Yes, I did think the Phillies would win today. No, I didn’t think Cole Hamels‘ start would yield a 15-6 shellacking. But, after bombs from Geoff Jenkins, Pat Burrell, and Chase Utley, that is exactly what happened. Hamels was off his game today. I’d like to blame the umps delay in the middle of Carlos Lee’s soon to be three-run jack at bat, but that would be a little too homerish. Hamels simply didn’t pitch well. He seemed constantly behind batters, had a high pitch count early, and his ball to strike ratio was poor compared to usual (85-49 PC-ST). 6 earned runs in 4 innings. Unexpected after a scoreless streak of 19 straight innings. I’m not worried, however. These games happen to the best of them.
Not strong on the mound, Hamels was 2 for 2 at the plate with a run scored and an RBI. Go figure. Well, actually, Hamels is hitting .345 on the season (damn!). Hamels RBI hit came in the 4th, making it 5-4 Astros. Michael Bourn added one in the bottom half of the inning, and the game remained extremely frustrating through the 5th.
Come the top of the 6th, the Phils ripped off the chains of frustration that have held them back the last 2 games. 5 runs in the 6th and then 6 in the 7th. Final score, 15-6. In short, did not see that coming.
A couple points of intrigue concerning Charlie Manuel: 1) WHY OH WHY is Carlos Ruiz bunting up 4 runs? Ruiz stuck out on a foul bunt. 2) WHY OH WHY is “Slow” Taguchi pinch running for Pat Burrell? Charlie has got to stop with this. It was the 7th innning and the Phils only had a 2 run lead at that point. I don’t get it. Taguchi ended up waltzing home. Certainly Burrell could’ve done the same. Oh, Cholly.
I’m back to DC tomorrow. Phils are off to Colorado to try to finally win a game against the Rockies, six 7 months late.
By the way, I am not going to miss the Astros. They are an extremely pesky team. Also, that stupid train is only cool until it’s tooting after a Carlos Lee home run.
-Greg Berlin
Categories: NL East · Phillies
Tagged: Astros, Carlos Gomez, Carlos Ruiz, Charlie Manuel, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Geoff Jenkins, Michael Bourn, Pat Burrell, Phillies, Rockies, So Taguchi
ESPN’s E-Ticket features Yu Darvish, the 21 year-old Japanese phenom (he’s actually half-Japanese, half-Iranian) who is being called “Dice-K 2.0.” It’s possible that Darvish can be bought in much the same fashion as Daisuke Matsuzaka was two years ago. Speculation is that the asking price just to negotiate with Darvish could reach $50 million.
The article and attached video expand to discuss the differences between Japanese and American baseball, from revenue-sharing (doesn’t exist in Japan) to practice ethic (seven hours a day for little leaguers) to MLB’s presence in Asia (lots of Ichiro, Hideki Matsui, and Dice-K jerseys being sold). Interviewed are Bobby Valentine, who manages a team in Japan (ESPN2 had a great show about this called The Zen of Bobby V, also very interesting) and former-Met Masato Yoshii, who is now a pitching coach in his home country.
If Darvish decides to come pitch in the United States, it’s highly likely that the Yankees will do everything in their power to sign him (after losing out in the Matsusaka sweepstakes and making a mistake on Kei Igawa). I’d love to see the Mets go after him, but I am quite certain that if Darvish decides to pitch here, Hank Steinbrenner will do everything in his power to ensure that Yu wears pinstripes in the Bronx.
-Jonathan Kraft
Categories: General · Mets
Tagged: Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, Ichiro, Yu Darvish, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Matsui, Bobby Valentine, Masato Yoshii, Kei Igawa, Hank Steinbrenner
As a former Mota-Hater, I truly enjoyed watching Guillermo Mota blow today’s game for Milwaukee against the Washington Nationals. Mota came in for the bottom of the ninth with a 6-6 score to force extra innings in Washington. With baserunners on first and third with one out and Felipe Lopez up at the plate, Mota bounced a wild pitch allowing Elijah Dukes to score from third. I’d feel bad for the Brewers because of their awful bullpen but come on, when you sign Mota and Eric Gagne (among other mediocre relievers), you should know what you’re going to get.
-Jonathan Kraft
Categories: Mets · Nationals
Tagged: Brewers, Elijah Dukes, Eric Gagne, Felipe Lopez, Guillermo Mota, Mets, Nationals, NL East
According to MLB.com, Ryan Zimmerman hurt the shoulder after sliding into second base last week in Baltimore. He has been one of the team’s hottest hitters of late, hitting .364, .417, .500 in the last seven days, so obviously it isn’t affecting him too much, although his power is down of late.
