With three weeks left in the marathon that is called a major league baseball season I remain committed to the belief that our Fightins can still win a playoff spot.  The difference in my mind is going to come down to what avenue is taken on the “little things” that often are key in producing baseball success vs. failure.  Here are a few that I think will have major impact on how the season outcome comes about.

 1. The mental realization of Brett Myers that he can be just as much of a “Rock Star” by starting games vs. the mental stubbornness he portrayed earlier this year in trying to manipulate a return to the bullpen by failing as a starter. Myers “mojo” will be key going down the stretch.

2. The patience and calm of Charlie Manuel knowing how to use his personnel like he displayed this weekend against the Mets vs. the silliness of getting tossed at an inopportune time in the last game of the Mets series.  I believe Charlie was trying to light a fire under Cole Hamels rear-end but it did not work.

 3. The aggressiveness of Pat “The Bat” Burrell shown earlier in the year when he climbed to the 30 home runs he has vs. the passive “looking for a walk” approach he has been mired in lately.  We need Burrell to swing the bat, when he is going good he is aggressive, when bad he takes many, many called third strikes.

 4. The bulldog attitude displayed by starters Brett Myers and Jamie Moyer this weekend of taking the game into their own hands vs. the “pitching scared” approach of Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick vs. the Nationals and the “California cool” approach of not wanting the ball displayed by Cole Hamels last night.  

 5. The “old school” philosophy of winning and playing for the team vs. the “new school” approach of playing for myself.  We need guys like Hamels to want to win as badly as the fans do rather than worry about his career longevity and getting a chance at a big paycheck!

 6. The Rich Dubee fire of standing up for his pitcher Myers on getting pinched on balls/strikes on Friday night and getting tossed vs. the lack of moxy shown by the same in not directing Cole Hamels to start the eighth inning against the Cubs when a win was dependent upon it.

 7. The resolve of Jimmy Rollins to succeed and overcome a disappointing season vs. having the hollow look in the eyes that I saw in Jose Reyes when he doesn’t reach base or Carlos Beltran when he lolly-gags on a fly ball.  Rollins must lead with passion else the team will follow to disregard.  The Mets I do not care about!

 8. The interest of a Hall of Famer like Mike Schmidt to take the time to send a note of inspiration to the team in a big series vs. the look of disinterest from Cole Hamels in the dugout last night when veteran Jamie Moyer was attempting to counsel him on pitching location.

 9. The fire in the belly noise and cheers of the “front running” Phillie fans vs. the deafening silence and/or boos heard when things are not going so well.  The home crowd can play a huge part in the next seven games but must stay consistent and be there to rally the team when things are not going well or when there is a lull in the game, this team has a tendency to drift during some innings, the crowd can be vital in not letting that happen.

 10. The willingness of the team to attempt and execute simple things like sacrifices or moving runners with ground ball outs or hitting the ball the other way vs.  the knee-jerk reaction of trying to be a hero resulting in poor at-bats.  This team has to play smart especially against tough pitchers like C.C. and Sheets and yes even Tim Redding whom seems to be the second coming of Cy Young as far as how he handles this team!

 If the boys do most of the little things I think we play in October, otherwise we watch others go at it.   Should be an interesting three weeks!

Going into this game one would think Johan Santana vs Cole Hamels would result in a very low scoring pitchers battle.  Santana has faced the Fightins four times already this season and they have done little against him.  Hamels was making only his second appearance this season against the Metropolitans.   In the first Phillie at bat Chase Utley singled to rigtht field batting out of the two hole in the lineup, Jayson Werth drew a four pitch walk and then Ryan Howard belted a single to left field to draw first blood as Utley scored.  In all three games of the series the Phillies scored first!  Santana toughened though and pitched out of the inning which was key as the Fightins had a real chance to score more.

Ryan Church singled as well batting out of the two spot for the Mets in the first, David Wright was then awarded first base on catchers interfence as his bat hit Chris Coste’s glove during his swing.  Charlie Manuel asked for an appeal on the call and argued enough that he was throw out of the game!  Sort of a silly spot to get tossed as the Phillies had all of the momentum at that point still.  Carlos Beltran singled to left to plate Church and David Wright was thrown out at third by Pat Burrell………. only thing missing was the umpires call as Wright was ruled safe!  Carlos Delgado then drilled a single to center to score both Wright and Beltran who had advanced to second on the throw, so much for “ace like” pitching by young Cole!

