Yesterday afternoon, I headed down to Citizens Bank Park to take in a sparsely attended August outing between the no-longer-in-last-place Phillies and middle-of-the-pack Diamondbacks. I'm sure the Phillies once again announced another sellout, but the ballpark was emptier than I have ever seen since it became the Phillies' new home in 2004.
There were plenty of empty blue seats. Ashburn Alley was nearly vacant. Practically no concession stands hand any considerable lines. Hell, there was no wait for hoagies or cheesesteaks any time we walked past. While it wasn't quite as bad as the old days of routine last-place finishes, it did bring back a few memories of Veterans Stadium.
It was really odd to see Citizens Bank Park in that state. For the first time in a half decade, there is literally no real excitement around the Phillies. The season is over for all intents and purposes, with focus shifting on the offseason and figuring out a way to rebound for 2013.
Even in an exciting game in and of itself, a game in which Cliff Lee struggled with the long ball and fell behind 3-0 only to see the Phillies battle back behind John Mayberry, Domonic Brown, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, the atmosphere was subdued. It's not 2008 anymore, that's for damn sure.
For the first few innings, we baked in the left field stands. Then we decided to take a stroll around the park and find some more choice seats in the unoccupied sections. On the way, on the first base side between right field and first, we came to this hall of ghosts, with Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino hanging above the corridor, only to be followed immediately by Joe Blanton.
Three former Phillies all shipped off to the West Coast, Blanton and Victorino as Dodgers, Pence as a Giant, to remind us of a season lost. It was comical and a little bit sad all at the same time.
Speaking of the Dodgers, Cliff Lee toed the rubber for the first time since those L.A. jerks claimed him off of waivers in their attempt to poach from the team that repeatedly tormented them in the playoffs. I'm not sure if Cliff was distracted by that or just continued his subpar season, but he surrendered three runs in the second inning on two homers, then gave up a third home run to Paul Goldschmidt in the sixth right after Chase Utley had tied the game with a solo home run of his own in the 5th. Not an impressive outing for Lee, but then again he hasn't exactly had the most impressive 2012. No Phillie has, with the exception of Carlos Ruiz, and now that guy is on the disabled list.
However, the Phillies wouldn't quit, led by their two lanky outfielders who are auditioning for roster spots in 2013. John Mayberry, who scored on a wild pitch in the second after walking, and Domonic Brown, who doubled in that same inning and then scored on an Erik Kratz double, were at it again.
After Utley flied out and Ryan Howard struck out for the third time in the game to lead off the bottom of the 8th, Mayberry singled, then got to second on a wild pitch. Brown followed that up with a single off the pitcher, putting runners on second and third, and then Mayberry scored the tying run on a throwing error by the pitcher.
As we settled in to seats down low near third base, Jonathan Papelbon got through a scoreless top of the 9th, and the Phillies went into small ball mode.
Juan Pierre led things off as a pinch hitter, another guy we were surprised hasn't been moved yet. You'd think some team would be interested in Pierre for his base-running, leadership and the fact that the man can still hit a little, evident by his .314 average here in 2012. Thankfully on this day Juan was still a Phillie, as he led off with single, then was advanced to second on a bunt by Nate Schierholtz.
Up came Laynce Nix to with a single to put runners on first and third. Then Arizona decided to intentionally walk Utley to get to Ryan Howard. That seemed like a good idea, seeing as Howard looked absolutely awful yesterday, heading to the dish 0-for-4 on the day with three horrendous strikeouts.
So naturally, Ryan ripped a walk-off single to right and sent us all home packing. And by us all, I mean the 20,000 or so Phillies fans there as Pierre crossed home plate.
In an exciting come-from-behind victory, the real story was the ghost town that CBP had become, one haunted by the hall of former Phillies ghost, reminding us all just how dismal 2012 has been.
Yesterday saw an exodus of Pennsylvania athletes to California. Shane Victorino was traded to Los Angeles, Hunter Pence to San Francisco, and Penn State running back Silas Redd transferred to USC. None of the moves came as a particular surprise, but it feels strange nonetheless, especially Shane not donning the red pinstripes anymore.
The trade of Victorino could be seen coming from a mile away. He is getting older, he is not having a particularly great season, and he is a free agent at the end of the season. As the Phils season continued its downward spiral, it became clear that the best thing the club could do at the moment would be to shed salary, try to restock the farm system, and try to get younger. Shane was one of the most obvious pieces with which to attempt to achieve those goals.
I've always liked Shaner, and it's sad to see him go. He's been one of the main cogs of the Phillies' amazing run since 2007. I loved his fiery attitude, even when I was occasionally frustrated with him not making the smartest baseball plays from time to time. He played an integral role in the best era of Phillies baseball in their long history, and he was also extremely active in the community. Thanks for everything Shaner, on and off the field.
Hunter Pence was another obvious trade candidate, and honestly I'm glad that the Phillies moved him. He won me over when he arrived with his attitude and his hustle. But overall his short time in Philly was a disaster, because he was brought in to be the right-handed bat that would balance the lineup and propel the Phils to another championship. As we all know, that didn't materialize, and now the Phillies are in last place. This season Hunter has struck out too many times for my taste, and has had too many misadventures in right field. With the team going nowhere this season, it's definitely the right move to ship him out and rid yourself of his salary.
And finally Silas Redd, Penn State's leading rusher last season, announced he was transferring to USC. Again, no real surprise here. I have to admit I'm conflicted on this. The emotional fan side of me wants to be bitter and call him a coward and a turncoat for bailing on his team and his school when times got bad. But for once in my life I will go with my logical, rational side. Silas had to do what he felt was best for him and for his career. He gets to go to USC and compete for a national championship. He felt this was the best thing for him right now. Silas, I'm disappointed and I would have loved to see you finish your college career in blue and white, but good luck out in Cali.
While the Phillies' moves where underwhelming, while it's hard to accept them being sellers when for so many years they've been buyers, and while it's hard to watch Shaner go and it would have been nice to see Pence get a little more time to make things work out here, Ruben Amaro Jr. did the right thing. He cut salary where he could, giving the Phillies at least a little bit of flexibility in that department heading into next season. He got a relief arm, Josh Lindblom, who although I don't know much about him, has decent numbers this season (2-2, 3.02 ERA, 15 holds). And he got a few prospects, the most promising of which is Tommy Joseph, the #2 ranked prospect in the Giants' system.
You would assume that John Mayberry Jr. will get the majority of starts in CF the remainder of the season giving the Phillies a perhaps final chance to see what he can offer as an everyday player. And I hope that they give Dom Brown the majority of the starts in RF, again to gauge if he can be the type of player that we all hope he can, or if it's time to cut ties with him. They still have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, still have Chooch, and hopefully will start next season with a healthy Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Amaro Jr. did what he could to put the Phils in a position to treat this season as a hiccup, and to get back to being the Phillies we've had the pleasure of watching for the past five years.
It's no secret that watching the 2012 Philadelphia Phillies has been a painful experience with more than a third of the season behind us. They are six games under .500 and 9 games behind the NL East-leading Washington Nationals. With each passing game, the season looks more and more like a lost cause, especially following a weekend sweep at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays.
The wheels have seemingly fallen off on a club that won a franchise record and MLB-leading 102 games just last season. We all know about the key injuries to guys like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Roy Halladay that have put a big dent in Philadelphia's armor, but the truth of the matter is the issues run much deeper. And the one that stands out to me the most is just how awful of a defensive team the 2012 Philadelphia are.
During this remarkable five-year run of NL East championships that included back-to-back trips to the World Series and one ring, the most consistent aspect of the Phillies was their stellar defense. In 2007, they had the third fewest errors in the National League and the second-highest fielding percentage in the NL. They were again stellar in 2008, committing the fifth least amount of errors in the NL and finishing with a .985 fielding percentage. And the defense just kept getting better.
In 2009, only the Pirates finished with fewer errors in all of baseball, and in 2010, they again finished in top three defensively in the NL. Last season, the Phillies had their best statistical season defensively to date, leading the Majors with a .988 fielding percentage by committing an NL-low 74 errors. Only Tampa Bay's 73 bested that mark.
Essentially, the Phillies over the past five years have not given anything away to their opponents. They played stellar defense behind Gold Glovers Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino, not mention excellent defense from guys like Chase Utley at 2nd; Pedro Feliz and even Abraham Nunez at third, as well as Placido Polanco's Gold Glove last year; remarkable work behind the plate by Carlos Ruiz; and Jayson Werth's speed and arm in right field. Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell/Raul Ibanez were really the only question marks in the field, and we all saw Howard work his butt off to improve as he shed weight — though he still couldn't throw to second base — and while Ibanez and Burrell couldn't cover much ground, both had strong arms in left. Simply put, the Phillies saved a lot of runs with their defense and rarely gave any away.
This season, that simply has not been the case. Seemingly out of nowhere, the defense has dropped to the middle of the pack, and there are holes in the field all over the place. Hunter Pence is a mess in right field. He takes terrible routes to balls, completely misjudging more than any major leaguer should, and he's even been known to drop a fly ball or two. Ty Wigginton is a liability no matter where he's at, already committing a team-high 9 errors. Juan Pierre has been one of the few Phils doing work at the plate, but his arm is at a Little League level these days, and he doesn't come close to covering the ground he used to. Even the perennial Gold Glove candidates Rollins and Victorino have struggled. Rollins already has five errors this season, including a killer throwing error on Saturday, well on his way to shatter his single-season high of 14 errors. Meanwhile, Victorino seems to have caught some of Pence's fielding disease, misjudging or flat out missing more balls in center these first few months than I remember him missing the past five years, not to mention his arm strength clearly diminishing.
