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Tuesday, August 31
New York Times article about the Phils. (Aug. 29.) Sunday, August 29
 How about that?
Lidle, in his first win for the Phillies, pitched a four-hit shutout, helping the fightins sweep the Brewers once again. He walked one, and struckout nine. He also homered and had two sacrifice bunts. Not a bad day. I actually had to make a GameStar image for him after the game, since I hadn't thought I would ever need one. On offense, it's nice to see that the Phils finally had their first grand slam of the year, considering they've had the opportunity plenty of times. And who would have thought it would come off the bat of Marlon Byrd? Marlon actually had three hits in the game, and improved his average to .231. Woohoo! Jimmy Rollins, Abreu and Polanco also had three hits each, while Thome and Utley were without any. After Monday, we face our division once again, first with a two-game homestand against the Braves. I'm of the opinion that the fate of this season has not yet been decided. However, the next week or two will decide it, no doubt. No choking allowed.  Saturday, August 28
I mean, it's not impossible, at least since we have quite a few games left with the Braves and Marlins. Who knows? Madson will eventually be back. Wagner. Burrell might just get some games in. And maybe Marlon Byrd will suddenly stop sucking. It's a possibility, albeit so, so remote.  Thursday, August 26
Wheeeee ... watch that record slide! Tuesday, August 24
At one time this season, reaching the playoffs seemed possible no matter how badly the Phils were playing. Now, it just doesn't seem possible at all. I'm still rooting, though, and watching every game. I apologize for the shortage of posts lately. Go Phils. Thursday, August 19
Still speechless.  Tuesday, August 17
For those who read the now deleted post about flood water that had nothing to do with the Phillies or baseball, I apologize. Wrong blog. --- Meanwhile, at this pace the Phillies just might do it. They still have a chance. Yes, if they try hard enough, they just might reach last place by the end of the season. Monday, August 16
I mean seriously. Who has the energy to post when there's a dibilitating feeling of a team throwing its season away. Not I, I say! Not I. Thursday, August 12
I stand by my previous comment. Things are not looking so good for the fightins at this point. And while some have been saying that since the beginning of the season, I am losing hope for the first time. I could list all the things going wrong, but you all know them. Some are problems we've had all year, while others are newer and just as disappointing. Anyway ... time to fight the Giants again. Maybe we can steal Ricky Ledee back when their not looking, just for kicks. Wednesday, August 11
BLAH! Sunday, August 8
 Brett who?
Myers pitched one his of best games of the season today, and one of the best outings from Phils' starters overall. Myers had a no-hitter going until Brett Mayne singled off him in the 6th, but that would be only one of the two hits that Myers let up in eight full innings. He walked two. On the offensive side of things, J-Smooth had two doubles and scored a run. Congrats to Utley for his 11th homer of the season. Hitless were Abreu, Thome and Bell, who left the game in the 2nd inning with back spasms. I don't know how serious this is, but if he goes on the DL, I think we can pretty much just assume the baseball gods don't want the Phils to go anywhere this season. The injuries have plagued the fightins like AIDS in Africa. That's probably not the most appropriate analogy, but it gets the point across: It's bad. Meanwhile, the Braves did indeed win again today. The Phils come back home for a four-game series against the Rockies starting Monday. Colorado is in fourth place, 16.5 games back, so the Phillies MUST take these games. Can Milton improve his record to 13-2? Hell yes he can, and he will.  And, just like that, the streak comes to an end. The Phils tried to battle back against a 6-0 defecit late in the game last night, but the homers by Thome and Utley just weren't enough to heal the damage created by Paul Abbott and Geoff Geary. Abbott, now 3-11, walked nine batters and gave up four runs in 5 and 2/3 innings. His first three innings weren't altogether bad, keeping the Dodgers scoreless and giving up just one hit. But three solid innings is like pitching a complete game in Abbott-land. The walks kept coming, and then came the runs. But, said Abbott (courtesty of this MLB.com article): "This game is easy when you hit your spots ... That's a battle out there. You go out and walk nine guys, when really you can take away two pitches -- a hit off a glove and a ball that could have been strike three -- and I don't give up a run. Throw the nine walks out the door, because that had no bearing on what really happened." You heard the man. Throw them out the door folks. Throw them right out the goddamned door. Atlanta, of course, won again yesterday against the D-backs. The two face off again today, which basically means another win for the Braves. They then face the Brewers for a three-game series starting Tuesday. The Phils basically HAVE to start a major winning streak before they're blown out of the water completely. For now ... 5 and 1/2 back.  Saturday, August 7
That's four in a row for the Phils, and thankfully we're not talking about losses.  The Phils scored their first five runs in the first two innings with homeruns by Rollins, Abreu, Byrd and Polanco, but we have come to learn this year that this means nothing. Though Wolf gave up just two hits in his first four innings, he gave up a 3-run homer in the fifth, and by the ninth, LA had managed to fight their way back to tie the game.
