The Phillies marched into Atlanta tied for the wild card lead and only 1/2 game behind the division leading Mets, they also entered the contest with a perfect 6 and 0 record in Atlanta thus far this season.  That being said you knew it wasn’t going to be easy in this one as nothing has this season.

Veteran Jamie Moyer started for the Fightins in this one and albeit he struggled with command did manage to go 5 and 2/3 innings.  Moyer was tagged for six hits and six runs and left the game trailing.  Ryan Howard provided the big offensive push for the Fightins as he had four hits in the game including a triple in the seventh and a home run in the eighth.  Howard had three RBI’S in the game.  Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz also homered in the contest.  Ryan Madson was huge in this one as pitched perfect seventh and eighth innings to shut down the Braves who had erupted for four to take the lead in the sixth inning.  Jimmy Rollins had two hits in the game and Shane Victorino had a three hit game.  Howard’s home run came in the top of the eighth and  gave the Phils a one run lead to protect.

Brad Lidge earned his 37th save in 37 tries albeit it was not an easy one as he walked the bases loaded before striking out the last hitter!  Phillies took over first place with the win!

Chatter

The Mets were shutout in Washington and lost 1 to 0.  At least they can’t blame that one on the bullpen!  J.A. Happ will start tommorrow night in the fifth starters spot.  He was given the nod over veteran Adam Eaton and struggling Kyle Kendrick.   Scott Eyre has voiced a wish to resign with the Phils next season, Eyre is a free agent at end of season, he has been very effective since coming over from the Cubs and in my opinion should be welcomed back.  Moyer did not have location in this one but remember that he threw on three days rest last start and on four days in this one, during the summer the team has tried to give him extra rest if possible.  He is a pro though and will not turn away the assignment !  

If Phillies win the division Ryan Howard  is gonna be the MVP again !  He can’t be denied if he keeps up this pace !

On an unusually hot day in September, ( heat index over 100!), things started lethargic for the FIghtins.  Starting pitcher Joe Blanton was tagged for a two run home run in the Brewers first at bat by Ray Durham to put the Phils immediately in a hole.  Blanton’s woes with the Phillies have been caused by his lack of demand on his pitches and he hung a curve ball to Durham that the hitter actually seemed to double clutch on before swinging!    The Phillies got one back in the fourth inning as Chase Utley doubled, went to third on a single by Ryan Howard and scored on a double play ground out by Pat Burrell.   Milwaukee made it a two run game again in the top of the fifth as Mike Cameron smoked a Blanton changeup into the rarified air of the left field upper deck!

Ryan Howard tied the game in the home sixth by belting his 44th home run of the season over the left field wall to score Chase Utley in front of him.   Dave Bush did a nice job for Milwaukee as he went six innings and only gave up five hits.  Bush is a local Philly boy as he grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs,  likewise Joe Blanton pitched effectively for the Fightins as he was pulled in the offensive seventh in favor of pinch hitter Matt Stairs.  

Ryan Madson got the first two outs in the eighth before skipper Charlie Manuel went to lefty Scott Eyre to turn switch hitter Ray Durham into a right hander.  Eyre did the job by striking out Durham who was left in for the at bat despite only hittiing .219 against lefthanders this season.  Milwaukee had Ricky Weeks and Bill Hall available on the bench, not our worry though!

Jayson Werth led off the eighth with a single off of righthander Guiellermo Mota  which prompted a pitching change by Milwaukee, they brought lefthander Brian Shouse in to presumably face Utley and Howard……… but in a surprise move our three hole hitter Chase Utley sacrificed Werth to second with a bunt!   Ryan Howard was then intentionally walked with first base open  but the Brewers still  kept Shouse in to face right hand hitter  Pat Burrell rather than go to righty Eric Gagne.   Burrell singled to left field to score Werth with the go ahead run on a very close play at the plate!  Shane Victorino then belted a three run home run to put the Phils up by four !   Pedro Feliz then singled.   All of this happened against Shouse, he did not retire a hitter as finally Brewer skipper Ned Yost came and got him…………. if Milwaukee sports talk shows are anything like Philly’s  then Mr. Yost’s ears will be burning off as the second guessers will be out in full force!

Brad Lidge recorded the final two outs in the ninth after Scott Eyre got the first one.  Charlie is taking no chances down the stretch and is using Lidge even in four run lead non save closeouts.  The Phillies increased thier record to 67 and 0 when leading after eight.  Lidge should be fine for tonight’s game as he only threw seven pitches to get the last two outs!