Honestly, only Carlos Ruiz has played at his typical defensive level as far as the healthy regulars are concerned. Polanco is still very good at third, but his range continues to lessen each year. John Mayberry is outstanding in the outfield, probably the team's best fielder out there right now, but he can't get in the lineup consistently. Freddy Galvis was playing a magical second base, but now that he's down, there's a void there too. This just isn't the same team defensively that we've grown accustomed to the past half decade, and it's one of the many reasons the 2012 Phillies are basement dwellers.
When you throw mediocre to bad defense on top of injuries, inconsistent hitting, overworked starting pitching and a rag-tag bullpen, it's no wonder the Phillies look nothing like the powerhouse they've been the past five years.
The Phillies once again won last night, beating the Reds 3-2 in the first game of a four-game series out in Cincinnati. And while the win was all well and good, I have to tell you that I still disagree with Charlie Manuel's decision to lift Cole Hamels after 6 brilliant innings of work.
Listen, I know Hamels was making his first start after a stint on the 15-day DL with some shoulder discomfort. And I know that it's much more important to have Hamels ready to go 7, 8, 9 innings in October than it is in late August. But the fact of the matter is the Phillies, even with their 6.5-game lead over the Braves, need to keep winning every game they can to both secure the division and secure home-field advantage in the NL seeing as the Brewers are gaining ground.
So with Hamels having pitched 6 innings of 2-hit, 1-run, 7-strikeout, no-walk ball in just 76 pitches and saying he felt great and healthy, there was no reason he should have come out of the game. Especially when you consider a few things. Number one, one of the two hits he surrendered, the triple to Brandon Phillips that led to that one run, shouldn't have even been a hit. Hunter Pence slipped in the outfield as he got a little turned around, letting a ball drop that he should have easily caught. In that instance, I agree 100 percent with what ESPN broadcaster Sean McDonough said during the telecast. McDonough said he thinks that mishaps like Pence's slip and the Brandon Phillips error that was labeled a Chase Utley hit earlier should be considered errors because, well, the fact that Pence slipped was his error, just as the fact that Phillips tried to backhand toss a ball from far away was his error. The pitcher shouldn't be punished for that.
Then consider that Cole was completing dealing and mowing down the Reds with ease, not working too hard or straining himself. Further, the game was tied 1-1, with Homer Bailey matching Hamels' performance himself, striking out a ton of Phillies and rarely surrendering any good contact. With the game tied heading into the 7th, you never know how long the game could go. Shit, these two teams already played a 19-inning marathon in which the Phils ran out of pitchers once this year. Why use up a bullpen arm so early when your pitcher is dealing and only at 76 pitches? Also, Hamels' spot in the order was due up in the top of the 8th, so it would have made more sense to let him start the 7th and then pinch-hit for his spot in the 8th, or if he ran into trouble in the 7th, make a double switch. And finally, to cap it off, Cole wanted to stay in the game. He was engaged in a pretty lively discussion with Charlie and Dubee to stay in the game, and he said he felt great.
Yet Manuel decided to lift Cole after only 6 in a 1-1 tie, going to Antonio Bastardo, and he didn't even make a double switch at all, meaning no matter how the inning played out, the Phils would pretty much have to lift whatever bullpen arm closed out the 7th for a pinch-hitter.
I was confused and a little angery. It just seemed like a stupid decision to me, even as Rick Sutcliffe and Aaron Boone were trying to convince me having the bullpen get in the game was the best thing for the Phillies because it had been such a long time since the team played. Yeah, but yesterday they started a string of 33 games in 31 days, meaning the bullpen will certainly be called upon big time, so why not keep them as well-rested as possible to endure this brutal stretch?
Then again, Sutcliffe and Boone also tried to tell us that Reds really, honestly should consider trading Joey Votto to make room for Yonder Alonso because Votto is going to cost too much. This despite the fact that Votto has two more years on a friendly contract, is the reigning NL MVP and is one of the best players in baseball. Then one of them, I think Sutcliffe, actually said, "Well, if he puts a good at-bat together here, then you have to start thinking about it." What? If Yonder Alonso has one good at-bat late in a game against the Phillies in August of his rookie year, he's basically good enough to replace Joey Votto? Are you fucking nuts?
Even when I get the chance to get away from Tom McCarthy and Sarge, I still have to hear absolutely moronic statements. Though I do have to give Sutcliffe credit, he did a perfect, informative analysis on Ryan Hanigan changing the signs, calling for a fastball in but actually telling Homer Bailey to throw a breaking ball outside when he headed out to the mound to combat Wilson Valdez potentially stealing signs and relaying them to Shane Victorino.
That trickery caught Shane looking at strike three, completely fooled by a pitch. By the way, that at-bat by Victorino there in the 5th was absolutely horrible. It started out great, as he got ahead of Bailey 3-1 with runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. But then he chased a 3-1 slider that was in the dirt instead of locking in on a fastball and letting anything else go, then looked at said strike three on Hanigan and Bailey outfoxing him. It was extremely frustrating to watch, especially since the Phils had just tied it on a huge double by Wilson Valdez thanks to some shoddy outfield play, putting two runners in scoring position. But let's just say Shane made up for it later.
As Suttcliffe was insisting that removing Hamels was the best move for the Phillies in the 7th, Antonio Bastardo walked leadoff batter Votto, and I was really, really irritated. Of course, Bastardo then struck out the next three batters, making them all look foolish, so Antonio certainly did his job.
And after Wilson Valdez singled off Bailey to start the 8th and Michael Martinez failed to get a bunt down while hitting for Bastardo, not even Ryan Hanigan's smooth trickery could stop Shane this time. Bailey unleashed a first-ball breaking ball, and Victorino absolutely killed it, giving the Phils a 3-1 lead with just 6 outs to go.
See, had Manuel left Cole in to pitch the 7th, the game would be right where he wanted it, with Bastardo for the 8th and Ryan Madson for the 9th. But now Bastardo was already used, so the game was in the hands of the struggling Michael Stutes.
I mentioned this last week and it bears repeating: Stutes simply looks gassed right now. The kid was so good most of this season, but for the past month or so, he looks out of bullets. It's understandable for the rookie, who has pitched in a ton of games and more recently had been tasked with pitching multiple innings per outing by Charlie, which really baffled me.
And last night it was more of the same. Stutes looked like he's simply lost something on his pitches. Yeah, he was still throwing 92 and 93 mph, but that's down from the 94-96 he was hitting earlier in the year. And his off-speed pitches don't have the same bite, oftentimes staying up in the zone and getting hit hard. That was certainly the case in his inning of work last night. Yes, he did get out of it with the lead still intact, but Stutes was up in the zone, surrendered three hits and gave up a run to allow Cincy to get within one.
As good as he's been all year, if he doesn't turn it around soon and regain his early-season form, I'd feel terribly uncomfortable seeing him enter a tight ballgame in October.
Thankfully Stutes' run and Manuel's decisions didn't cost the Phils, as Madson closed the door in the 9th to give the Phils the 3-2 win. But I still disagree with the way Manuel managed his arms.
But I do agree, 100 percent, with Hamels wanting to stay in the game and with Sean McDonough's take on errors.
Last night, I finally attended a Phillies game that featured both good weather and a victory — an occurrence that hadn't happened all season for me. Of course, there was an earthquake here in Philadelphia and all across the East Coast beforehand, which was all sorts of weird.
I can honestly say that last thing I expected when I went to work yesterday was for an earthquake to hit and rock my building. Yet there I was, at first feeling a rumbling in my feet and wondering what the hell was going on. Next thing I know, people are creeping out of their offices/cubicles, confused and curious and some even scared. The light fixtures were swaying like crazy, and for a second I thought our building was collapsing.
Then I took to Twitter and saw people all over the place were talking about the earthquake that just struck. Talk about odd. I had never before experienced an earthquake, and since there wasn't actually any damage or harm as far as I know in my office or here in Philadelphia, it was actually pretty cool. Having said that, I now in no way am interested in living in California. I mean, the quake originated in Virginia and was a 5.8 or something. I can't even imagine what it must feel like for a 7 or 8 on the actual fault line. When it comes to earthquakes, the East Coast is a giant pussy compared to the West Coast, no question about it.
Sadly the earthquake did not shut down my building, and work resumed as usual. In fact, I actually had to work later than anticipated even though I wanted to get out as quickly as possible and head to the ballpark because I'm pretty sure god hates me, or at least really enjoys fucking with me — not that I blame him.
Anyway, I finally head to the game with a buddy of mine, and the first thing I noticed was how few Mets fan made the trip down 95.
