Game chat: Right-handers clash in Philadelphia

The Phillies go for their third consecutive series win when Matt Cain (1-2, 4.41) squares off with Brett Myers (2-2, 5.11) tonight at Citizens Bank Park. Game time is 7:05 ET.

Preview: Myers doesn’t want to long toss, which is fine, as long as he can handle the 60 feet, 6 inches to home plate. Too bad it’s been a bit of a problem. Myers hasn’t been clocked far above 90 this season and was knocked around hard last Sunday in Pittsburgh, fueling rumors that the right-hander was secretly hurt. On the opposite side, Cain, a hard-throwing right-hander, has burned himself with poor control, walking 23 in 32 2-3 innings, the second most walks in the league.

The 17-13 Phils enter the night a half-game up on the Mets in the NL East. Lineups are up: Greg Dobbs, Geoff Jenkins and Chris Coste earn starts, meaning Jayson Werth and Pedro Feliz ride the bench. [Live Boxscore]

Comments

[Tim in DC]

Regarding Myers:

Can it really just be a mechanical problem, or is another Phil on the DL the most likely scenario?

To those with more knowledge than I, is mechanics a common cause for this kind of a loss of velocity with a pitcher this young?

[Jeltz for the Hall]

Tim: From what (admittedly, not enough) I've read on the subject, the answer definitely appears to be yes. Mechanics and velocity (along with location of pitches) are all interconnected from the articles I've seen.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

OUT

[Jeltz for the Hall]

Angel Hernandez seems to be squeezing Myers, especially on balls 3 and 4 to Lewis.

[Steve Jeltz]

Mets lose.

[Andy]

Something makes me think we're gonna be seeing Chad Durbin tonight...might be the 28 pitch first inning.

[TG082]

Is everyone's broadcast screwed up, or just the Kutztown affiliate's?

[mikeB]

howard has become an automatic out. gotta bat him lower in the order til he straightens things out

[Andy]

Tell you what. If Howard is right, all of those last three pitches finds a home in the left field seats.

Someone has to figure out what's going wrong in his head.

[lekh tizdayen]

How is Myers velocity, obviously he aint pitching to well?

[Jeltz for the Hall]

1-0 Montreal, BTW.

[Jeltz for the Hall]

lekh: He's sitting in the high 80's, very low 90's. Not much of a change from his last start. Oh, and he's giving up hits to the opposing pitcher, which is always a good sign.

[Andy]

JftH: Who are the Expos up against tonight?

[Andy]

lekh - 90, 91.

[Andy]

87

[Andy]

But he does have 4 Ks already.

And about 50 pitches through 2 IP.

[Jeltz for the Hall]

Bret has, however, struck out 4 through the first 1 2/3 innings...the last one finished of with the dreaded "cutter".

Andy: The Xpos faced the Pirates earlier today and beat the Pirates 9-8. But as you are well aware, I'm sure, I was referring to the Flyers-Canadiens game which is currently 2-1, Les Habitants.

[Jeltz for the Hall]

Brandon Webb is 7-0 on the season, as the Mutts lose 10-4.

[johnnysanz3]

6 pitch inning for Cain..way to make him work =)

[Andy]

johnny - and that's without Pete Happy in the line-up. If he were playing we might have had a two pitch inning.

[curt]

Looks like the game plan is to swing at the 1st strike.

[Andy]

5 Ks for Myers.

[Andy's daughter Helen]

C'mon Gnome, let's go!!!

[Jeltz for the Hall]

Looks like Bilbo Baggins has a fan in Andy's daughter. Do it for the Shire, Bilbo.

[Jeltz for the Hall]

So Matt Cain is leading the league in walks...way to show good plate discipline tonight, guys.

[Jeltz for the Hall]

Anybody else ever get the urge to refer to Bret Myers as Bert? Just me? Oh well, I understand. He does look more like Ernie anyway.

[Andy]

Jeltz - Last night the Phils helped the Giants hitters revert to career norms; tonight their helping Cain revert to his career norm for BBs.

[Jeltz for the Hall]

Andy: Let's hope that Ryno reverts then, too.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Jeltz: I might be tempted to call him Bart. He makes me think of Bart Simpson with that stance at the plate. IMO Brett Myers batting is a pretty entertaining experience, even though he has no chance to get a hit.

[Jeltz for the Hall]

Sarge basically saying that Pete Happy is now in a platoon with Dobbs.