The Phillies got one back in the third as Ryan Howard belted a solo home run to left field but Hamels gave it right back in the home third as Carlos Delgado hit a moon shot off the score board in right field to make the count 4 to 2.   Learning little from that experience Hamels threw the same hanging pitch, one a curve, the second a changeup,  to Delgado in the fifth which he blasted into the upper right field deck to make the score 5 to 2 !  Hamels was done after five as his pitch count reached 109, as big as Myers and Moyer were earlier in the series Hamels came up equally as small.  He was up in the zone with his pitches and threw alot of deep counts.  He is young but if he is truly going to be considered an ace he needs to learn how to control the nerves in games like this and deliver like his veteran teammates did the two games before him.  Not good enough was the result in this one !  Clay Condrey pitched a pefect sixth inning in relief and Rudy Seanez did the same in the seventh. 

 The Mets stuck with Santana to begin the eighth despite seeing him get hit hard on recorded outs in the seventh and after he got the first out he saw Jayson Werth belt a double over Carlos Beltran’s head in center, looked like Beltran dogged the effort a bit to me!  Jerry Manuel then came and got Santana rather than have him face Howard again.  The Mets bullpen is shaky which is why Manuel was hesitant to go to it but lefty Pedro Feliciano got Howard to ground weakly to first base for the second out, Manuel then called in right hander Brian Stokes to face Pat Burrell.  Burrell fisted an even weaker ground ball to shortstop on the very first pitch to end the inning. 

Seanez gave up an eighth inning run to make the count 6 to 2.  Luis Ayala pitched the ninth for New York and albeit shaky, he gave up a run on two hits, did close out the game for New York.

Chatter

It is weird how Ryan Howard does so well against Santana as he has struggled against much lesser lefthanders many times this year.  He came into the game hitting over .400 against him and had really good swings in this one.  Baseball is like that sometimes, certain guys just see the ball really well against certain pitchers albeit against others struggle mightily.   Pat Burrell did not have good at bats in this one as he struck out twice and limped out on his other at bats.  Jimmy Rollins also had a very quiet game at the plate as Santana shut him out and he struck out to end the game against Ayala.  The Phillies usually lose when he is not productive offensively and scoring runs.

 The Phillies accomplished an objective by winning the New York series but must not fall backwards now, they have the next seven at home against Florida and Milwaukee.  Florida historically plays the FIghtins tough and Milwaukee is the team to catch for the wild card.  Cannott have a hiccup in the home stand as they follow it with six on the road against Atlanta and Florida before finishing up with six at home against the Braves and Nationals, the very team that put them in the three game hole coming into the New York series.   New York has a pretty easy schedule to close out the year as they have the next five at home against Washington and Atlanta including two off days on Monday and Thursday.  They then hit the road for seven, four at Washington and three at Atlanta before finishing the season at home with seven, four with the Cubs and final three with the Braves.  The Cubs should have clinched by then and will have little to play for.  May the best team win……. Mike Schmidt says it is us!  Watching should be nerve racking but fun !  Lets go Nats in the next two eh !

Milwaukee has the next three at home against the Reds and then embark on a ten game road trip with four against the Phillies, three against the Cubs and three at Cincinatti.  They finish at home with six, three against Pittsburgh and three with the Reds.  Not so easy for them either I suppose.

The way Pedro Martinez throws the ball nowadays certainly does not strike fear in the heart of any opposing batter.  Martinez relies on savy and location and is far removed from the power pitcher he was some five years ago.   The same can be said of Phillies starter Jamie Moyer so this matchup was going to be won by whichever veteran had the most command of their control.   The Phillies jumped on Martinez in the second inning as Jayson Werth reached base on a walk and then went to third on a double by Greg Dobbs that was badly misplayed by Met right fielder Fernando Tatis.  Guess if you play a hot dog out of position every now and again you will get some mustard on your face!  Matt Stairs then produced a very professional at bat as he waited for a pitch that he could drive and hit a long sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Werth.  Carlos Ruiz then hit a clutch single to drive home Dobbs who had advanced to third on the sac fly. 

In the Phillies fourth Ryan Howard led off with a double to center field followed by Jayson Werth with a single to put runners on first and third.  Greg Dobbs then belted his second big hit of the game as he took a rare Martinez fast ball over the right field wall for a three run home run!  Carlos Ruiz then doubled down the right field line, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Moyer and scored on a misplayed fly ball by Met left fielder Evans, another guy playing out of position,  that fell in for a double for Jimmy Rollins.