Chatter

The team seemed flat once again at the start, perhaps due to the weather or the lack of a capacity crowd.  J-Roll struck out to begin the game and as he goes so does this crew.  Blanton had to be considered a disappointment thus far in the way he had pitched, he too often was getting behind hitters and then was hit hard, even the outs he got seemed to be struggles.  By pitching seven in this one he did his job and saved burning the pen for the game tonight, alot of between game work with pitching coach Rich Dubee has been going on to help the big fella find a consistent release point on his pitches.    Corey Hart lost a ball in the sun in the bottom of the fifth but stayed with it and made a last minute dive to record the catch.   The game tonight has tremendous importance as it will swing the wild card race in a distinctive path forward.  Tuesday offers another challenge for the starting pitching staff as it is a situation for the fifth spot in the rotation, if that spot is skipped Jamie Moyer would have to pitch on three days rest again.  Who do you give the chance to ?  J.A. Happ who got hit around behind Kyle Kendrick last week, Kendrick who is in a deep slump or do you ask veteran Adam Eaton to earn that big paycheck ?    I don’t believe I am saying this but Eaton may be the best option if Moyer cannott go !  Stay tuned.

Chase Utley broke his own team record for getting hit by a pitch in the sixth inning when he took one in the shoulder.  It marked the 26th time Chase has taken one for the team this season!

The Phillies have fared relatively well whenever they have been featured on Fox TV’s regional telecasts as today’s game was. Jimmy Rollins started the game off right for the Fightins as he led off with a single and scored on a double to right by Chase Utley. Jayson Werth scored Utley with a single and then scored himself as Shane Victorino knocked him in with a single. The Phillies added two more in the second as Ryan Howard plated both Rollins and Utley with a single. Both Rollins and Utley had collected thier second hits of the game to lead off the inning.

The Brewers scored two runs in the fourth as Jason Kendall was credited with a two out two RBI double that Pat Burrell misplayed. Cole Hamels was upset with the misplay and put his arm up in disgust, the young fella has to learn it is not a smart thing to show up a teammate on a mistake ! Just an inning before Burrell made an excellent play on a ball hit off the wall by Prince Fielder holding Fielder to a single, this allowed for Fielder to be doubled up when the next batter grounded into a double play. Hamels needed to pick up his mate the way Burrell had done for him on that play. It comes with experience.

Jimmy Rollins got the two runs back for Hamels with a two run home run in the Phillies sixth. Hamels pitched 6 and 1/3 innings of strong baseball to earn his 13th win of the season. The closing firm of Chad Durbin, J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge finished the game for the Phillies to put the team within 2 games of a tie for the wild card playoff spot!

J-Roll had three hits in this one, when he is on base and Mr. Howard is hot like he is this team is very tough. Why anyone would want to trade Ryan Howard is beyond me, especially when he gets in streaks like he is in now. Even what some perceive to be a subpar season for him he is still leading the league in home runs and RBI’s !!

Chatter

Since the game friday night was rained out there will be a doubleheader tommorow to make it up. It will be the same setup as last week with a day/night format. Joe Blanton will take the ball in the first game and Brett Myers will go in the second. Myers will be working on three days rest for the first time this year and like teammate Jamie Moyer did not hesitate to accept the assignment. He was even spotted in the bullpen during thursday nights game after pitching on Wednesday and stated he could go a inning then! Gotta love the guys desire to help the team in whatever way he can! The Brewers could have opted to play on Monday, an off day for both teams but given choice decided they would rather face Myers on short rest. Geoff Jenkins is off the disabled list and eligible to play but not sure what his status is in regards to effectiveness.

Backs against the wall and in need of leaders to step up the Phillies embarked on a four game journey against the Brewers by sending veteran Jamie Moyer to the hill. Moyer has been in essence the staff ace this season and is leading the team in wins and quality starts. He took this assignment on three days rest, first time this season attempting to do that for the 45 year old ! Ryan Howard gave Moyer an early cushion as he belted a Ben Sheets fastball over the center field wall in the very first inning to put the Fightins up 2 to 0. Jimmy Rollins scored in front of Howard as he reached on a single to lead off the game.

J.J. Hardy took Moyer out in the third to make the count 2 to 1. Ryan Howard got it back in the 4th as he belted a double off the top of the centerfield fence to plate Chase Utley who had led off the inning with a single. Pedro Feliz doubled off the right field wall to score Howard. Prince Fielder slammed a two run home run in the top of the sixth to make the score 4 to 3.

