re-took the lead in the seventh as Anderson Hernandez hit a two out infield single to plate Austin Kearns.  The hit ended Moyer’s evening as the crafty left hander once again gave the team a very good effort yielding only five hits and one earned run thru six and two thirds innings.  Chad Durbin came on to get the last out as Christian Guzman’s bat exploded on a ground out to first, the barrell went into the stands along the first base side and hit a fan, baseball needs to act on these bats else someone is going to get seriously hurt!  Fortunately this time it did not appear to be serious.

Shane Victorino was in the middle of stirring up the offense once again in the home seventh as he dribbled a ball behind the pitcher that the Nats third sacker tried to throw him out on and tossed errantly down the right field line.  Victorino ended up on third with a single as Ryan Zimmerman was credited with the two base throwing error.  Pinch hitter  extraordinaire Greg Dobbs then knocked in Victorino with a ground out to second base.   On the very next pitch  Carlos Ruiz belted a home run to left center field to put the FIghtins in the lead for the first time.  It was only Ruiz’s third bomb of the year. 

Ryan Madson came in to pitch the eighth and gave up broken bat singles to Zimmerman and Milledge as the first two hitters he faced.  Ron Belliard bunted both runners up with a sacrifice.  Jesus Flores then hit an infield single up the middle to tie the game and Austin Kearns then followed with a single to put the Nats ahead.  The Phillies bullpen has been great this year but Madson is one that still causes me concern when he is called on.  It appears to me that often his pitches are flat and on those occasions he gets hit.  J.C. Romero came in to strike out two hitters and end the inning.

Jayson Werth led off the Phillies eighth with a walk and advanced to second on a single by Chase Utley.  Ryan Howard then struck out for the third time in the game as he looked thoroughly confused in his at bat.  The opportunity was squandered as Pat Burrell grounded into a double play.  The more I watch, even the optimist I try to be, the more I doubt this offense will ever come out of thier funk, they have not adjusted to the steady diet of breaking balls they get early in counts and when opposing pitchers pop a fastball it often catches them off guard and they are either late or hit weak ground balls.   This team really needs a guy who is a professional hitter in this lineup, one that is steady at the plate, of course all teams need that!

Clay Condrey had the bases loaded against him in the ninth but was able to pitch out of it with no runs setting the stage for last at bat heroics.  Shane Victorino, our steadiest hitter, led off the ninth with a single up the middle off of Joel Hanrahan.  Victorino then stole second base on a very close play.  The Nats thought they had him but the TV replay showed him safe as the throw was taken in front of the bag and Shane got his hand in before the tag.  There was no joy in Phillyville however as Hanrahan retired the next three batters to end the Washington twelve game losing streak.

This was a tough game to lose as the Phillies now face the Dodgers, Mets and Cubs in thier next ten games.  It is make or break time and this loss may have prompted the breaking point, hope not but with the offense struggling the way it is this team may have hit the wall.  The next ten will be key in defining the season as success or failure.

Chatter

David Ross signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox and will be the backup there to Jason Veritak who has struggled this season offensively.  The Phillies inquired about Aubrey Huff from the Orioles but he is due big money next season and Baltimore is unwilling to eat any  portion of the contract.  Kevin Millar might be  a bench option as he has also cleared waivers with no claims made.  Ryan Howard looks to be in the same funk he was early on this season as he continually swings over balls that when hitting well he crushes.  Rollins hit into tough luck alot in this series as he smashed a few “at em” balls but I do notice that he is pulling just about everything rather than going with the pitch and hit quite a few ground balls to second base on outside pitches.  Rollins was booed every time he made an out by the Phillie “genius” fans in attendance.

To be a playoff team games against opponents who are struggling must be won.  The Washington Nationals came into this game with an eleven game losing streak.  Phillies starting pitcher Brett Myers needed to take the mound going for the jugular to make it twelve and he did just that by tossing a complete game shut-out against the Nats!  He was dominant in the contest by pitching ahead on nearly every batter, establishing his fast ball early in the count and then closing out the at-bats with as masterful curve ball.  Myers struck out nine batters in the contest.   It was the seventh complete game of his career.

Myers was given a lead in the third inning as Nats shortstop Anderson Hernandez threw the ball away on a taylor made double play allowing Chris Coste to score.  Coste had reached base by being hit by a pitch.  The Fightins added three more in the fifth as Greg Dobbs spanked a home run that scored Shane Victorino in front of him.  Coste followed that with a  single, went to third on a single by Jimmy Rollins and scored on a bloop double down the right field line by Jayson Werth.

