Monday, August 07, 2006

 

A Win is a Win

First, if you didn't see the homerun that Andruw Jones hit in the 9th make sure you catch a replay. It was a broken bat home run to dead center. Amazing power. The Phillies won tonight in an ugly 9-6 game. Not a pretty game but the Phillies got the job done. Ryan Howard started the scoring for the Phillies in the 4th with a 2-run home run, his 39th. Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino were the catylst for the offense tonight. They went a combined 4-9 with 2 runs and 4 RBIs. The 5th inning was the killer inning for the Atlanta Braves. It started with a walk of Abe Nunez followed by a wild pitch in which Nunez advanced to second. On the subsquent bunt by Brett Myers, Braves' pitcher Oscar Villareal attempted to get the out at third but the throw was beat by Nunez. With runners on 1st and 3rd, Jimmy Rollins stroked a double to right-center. Victorino followed that with a run scoring single. After an Utley sac fly to left and an intentional walk to Howard, Burrell delivered a double down the third base line. The scoring in the fifth finished on a bloop single to right that scored Howard.

Brett Myers was not an ace today. He really struggled with his control. He gave up 4 earned runs over 5 innings but did get his eighth win of the year. His biggest mistake came in the fifth with an 0-2 count to Marcus Giles. He threw a fastball down the middle and Giles hit a two run home run. Ryan Madson came in for relief in the sixth. He pitched two innings. Madson worked out of a jam in the seventh and also struck out three batters during his two innings. A very positive outing from Madson. Arthur Rhodes who is pitching his best baseball of the year had a quick 1-2-3 inning. Geoff Geary due for a rough outing had a bad ninth inning. He gave up 3 hits and 2 runs.

The pitchers, especially Brett Myers, were helped out by some great defense. Abe Nunez took away a RBI single from Wily Aybar in the 4th with a diving play. Then he saved two more runs in the fifth when Nunez dove to his left and threw to second to get the force on a ball smoked by Adam LaRoche. Nunez earned his money tonight with those two superb plays. The first one was even the #2 Web Gem on Baseball Tonight

Tip of the Hat- Ryan Madson for pitching two scoreless innings, the sixth and seventh. Madson has seemed to make a perfect transition back to the bullpen. On Post Game Live, John Marzano described why Madson is more suited to the bullpen. Marzano said by pitching only one or two innings he doesn't need to pace himself and can use his devasting change up anytime.

Wag of the Finger- Brett Myers for a second straight subpar outing. To make a run at and win the wildcard, the Phillies need Myers to pitch like the ace he is. He didn't have his best stuff but did battle for five innings.

Tomorrow's Game- Cole Hamels off his best outing of his short career will take on the underachieving Tim Hudson. The Phillies just 2.5 games out of the wildcard, look to deal Hudson his eleventh loss of the year. Meanwhile, Hamels looks to even his record at .500. Tomorrow's gametime is at 7:30.

Comments:
I usually defend Pat Burrell, but his defense is killing the Phils. His inability to make easy plays in LF is just not excusable. I like Pat, because I like good ol' fashioned righthanded sluggers, but the sooner we deal him out of here the better!

I know the pitcher is the one who pitches, but Lieberthal deserves some of the blame. I can't stand Lieby, his defense has been bad for years, he no longer hits, and he can't call a game to save his life and handles pitchers poorly.
 
agreed on lieberthal. he doesn't call a good game and it hurts the pitchers.
 
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