If That Happened in Philly …

… It would be the lead story on ESPN, columns both nationally and locally would be killing Philadelphia fans and once again, we'd be talking snow balls, cheering injuries and batteries. But seeing as it was a Cubs fan that doused Shane Victorino with an adult beverage, mid-catch no less, all's good. Midwesterners are such nice people. It was all in jest.

Honestly media, can we just end this entire Philadelphia fans are ruthless savages that disgrace sport? Clearly, this happens everywhere … even the sacred Wrigley Field. There are morons everywhere. But for serious, that was impeccable timing by that guy. Kudos to him for that.

Not so much for Cubs security though, who escorted the wrong fan out the game originally. Sucks for that guy.

Beer-tossing aside, the story was twofold last night for the Phils: the awakening of the slumbering bats and, of course, Pedro.



Let's begin with the 3-time Cy Young award winner. His line doesn't look all that impressive: 5 innings pitched, 7 hits, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts. But I have to say, the start was encouraging for his first time taking a big league mound in nearly a year. For starters, Pedro showed he can still get big league batters out via the K, something Jamie Moyer isn't too adept at doing these days. Five strikeouts in five innings bodes very, very well.

Also, the velocity was there, as his fastball routinely touched 90 mph, never slipping below 88 and topping out at 92-93. That's a hell of a lot more intimidating than an 81-82 mph fastball. And despite running some deep counts, he only walked one batter, proving when push comes to shove, the guy isn't going to hurt himself by handing out free passes.

Clearly, we would have liked to see a little more from Pedro. He struggled with his location, running many deep counts, and those 7 hits were a direct result from missing his spots in the zone. There were many pitches were Martinez hit the black with perfect precision, and then there were times he threw some mistakes that caught entirely too much of the plate.

All in all, I'd say it was encouraging, even with the unimpressive stat line. Pedro seemed confident he'll only get better, and the more he works out of the stretch and feels comfortable — and the healthier he gets — you have to believe he'll start hitting his spots more consistently. If he does that, he'll be a big boost as a fifth starter.



I'm happy to have him on board, and I really can't wait to see him pitch a complete game shutout against the Mets. You just know that's going to happen.

As for the bats, well, it was fun to see them get going, especially with the top three in the order just killing it. Jimmy Rollins (2-for-4, 2 r, 3 rbi, hr, 2b), Shane Victorino (2-for-5, 2 r, 2 rbi, hr, 3b) and Chase Utley (3-for-4, 2 r, 1 rbi, 2b) went a combined 7-for-13 with 6 runs, 6 rbis, and 2 home runs. That's called production from the top of lineup.

It was also nice to see Ryan Howard easily leg out a triple, his 3rd! of the season, Raul launch a 3-run bomb and Werth and Feliz each notch two hits. Even Curbball got in on the action, getting a hit, a run and an RBI. It's nice to face a wide receiver that basically throws nothing but straight fastballs. Samardzija sort of resembled another Notre Dame pitcher last night … sucking as much as Brad Lidge has this year.

Hopefully last night got the confidence back in the bats, and hopefully Pedro uses the start to knock the rust off and regain something closer to his Hall-of-Fame self than the injury-plagued scrub from the Mets the past two seasons.

Oh, and Eric Bruntlett went 0-for-1 with an error in a game that everyone was hitting the ball and Shane Victorino was making a catch with beer thrown at him.

Moral of the story: Eric Bruntlett needs to be put down. Not sent down. Put down.

It's OK to Let a Lefty Hit Against a Lefty Sometimes

Charlie Manuel, by my definition, is the greatest Philadelphia manager/coach of my lifetime. Why? He's the only one with a ring. But man, the guy really makes me scratch my head sometimes, mainly with the way he uses his bench.



My main problem with his handling of the bench is the way he so often uses a pinch-hitter for a position player. This drives me nuts. He manages a National League team, meaning you're going to need pinch-hitters for your pitchers a number of times a game most games. Yet so often, Charlie wastes a bench move on a regular in tight games, as he did the last two nights.