The bottom half of the order came thru big in this game as all four runs were scored by the six thru eight spots in the lineup and five of the team’s nine hits came from the men in those spots,  Victorino and Coste had two hits each while Dobbs reached on a walk and had the two run bomb.  Chase Utley also had a two hit game and did so by driving the outside pitch to left field twice, a good sign as teams have been able to get him out with those pitches as he has habitually been pulling the ball on every swing.

Despite the outcome the Phillies made a few blunders in the game.  Greg Dobbs and Pat Burrell both had fielding errors and Rollins was caught attempting to steal second with runners at first and third and one out.  Chris Coste also ran into an out on a failed sacrifice bunt attempt by Myers in the seventh inning.  Against teams like the Nats these things can be overcome but perhaps not against the Dodgers and Mets who are in next.

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Phillies G.M. Pat Gillick stated on a pre-game TV show that even though the Phillies had made an offer to free agent catcher  David Ross that Ross had decided to sign instead with another club.  Gillick speculated that it was an American League team but was not specific as to who.  When querried about potentially picking up a bat off the bench Gillick stated that the team had a few feelers out but nothing seemed imminent.  Pedro Feliz did come off the D.L. before the game however Greg Dobbs still started the game at third base.  To make room for Feliz pitcher Les Walrond was optioned back to Triple A. 

Similiar to a Spring Training game the wind created havoc on pop ups and fly balls in the first game of the nine game home stand.  Joe Blanton started on the hill for the Phillies but was gone after five as he gave up four runs on eight hits.  Blanton would have been touched for more had not the wind blown a few balls back that on an ordinary night would have been deep into the stands!  Willie Harris did touch Blanton for a first inning homer as he belted it to right field, the one place where the wind was not blowing in.

Washington scored the second run in the fourth and two in the fifth keyed by a triple by Ryan Zimmerman.  The Phillies scored one in the second on a sacrifice fly by Greg Dobbs.  Dobbs reached base again in the fifth as Harris botched a fly ball to left caught in the wind swirl!  Shane Victorino scored on that play,  Victorino had tripled to lead off the inning.  Dobbs scored on a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Geoff Jenkins who hit for Blanton to make the count 4-3 Nats after five innings of play.

Chad Durbin pitched scoreless sixth and seventh innings for the Fightins.  In the bottom of the seventh  Shane Victorino once again was in the middle of an offensive “make things happen” as he reached on a fielders choice and then went first to third on a flare single behind short stop by Greg Dobbs, few guys have that kind of speed or guts to make that running play!  Chris Coste then poked a sacrifice fly to right field to score Victorino and tie the game.

Ryan Madson pitched a perfect eighth for the Phillies setting up late game heroics.  Jayson Werth hit his 17th home run in the Phillies eighth right into the teeth of the wind to give the Fightins the lead.  Werth absolutely crushed a hanging curve ball off of Steven Shell and it still only made it two rows in over the left field wall!  Werth is some kinda strong to have hit it thru the swirl!

Brad Lidge pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn his 31st save.  Lidge struck out two of the three batters he faced.  The Fightins kept their record perfect when leading after eight innings and are now 56 and 0 when that scenario occurs!

Chatter

Jimmy Rollins was greeted with a mix of boos and cheers in his first at bat but they progressed to more boos in his next two at bats especially the third when he grounded into a double play.  Some even booed him on a line drive out in the bottom of the eighth!  Anyone who feels it is their right to boo a player who is giving their all and/or is not hot dogging is an absolute idiot in my opinion.  Rollins was roundly cheered last season enroute to an MVP season, yes he is struggling this season but he is the same guy and gives the same effort!  Philly fans are passionate but I believe the minority are the ones booing and it gives us all a bad image………… pure lack of class in my opinion.  Rumblings are, according to Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal, that the Phillies have interest in former Cincinatti catcher David Ross perhaps as a September roster addition.  Carlos Ruiz has struggled all season offensively so adding another dependable catcher may be indeed be a wise addition.

When the offensive portion of a team is in a funk like the Phillies are then other ways need to be found in order to win.  In this game the Fightins found a way.  Jimmy Rollins set the tone early as he legged out an infield single in the game’s first at bat.  He then stole second base, went to third on an errant throw by the San Diego catcher and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jayson Werth.   Cole Hamels made that early lead hold up thru five innings as he handcuffed the Padres and shut them out.