There was next to none of them present, a far cry from a few years ago. Remember when Citizens Bank Park opened? Every time the Mets came to down, thousands, and I mean thousands, of Mets fan would invade CBP and cause quite an electric and potent atmosphere. No, it was never a takeover like what's been happening down in D.C. when the Phils take on the Nationals, but a large portion of the stadium was taken up by Mets fans. In fact, one of my favorite CBP experiences ever was going to a game with a group of my friends and harassing a Mets fan who was wearing a faded Roberto Alomar Mets shirt. The "AL" was faded out on the back of the shirt, so the entire game we were yelling, "OMAR!" at the guy nonstop. He was clearly agitated but really couldn't do much about it because a. there was like 6 of us and b. we weren't doing anything profane. It was a blast.
Nowadays, with the Mets becoming chokers, then financially strapped and a laughingstock, there are fewer Mets fans than ever invading Philadelphia. I'm sure the fact that getting a Phillies ticket is no easy task these days plays a part in that, but still, it's pretty stunning the drop-off.
As for the game itself, it was another drubbing. Before you could blink it was 9-0 Phils, and they went on to win 9-4. Shane Victorino got the offense going by murdering a baseball in the 3rd inning, John Mayberry continued to make it damn near impossible for Charlie Manuel to sit him by crushing yet another home run, this one a three-run shot, and Placido Polanco got himself back into the swing of things, picking up two hits and making a nice play in the first to nail Angel Pagan at home plate. Hell, even Ben Fracisco had a three-hit night, with Charlie pushing the right buttons yet again. It sure is nice to play the Mets.
The story of the night, however, was without a doubt Vance Worley.
Worley started off by living dangerously. The guy threw 30-plus pitches in the first inning alone, surrendering back-to-back singles to start the game, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with no one out. Then David Wright hit a chopper to third that Polly had to back up on. It would have been tough to turn two or even go for second with the speedy Ruben Tejada on first, so Polanco's only play seemed to be at first. Except thanks to playing the Mets, Pagan froze on third, then decided to go home. So Polanco calmly threw home and had Pagan by about 7 steps. Man, the Mets are bad.
Then Vance struck out Duda looking, walked Jason Bay and struck out Nick Evans looking. Not pretty, but got out of it with no runs.
The second started out quite similar. Worley again gave up back-to-back hits to start things off, a single by Thole and a double by Turner, to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. Not good. Then all he did was proceed to strike the next three batters out, all looking. In case you're counting, that would be 5 strikeouts for the first 6 outs, all of them looking. Yeah, I'd say Vance is good at fooling hitters.
After that, Worley simply shut the Mets down, dealing through 7 shutout innings. In all, he went 7 innings, striking 9, walking just one, and surrendering just five hits and one run. Oh yeah, he also went 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI. Vance is now 9-1 on the season with a 2.65 ERA and a .229 batting average. Oh, and the Phillies have won the last 12 times he's pitched. Vance Worley is good. Surprisingly good. Even he's surprised with how good he's been:
“I saw myself as a cup-of-coffee guy,” Worley said.
“I didn’t expect to be doing what I’m doing. I just figured I’d be another average guy just filling in shoes.”
I'd say he's filling in quite nicely. And if Worley isn't the biggest surprise this season, then perhaps John Mayberry Jr. is. Listen, I've been about the biggest Raul Ibanez supporter there's been this year, especially during his hot July, but right now, it is damn near impossible for Charlie Manuel to keep John Mayberry out of the lineup. The guy has just been absolutely crushing the baseball.
With last night's two-hit performance in which he killed a baseball for a three-run home run in what turned out to be the difference, Mayberry is now batting .275 with 12 home runs, 41 RBIs, 26 runs, 6 steals and a .539 slugging percentage. He has 26 extra-base hits. All of this in just 193 at-bats. That's beyond remarkable. The guy has 53 hits on the year, and 26 of them have gone for extra bases. Wow. And lately, he's been as dangerous a hitter as the Phillies have.
When you sit back and think about it, it's stunning. Sure, Mayberry is big and strong and fast. He's been a good fielder every time he's gotten the chance to play, and a versatile one at that, able to play any outfield position as well as first base. But entering the season, virtually nothing was expected out of Mayberry.
He played in 39 games in 2009, getting 57 at-bats and putting up unimpressive numbers as a rookie: .211 average, .250 OBP, .474 slugging, .724 OPS, 4 home runs, 8 RBIS, 23 strikeouts and just 2 walks. Last year, he was barely up with the club, getting just 12 plate appearances. And while he did manage to hit 2 homers in those 12 at-bats and hit .333 with a .833 slugging percentage and 1.218 OPS, it was hardly a large sample size. He entered this season batting just .232 and with what people perceived as a huge hole in his swing.
Essentially, he was a flawed hitter who could hit the ball far, but was easy to get out and strike out. He didn't put together good at-bats, and always went for broke. Then suddenly Shane Victorino got injured and Dom Brown and Ben Francisco struggled, so Mayberry got a chance to play every day. And while his average wasn't great at the start, Mayberry started to consistently hit the ball hard and work great at-bats. Suddenly he went from an undisciplined hitter with a huge hole in his swing to a tough out. And the more he's played, the more he's produced.
The guy works the pitcher damn near every at-bat, fouling off tough pitches and laying off bad ones. And when he does go after a ball, he kills it. He no longer looks lost and vulnerable. He looks confident and monstrous. And now he's turning into a beast. The numbers don't lie. John Mayberry has been the most dangerous hitter for the best team in baseball of late, and there are no signs of him slowing down.
It's been an extremely pleasant surprise seeing him mature right before our eyes,. No one even mentions Dom Brown's name anymore. We want more John Mayberry, and that's what we've been getting. It's to the point where he seems to be asserting himself pretty clearly over Ibanez, who has gone back into the tank following a hot July. The way he's going, John Mayberry has to be in the lineup pretty much every day.
Honestly, Vance and Mayberry have probably been the biggest surprises all year for the Phillies, even more so than Antonio Bastardo and Michael Stutes.
Bastardo has been fantastic to be sure, and while no one quite expected what he's done, he started the year with the big club and had shown a lively arm and filthy stuff in the past. And Stutes has been a revelation, but again, he's been up all year, and actually has been fading of late.
Speaking of Stutes, I'm curious as to why Manuel seems to be using him two innings every time he trots him out there of late, especially given his recent struggles. To me, he looks like he has a tired arm, and last night the Mets were rocking the ball off him, even on outs. The fact Charlie left him in in the 9th was really strange to me. Maybe he wanted to get him some more confidence, but I feel like he may be wearing down a bit at this point in the season. And with a 6-run lead going into the 9th, it seemed like a good time to use Michael Schwimmer and rest Stutes' arm a bit.
In four of his last 10 outings, Stutes has gone two innings, and he hasn't been quite as effective of late. May be time for Charlie to cut down his innings a little bit. Then again, maybe not. Charlie certainly knows a whole lot more about Stutes than I do.
Anyway, the only thing that's been more surprising than Worley and Mayberry here in Philadelphia is having an earthquake hit the City of Brotherly Love, though you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who saw any of these occurrences coming.
Easily handling the Mets, however, isn't surprising in the least.
This past weekend, the Phillies continued their assault on baseball by taking 3 of 4 from the defending World Series champions. And while that was very reassuring, especially following losing 2 of 3 to the Giants at home the week before, that was hardly the highlight. Nor was the return of Roy Oswalt, who was shaky but tough, surrendering 12 hits but just 3 runs in six innings of the work in the lone loss for the Phillies.
No, the highlights of this weekend were without a shadow of a doubt the "brawl" that was incited when Shane Victorino was hit by a pitch in the Phils' blowout victory Friday, followed by Eric Karros and Fox having the most bizarre key to the game of all time.
Yes, that does say "Drop a Deuce," and yes, Eric Karros actually said, "Cole Hamels needs to drop a deuce today." God I hope Deuce of Davenport saw that.
On a slightly related tangent, the password for every single one of the fantasy sports leagues I participate in with my high school friends is poop. Why? Because poop is funny.
Also, that Hunter Pence trade is looking pretty damn good right about now, isn't it?
P.S. I finally met the Ed the Sports Fan in person this weekend, as he was in town for the National Association of Black Journalists conference. He was just as cool in person as he is in writing. Philadelphia was honored to have him.
Honestly, you couldn't have asked for a better end to July and start to August if you're a Philadelphia fan. It started with one of the greatest Fridays in Philadelphia history, ended with a weekend sweep and ushered in August with another come-from-behind, extra-inning victory. Essentially, a perfect four days.
Things began Friday with the news that the Eagles signed Vince Young to be the backup quarterback behind Michael Vick.
I couldn't have been happier. Now backing up the Pro Bowl starting quarterback is a Pro Bowl quarterback with a winning record and a world of talent. Excellent signing in my opinion by the Eagles, and a chance for Young to learn from both Vick and Andy Reid to help develop as a QB and reclaim a starting spot going forward.
That seemed like it was going to be the end of the high-profile moves by the Eagles this offseason following the signing of Jason Babin and the Kevin Kolb trade that netted a second-round pick (which Kolb was) and young Pro Bowl cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. All attention now was squarely on the Phillies and their pursuit of Hunter Pence.
Honestly, I was beginning to get agitated on Friday with all the talk and speculation going on about Pence, especially when word leaked (whether true or not) that Domonic Brown was probably going to be included one way or another in the deal. This made me furious because while Brown has certainly had his struggles, it just seemed foolish to me to give him up for Pence, a very good but not great player. I mean, the Phillies weren't willing to include Brown in trades for Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay or Roy Oswalt, and as good as Pence is, he's not nearly as good or accomplished as any of those guys.