For a refresher, two nights ago, Charlie sent out Eric Brunlett to pinch-hit for Greg Dobbs in the 7th inning because the Reds brought in a lefty. Eric Bruntlett isn't even hitting Allen Iverson's weight. Bruntlett, of course, struck out. Then last night, in a tie game in the 8th, he pinch-hit for Dobbs with John Mayberry because the Reds had a lefty on the mound. There were two on with two out. Of course, the Reds then brought in a righthander to face Mayberry, who struck out looking.

In both instances, Manuel pinch-hit for Dobbs, wasting a move in a tight game to deplete his bench in case the game went further, and neither time worked. Yes, there are times when you'd rather have a the righty-lefty matchup or the lefty-righty matchup or a certain player vs. a certain pitcher late in the game. I get that. But in these instances, it didn't make any sense. Eric Bruntlett can't hit anyone, and Mayberry is a rookie who hasn't played much at all against righties. Yet Manuel felt more comfortable with them than having the red-hot Greg Dobbs face a lefty.



My question is why? Check out Dobbs' career numbers against lefties. Admittedly, they're not very impressive, but his career .255 average is certainly better than Bruntlett against anyone and trusting a rookie to do something he has not been asked to do. Wouldn't it make sense to just leave Dobbs in and take your chances, especially when he's been hitting the hell out of the ball of late?

I just don't understand it. But hey, the Phils are in first. They did win last night. I just get frustrated at how often Manuel pinch-hits for other hitters, leaving him with limited options late in games. And seriously, someone take out Eric Bruntlett already.

This Should Never Happen

The Phillies lost 4-3 last night not because of one specific player or because of pitching. They lost because they stranded approximately 584 base-runners one night after putting up 22 runs. Fine. That's baseball. Things like that happen.

But one thing that should never, ever happen with this Phillies team: Putting the game on Eric Bruntlett's shoulders. Or more specifically, his putrid bat.



I know Bruntlett has shut me up before, but come on folks, the joke is over. This guy has absolutely no business on a major league roster. He can't hit. He's an average fielder. And while he often makes pinch-running appearances, he's not all that fast either.

But there he was last night, at the dish in the bottom of the ninth with Ryan Howard on first, two outs and the Phils down by a run. Eric Bruntlett. Who was hitting .143 on the season before he grounded out to end the game (now hitting .141). His numbers make Jimmy Rollins look like Ted freakin Williams.

And for the record, I'd rather have Greg Dobbs hit off a lefty than have Eric Bruntlett pinch-hit against a little leaguer 100 times out of 100. Dobbs can hit. Bruntlett can't. Pinch-hitting him there for Dobbs in the 7th, who has actually been hot of late, is just a horrible, horrible move no matter how you look at it, Charlie.

This whole Eric Bruntlett joke has gotten so old. Just cut him loose and call up someone. Anyone. Because Brunlett and his stupid beard are doing nothing but wasting space on that bench.

This message has been brought to you by the Rid the World of Eric Bruntlett Foundation. That guy sucks.

Bruntlett Sucks, Says Burrell

Well, not exactly. But Pat is not happy with getting replaced at the end of games for defensive reasons, and neither am I.

From the Inquirer:

"I'm upset, absolutely," Burrell said. "I'm upset, and I have been for a long time. It's not personal. I don't want to ever come out of close games."

"In that situation, we're trying to put more speed out there, so I can't question what the manager is trying to do. He's got confidence in all his guys," Burrell said. "But I can't lie and say I'm not frustrated by it, especially when it's close like that in a low-scoring game. He knows that. We've discussed it.

"Do I wish it was different? Absolutely. I don't know any other way to say that. A lot of games I've come out, it's never an issue, but when it does come back to bite us, it becomes more of a focus."

"Maybe I've got to improve my 60 times," he said.

This whole defensive substitution thing has been bugging the hell out of me for a long time. Sure, Bruntlett covers more ground, but he's really not that much better in the field. Not so much that it justifies taking out Burrell in a tight game. Pat has been one of the few consistent hitters for the Phils this year, and his bat is needed in close games.

For all the wins Manuel has put together with this team, the man is a horrible, I repeat, horrible game situation manager. He may keep the guys loose and do a lot of little things that are invisible to the naked eye, but he sure as shit can't do the things that are obvious to the naked eye very well.