[Andy]

Myers through 4. 1 ER and 7 Ks. And yet it feels like he's having a pretty bad game; why is that?

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Wait, who is the Manchine? I think it is Uts.

[Jeltz for the Hall]

Parker: Vicente Padilla and his belief that he was a switch-hitter (his switch was always turned to off, obviously) was fairly entertaining, too.

PS Is it safe to say that Chase is locked-in at the plate right now?

[J. Weitzel]

God is he good.

[Jeltz for the Hall]

Andy: Simple. The general sense that he could start getting pounded at any time. I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels that way right now, especially with his still decreased velocity.

[joe l]

C-Utley playing as if he's got a chip on his shoulder to win the MVP this year.

[Andy]

Awful time to get a phone call; I missed being able to do this:

CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSE!!!!!!!!

[Jeltz for the Hall]

I sense a DL stint in the future for Chase Utley. Carrying everyone else (with the exception of the Manchine) can't be good for his back.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

But for two questionable balls to the leadoff hitter and a missed call on the tag out on the steal in the 1st, Myers would have a 1 run lead here.

The strikeouts by Howard are entering ridiculous territory. Except for the homers, he hits like a pitcher.

[Andy]

I'm wondering if Howard has decided that he's discovered the easiest way to set a new record. (And he's been chipping away at it again tonight.)

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

I don't necessarily mind Myers dropping his velocity, it if is something that he is planning on doing. If it is just for some indeterminate reason, I'm concerned. For my dollar, if he K's 7 through 3, I'm not displeased. I will say, I missed the first inning, but I know the bases were loaded. That may have something to do with my assessment.

[J. Weitzel]

Cain was second in the league to Gorzalanny in walks coming into tonight.

Amazing how young he is - just 23. Big, imposing guy. Reminds me a little of the Rocket.

[Andy]

Myers keeps throwing breaking pitches low and away to Cain. It's like he believes he's a power hitter or something.

[Andy]

Parker - 7 through 4 really, but the more salient factoid is his pitch count. He's been pushing twenty in just about every inning.

[J. Weitzel]

Myers has just a little more zip tonight. Not much, but a little.

[J. Weitzel]

Oops.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Lewis is getting hit this game. Those shenanigans will not be tolerated, without some retribution. I'm not advocating it, but I think that is a situation where a message will be sent.

[Jeltz for the Hall]

JW: Lewis's home run sure zipped out of the park.

[Andy]

JftH - that particular baseball just wanted to go faster than 89 mph.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Terrible pitch to a lefty.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

This has the feel of the Florida game last year.

[curt]

Dobbs is scary at 3B.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Brett Favre out of retirement!!

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

And hitting HR's.

[curt]

If we're going to trade homers tonight, I like our chances.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Anybody think Cain looks like a thinner, RH, Mike Zagurski?

[MG]

Cain is definitely a nice arm you can build around. After watching him a couple of times the past two summers, he is a bit overrated and reminds me a bit of Myers when he was younger. Still tries to overpower too many hitters which results in a lot of high strikeouts counts and early exits. He also get distracted too easily at times and loses concentration.

Lincecum has the higher upside but it is hard not to like a hard-throwing righty like Cain who is a good bet to give you 200+ innings and some nice overall stats.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

10 K is pretty impressive, even if it is the Giants. Velocity has not been there since the Stros game, but the K numbers are on pace.

[johnnysanz3]

Myers go another inning with 106 pitches?

[J. Weitzel]

10Ks. Wonder if we'll be seeing more of this Coste/Myers pairing. Have to wonder how much of this is a poor Giants lineup.

[joe l]

Why isn't this Bocock character hitting 9th?

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

joe l:

batting 9th would probably be more accurate for Bocock. I'd say hitting is a stretch

[MG]

Give credit to Myers for giving the Phils a decent outing when he didn't have his best stuff again. It was good to see though that he went with the curveball a bit more today. Made Bowker (a nice hitter as long as you fastballs) look foolish a couple of times.
Only gave up 1 HR but that really doesn't mean anything since the wind isn't carrying out and this Giants' team is devoid of power.

[curt]

Dobbs seems to be lobbying to get his PH job back.

[J. Weitzel]

Cain is pitching a good ballgame. Burned by Utley, who's locked in, and a cheapy by Jenkins. Otherwise, pretty dominant.