Categories: Nationals
Tagged: Nationals, NL East, Ryan Zimmerman
According to FOX Sports, Willie Randolph is fully aware that his days as Mets manager are probably numbered. He gave a “rambling 20 minute interview” yesterday in which he called Minaya’s vote of confidence the “kiss of death.”
“I’m just so hell-bent on winning the game right now that whether Omar is here or not, whether they support me or not, is irrelevant really,” Randolph said. “It’s going to be what it’s going to be. I’ll go down to the last day trying to win a ballgame. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I came here. All that stuff is out of my hands.”
Today’s game might very well decide the fate of Randolph. If the Mets win, maybe the Wilpons will grant a reprieve, until the next losing streak, at least. If the Mets lose, though, which would result in the Mets having lost 9 of 13, then there is a good chance that Willie will be axed upon arrival back in New York.
-Jonathan Kraft
Categories: Mets
Tagged: Mets, NL East, Willie Randolph
*In northeast sports towns.
Francis Clines comes out against booing your own team in Sunday’s edition of the New York Times.
His piece focuses on the Mets. But it happens in Philly, too. And I don’t have a problem with it. Booing a visiting Scott Rolen half a decade after he was traded does not yield any internal dividends. But booing a lackluster team or a snotty player or a poor coaching decision all are legitimate reasons to groan publicly.
Players serving time on the Phillies come to know that boos serve as dissatisfaction with effort more than anything. And when the results are positive, Phillies fans will cheer as loud as any in the game. In New York, I imagine the case is not much different. The Mets are not playing to their potential. If they do, they would receive equally boisterous accolades.
Should fans sit back silently, or worse, cheer a floundering ball club? Of course not. Northeast sports fans are the best in the country, because they care. Those emotions should involve cheering, and booing, too.
-Greg Berlin
Categories: General
Tagged: Booing, Mets, Phillies, Scott Rolen
So says David Murphy of the Daily News. Here’s what he had to say over at High Cheese:
We wrote a couple weeks ago about the case of the exploding bat, and the concerns of various people inside the game that maple bats and their tendency to shatter represent a hazard in the baseball workplace.
Just had a transcript of a Bud Selig interview forwarded to me. In it, he addresses the issue. This is from an interview with Charley Steiner on XM Radio.
Steiner: Okay. The next question, and again we’ll use this in a generic sense, quote unquote maple bats.
Selig: Yeah.
Steiner: Yes, there are all sorts of bats. Different bat companies and so on. One thing that we have all noticed over the last few years are these projectiles. I mean there are times when a given batter goes through three bats in one at-bat. And these are not just broken bats, but there are javelins that impale the ground. Actually, one got a piece of Don Long the hitting instructor of the Pirates when he was here at Dodger Stadium. How serious is that an issue for you? Let’s just begin with that. Where are you on that?
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Categories: General
Tagged: Bud Selig, Charley Steiner, David Murphy, Exploding Bats
Brett Myers lived up to his words tonight. He threw “doo-doo” like usual. 6 innings, 4 ER, 8 hits, 4 BB, 2 SO. Something needs to happen. I don’t care if it’s a trip to the phantom DL or a stint in the minors or a trade. This can’t continue. The Phillies are not going to compete for the division with Jamie Moyer as our second best pitcher. Myers is losing trade value daily. He’s still most attractive as a closer, and many teams could use him.
Ryan Howard is a Beast. He moon shot to right-center propelled the Phils to a 3-2 lead in the 3rd. But Myers couldn’t hold back the ’stros. Carlos Lee’s second RBI hit of the night (3 total) tied the game in the bottom of the 5th and Mark Loretta’s single in the bottom of the 6th gave the Astros the lead. That would be all for the night for both teams.
In the 9th, the Phillies squandered a great opportunity to tie the game - for the second night in a row. Tonight, with the bases loaded and one out, Shane Victorino hit a shallow fly ball to left. Pedro Feliz was sent after the catch. A perfect throw by Darren Erstad completed the double play and ended the game (upon which point I promptly stormed out of the stadium.)
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Categories: NL East · Phillies
Tagged: Astros, Brett Myers, Carlos Lee, Chase Utley, Darren Erstad, Jamie Moyer, Jimmy Rollins, Mark Loretta, Minute Maid Park, Pat Burrell, Pedro Feliz, Phillies, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Steve Smith
