The Phillies acquired right handed starting pitcher Joe Blanton from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for minor leaguers Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman and Matthew Spencer.  Cardenas and Outman were rated as top ten prospects in the Phillies system.  Blanton is an innings eater having pitched more than 200 innings in two of the past three seasons.  He has a record of 42 and 34 over that same time period.  Blanton has struggled at times this season and has a 5-12 record thus far for 2008 in 20 starts.  He is expected to replace Adam Eaton in the starting rotation with Brett Myers rejoining the rotation as well.

I believe it is an upgrade to the rotation, perhaps not a top of the rotation type pitcher but for what was exchanged he is well worth the risk.  It remains to be seen if any more transactions are made before the trade deadline passes.

Game two of the Arizona series was played as a late afternoon contest so that it could be carried as a regional broadcast on FOX Sports.  Adam Eaton toed the rubber for the Fightins against the Big Unit Randy Johnson.

 The Snakes bit first by scoring two runs in their first at bat as Chad Tracey and Mark Reynolds collected RBI’s.  The Phillies tied the game in the third frame as Shane Victorino blasted a two run home run to the left field seats.

 Things exploded in the fourth inning as Eaton ran into a bout of wildness after two outs. Alex Romero lined a single and Robby Hammock then walked.  Eaton went to 3-2 on mound opponent Randy Johnson before hanging a slider that Johnson smoked down the left field line to score both runners.  Stephen Drew then walked and Conor Jackson lined a double to left scoring Johnson.  Orlando Hudson was issued an intentional walk and then Eaton was lifted in favor of RJ Swindle. It marked the second consecutive short outing for Eaton. Tracey produced two more runs on a broken bat single to center field. Mark Reynolds then blasted a three run home run as Arizona’s tenth hitter in the frame to make the score 10 to 2!  All tolled the D-Backs sent 12 hitters to the plate as they took the eight run lead.

 The Phillies scored two runs in the fifth inning highlighted by Shane Victorino’s second home run of the game.  No more scores occurred and the game ended 10 to 4. 

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 Philly fans have lost their patience with Adam Eaton.  Eaton was given a large contract before last season as a free agent acquisition.  He has yet to produce in the blue collar town and has been a consistent target of the “Boo Birds”.  RJ Swindle has been mediocre since getting the call from Triple A.  The soft tossing lefty must be perfect in pitch placement or is subject to being blasted by major league hitters. With the stretch drive looming the Phillies are in need of a steady starter in the rotation along with someone who can pitch at the top.  Perhaps the steady starter is Eaton but he has not shown results thus far.   Eric Bruntlett got the start at second base as manager Charlie Manual gave All-Star Chase Utley the day off against Johnson.

One day after helping the Phillies end a four game losing skid rookie left hander J.A. Happ was optioned to Triple A Lehigh Valley. The reasoning is that with the all star break upcoming the big league club will not need a fifth starter until July 23rd when they face the Mets in New York. It is very possible that Happ might be recalled to start that day but in the interim the team wants him to pitch in a regular rotation at the Triple A level rather than sitting.

Called up to replace Happ on the roster was infielder Mike Cervenak. Cervenak is a thirty two year old right hand hitter who was batting .310 at Lehigh with 7 home runs and 52 rbi’s in 90 games. This is his first opportunity to play in the big leagues. Prior experiences include a stint in the Korean Baseball League. He was drafted in the 43rd round by the Oakland A’s in the 1998 player draft and is a graduate of Michigan State University. He will provide pinch hitting off the bench and can play both first and third base. The move leaves the Phillies with 11 active pitchers on the roster and 14 position players.

While a somewhat curious move from the perspective that Adam Eaton struggled in his last start the team feels that Eaton is a better option as the fourth starter than Happ at this point……….perhaps a sign that a trade is brewing ?

The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Atlanta Braves for the second straight night as they won 7-3 on Wednesday night.  Great way to kick off the three game series against the Braves as the Phillies are now up six games on the Braves in the divisional standings.

Adam Eaton tossed five innings and allowed five hits and two runs to pick up the win.  Eaton is now 3-6 on the season.  Ruben Gotay hit a pitch hit home run off Eaton in the fifth inning and then the Braves scored on a double play in the sixth inning for both of the runs charged to Eaton.

Chad Durbin pitched two scoreless inning before J.C. Romero gave up a run on a Chipper Jones solo home run in the eighth inning and then Ryan Madson came in to get the final out in the inning.  Brad Lidge was able to finish off the Braves in the ninth but it didn’t come with out some problems.  Lidge struck out the side but struggled as the Braves loaded the bases against him before stranding all three runners.