With some good hitting in the 11th, the Phils managed to start up a very late offensive push and went ahead by four runs. Though I never posted yesterday, GameStar for the second day in a row is my boy David Bell. Bell reached base five times yesterday with four hits and a walk. He had one RBI. He has taken over Burrell's spot in the line-up perfectly. And although the opposition doesn't seem to fear Bell quite as much, that's just fine with us. Mike Lieberthal also had a pretty good game with three hits, though none of them resulted in any Phillies runs. With Abbott on the mound tonight, I'm not as confident the Phils will pull through with the win. With an ERA of 6.48, the Dodgers would be stupid not to jump all over him in the first couple innings before Bowa takes him out. I'm curious to see if Bowa puts Utley in left yet. With righthanded Abbott on the mound almost guaranteeing us the loss, and Glanville hitting a pathetic .233, it might be a good time to test it out.  Thursday, August 5
Watching last night's game was a lot more comforting on the offensive side of things, wasn't it? The Phils were on a mission, and for once, they seemed somewhat capable of accomplishing it. Indeed, Jimmy Rollins hit another inside-the-park homerun ... but unlike last time, Jim Thome did not complement this one with two of his own homers. Damn. Perhaps next time. But everyone had at least one hit last night, except for Lieberthal, Milton, and Polanco, who pinched in the 9th. Even the struggling David Bell had two hits of his own, including a homer. He's hitting .269. Congrats to Milton for his 12th win of the season. 12-2. It really is strange the way that the Phils support this guy when he's on the mound.  On the down side of things, Milton did let up five runs in the game, and therefore the final score was a lot closer than it should have been. Two of the Phils runs were unearned.
On a further downside of things, as you probably already know, Pat Burrell is being flown back to Philly to have his strained wrist looked at. According to MLB.com, Burrell strained it during batting practice Tuesday, and the pain worsened with every at-bat during that night's game. I don't know ... who do you all think was GameStar? Let's say Rollins for now, since he also had a double in the game. We need this sweep. Hopefully Millwood feels the same. Wednesday, August 4
It was a game full of errors, and yet also some great D.
GameStar will go to Myers, since it was his first win since June. Myers pitched six innings, giving up five hits and a run. He struck out four. Not bad, at least. In general, Phils' pitching did pretty well yesterday with Cormier, Jones, and Worrell also facing some batters during the game, and Rodriguez making his debut. The Phils held the Padres to two runs, despite their nine hits. Thome hit once, his 32nd homerun in the 8th. Hitless in the game, however, were Rollins, Abreu, Bell and Perez (0-2). It's a win though, and since the Braves lost, the Phils made a little groud back towards first place, but let's not get too ahead of ourselves. The Phils need a hell of a streak to convince people that they still have a shot.  Tuesday, August 3
The build-up of tension coming into tonight's game is so thick you can pretty much taste it. Mmm mmm ... it tastes salty and dry. What will happen? WHAT WILL HAPPEN? Interesting times are ahead. Monday, August 2
PhilliesBlog Quotables: From MLB.com: Randy Wolf: "We're not going to win four games on Tuesday. We can only win one and have to start there ... I haven't seen any chubby girls sing yet, so I think we still have a shot." Jim Thome: "There were a lot of high expectations in the city, with the media and with ourselves. It's a little embarrassing. For us it's big, because teams are starting to get some distance. We haven't played well. We need to come out Tuesday and get back on a roll. We have some catching up to do. "I have to do better. Hopefully, I'll get it going. You want to try to find that groove, and when you do find it, you want to maintain it and understand how you're doing it. And sometimes that goes away, and unfortunately, it's right now." Jimmy Rollins: "Desperate on Aug. 1? I've never heard that. Two months of baseball left? We don't want to get too far back, but desperate? Not even close. Personally, I'm not frustrated. We have to keep sawing away. We still have to make a stand. Otherwise, we'll be with [the media] watching." Inquirer: Pat Burrell: "It's desperate, period ... regardless of where we're going." Larry Bowa: "Desperate is when you're on your deathbed and they give you last rites. There are too many games left." Jim Thome: It's August. It's not May. It's not June. We need to do anything to get a win." Billy Wagner: "We don't want to let this snowball into a nightmare ... We're the only team in baseball without a decent winning streak. I have no clear answer. It's a crazy, frustrating game." Mike Lieberthal: I don't think anybody is expecting a change, but obviously everybody is hearing it. I really expect [Bowa} to be here the whole year. But you never know. It's all about winning in any sport. If the players don't win, it happens ... But I don't think it's really affecting the guys, or they're really thinking about it." Another Inquirer article: Ex-Phil Tyler Houston, in his Las Vegas Review-Journal column: "I have a question for Phillies fans: Where would this talented team be if Bowa wasn't the manager? Bobby Cox's Braves don't have half the Phillies' talent, but Atlanta has a 41/2 game lead in the National League East." Sunday, August 1
P.S. - If not for anything else, can we please just not let the God-damned Braves win the division! So, here we are ... the start of a new month. The Phils have lost six of their last seven, and they're five and a half games back. Standings-wise, it could be worse; the Phils are in second, a half game ahead of the Marlins. They have off tomorrow, and it's a good thing, because apparently they need it. According to MLB.com, Jimmy Rollins said today's game was one of the most exciting he has played in. Perhaps it was because of Maddox's soon-to-be milestone. Perhaps it was because Chicago fans were having orgasms over their new shortstop from beantown. Perhaps it's because Rollins hit his fifth homerun this year. Well, whatever the reason, it doesn't matter even if it was the most exciting game in the history of the sport (which it obviously wasn't). It doesn't matter if Marlon Byrd went 1-for-2 and scored a run on an error. It doesn't matter that Abreu has homered four times in the past three games. It doesn't even matter if Micky Morindini was in attendance at today's game. What matters is that the Phils lost ... and if they don't change their ways soon, the rest of the season will be a lost cause. Oh ... congrats to Thome for hitting two doubles. It's about time that bat started doing something again, big guy.  |
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