Anyway, I wasn't feeling too good, and trying to keep up with all the rumors was exhausting. So I skipped out of work a little early, headed home and laid down to take a nap. When I awoke a little after 6 p.m., I got a call shortly thereafter by Arkansas Fred. I picked up the phone and the first words out of his mouth were, "Is it true? Is this real?"
I had no idea what the hell he was talking about because I had just woken up. He said two of our friends just texted him that Nnamdi Asomugha signed with the Eagles. I couldn't believe it. No way. Can't be true. He told me to verify and call him right back, so I hopped on my computer and sure enough, there it was … Nnamdi Asomugha, easily the best free agent on the market and arguably the best cornerback in all of football, signed a five-year, $60 million contract with the Eagles.
Whoa. Talk about stunning. I mean, with perennial Pro Bowler Asante Samuel already in the fold, then the trade for Rodgers-Cromartie, I pretty much thought the book was closed on Nnamdi to Philadelphia. But just as they have so many times in the past, the Eagles flew under the radar and shocked the entire NFL with this signing.
With it, it immediately brought about speculation that perhaps now the Birds were looking to move Samuel, who coincidentally had not been in camp at Lehigh yet with an excused absence. But word from the Eagles was and has been that they aren't shopping Asante and don't plan on trading him unless they are completely blown away with an offer. That means the Eagles went from Asante and a bunch of bums, making the cornerback situation a major weakness, to Asante now being only the second-best corner on his own team at best. Now the Eagles have Nnamdi, Asante and DRC, easily the best cornerbacks in the NFL by a wide margin. And given the lack of depth and experience at linebacker, I can only assume that means Juan Castillo plans to run a 4-2-5 defense (how awesome would that be?).
That's just frightening. I assume Rodgers-Cromartie will be the odd man out of the starting lineup given Asante's penchant for big plays, but all three will play a ton. And given the inexperience at safety as well, with the projected starters being second-year man Nate Allen (recovering from injury) and rookie Jaiquawn Jarrett, perhaps DRC may even play a little safety. But we know all three will see the field a ton, and the nickel may be utilized more than ever before.
It was really a mind-blowing signing, something I don't think anyone saw coming after the Kolb trade. But at this point, when you think about the Cliff Lee coup, the Flyers completely overhauling the franchise, not to mention the Vick signing, and now this, it's safe to say we can no longer be surprised or shocked by any transactions Philadelphia teams make.
While I was still digesting that news with glee, the Phillies went out and completely annihilated the Pirates 10-3 behind another good outing by Roy Halladay, who all the sudden looks like the favorite to repeat as the NL Cy Young winner given the recent struggles of Jair Jurrjens. And as that whooping was taking place, bringing the Pirates back down to earth, news of the Hunter Pence trade came in, with the Phils completing the deal while holding on to Brown.
Sure, the Phillies gave up top pitching prospect Jarred Cosart and power-hitting first baseman Chris Singleton, plus two other prospects, but they held on to Brown, got the right-handed bat they've been looking for and look like about as complete a team as you can possibly have in baseball.
The excitement level couldn't be any higher in Philadelphia for Pence's arrival. And as happy as I am with the trade, I want to go ahead and put a permanent moratorium on the whole "Pence-ylvania" thing. Two reasons: one, it's fucking stupid; two, the Philadelphia area is absolutely nothing like the rest of the state and in no way should Pennsylvania be trumpeted in front of Philadelphia regarding the Phillies. I'll let it slide for this weekend, especially given that the Pirates were in town, but please, no more. It's not clever. Really, it's not.
Having said that, it was nice to see Pence get a hit and an RBI in his debut, though it was Ryan Howard who stole the show in the 7-3 win, going 4-for-4 with a home run, two doubles and three RBIs.
Oh, and sliding in under the radar among the Pence buzz and leftover excitement about Nnamdi was the fact that the Eagles also finally signed a 300-lb. plus defensive tackle, luring away Cullen Jenkins from the defending Super Bowl champions, while shipping off former first-round pick Broderick Bunkley.
Damn. Talk about giving Castillo all the tools to be successful. The only thing the Eagles haven't addressed is linebacker, and while they most likely will look to bring in a veteran there, they now have a defensive line that includes Jenkins, Babin and Trent Cole, and a secondary that has three Pro Bowl corners. Add that to the news that first-round pick Danny Watkins was signed and that DeSean Jackson plans to be in camp this week, and it's a very, very good time to be an Eagles fan.
And a Phillies fan. With the Pirates coming in to Citizens Bank Park as the talk of baseball, the Phillies just went out and asserted themselves, stealing those headlines with the Pence trade, burying Pittsburgh in the first two games, and then going out and completing the sweep behind Raul Ibanez, who seriously needs to be left the hell alone.
All Ibanez did on Sunday was go 3-for-5 with 4 RBIs and two home runs and play the role of hero not once, but twice. The first time was in the 8th inning, with the Phils down two runs. After Ryan Howard made an absolutely boneheaded baserunning play, the Phils looked to be in a bad spot. Then all Raul did was crush a two-run, opposite-field home run to tie the game.
Oh, and then after Pence doubled in the 10th, Raul did the same thing, getting the walkoff hit to win the game.
It was Raul's 25th RBI in his last 20 games, and the guy has the most RBIs in all of baseball the past three weeks, so, uh, stop fucking complaining about him. He added another RBI last night, so yeah, the guy certainly helps the Phillies win games, despite anonymous commenters who say otherwise.
And Pence definitely acclimated himself well, scoring the winning run in just his second game as a Phillie and having a great quote after the game:
"Good game, let's go eat."
Pretty much a perfect way to close out July. And the start to August was just as sweet. Down by two in the 9th last night in Colorado, John Mayberry came up with two out and one on. He proceeded to have an absolutely awesome at-bat, fouling off pitch after pitch, and then finally smoking a game-tying two-run homer.
Last night, Cliff Lee played the Red Sox lineup like a flute en route to his third straight complete-game shutout. Read that again: third straight complete-game shutout. All he did was go the distance and surrender just two hits and two walks while striking out five against the best offense in all of baseball, albeit one absent David Ortiz, J.D. Drew and Carl Crawford. Still, he didn't allow a single hit to guys named Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis. Not one.
God damn the man is awesome. How awesome? Let's just say his ERA in the month of June heading into last night's game was 0.27 … and he somehow LOWERED it. With last night's ridiculously incredible outing, his third straight shutout mind you, Lee is now working on a career-best 32-inning scoreless streak, and he is now 5-0 in the month of June with a 0.21 ERA, which is where he'll finish the month, seeing as it ends tomorrow. Seriously, the guy has given up just 1 run in 42 innings this month. Think about that. Wait, don't, because it's pretty much unfathomable.
To put that in perspective, Lee hit a sacrifice fly last night to give himself an insurance run in the fifth, his second RBI of the month. That means Cliff Lee, a pitcher — a pitcher who has spent nearly his entire career in the American League, no less — finished with more RBIs himself than runs allowed in an entire month. That's just stupid.
It's really just not fair what he's doing to hitters right now. Sarge said it best last night (I know, I'm as shocked as you!): The Red Sox were just up there guessing against Lee, and they were guessing wrong. He had every Boston batter completely baffled in the box. Every one.
And the few times someone got good wood on a pitch, the defense was there to ensure Lee's shutout streak would remain intact. There was the insane play by Rollins, a couple nice grabs by Ryan Howard, and man, what can I say about Placido Polanco? The man may be mired in a slump, but his defense over at third this year has been nothing short of superb. To the point where he almost has to be in the Gold Glove conversation over there.
Of course, it wasn't just Lee and the defense doing work. Domonic Brown looked like a man's man against one of the game's best pitchers, absolutely destroying a ball to center off Josh Beckett in the second to give Lee and the Phils a 2-0 lead, then roping a double the other way off Beckett in a great piece of hitting.
I said it last night and I'll say it again, I don't care what his batting average is right now, I want me as much Dom Brown in the lineup as humanly possible. He has a cannon in right, he's fast, and he goes and does things like that last night. Let him take his licks and make his adjustments, because when he gets comfortable he's going to be a beast. That's pretty clear.
I'd be remiss not to mention Shane Victorino's two-run bomb in the sixth to pretty much put the game away, because the way Lee was pitching last night — and has all month — there wasn't a chance in hell Boston was going to score 5 or 6 runs.
That's because right now, Clifton Phifer Lee is playing batters like a flute. No matter what they do, they're helpless against him. In one month, the conversation around Lee has gone from "What's wrong?" to "Cy Young." Or maybe even "Babe Ruth."
OK, show of hands … if I told you before the first pitch was thrown yesterday that one of the two starters for the Phils in their day/night double header with Florida would surrender just 1 run and 1 extra-base hit in 7 innings and pick up the win while the other would give up 4 extra-base hits, 4 runs and leave with his team trailing, how many of you would have guessed pitcher No. 1 was Kyle Kendrick and pitcher No. 2 was Roy Halladay?