Charlie went to the pen in the sixth, Moyer threw five and 2/3 innings and left with the lead. He gave the team another pro’s pro effort and showed his younger teammates how to perform in big games. Ryan Madson got first call from the pen and got a groundout to end the visitor’s sixth. The Phillies scored again in the bottom of the sixth as Carlos Ruiz doubled home Pedro Feliz. Feliz had reached base on a single.

Ryan Madson pitched into the eighth inning and actually got two outs before Charlie had to do his bullpen shuffle to complete the inning. He used both Scott Eyre and Chad Durbin to finish the inning. At end of eight 5 to 3 Phils. Good job by Mr. Madson in this one going two innings allowing no runs.

Shane Victorino led off the bottom of the eighth with a single, went to second on an errant throw to first, was sacrificed to third by Pedro Feliz on a bunt and scored on a squeeze bunt by Carlos Ruiz! Small ball baby! If it didn’t work you can bet your last dollar the talk show discussion would have been second guessing the hell out of that one!

Brad Lidge pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn his 36th save in 36 tries. The Phillies increased their record to 66 and 0 when leading after eight innings. One down, three to go !

Chatter

Skipper Charlie Manuel in his game recap with the Press last night called out the home fans to step up just like the team needs to. Mr. Manuel stated that the fans were flat in the Marlins series and that the team needed their energy to push them along. I wholeheartedly agree with him and in fact listed that as one of my “little things” in a previous blog article the team needed. I also agree with my buddy Al in his response to last nights blog review that I am tired of the blame being funnelled on the skipper, lets all get on the same page folks……… players, coaches, front office, skipper and yes us as fans…………. beat the damn Brew Crew and then sweep the Braves and Nats in the last 12! Who says it can’t be done, not me!

One last thing for tonight, God Bless the memory of those who died on 9/11/01, I like all Americans will never ever forget that horrible day in our history and will always honor those who perished. God Bless America !

Sometimes when you lose a game it is due to just being beat and you have to acknowledge the other teams efforts. That being said if you wish to become a playoff club you cannott afford to have games like that happen late in the season. Brett Myers took the hill for the Fightins with his usual gunslinger demeanor and battled the Fish thru 7 and 1/3 innings. He did not have his best stuff but left the game with the score tied at three and two runners on base.

The inability of the Front Office to add a set up man once again burnt the team and very possibly ended their playoff hopes. The trio of Chad Durbin, J.C. Romero and Clay Condrey could not hold the Marlins as they plated four runs in the eighth and ninth innings. Set, Game and Match!

Final Score Marlins 7 Phillies 3

The loss put the Phillies four down in the loss column to the Division leading Mets and four down in the wild card. Phat Lady is close to singing boys! This party is breaking up and is very very close to being over!

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Chatter

Ryan Howard hit his 42nd home run in the game but the Phillie offense could only produce seven hits total. J.C. Romero seemed to be giving catcher Chris Coste grief after getting ripped for a double that let in two runs in the ninth………… here is a clue J.C. , the catcher may call the pitch but he sure as hell does not throw it! If there was a problem with the pitch call then very simply shake him off and oh by the way any pitch down the middle will get ripped most of the time !

Sorry, not much of a narrative in this recap but as a lifelong Philly fan I am just very disgusted once again! Took the afternoon off to watch this and not obviously up to expectations of what transpired !

Eighteen games left in the season and more than one behind in the playoff race means little if any wriggle room for failure.  The Phillies needed a big effort from starter Kyle Kendrick against the Marlins in this one with that in mind.   Kendrick could not deliver as he was belted around and only lasted one and one third innings giving up 7 runs on six hits and also issued two walks.   Jorge Cantu blasted a three run home run in the second inning to seal Kendrick’s fate.  Sinker ball pitchers who cannott locate get blasted and Kendrick is in a major funk……….. not good for a team hoping to reach the playoffs! 

Marlins starter Chris Volstad was lifted after three innings not because of how he pitched but strictly due to being hit by a line drive off the bat of Carlos Ruiz in the third inning.  Volstad only gave up one run on two hits.  J.A. Happ relieved Kendrick and threw two shutout innings before getting lit up by Mike Jacobs in the fourth for a two run home run to make the count 9 to 1!

Eulogio Dela Cruz came on to pitch for the Marlins in the fourth and the Fightins greeted him by scoring three runs including a two run home run by Ryan Howard and a triple by Pat Burrell.  Just when you thought we might come back Happ gets blasted in the fifth for another bomb by Cody Ross to make it 10-4 !  One thing I know about this team though is that quit is not in the vocabulary.  That being said the Fightins scored four in the home sixth to make the count 10-8 !   Key hits were delivered by Shane Victorino, Matt Stairs and Greg Dobbs.