[MG]

JW - 10 Ks is a bogus number. 8 of them have been against Bowker (a guy who can't handle offspeed stuff to save his life at this point), Aurilia (literally a walking fossil but for some reason Bochy continues to trot him out everyday), and Bocock (utterly useless with a bat although he make stick down as a no-hit, very good glove at SS but he need more time in the minors).

[MG]

This is where I can't stand Cholly's pitching decisions. There is no reason for Myers to start the 7th here at 106 pitches already.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Lewis did that again. He is getting plunked.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Announcers were even talking about retribution after third called time while Myers in in his windup.

[MG]

121 pitches for a guy who is struggling to build up arm strength and velocity. I just don't get it.

[J. Weitzel]

Tell you what - the Flyers have shown serious heart. I'm not much of a hockey fan anymore, but watched about a period and a half and resolved that it wasn't their night. 4-3 Flyers after two.

[brother]

It may be the Giants lineup. But still, a solid, gutty outing by Myers. The game could have gotten out of hand in the 1st inning, but Bret escaped it with just one run and settled down. Great job.

[J. Weitzel]

I would have taken out Myers after going 3-2 on Cain and having Bruntlett bail him out. They're a little shorthanded in the pen tonight, however. Turns out to be a good move for tonight.

[MG]

Figure Bochy will try to get another inning out of Cain with the bottom of the order coming up.

Let's see if the Phils can lean on their bullpen once again to keep the Giants at bay and eek out a run late.

[Andyy's younger daughter Carol]

Pete Happy blah blah blah
Pat the Bat blah blah blah
Chase Utley blah blah blah

[joe l]

The Habs goalie has looked awfully shaky tonight. Flyers finally made him pay for it that last period.

[Andy]

(Carol is less than impressed with beerleaguer - everyone's a critic.)

[J. Weitzel]

Myers was good, but there's still something a little off. He misses with that cutter a lot. Just getting behind too much, and too many free passes. Velocity up ever so slightly.

[MG]

JW - Yeah your right the bullpen is a bit short handed tonight. Romero tonight available and Gordon/Madson/Lidge has all gone on consecutive nights.

[curt]

Fortunately, the shoddy defensive play seems to be a thing of the past.

[J. Weitzel]

Carol: Truer words have never been written on Beerleaguer.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Utley does it all. Time for a Coste shot, or a Gnome Chomsky!

[J. Weitzel]

Durbin does it again. Time for that nightly tie-breaking home run we've come to expect.

[MG]

Don't understand why everything thinks that moving Outman and Castro to the pen is necessarily out this season. If anything, I see it as a move really for next season and a savvy one.

Castro is only going to make it as a reliever due to his stamina and I don't know if a 2-trick pony like Outman will ever make it in the big leagues as a starter either.

[joe l]

Just curious, how much faster is Ruiz than Coste?

[curt]

Utley's in his own league now, a league of 1.

[MG]

Good to see a successful SAC bunt for a change.

[J. Weitzel]

Durbin has been a good find. Very different bullpen signing than we've come to expect from the Phils. Not an ancient veteran, but a young-ish failed starter, someone you think could be a late bloomer and help in the pen. Been waiting for the Phils to find someone like this. The last attempt was Ryan Franklin, and as it turned out, they were a season early on him, because he's been solid for St. L.

[Andy]

Durbin has, indeed, performed above expectations.

[fljerry]

Actually we need another lefty in bullpen - look how Giants have been using their relievers

[Jeltz for the Hall]

JW: The Phils definitely chose to keep the right Durbin with the big club. Not that the Real Deal made it much of a choice (he's been just terrible at Allentown, btw).

[Jeltz for the Hall]

Lidge, huh.

[Jeltz for the Hall]

Looks like no retribution against Lewis tonight...unless this game goes to extra innings.

[J. Weitzel]

Time for that game-winning home run we've grown accustomed to.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Alright get Lidge the win.

[brother]

It would have sucked to have lost this game on infield hits. Good play by Feliz.

[MG]

Franklin was a case where the boo-birds in Philly were wrong. He didn't pitch well in Philly but fans acted like he was the worst reliever ever. Salvage-Master Duncan had him made a few tweaks in his delivery and Franklin has an effective reliever since.

[MG]

I see a walk-off HR coming here.

[Sean]

Yes with Burrel due up Fourth this inning might as well call it a game

[Jeltz for the Hall]

PETE HAPPY!!! Why is it that a lead-off walk by Pete Happy seems like a walk-off home run?