Pat Burrell slammed his 29th home run of the season in the visitor’s sixth inning to give Hamels a bit of a cushion.   San Diego did score in the bottom six but Hamels would deny them any more as he went eight strong turning a one run lead over to premier closer Brad Lidge.  Lidge struck out the side and earned his 30th save in as many tries updating the Fightin’s record to a perfect 55 and 0 when leading after eight innings!   A must win was gained to keep the team two games off the pace for the Eastern Division title.

Chatter

The team won the San Diego series two games to one, in the middle game Kyle Kendrick was wild and got shelled for a second consecutive outing in a 8 to 3 loss.   The team has an off day today and then begins a HUGE nine game homestand starting with three against the Nationals.  They then must pay back the Dodgers as the Hollywood crew comes in for four games and lastly there are two with the Mets.   While the Mets have won six straight they have been against the likes of the Nationals and Pirates, they now embark on a seven game homestand of thier own taking on the Braves for four whom they have struggled with thus far and the Astros for three, Houston swept the Metropolitans in Houston the last time they met.  I think this topsy turvey race is far from over and each week brings different paths forward !

Hopefully the boo bird fans do not shower J-Roll with their collective affection this week, let’s take his comments as a challenge to be even more supportive and step up like we want our Fightin’s to do! Nobody wins with the negativity stuff !   Rudy Seanez is back off the disabled list and was available in the Padre series, Mike Cervenak was optioned back to triple A.  Pedro Feliz may come off the D.L. as early as Wednesday. 

Let’s go Fightins !  We are in a race, much more exciting this way than in many years past!   Lets get at ‘em and collectively get this thing done, what’s the worst that can happen, we lose?  Been there before and no one died from it!   Winning is much sweeter though, let’s taste that drink once again!

When times get tough leaders emerge and this was the case in the opening game of the Fightin’s three game series against the Padres in San Diego.   Skipper Charlie Manuel challenged his troops to “be men” and push forward else incur the consequences of falling out of the race.  Jamie Moyer seemed to take the challenge personally as he pitched seven brilliant innings shuting out the Padres on only three hits.  He was matched pitch for pitch by fellow veteran Greg Maddux with the exception of one toss.

That errant pitch was hammered by Pat Burrell for his 28th home run of the season and represented the lone score of the game.   The bullpen held the lead for Moyer as Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero each gained Holds and Brad Lidge came on to pitch the ninth and earn his 29th save.  Lidge has been bothered by shoulder stiffness so it was a big plus to see him back out there.

Jimmy Rollins albeit still struggling with the bat showed off his defensive form making a couple brilliant plays at short stop.  He was featured on “Web Gems” on ESPN!  Rollins also took Charlie’s challenge to heart as he is indeed the team leader and as he goes so will the Figthin’s!   Rollins is a multi skilled player and can change the course of the game in many ways, this one he did so with his glove.  

Chatter

The Phillies were coming off a sweep at the hands of the Dodgers so needed a win desperately.  The Dodgers won the fourth game of the series by a count of 3 to 1 as another top notch pitching performance by a Phillie starter was wasted.  Brett Myers tossed seven innings against the Dodgers but with the offense only able to muster two hits he took the hit for another loss.

Rudy Seanez is scheduled to come off the disabled list today, it may not seem he has tremendous impact but folks like him and Clay Condrey by taking thier turn of bullpen innings save the arms of the likes of Madson, Romero and Durbin.  They are indeed key and vital for the home stretch.  Most likely Les Waldron will be optioned back to Triple A today.  The Mets continue to win, they defeated the Pirates 2 to 1 to remain one game ahead of the Fightins in National League East. 

Kyle Kendrick toes the rubber tonight in San Diego, lets hope he gets teh sinker down in the zone and not up like he was in L.A.  Here is also hoping that the FIghtin offense resurfaces!

Despite jumping out to an early 6 to 1 lead the Fightins fell to thier third straight defeat at the hands of the L.A. Dodgers.   Los Angeles rebounded to take a 7 to 6 victory on a Nomar Garciapara walk off home run in the ninth inning.

Ryan Howard, Greg Dobbs and Jayson Werth all touched Dodger starter Brad Penny early in the game for two run home runs.  Penny was gone from the contest before the end of the third inning as he struggled with command and paid for it.  Phillies starter Joe Blanton also suffered early from a tight strike zone from the home plate umpire and actually walked in a first inning run.  Blanton would eventually settle in somewhat and pitched five innings leaving with a 6 to 4 lead.

Ryan Madson pitched two frames and held the two run lead before yielding to Chad Durbin for the eighth inning.   The usually reliable Durbin ran into trouble and was eventually touched for two runs as the Dodgers tied the contest.   In the meantime the Phillies bats were held silent by the Dodger pen as the Fightins could not muster any more runs than the original six scored off of Penny.