The Marlins held on though as too much lead was given by Kendrick and the Fightins could not overcome the early deficit.  With the Phillies loss and Mets win they now fall 3 back in the loss column, hole gets deeper.

Chatter

The appearance of J.A. Happ in this one means that Jamie Moyer will start on Thursday against the Brewers on three days rest.  Moyer gets the importance of these games so I am sure he eagerly stepped up to the request.  If the Phillies can win every series remaining they would go 11 and 6 meaning to tie the Mets they must go no better than 9 and 9.  At a minimum I think that is what the Fightins must accomplish to earn the division albeit the Mets are unlikely to lose 9 of the next 18.  Can’t have your starter get whooped early if you are trying to win at that pace !

My good buddy Ray was caught on the TV screen in the fourth inning as he caught a foul ball off the bat of Dan Uggla.  Where the ball was hit was more significant than the catch, it was in the upper upper deck!  Gotta get better seats than that Ray my boy !

Skipper Charlie Manuel stacked the lineup with left handed bats against Florida starter Anibal Sanchez as the young Marlins starter has struggled big time against lefties but has held opposing right hand hitters to a batting average under .200.   The Phillies jumped out early as Jimmy Rollins led off the game with a single, stole second, went to third on an errant throw by the catcher and scored on a single by Chase Utley.  Ryan Howard then plated Utley with a screaming double to the right center field wall.  Phillies starter Joe Blanton gave the lead right back though in the second as he issued two consecutive walks and paid for it as the Marlins used a sacrifice fly and ground out to tie the game!

The Fightins bounced Sanchez from the game in the second as Matt Stairs walked, went to third on a double by Carlos Ruiz and scored on a sacrifice fly by Blanton.  Ruiz scored on a single by Jimmy Rollins.  Sanchez then walked Utley and his night was over!  Ryan Howard greeted lefty reliever Mark Hendrickson with a single up the middle to score Rollins to put the Phillies up by three.  Once again Blanton gave it right back as he walked the leadoff hitter again and Mike Jacobs took him way deep to right field to make the count 5 to 4 after only 2 and 1/2 innings of play.  It only took 1 and 1/4 hours to record the first 15 outs ! 

 That score held thru five frames albeit Blanton struggled with control throughout.  He was replaced by Chad Durbin in the sixth inning.  Durbin pitched two scoreless innings.  In the Phillies seventh Shane Victorino and Chase Utley reached base on a walk and Hit by Pitch after Rollins had grounded out.  Ryan Howard then hit a ground ball to second that could have been an inning ending double play had Utley not went hard into the bag preventing Marlin shortstop Hanley Ramirez from making a throw…………… big little thing that produces wins!  Jayson Werth then blasted a three run home run to center field to put the Phils up by four!  He would not have even batted if not for the all out hustle and slide of Mr. Utley !

J.C. Romero came into the eighth, got one out but then gave two right back as he issued a walk and then saw Cody Ross slam a fast ball into the left field seats.  Charlie then went to Ryan Madson and he got one out before getting slammed for a double by Josh Willingham.  Charlie came out once again and brought in Scott Eyre who threw one pitch to end the inning.  Whatever the cost of getting Kyle Farnsworth from the Tigers was in my opinion would have been worth it as I do not know how long Charlie can piece together the eighth inning hold situations !

Brad Lidge pitched the ninth inning and earned his 35th save in 35 tries despite some heart thumping as Florida put two runners on, Lidge struck out the last two batters to end it.  The Phillies are now 65 and 0 when leading after eight.  Jimmy Rollins scored three runs and had three stolen bases in this one as he collected three hits, another of the key little things, J-Roll set the table and put the pressure on the Fish throughout.

Chatter

The one and two thirds outing was the shortest of the 24 year old Anibal Sanchez’s career.  He is coming off shoulder surgery and obviously is still not right with his mechanics.  Kyle Kendrick gets a shot at redemption tommorrow night as he gets the start against the Fish.  Kendrick usually pitches well at home, his struggles have been all on the road thus far,  I expect the young man to step up as he is an 11 game winner so far this year therefore has the ability……….. just has to keep the sinker down as these Marlins swing from the heels and are definitely all or nothing hitters.   Third base coach Steve Smith was back in the box after serving a two game suspension for being run from a game in Washington last week,  Lehigh Valley triple A manager Dave Humpert had filled in for Smith in New York for the first two games of that series.   Ryan Howard had another mental block on a throwing play in this game in the second inning when he had a play at home but did not make the throw opting instead to let a run score and tag the runner coming to first, don’t know what it is but he has to cut it loose !

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 ?