Not me, that's for damn sure. Yet that's exactly what transpired yesterday here in the City of Brotherly Love. And I missed practically all of it due to work and life getting the way … though I did manage to see the best parts of game 2.
You see, late Tuesday night Paul "lil' Jon" Runyan texted me that he had an extra ticket to the day game Wednesday. Due to stupid work obligations and no notice, I really couldn't ditch out and go to the game even though I desperately wanted to. Then around midnight, he texted me again, waking me from my sleep, trying to convince me to go. But I really had to go to work yesterday morning, though I held out hope I could maybe take a half day and meet him and silver fox down there. Didn't happen. The work piled up and deadlines were fast-approaching. I had to stay put.
As disappointed as I was, I at least had the comfort of knowing I was missing out on a Kyle Kendrick game. I should have known better. I mean, so far this season I've been in attendance for one of Cole Hamels' two losses this season and one of Roy Halladay's three losses — unquestionably the worst outings for each of them — not to mention another shitty loss on a shitty night. So of course if I had gone I would have seen Kyle Kendrick, easily the worst pitcher in this star-studded rotation, throw a gem. It only makes sense, and by that I mean it makes absolutely no sense.
By the time I checked in on the score, the Phillies had an 8-1 lead, the weather was insanely nice and I was stuck in a freakin cubicle with neon lights and hating my life. Being an adult sucks so hard.
In my work mode, I missed out on Jimmy Rollins turning his swag on high with a three-run homer and two-hit, four-RBI game, Wilson Valdez going 3-for-4 at the dish including a bases-loaded, bases-clearing triple and Kyle Kendrick unfathomably pitching a 7-inning, 5-hit, 1-run, 5-strikeout gem to pick up the win. Oh, AND J.C. Romero and Danys Baez finished it off with allowing just one base-runner between the two of them. Unbelievable.
Later, right when the Phillies were about to start the nightcap, I had to leave for my softball game. So basically I missed everything in the game for the first 6 innings. But after our team managed to get a victory despite having just 9 guys to the opposition's full squad of 10, the team headed to the bar where we saw the final innings unfold.
Before we got there, we missed Roy Halladay uncharacteristically give up two runs in the first and two more in the fourth, and also Chase Utley driving in both Phillies runs with a double and a triple.
The good news is, the Phillies were saving their best for last, and we were able to see it. The Phils still trailed 4-2 going into the 9th, and in came Florida's closer Leo Nunez. He immediately got Dom Brown to ground out, but then Carlos Ruiz singled, followed by Ross Gload (I know, I thought he was dead too) getting a pinch-hit single right behind him. Gload was then replaced by Michael Martinez on the base paths, and up came Jimmy. Suddenly, there was life again in Citizens Bank Park. These are the spots that Rollins thrives on, and he looked like he was about to come through again. J-Roll absolutely smoked a ball right back up the middle. Off the bat, it looked like a sure single to center, possibly plating Ruiz but definitely getting Rollins on. Only he smoked it so hard that Nunez didn't have time to get out of the way of it, it bounced off his leg all the way to first base, and Rollins was out on an incredibly unfortunate ground out.
The good news was Ruiz and Martinez were able to advance, so any type of hit that left the infield would tie the game. The bad news was the Phils were down to their final out. However, right then and there, as Shane Victorino was stepping into the box, my buddy said he was definitely getting a hit and the Phils were definitely going to win, proclaiming that he could see into the future. He's an idiot, though Shane made him look like a genius, ripping a single back up the middle to tie the game. I have to admit, I'm as baffled as everyone else that the Phillies decided to keep Michael Martinez in the bigs seeing as he doesn't hit and really doesn't play, but dear god was he flying around the base paths. Sure, pretty much anyone would have scored on that hit from second with two outs, going right on contact, but still, he was flying. Michael Martinez is fast.
With the way Utley was swinging the bat last night and the game now tied, I'm pretty sure everyone within a 50-mile radius of Philadelphia thought the Phils were going to win this thing right then and there. Adam EatShit said immediately that Chase should take one and let Shane steal, which everyone in the bar agreed with. Best-case scenario, you have Victorino in scoring position, meaning a hit wins the game. Worst-case scenario, Shane gets thrown out and the Phils go into the 10th with Utley, Ryan Howard and Placido Polanco coming up. The Phils thought the exact same thing, as Victorino easily swiped second. Then Chase hit a tracer to left, but unfortunately right at Logan Morrison. On to extras.
Ryan Madson worked around a leadoff walk to put up a 0 for the Marlins, and everyone was hanging on to every pitch. To lead off the bottom of the 10th, Ryan Howard got hit by a pitch. But then Polanco flew out and Raul struck out. That put the game on the shoulders of the youngster Dom Brown.
Though Brown's numbers aren't overly impressive, the kid has looked really good. You can tell he belongs, and it's evident why he has been so highly touted. But at home so far this year, he's struggled more than he has on the road. And in that spot, in a tie game in the 10th with a chance to be a hero, it would be perfectly understandable if Dom tried to do too much, tried to hit a walkoff, didn't have the most patient approach. Instead, Brown worked an incredible at-bat, finally walking on 7 pitches after fouling off a slider with two strikes. It was one of the best pure at-bats for anyone on this team all season. That is an awesome sign for his development, that in that spot he can have an at-bat like that.
That brought up Curbball, and everyone knew he was going to come through. Chooch is as clutch as anyone on this team. And he was clutch yet again, smoking another single up the middle to plate Howard easily and walk away with a 5-4 victory. The bar was overtaken with cheers, we drank ourselves until closing and then it was off to bed.
In a bizarre day that saw Roy Halladay have a worse outing than Kyle Kendrick, the Phillies found a way to win both games. They've now won six games in a row, have a 5 game lead over the Braves in the division, and at 43-26 have the best record in all of baseball. Not bad for a team that "hasn't put it all together yet."
Don't look now, but the bats are waking up, and the pitching staff isn't going anywhere. The Phillies are who we thought they were. The best team in the National League, and right now, the best team in baseball.
For the majority of my life, the Flyers have been one of the best franchises in the NHL. It truly began during the Eric Lindros era and has continued to this day, minus one epically bad season mixed in. Yet year in and year out, the Flyers have always come up short, whether it was an unexpectedly early playoff exit, the seemingly annual dismissal at the hands of the Devils or heartbreaking series a la Tampa Bay, Detroit and Chicago.
During this run of impressive regular seasons that ultimately end short of hoisting the Stanley Cup, one thing has been missing more than anything else. That thing is a goaltender that can literally win you not just a game, but an entire series, as every Flyers fan alive can attest to. Well, the Buffalo Sabres have that missing piece in Ryan Miller, and he is the only reason why this series is now tied 2-2 heading back to the Wells Fargo Center tomorrow night.
I could talk about the questionable referring — which had me screaming and yelling and jumping up and down — but as bad as some of those calls and no calls were (especially giving Mike Richards a major for that elbow), the referees didn't decide last night's game. Ryan Miller did. The Flyers could have had all the power plays in the world last night, and it wouldn't have mattered. Not only because their power play is a complete disgrace (seriously, it's fucking atrocious), but because Ryan Miller simply was not going to yield anything last night. For the second time in this series, Miller literally played flawless hockey.
And while the Flyers dominated the game for the most part after the first half of the first period, they weren't flawless. Particularly on the lone goal of the game.
The entire play was a series of mistakes. First, the Flyers backed up, allowing Buffalo to enter the zone easily, instead of holding the blue line. Then, after a nice poke check by Danny Syvret, Giroux couldn't get his stick on the puck, a difficult play. And most egregiously, Nikolay Zherdev, who every single person in the Philly.com comments section insisted absolutely has to be in the lineup no matter what, tried to break out of the zone early on the original poke check instead of taking care of his defensive responsibility. That left Matt Carle in an impossible 2-on-1 situation, resulting in a slam-dunk goal for Jason Pominville.
That's why Zherdev has had such a difficult time staying in Peter Laviolette's lineup. For all the good things he does offensively, he goes and does that, completely ignoring his assignment defensively, resulting in a goal for Buffalo. It turned out to be the difference in the game. Well, that and Ryan Miller.
Honestly, it's difficult to be too upset with the Flyers last night. This wasn't game 1, where they generated very little great scoring chances despite controlling the game. After the initial 10 minutes, when Buffalo took it to the Flyers and scored the goal, the Flyers played exactly the way you want. They forechecked aggressively, cut down on mistakes, fired the rubber at Miller, got traffic in front, won puck battles, created tremendous chances. They just couldn't beat Miller. He was too damn good.
The best chance they had was on the play above, with Danny Briere all alone down low with the Buffalo goalie. It sure did look like Briere had a whole lot of room to score between Miller's legs, but Briere tried to beat him glove side. His former teammate would have none of it. Hindsight is always 20-20, and I'm sure Briere is kicking himself for not sliding between Miller's five-hole after his poke check missed, but what can you do? Sometimes you a goaltender can steal a game and even a series. So far, it's been Flyers 2, Ryan Miller 2. He's that guy the Flyers have been searching for forever. Unfortunately, he's winning games for the opposition.