Clay Condrey gave up the winning home run to Nomar in the ninth inning and the Phillies were thrice beaten in Dodgerland.   The Mets thumped the Washington Nationals 12-0 earlier in the evening so the loss put the Mets and Phils in a deadlock atop the National League East.  Similiarly the Dodgers are now tied with the Diamondbacks in the N.L. West Division for the lead.   Parity is in the National League and the races should go to the wire!

Chatter

Shane Victorino did not play as he is suffering from back stiffness.  Victorino has been the most reliable hitter on the team since the All-Star break and with the offense sporadic at best the Phils can ill afford to lose any consistency.  Rumblings are that the Fightins put a claim in on Raul Ibanez whom the Mariners were attempting to pass thru waivers.  Since waiver claims are awarded to the team with the worst record first no word if any other team had claimed the outfielder.  He is a free agent next season and is highly paid so there is indeed a chance that other teams would stay away from him.

Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard appeared on Fox’s Best Damn Sports Show taping on Tuesday night and Rollins apparently stated that Phillie fans tend to be “front runners” and are not as supportive of players and teams when things are going bad.   While I tend to agree with him that we fans collectively are not the rah rah type such as those found in the baseball Mecca St. Louis I do disagree with the “front runner” theory.   J-Roll must remember that our town has very few teams that have claimed league titles in our history and in fact the Phillies are the losingest team in Major League history yet fans have continually supported the franchise and have even sold out home games close to 40 times already this season! 

I do agree with the tone of general negativity of North east coast fans not just Philly.  Talk shows thrive in our area and most often the subject is what is wrong with our teams and players rather than what accomplishments they have done for us lately.  We do not handle first place well as fans, perhaps because we have not spent alot of time there!   Give J-Roll credit for voicing what I think are the thoughts of many players though, I doubt that many would choose to play here if given options as things can indeed get rough with the boobirds and verbal abuse.  Perhaps collectively we should all just relax and realize this is a game and we are all people, doubt that will ever happen though as us fans see our dreams in folks like J-Roll and we vent our frustrations when things don’t go well.  We live the games as part of our livelihood which indeed puts alot of pressure on our players.  Hell, we had the best third basemen ever to play the game in Mike Schmidt yet it was not till late in his career that Philly fans collectively appreciated the phenom we were priviledged to watch on a daily basis.   It is a rough sports town, some can handle it but as I stated I would guess if given a choice, most would choose to play elsewhere………..it is what it is!

Cole Hamels gave the Fightins another quality start but once again had it go to no avail as the bullpen was not able to hold the lead.  Hamels pitched seven innings and left with a 3-2 advantage.  Chase Utley had given Hamels the lead early as he hit his 30th home run of the season in the first frame. 

Chad Durbin had a shaky eighth inning and allowed the tieing run to score as he worked into a bases loaded no out jam before a sac fly scored the tieing run. He was then being able to coax a double play ground ball to end the inning

J.C. Romero took the loss as the Dodgers scored in thier half of the ninth to win.

Chatter

The loss marked the seventh consecutive outing that Hamels has pitched and the team has not been able to win.  In most cases he has been more than deserving of the win but the offense has not come up with the support.  Hamels is one of the least unsupported by offensive backing in the league thus far this season.  It forces him to be close to perfect every time out.   The four game series continues tonight as Joe Blanton takes his turn on the hill.

As good as Kyle Kendrick was in his last start he was equally as bad in this one.  A sinker ball pitcher lives and dies with location, if down in the zone ground balls are the theme and success can be had.  However, if up in the zone hard hit flys usually occur and runs for the opponents are many!

Kendrick got torched for seven runs on nine hits in only 3 and 1/3 innings including six in the second inning.   Casey Blake took him out to deep center field.   Les Walrond followed Kendrick and had his best stint as a Phillie as he went 2 and 2/3rds innings allowing only two hits and no runs.  Clay Condrey threw the final two frames for the FIghtins and gave up one run on five hits.

Despite being down by six early the Phillies battled back in typical Fightin fashion as they scored six runs to make it a contest.  Ryan Howard knocked in two runs to reach the 100 RBI count once again! Chase Utley appears to be heating up again as he had three hits in the game while Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins had two hits each.  Rollins had another triple in this one, his third in four games.

Chatter

Both the Mets and Marlins also lost so the two game lead in the division stands for one more day.  Manny was Manny again as he delayed the start of one inning and finally took the field with a different color glove than what he had started the game with, guess he had to go hunt for it!  Some of his antics do not make any sense whatsover.