Ryan Howard led the Phillies with a three run home run in the third inning.  Pat Burrell also added a solo home run in the fifth inning for the Phillies.  Chris Coste got the Phillies on the board with a rbi double in the second inning.

The Phillies will now go for the rare three game sweep against the Braves on Thursday.  Go get em guys!

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The Philadelphia Phillies now know what it is like to be limited to only a couple of hits as the A’s limited them to three hits and shut out them out 5-0.  With the three hit, 5-0 shut out, the A’s took two of three games against the Phillies.  It was about the exact opposite of the game the two teams played on Wednesday night.

Shane Victorino had two hits for the Phillies and Pat Burrell had a triple in the ninth inning but that was all the offense for the Phillies against Rich Harden and Alan Embree.

Adam Eaton took the loss after throwing seven innings and giving up six hits and three runs.  Eaton is now a dissapointing 2-6 on the season.  Tom Gordon pitched one inning and gave up another two rns in the eighth inning.  That pretty much put the game out of reach for the Phillies.

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The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 on Tuesday night and have won the first two games of their four game series.  The Phillies are now on a three game win streak that has improved their record to 35-25.

Pat Burrell had the big hit for the Phillies as he went deep for a two run home run in the sixth inning.  The other Phillies run came in the third inning when Chase Utley had a rbi single that scored Jimmy Rollins.

Adam Eaton pitched 6 2/3 innings and only gave up one run while he recorded his second win of the season.  Eatin is now 2-3 with a 4.63 era.  Tom Gordon did give up one run in the eighth inning and then Brad Lidge shut the door in the ninth inning to get his 15th save of the season.

The Phillies will try to make it four straight on Wednesday night as they take the Reds on in game three of the four game series.

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The Philadelphia Phillies finished off the Colorado Rockies with a 6-1 win on Wednesday night as they swept the Rockies in the three game mid-week series.  The Phillies improved to 31-24 after the three game sweep.  Let’s see if they can keep the momentum going into the weekend.

Chase Utley hit his 17th home run of the season in the game as he finished with three rbi.  Geoff Jenkins didn’t want to be left out either as he had a two run home run and another rbi when he walked with the bases loaded.  Utley and Jenkins provided all the offense that the Phillies would need on the night.

Adam Eaton finally got in the win column as he picked up the win.  Eaton tossed six innings while allowing four hits and only run to get the game.  Ryan Madson, J.C. Romero, and Chad Durbin finished off the Rockies after Eaton left the game.

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Adam Eaton and the Philadelphia Phillies had one bad inning and that is when the Arizona Diamondbacks scored five runs in the fourth inning and then went onto beat the Phillies 6-4 on Tuesday night.

Eaton took the loss and is now 0-1 on the season.  Besides Eaton only pitching four inning and giving up five hits and six runs the rest of the Phillies pitchers did a pretty good job.  Rudy Seanez pitched two innings without giving up a hit while Tom Gordon and Chad Durbin both gave up a hit in one inning of action each.

The Phillies did score four runs and two home runs off Randy Johnson which was nice to see.  It’s too bad they couldn’t score a couple more runs however.  Eric Bruntlett and Jayson Werth both hit home runs off the Big Unit.  Bruntlett finished the game with three RBI while Werth had one RBI.

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First basemen Ryan Howard hit a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and give the Phillies a 3-2 lead and then they held on for the 3-2 victory over the Padres.  Howards home run was a huge hit for the Phillies as the improved to 16-13 on the season.

Howard had two RBI in the game with his other RBI coming in the third inning when he doubled to center field and scored Shane Victorino.  Pat Burrell then had a RBI double that knocked in Howard from second base.

Adam Eaton pitched six innings to start the game for the Phillies.  Eaton gave up five hits and two runs in the game as he got a no decision.  Tom Gordon picked up the win to improve his record to 3-2 on the season.  Brad Lidge pitched the ninth inning to pick up his seventh save.

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The Philadelphia Phillies won at home over the New York Mets 5-4 on Sunday night putting the Phillies at 9-10 for the year.  The Phillies still have some work to do but they really needed this win and got it to avoid the series sweep from the Mets.

Adam Eaton opened up the night for the Phillies pitching five innings and allowing six hits and four runs.  Chad Durbin, J.C. Romero, and Brad Lidge were brought in to end the night out with Lidge picking up his 2nd save of the year.  Romero picked up the win as he pitched the seventh and eigth innings of the game.

Chase Utley and Pedro Feliz each had home runs on Sunday.  Utley finished the game with two home runs with four RBI while Feliz had one RBI.

The Phillies go on to challenge the Rockies on the road in Colorado starting Monday night.

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