And I mean this as no indictment of Brian Boucher. Boosh was fantastic again last night. He stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced, and the one he gave up he had absolutely no chance on. Boucher has been spectacular. He really has. But even with his impressive playoff numbers and awesome play in the two-plus games he's been in net so far, he won't singlehandedly win the Flyers a series the way Ryan Miller has singlehandedly evened this thing up for Buffalo. The guy is incredible, and it's incredibly frustrating that Philadelphia isn't up 3 games to 1 or done with the Sabres in a clean sweep. But what can you do besides keep cracking away and hoping you can crack through the way the Flyers did in games 2 and 3?
I'd be remiss if I didn't comment on a few Flyers in particular last night. For the second straight game, Kris Versteeg impressed the hell out of me. He was flying all over the ice, making plays, creating chances and playing sound defensive hockey. These past two games he's been every bit the player I thought the Flyers were getting when they traded for him. Glad to see him pick him game up. His forechecking and pressure on the puck was a big reason the Flyers got things going after that first 10 minutes.
And to me, even with James van Riemsdyk continuing to be the best skater on the ice and the top three lines creating chances, the fourth line was the best of the bunch last night.
Dan Carcillo had his best game in forever. He showed the offensive flair that had some people thinking he'd be much more than a fourth-line agitator when he was coming up. Carcillo was all over the place last night, drawing penalties and pounding the Sabres on both ends of the ice. He had a jump in his step that we haven't seen in quite some time. And his linemates followed suit.
Blair Betts and Daroll Powe have been stalwarts on the penalty kill all season long, and they were again last night, especially when killing off that five-minute major to start the third period. And at even strength, no line cycled the puck better or spent more time in Buffalo's zone than Betts-Powe and Carcillo. It really was an impressive showing by that trio. It's a shame they weren't rewarded with a goal.
But with the good came the bad. Namely, Jeff Carter injuring his knee on a collision with Tyler Myers. Missing a goal-scorer against a guy that's already difficult to score against is a big deal. Hopefully Carter is OK to go tomorrow night and/or Sunday, because with the way Ryan Miller has played in games 1 and 4, the Flyers will need as many goal-scorers as possible in the lineup.
And speaking of Tyler Myers, I cannot say enough about the kid. He has been downright awesome in this series, and he was against last night. In the NHL, we're used to our big defensemen being smart and using their reach, but not being that agile or fast. Zdeno Chara, Chris Pronger, even guys like Derian Hatcher before them use their size, strength, reach and smarts to dominate. Tyler Myers has all that, but he also has the speed and agility of players half his size. At 6'8" that's frightening. The kid has been the biggest standout on the blue line for either team thus far, and that's certainly not helping Philadelphia in finding a way to beat Miller.
Thankfully the Phillies won in come-from-behind fashion to give the day something positive. After the bats went silent Monday and Tuesday, it was Placido Polanco and Shane Victorino supplying the power and re-igniting the bats just as the Phils drew it up. Or something like that.
Anyway, it was nice to see Polanco have another monster game with his three-run jack to tie the game in the 6th and Victorino continuing his hot start with an absolute bomb in the 7th to give the Phils a 4-3 win and prevent the sweep. Unfortunately, no one could get a hit on Tuesday, when I sat out in the cold and rain to watch Roy Halladay labor through six innings only to have David Herndon surrender a game-ending (for all intents and purposes) home run on his first pitch. Oh yeah, and the Phillies only got two hits off Randy Wolf, one of which was a bunt single by Jimmy Rollins.
This week has not exactly been that great. Hopefully that all changes tonight with the Sixers getting a boost from the home crowd. Though somehow I doubt it.
Quite an eventful weekend for Philadelphia this weekend. It began with three of the four major sports teams in this city in action on Friday night and ended with a career day for Carlos Ruiz, a division title for the Flyers and yet another series win — and nice bounceback game from Cole Hamels — for the Phillies.
Friday night was the perfect time to have a relaxing, stay-at-home Friday night. The Flyers, Phillies and Sixers were all in action. The Flyers took on potential (and as it turns out eventual) first-round opponent Buffalo in a huge game for both teams — the Sabres needed a point to clinch a playoff berth, and the Flyers needed a point to stay ahead of the Penguins and two points to have any hope of catching the Capitals. The Phillies opened their third series of the year against their toughest division opponent, traveling down to Atlanta for their first road series of 2011. And the Sixers hosted the Raptors in their third-to-last game of the season, needing a victory to keep within reach of the Knicks.
So instead of going out, we got a case of beer and some food and watched the games on our two-TV setup.
Early on, things were going perfectly. The Flyers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on a goal by Scott Hartnell and outshot the Sabres 13-10. At the same time, the Phillies scored three quick runs off of Tim Hudson in the first two innings, giving ace number 2 Cliff Lee a 3-0 lead right out of the gate. And the Sixers, who tipped off the earliest, outscored the Raptors by 10 in the first quarter and took a 12-point lead into half.
It was roughly around that time when Adam EatShit said, "So, 3-for-3 tonight? We went 0-for-3 the other night, so looks like 3-for-3 tonight."
And with that, the jinx was on. After being spotted a 3-0 lead after two, Cliff Lee began to unravel. He couldn't locate his pitches for the life of him, lethal for any pitcher but especially for Lee, an ace that relies on location much, much more than stuff. Damn near every pitch Lee threw either caught too much of the plate or was up in the zone. Immediately in the bottom of the 2nd, he gave all three runs back, giving up three straight hits to start the inning — a triple by Jason Heyward, double by Alex Gonzalez and single by Freddie Freeman — followed by another double by Martin Prado.
From that moment on, Tim Hudson calmed himself down and shut down the Phils, while Lee couldn't right himself. Just two innings later, Lee continued with his struggles, hitting a batter to lead off the inning and getting tagged for three more runs before his night was through.
Lee lasted just three and a third innings, getting shelled for 10 hits and six runs. It was kind of funny that the night before, my roommates and I were talking about how Roy Halladay never really gets shelled, while Cliff will get smacked around a couple times a season. Same with Cole and Oswalt and most pitchers. But Halladay always seems to give up 4 runs or fewer, typically only surrendering more than that a couple times year. Even when Halladay is fighting himself, he finds a way to have a decent outing at worst. Lee, like every other pitcher in the world, has a night like he did Friday when he's fighting himself. That's baseball.
But even with Lee's clunker, the Phillies still had a chance in the game and a huge opportunity to get to Hudson again. In the 5th inning, right after Lee gave up his final three runs, the Phils answered. Kyle Kendrick of all people started the rally by leading off with a single. Then Shane Victorino — who has made a career of killing the Braves (I mean, who can forget the walkoff throw to preserve Brad Lidge's perfect 2008 season?) — made it back-to-back singles. After Placido Polanco grounded into a fielder's choice, Jimmy Rollins reached on an error, loading the bases with just one out for the red-hot Ryan Howard.
Howard has been absolutely smashing the ball early on, putting together great at-bats and making solid contact all year long. Down three runs in the 5th, the Phillies needed to at the very least get one run home and get some momentum. That meant all Howard needed to do was put a decent swing on the ball — worst-case scenario with a good at-bat he gets a sac fly at makes it a two-run game, best-case he gets a hit and scores a couple runs or more, making it a one-run game, tie game or even taking the lead with a grand slam. But instead, on a freakin 1-0 pitch, Howard check-swings and makes contact, softly hitting it right back to Hudson. Disaster. Hudson calmly begins the painfully easy 1-2-3 double play to end the inning. It was the biggest at-bat of the game, and Howard made a completely boneheaded play.
Why was it boneheaded? For starters, he was up 1-0 in the count with the bases loaded. In that spot, the pitcher has to come to you, or you don't swing. He has nowhere to put you, and you're ahead in the count. You look for your pitch to drive there, simple as that. If it's not that pitch, you leave the bat on your shoulder. Howard didn't do that. After laying off a low slider — the pitch that has given him trouble in his career but the same pitch he's been so disciplined at laying off of this year — Hudson threw another, not wanting to give in to Howard with a fastball. Only this time, when the only he should not have done in that spot is swing at a low slider, Howard began his swing at a pitch that clearly he didn't want to hit. Dumb. And to make matters worse, he stopped his swing, practically bunting the ball right back to Hudson to start the easy double play. Here's the thing: If you're going to go ahead and swing in that spot, then just swing. Don't try to stop it. Even chasing a bad pitch, if Howard just lets loose, he has a chance to hit it hard somewhere and potentially score a run. Maybe he grounds into a double play anyway, but at least he gives himself a shot at a hit. By checking his swing, he simply made the entire thing easier for Atlanta, and he did it in a spot where it is insanely stupid to check your swing: up 1-0 in the count with the bases loaded. That's just bad baseball. Stupid baseball. And it derailed any chance at a comeback right there because Hudson cruised the rest of the way before handing it over to the young, flame-throwing duo of Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel. Venters struck out the only batter he faced, Raul Ibanez, and Kimbrel had a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.
Not exactly the way you want to start a series, with your prized offseason acquisition getting knocked around and your cleanup hitter having a miserable at-bat with the bases loaded.
As all that was going on, the Flyers saw their 1-0 lead vanish just 25 seconds into the second period, then found themselves behind a goal less than four minutes later.