Martinez was done after four innings and left trailing the contest 6 to 0.  Meanwhile Jamie Moyer was brilliant in this one as he pitched seven shutout innings limiting the Mets to only two hits, his location was excellent and had the Met hitters lunging and popping up throughout his stint.  He recorded 12 fly outs and 8 ground outs while striking out one and the Mets only had one runner reach scoring position !  Scott Eyre came on to pitch the eighth and gave up three consecutive doubles after recording two outs that plated two Met runs.  Eyre came up big to end the inning as he struck out Carlos Delgado after going 3 and 1 on the count to him!  Ryan Madson got the first out in the ninth as he struck out Tatis but then gave up a baltimore chop single to Damien Easley and Charlie went to J.C. Romero who came in to get a double play ground ball to end the game! 

Chatter

Charlie Manuel played a hunch again at third base as he started Greg Dobbs again instead of Pedro Feliz.  Dobbs came thru big time and even played an excellent defensive game at third which is not his strong suit.   Ryan Howard made a tremendous defensive play at first base on a scorched ground ball by Carlos Delgado in the third inning.  Pat Burrell got the start off as Charlie chose to go with Matt Stairs in his starting outfield, that paid off for the Fightins as well.  All those moves are what makes Charlie a very good manager to me, anyone can second guess game moves but this guy gets his personell and knows how to use it!  Big game still left for the Fightins in the nightcap of the day/night doubleheader but to me a win there is gravy, Santana will be tough, lets see if our young “ace” Hamels learned from Myers and Moyer !  They got into the Mets heads already with these first two games, can really produce some doubts if it becomes a sweep !  Carlos Ruiz deserves some props in this one as he had three hits in the game.

The Mets sure must be counting on Santana tonight as they used relievers Feliciano, Heilmann, Figueroa and Sanchez in this one albeit none for more than an inning.  Will see if that has any effect on the night game.  The Phils used Eyre, Madson and Romero as well so at the least neither team used their closers.

Brett Myers loves to compete, the bigger the stage the better it seems for the right hander.  When Myers struggled earlier in the year it was more due to his mental approach of resisting the role of starting pitcher vs any lack of ability.  Before he even threw his first pitch Myers mimmicked the little hand celebration thing that Jose Reyes does as he faced the outfield crowd.  Myers was pumped for the match from the get go!

In the very first inning Shane Victorino’s efforts manufactured a run for the Fightins.  Victorino singled to right field, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by Mets catcher Brian Schneider.   Chase Utley plated the run with a ground out to first base. 

From that point on Myers and New York started Mike Pelfrey matched goose eggs till the Phillies were able to plate two more in the seventh when Ryan Howard walked for the second time of the game and Greg Dobbs belted a home run over the right field wall to score him and make the count 3 to 0. Mets right fielder Ryan Church barely missed catching the ball as it hit his glove on his leap and bounced over the fence!

Brett Myers pitched eight shutout innings and was excellent !  He struck out ten Met batters, gave up only three hits and walked but two.  The Mets have been smokin offensively and do not strike out much as a team so this effort was above and beyond!  Great job Brett ! 

Brad Lidge pitched the ninth inning and was hit around a bit but did not allow a run in earning his 34th save in 34 tries this season.  The Phillies record when leading after eight is now 64 and 0 !  Big, big win for the Phillies!

Chatter

The Phillies signed infielder Tadahito Iguchi to a contract for the remainder of the season. Iguchi was recently released by the San Diego Padres.  He was a key member of the Fightins team last season and will be used as a pinch hitter this season till the season concludes.  He is not eligible to be on a playoff roster.  Ryan Howard made two excellent defensive plays at first base in the game, one a leaping catch on a line drive bullet hit by Jose Reyes and the other a diving stop on a ground ball to rob a hit.  Howard has a decent glove, his problems seem to stem more from his lack of confidence in his arm.  Mike Schmidt sent an e-mail of encouragement to the team that was posted in their locker room, it basically told the team to take it to the Mets one play at a time and be confident that the Fightins were the better team, lets hope those words hold up thru the weekend !

Question

How do you think the rest of this series plays out ?  Moyer vs Martinez tommorrow weather permitting and Hamels vs Santana on Sunday ?

Prior to the beginning of the game the Fightins already knew that the “streakin” Mets had won their game played earlier in the day and had swept the Brewers series so once again the importance of winning the game at hand was magnified.   Ryan Howard got the team started on the right track as he blasted a two run home run to center field in the first inning.  Chase Utley scored in front of Howard, Utley was drilled by a pitch in his at bat which prompted plate umpire Brian Gorman to immediately issue a warning to Nats pitcher Odalis Perez and both benches.  Inferred was that the HBP was for the play at the plate the night before where Utley slammed into the Nats catcher. 