There's nothing more dangerous than a desperate team just trying to get into the playoffs, and the Flyers saw that firsthand. Suddenly, a once promising night looked much more bleak. And to pull the trifecta of disappointment, the Raptors came roaring out of the locker room in the second half to outscore the Sixers 30-19 in the third quarter, all but erasing that 12-point lead. Just like that, it was a one-point game, thanks largely to Jerryd Bayless inexplicably going off.
Thankfully things turned around a bit. The Phillies couldn't come back, but the Sixers and Flyers responded. Thaddeus Young continued his monstrous stretch of play, scoring 20 points of the bench, and Elton Brand continued what has been and for some reason still is a quietly excellent season. Brand led the Sixers with 22 points and added 8 rebounds in the 98-93 victory, a win that showcased team basketball coming out on top over great individual performances.
As I mentioned, Jerryd Bayless had a career night, dropping 24 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, and he was complemented by fellow youngster DeMar DeRozan, who added 27 points and went 11-12 from the line. DeRozan and Bayless really did have nice games, but they simply didn't get quite enough help. Ed Davis was the only other Raptor to score in double digits, posting a very respectable 14 and 10 double-double. But other than that, the Raptors got very little from anyone else besides Reggie Evans and his usual gritty play. The former Sixers power forward, by the way, had a game-high 15 rebounds.
Conversely, Brand and Young had plenty of help from all over the lineup. Four other 76ers netted double-digit points, with Andre Iguodala getting 16, Jrue Holiday with 13, and Jodie Meeks and Evan Turner each putting up a 10 spot. Jrue also had an all-around good floor game, dishing out a game-high 11 assists to go along with 4 rebounds, 4 steals and a block. And even though Meeks continued to struggle mightily with his shot, shooting just 2-11 from the field and 2-9 from three, he found other ways to contribute, like getting to the line 6 times and grabbing 7 rebounds from his two-guard position.
That's what makes this Sixers team so fun to watch and what has them back in the playoffs. They get contributions from so many guys, something they have to do with no discernible superstar. Andre Iguodala is playing the best defense of his life and has cut down on his shots. Elton Brand looks nothing like the washed-up, injured player he was before, even if he isn't quite the perennial 20-10 all-star he once was. Thaddeus Young has been the team's best player for a few weeks now, or at least their most energetic. Jrue had taken another step forward in his second season. Jodie Meeks and Spencer Hawes know their roles and perform them admirably. And Lou Williams, who is hoping to be healthy for the playoffs, has combined with Thad to be one of the most potent offensive one-two punches off the bench in the entire NBA.
Then you add Evan Turner's slow development, Andres Nocioni prepared for whatever minutes Doug Collins gives him and the options on offense (Speights) and defense (Battie) at the power forward position. The Sixers won't win a playoff series, and they'll probably have a hard time winning more than a game against either the Celtics or Heat, whichever one they play. But Doug Collins has this team heading in the right direction and playing the type of basketball no one really expected in year one after the debacle that was Eddie Jordan.
As the Sixers were holding off the Raptors, the Flyers also responded themselves, though admittedly, it looked like they were going to squander yet another game and fall into a tie with Pittsburgh. A couple minutes after Buffalo took the lead, Darroll Powe made a rare mistake, the firing a clearing attempt in his own zone over the glass and out of play — a 2-minute penalty. A power-play goal for Buffalo would make it three straight and probably spell death for the Flyers in the game. But instead of letting up a dagger of a goal, they scored one of their own, as Claude Giroux found Kris Versteeg for the shorty, tie game. And less than a minute later, the Flyers found themselves back on top as Danny Briere a one-timer past Jhonas Enroth off a great spinning play to enter the zone and tremendous feed by Scott Hartnell.
Quite a roller-coaster of a period. Up a goal, then down a goal, then up a goal again. Essentially, the Flyers treaded water in the period, but it was incredibly frustrating at first, then incredibly exciting. But the euphoria of getting the lead back wouldn't last. Sensing the urgency of the situation and needing at least one point to clinch a playoff berth, the Sabres sent Ryan Miller out for the third period. Miller stopped all 8 shots he faced in the period. Sergei Bobrovsky did not.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, Nathan Gerber used his speed to enter the zone, cut to the middle of the ice, and as the screen was setting up, he sent a backhander high to Bobrovsky stick side that found its way in. Bob never even saw the shot, and just like that the game was tied.
Luckily for the Flyers, Buffalo ragged the puck for the final minute instead of going for the regulation win. All the Sabres needed was a point to get in the playoffs, so they didn't want to take any chances at losing in regulation. And the Flyers were perfectly content with that, because getting the overtime point meant they would stay ahead of the Penguins. Of course, it would have been nice to get two points, but that didn't happen, as Buffalo made quick work of the Flyers in overtime, scoring just 1:16 in to end the game.
The good news was the Flyers gained that all-important point to stay ahead of the Penguins. But it was hardly the type of statement you wanted to see out of them following Pittsburgh's charge to overtake them. And it was yet another loss in a two-month stretch filled with losses. Point or not, a loss is a loss.
And that made two losses out of three Philadelphia teams in action despite great starts by all of them. What started out as a wonderful Friday night devolved into a drunken malaise that pretty much sapped all the energy out of everyone. There would be no going out and having a good time. It was just finishing up the beer and going to bed. Hopefully Saturday would yield better results.
Unfortunately, Saturday started out a lot like Friday. In their afternoon start in Atlanta, the Phillies again jumped on the Braves early. Shane Victorino continued his assault on Atlanta, leading the game off with a double, and a few batters later Ben Francisco brought him home with an RBI single. But Roy Oswalt looked like he was having the same problem Lee had the night before, albeit to a smaller extent. Roy just didn't seem like he quite had command of his pitches, leaving a lot of them up in the zone. And in the third, it cost him, as the Braves strung together three hits to get two runs before Nate McLouth lined into a double play to thankfully stop the bleeding.
I thought it would be deja vu all over again. The Phillies catchers had other ideas. The very next at-bat for the Phils, Brian Schneider got those two runs right back and gave the Phils the lead again by absolutely destroying a Brandon Beachy meatball after Beachy had just thrown five straight balls — walking Raul and falling behind Schneider 1-0.
I mean, he just absolutely crushed the ball. It was the type of approach that Howard should have had in his bases-loaded at-bat Friday. Schneider got ahead 1-0 and sat dead red for his pitch. When he got it, he made Beachy pay.
Of course, Brian Schneider wasn't the real story on Saturday. No, that distinction belongs to his fellow backstop and teammate Carlos Ruiz. With the day game after a night game, Ruiz was given the day off, or at least supposed to have the day off. But when the Phillies were still only up a run in the 7th inning against a lineup that includes Chipper Jones, Dan Uggla, Brian McCann and Jason Heyward, Charlie was going to do everything he could to get some more runs. Raul helped him out by leading off the 7th with a double. That's when Fredi Gonzalez went to his bullpen, bringing in lefty George Sherrill, who the Philliesknowwell, to face Schneider. That's when things go interesting.
The Phillies had the lead. There was a runner on second with no one out. Brian Schneider had already homered today, he was giving the starting catcher a much needed and much deserved day off, and he's a lefty who could conceivably pull the ball to the right side, even off a lefthanded pitcher, to move Ibanez to third with less than two outs. A lot of managers in that spot would have left Schneider in the game, given his big home run, and let his starting catcher truly have a day off. But Charlie didn't like the lefty on lefty match-up, so he called Schenider back and pinch-hit John Mayberry. Mayberry, who already has a walkoff hit to his credit this season, didn't disappoint, singling to left center to put runners on first and third with no one out. Sherrill, clearly rattled, walked Wilson Valdez.
With the bases loaded and the pitcher spot due up, Manuel didn't hesitate. He called on Ruiz to pinch-hit. Sherrill was lifted for Scott Linebrink, who quickly got ahead of Ruiz 0-2 with two sinkers. Then, inexplicably, Linebrink threw an 0-2 fastball right down the middle, and Chooch turned on it. As soon as he hit it, I started screaming, "CURBBALL!!!!!!!" You just knew it was gone. Ruiz demolished it, hitting his first career grand slam to put the game away.
He added an RBI double before it was all said and done, finishing with a career-high 5 RBIs and hitting his first career grand slam. Not bad for a guy who wasn't even supposed to be playing that day.
Let's face the facts, if you don't like Carlos Ruiz, you can just get the hell out. I love that guy.
So Saturday got off to a good start, and the Flyers decided to keep the good times rolling. Just 16 seconds into their final game of the regular season, Kimmo Timonen gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead. And just 31 seconds later, Ville Leino made a long stretch pass that Scott Hartnell flagged out of the air onsides, burying the breakaway.
Just 47 seconds into the game, the Flyers had a 2-0 lead and it looked like they were going to end the regular season with an emphatic victory. I had a feeling the Flyers, after all their struggles of late, would destroy the Islanders on Saturday. New York was a team the Flyers owned all season, and you know the Flyers were looking to put together a full 60 minutes of hockey before the postseason begins.
But as incredible as the pass was by Leino to spring Hartnell for the goal, the play he made later in the period was just as bad, if not worse. Up 2-0 and needing two points to clinch the Atlantic Division no matter what Pittsburgh did in its finale, Ville Leino made an absolutely inexcusable play. Instead of getting the puck deep on a rush, he tried to make a pass back to the point he was already high near the blue line. Instead of connecting, it sprung Michael Grabner the other way for the breakaway. Grabner made no mistake, easily depositing the puck between Bob's gaping five hole to make it 2-1.