Phils starter Joe Blanton gave the lead right back though in the bottom of the first as Washington scored two runs of their own.   In the Phillies third Jimmy Rollins singled and was plated by a triple to center field by Chase Utley to put the Phillies back ahead by one.  That lead held up till the Nationals fifth……… when

Blanton continued to show us nothing in regards to proving he can step up as a winner when he walked the bases loaded to start the fifth and a very angry  Charlie Manuel came and got him in favor of Ryan Madson.  A  ”lack of guts” was shown by two of our starters in this series and Charlie’s body language clearly showed his displeasure with the approach taken by the big right hander in this one!   The Nationals then took the lead on fielding blunders by the Phils; first a ground ball hit to first baseman Howard where he double clutched on the throw and instead of coming home immediately to cut off the tieing run he soft tossed the ball to second base which also took away any chance of a double play !  Elijah Dukes then hit a sure fire double play to third base but  Chase Utley took the throw in front of the bag and was taken out of the DP turn by the sliding Lastings Milledge.  The Nationals scored two runs on just one base hit!  Sorry, sorry,sorry  half inning of play by the good guys!

Jayson Werth led off the Fightin’s sixth inning with a single and scored ahead of Ryan Howard’s 39th home run of the season as Howard blasted the ball over the right center field wall.  Howard, like the Mets 1st sacker Carlos Delgado, can be a butcher in the field but can erase mistakes with the way he swings the bat!  Washington changed pitchers and the Phillies allowed reliever Jesus Colome to get out of the inning on three pitches, one each to the next three batters!   Ryan Madson showed some moxy by striking out the side in the Nationals sixth inning. 

Ryan Zimmerman tied the game in the Nats seventh with a solo home run hit off of Chad Durbin.  Durbin got hammered in the eighth inning as he gave up three hard singles, the key blow delivered by pinch hitter Ronnie Belliard that put the Nationals ahead.  J.C. Romero came in and walked the first hitter he faced, the immortal Emilio Bonifacio, to load the bases.  Christian Guzman then belted a bases clearing double to put the game away.  Washington batted around in the inning.   The Phillies scored two in the ninth but it was not enough……..FInal count 9 to 7 Washington.

The loss left the Phillies on the outside looking in regards to the playoff chase as they now trail the New York Mets by three full games in the division race and are four and 1/2 behind Milwaukee in the Wild Card chase.  This series loss was a major blow and puts the team in a corner that they will either battle out of or go down for the count from.  They head to New York with their tail between their legs, time to see what the boys are made of.

Chatter

Shane Victorino was given the start off as Jayson Werth started in center field and Eric Bruntlett got the start in right field.  VIctorino has been scuffling a bit lately so Charlie gave him a rest at the beginning albeit Victorino did get in later as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement.  Cole Hamels will start Sunday in the series finale against the Mets as Kyle Kendrick will be skipped this turn in the rotation.    The Phillies must take it to the Mets this weekend in New York, winnng the series is an absolute and a series loss would be devasting in regards to any playoff hopes.  I personally do not think the Mets are that good a ballclub but somehow they continue to win games and show no signs of letting up, if the Fightins are to make the playoffs they must take care of business themselves in these last three head to head contests.  It is make or break time !  Just a note of comparison…….. last year in September  the Mets were coming off a sweep and an offday when they faced the Phillies in a series at Shea and were swept by the Fightins!  As Yogi would say I sure hope it is “dejavu all over again”  this go round.

Question

How many of you value watching the opening day game for the Eagles on Sunday higher than the Mets Phillies contest ? 

With 24 games remaining on the schedule and trailing by two games in the Division race one could surmise that every game is a “must win”!   That being said the Fightins sent their ace Cole Hamels to the hill to attempt halting the Nationals seven game winning streak and win this one for the Phils.

The Phillies drew first blood as consecutive singles by Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley plated two runs in the third inning.  The inning ended however on a sad note as National catcher Jesus Flores was carted off the field on a stretcher after a bang bang play resulted in a collision between him and Utley. Utley had broken for the plate on a pickoff attempt at first base and was attempting to jar the ball loose from Flores as Nat first basemen Ron Belliard’s throw beat him by plenty at the plate.  It appeared Flores suffered an injury to his ankle.

Pedro Feliz and Carlos Ruiz led off the Phillie seventh with singles, both were sacrificed to scoring position by Cole Hamels.   Jimmy Rollins plated Feliz with a single to right field and Ruiz scored on a groundout by Chase Utley to make the score 4 to 0. 