It was exactly the type of play that makes you understand why the Red Wings traded the infinitely talented Leino away. He is an incredible playmaker, a creative scorer, and I'm thrilled he's a Flyer. But then he'll go and make an absolutely crippling, stupid play like that, one that completely changed the momentum of the game. No wonder Leino has been the taking the brunt of Peter Laviolette's ire of late. It's plays like that that drive a coach nuts.
Then the Islanders added a power play goal to tie it after Andrej Meszaros was called for a questionable elbowing call, but one that is defensible for the referee. While the replay showed Meszaros didn't connect with an elbow, he did go in high, making it seem like an elbow.
Just like that, the quick start was erased. But again the Flyers responded as Danny Briere continued to be hot. Birere rushed up the ice and lifted a backhander right past the swiss cheese that Rick DiPietro has become, giving the Flyers the lead again. Of course, the Flyers surrendered the lead before the period was done, because no lead is safe with this team anymore. It was a pretty dumb goal, with Bobrovsky losing sight of the puck as it slid right by him in the crease to a wide open John Tavares. Tavares tapped it in for the tie, and Bob was pulled for surrendering 3 goals on just 10 shots.
After the Islanders took a 4-3 lead in the first minute of the second period, we were completely disgusted. Adam and I discussed how pathetic this team is with the lead, when I said that beyond Chris Pronger's absence, this team really misses guys like Simon Gagne and Ian Laperriere. Gagne and Laperriere were excellent defensive players (an underrated part of Gagne's game), two guys who rarely made mistakes and knew to always make the smart, simple play with the lead. These Flyers, for all the talent they have assembled, just don't make the game simple for themselves when they get the lead. Damn near everyone tries to do too much entering the zone. They make stupid, ill-adivsed cross-ice passes. They try to dump the puck back or juke someone coming out of their own zone instead of just chipping the puck out of the zone and living to fight another shift. They turn the puck over at the blue lines and in the neutral zone. It's maddening. When you have the lead, you get the puck out and get the puck deep, then work and win battles. That's how you close out games, not by trying to make the cute, perfect pass or highlight-reel goal. Yet most of these guys just don't seem to grasp that a lot of the time.
Thankfully, the Flyers did wake up, thanks largely to Andrej Meszaros.
Meszaros was named the Barry Ashbee Award winner this year, given to the Flyers' best defenseman, and Saturday night he showed just why. For starters, Meszaros was flying all over the place, laying out Islanders with big checks, standing people up at the blue line and joining in on the rush offensively. And with the Flyers trailing, he tied the game in the second, then assisted on the go-ahead goal by Scott Hartnell — his second assist of the game and Hartnell's second goal. Then he made it a two-goal lead with a power-play goal in the third, as the Flyers added an empty-netter by Darroll Powe to win 7-4 and clinch the second seed in the East as the Atlantic Division champions.
Meszaros, easily the best offseason addition for the Flyers, was far and away the player of the game. He has come to Philadelphia and put the struggles of the past two seasons in Tampa behind him. Playing on a team with defensive stalwarts like Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen (and Matt Carle and Braydon Coburn), Meszaros has been the most impactful all season long. He was no different Saturday night, literally willing the Flyers to the division crown.
He got some help from Hartnell and Briere, as that line is getting hot again going into the postseason. And Brian Boucher was oustanding in relieving Bobrovsky, stopping 24 of the 25 shots he faced and giving Flyers fans confidence that he will do a great job, just as he did last year, if Bobrovsky should stumble in the playoffs.
When it was all said and done, it was an odd game. The Flyers surrendered a two-goal lead and then coughed up another lead, ultimately finding themselves behind before scoring four unanswered goals. It was hardly the statement type of game we all wanted to see, but it did garner two points and prevent a huge collapse.
The Flyers are the Atlantic Division champions, the second seed in the East, and they take on the very same Buffalo team they lost to ini overtime Friday night in the first round.
So Saturday was infinitely better than Friday, and I celebrated accordingly, drinking more than enough drinks with a few of my friends. And the weekend culminated with Cole Hamels throwing a gem yesterday to make up for his god-awful performance in his season debut. Cole responded with 7 innings of shutout ball, striking out 8 will giving up just 4 hits and a walk. It was a great outing, finishing off with ease by Ryan Madson and Jose Contreras, with the offense using a solo home run by Shane and small ball to win 3-0 and improve to 7-2 on the season, winning all three series thus far.
Curbball provided the biggest single-game highlight with his pinch-hit grand slam and five-RBI, three-inning day, but it was Shane Victorino that had the best series. Shane continued to be a Brave-killer going 9-for-13 with a double, homer, five runs, three RBIs and two stolen bases in the series. I'd say he's enjoying the leadoff spot thus far.
Sixers take on the Magic tonight without Andre Iguodala, trailing the Knicks by a game for the sixth seed, and the Flyers being the postseason at home on Thursday against the Sabres. The Phils begin a three-game set down in Washington to take on Jayson Werth and the Nationals.
Last night, the Sixers lost to the Thunder 109-103. They were never outscored by more than four points in a quarter and even managed to best Oklahoma City by fie in final frame. Yet with the game rarely ever getting to a double-digit margin, there was not a single moment I thought the Sixers would win the game. Not a one.
Yes, they played tough and they played close, but at no moment did the outcome feel in jeopardy for the Thunder. And really, that makes sense on a lot of levels. The Thunder have two players who are better than anyone on Philadelphia's roster — Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Uncoincidentally, Durant and Westbrook each scored 31 points. KD did it by getting to the line and going an absurd 16-16 from the charity stripe, adding 7 rebounds, 2 assists and three steals. Westbrook also got to the line plenty, going 9-11 there, but really just got to anywhere he wanted at any time, going 11-19 from the field and capping off his night with a double-double thanks to 12 assists … not to mention five rebounds.
When you take into account that Andre Iguodala wasn't playing for a second straight game, it's easy to see why the Thunder controlled things pretty much the entire way.
I have to give the Sixers credit. They battled and clawed and kept the game close. They were legitimately in it until the final minute. And several players had really good games. Jrue Holiday finished with 17 and 11 and two steals. Evan Turner had 15 and 8. Elton Brand finished with 17, 9 and 5. And Jodie Meeks went the hell off late, scoring 17 points on 6-9 from the floor and 4-5 from three, including some clutch ones down the stretch that help keep things interesting just when it looked like the Thunder might pull away. But as we all know and expected, even this team's good isn't good enough. Jrue had 6 turnovers to go with his double-double, and Brand had five himself. Lou Will shot just 2-11, scoring on 6 points. And the overall defense was atrocious.
There's no shame in losing to a team like the Thunder, even if they've been a little slow out of the gate. It's an up-and-coming franchise with a ton of talent. And it was nice to the Sixers not get trounced by a good, young team on the road. But that's what we're going to get from this team — good effort and lousy results. At this point, the most intriguing thing about the Sixers is whether or not they trade Iguodala before it's all said and done. Sure, there are other reasons to watch, but it's not going to be pretty.
Let's get linked on …
-Impressive Flyers rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has given Philadelphia fans enough reason to love him already with his play — 2.91 GAA, .926 save percentage and an 8-2-1 record — but if you need any more reasons, read this Puck Daddy interview with the 22-year-old Russian.
-Speaking of the Flyers, Claude Giroux signed a very affordable three-year extension, earning $2.75 million, $3.5 million and $5 million over the next three seasons.
I really like that guy.
-More good Philadelphia sports news: Michael Vick was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his great game against the Colts, and Shane Victorino won his third straight Gold Glove, the lone Phillie to receive the honor this year.
-John Wall and Michael Beasley went off last night. Wall had a triple-double — 19 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds — the first of what's sure to be many for the No. 1 overall pick.
I was on the playground all night. I ain’t never go to parties or nothing. I’d get out of school at three and be out there playing until one in the morning with one streetlight. For real.
…
You’ve got to be determined that you want to be the best, but you don’t have to talk about it. You see someone talking about how great they are, they ain’t great. When I played, I never talked about what I was gonna do. I just did it.
-Familiar names could join the Phillies organization: word on the street is Juan Samuel is the favorite to take over for the departed Davey Lopes, Ryne Sandberg is in contention for the Iron Pigs' managerial opening, and Mickey Morandini may be joining the ranks somewhere.
Oddly enough, all of them were second basemen.
-Linebacker U: Paul Posluszny has been a tackling machine for the Bills, and Derek Wake (8.5) and Tamba Hali (7) are among the NFL's sack leaders. Tamba was an end at Penn State, and Wake played a little end but mostly linebacker in college, but both are 3-4 edge rushing linebackers in the NFL.
The Redskins take on the Eagles Monday night, by the way.
-Two idiots from Ohio try to diminish Joe Paterno's 400 wins, then get owned.
Just because Ohio sucks in every conceivable way doesn't mean everything everywhere else sucks. I know Ohio State is going to kick the living shit out of Penn State on Saturday, but I would get even more joy out of toppling the Buckeyes in the Horseshoe than I did watching Penn State beat Michigan for a third straight year. Don't take your bitterness toward LeBron out on Paterno, assholes. No wonder the guy left.