Cole Hamels pitched 7 and 1/3 innings, once again a quality start.  He ran out of gas in the eighth inning as Washington put two runners on with a walk and a single.  Charlie went to his pen and brought in J.C. Romero.  Romero struck out left handed hitter Willie Harris and then Manuel called in Chad Durbin.  Durbin did his job in the inning as well as he got Ryan ZImmerman to ground out to short and end the inning.  Brad Lidge pitched the ninth inning to close the game.

Chatter

Three additional roster additions were made as Mike Cervenak, Andy Tracy and Les Walrond were all recalled from Triple A Lehigh Valley.  All three have been on the roster for various stints this season.  Jason Donald from Double A Reading is also likely to be recalled as well as soon as the Reading season concludes.   The extra players give skipper Manuel more flexibility with his bench and bullpen.   Chase Utley was visibly upset when Flores was carted off, Utley plays as hard as any player in the bigs but he is not dirty nor does he want to hurt anyone.  His only play to be safe at the plate was to jar the ball loose and he made the right play…………. hope that Flores is ok.  National fans booed Utley in his plate appearances after the play, no class, no clue.

Question

How big do you believe it is that Cole Hamels takes the ball Sunday against New York rather than get an extra day off between starts and face Florida on Monday ?   Pitching on Sunday would give Hamels four days rest and would be his regular rest, Kyle Kendrick would get skipped over to accomplish this.

Sometimes you just gotta let the ball fly as a pitcher and not worry so much about “spotting” the pitch.  When Kyle Kendrick struggles he does so trying to “aim” instead of throw and looks as if he is “pitching scared”.  He is really a one trick pony relying almost exclusively on his sinker and getting hitters to put the ball in play on the ground, he gives up plenty of hits but has been able to get key outs when needed as his ball moves really well. If he doesn’t let it fly though mentally he gets behind batters and either walks them or puts himself in spots where the pitch is predictable and targeted to get smoked!   In this one Kyle did not pitch so well and indeed looked as if he was “pitching scared”.

The Nationals took advantage and  jumped on Kendrick early as they plated two first inning runs. He gave up a leadoff single to Willie Harris and walked Ryan ZImmerman and then advanced both runners to scoring position by tossing a wild pitch.  Lastings Milledge singled to center to plate both runners.  In the Nationals fourth Willie Harris smoked a triple to right field to plate another run and Cristian Guzman then doubled him home, Ryan Zimmerman followed by blasting a home run to deep center field to make the National total count six………all runs scored with two outs!   It could have been more if not for some poor base running by Washington where they helped Kendrick out.  Kendrick was gone after four innings being lit for nine hits, three walks and two hit batters.  Certainly not a start to remember and may call for a change in the rotation as the team cannott afford meltdowns like this to occur at this point of the season.

 Meanwhile  Phillie killer Tim Redding, ( he has shutout the Phillies twice already this year),  started on the hill for the Nationals and held them scoreless and hitless thru five frames!  Shane Victorino got the first hit in the sixth as he singled to left, stole second and went to third on an errant throw by the catcher.  Ryan Howard then ripped a double down the right field line to score Victorino and Jayson Werth drew a walk that ended Redding’s day as Washington went to the pen.  Washington relievers walked the next two Phillie hitters and then hit a batter, first to load the bases and then to plate two runs to make the score 6-3 before they were able to work out of the jam.

The Nationals tacked on another run in the seventh off of Clay Condrey.  Their bullpen closed out the contest albeit Jimmy Rollins belted a solo home run in the ninth as Washington won it seventh consecutive game.  The Phillies were totally outplayed in this one and with the loss fell to two games behind the Mets who beat the Brewers in the first game of that series.

Chatter

Pat Burrell was given the start off as he struggled in the month of August and looked apprehensive in the last game against Chicago.  Burrell when struggling seems to take alot of called third strikes as if he is guessing on the pitch, he pinch hit in the sixth and walked but struck out later in the game.  Matt Stairs started in right field and Jayson Werth took Burrell’s starting spot in left field.   With the expansion of the rosters in September the Phillies recalled catcher Lou Marson and outfielder Greg Golson from Double A Reading.  Adam Eaton and J.A. Happ were added to the pitching staff from Triple A Lehigh Valley. 

Office Talk

Often times in my office we get into discussions on the Fightins and baseball in general, thought I would throw out on the blog here questions in hopes of creating some correspondence with those of you that are reading.   Question :  Do you think the new Instant Replay Rule will have an impact on any games going down the stretch and do you agree that the Rule is a good thing or do you think baseball should totally rely on the “human element” and only use the umpires original call ?   Let me know your thoughts.