Game chat: Phillies headline Sunday Night Baseball

Brett Myers (4-9, 5.46) hopes to build on his last start when the Phillies close out their three-game series against Todd Wellemeyer (8-4, 4.13) and the Cardinals tonight at 8:05 ET on ESPN.

Last night, the Phils nipped the Cards 2-1 thanks to an excellent effort from Joe Blanton (1-0), earning his first win as a member of the Phillies. Blanton allowed just one run over seven innings, striking out five, all on called thirds. Greg Dobbs and Ryan Howard homered to account for the only Phillies runs. Brad Lidge picked up his 27th save to close out a beautifully pitched game.

Tonight, Myers tries to follow in Blanton’s footsteps and build on the seven shutout innings he worked in Washington on Tuesday. It was his first win in nearly two months.

Mets update: On the verge of being swept by Houston as of this writing, the Mets have suffered two more injury setbacks. Closer Billy Wagner will undergo a second MRI on his left forearm, while starter John Maine has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a mild strain in his right rotator cuff. The Mets fell to the Astros 5-4 in 10 innings last night and are losing 4-0 in the 8th inning as of this writing. Should Houston hold on to win, the Mets will fall to 2.5 games in back of the Phils before the start of tonight’s game. Meanwhile, Colorado edged Florida this afternoon 3-2, dropping the Marlins to two-games back in the NL East standings.

Comments

[Iceman]

Thanks to old friend Randy Wolf and old "friend" Ed Wade for sweeping the Mets, giving the Phils a chance to pad their lead tonight.

[mvptommyd]

Well I will kick things off by saying my day is going in the right direction after that GREAT Mets loss!

[Sophist]

Well, should be a relatively stress-free game. Mets were just swept.

[not a regular]

sucks to see my mets lose. that being said, this division is such a wash that every team has the same thing going for it - it's up against the other two teams. should be an interesting stretch run, looking forward to watching myers tonight

[tommyd]

We need to win tonight reguardless to put the Mets in more of a worry mood being 3 games back, but we never play well on ESPN so I don't know what to think going in

[mvptommyd]

Florida is starting to wake up to relaity as well. We need to win tonight to keep this thing going and start to pull away now.

[MG]

regular - Yeah. No team, including the Phils, are good enough to build a 6 or 7 game lead. One of the three teams might fall out of it but it will have to take a series of injuries including though to a few key regulars.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Glad to see the cessation of the "Blanton is Eaton comments." Blanton may be or may not be a lot of things, but he is definitively better than Adam Eaton. How long will it be before Eaton pitches his way out of the minor leagues? I think it is just a matter of time before Eaton joins Rheal Cormier on the roster of the Saskatoon Reindeer, of the Independent Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall League.

[Jack]

Tommyd: Except for the game a few weeks ago on ESPN where we beat the Cardinals, the team we happen to be playing tonight.

[mvptommyd]

jack : True but ESPN games still make me nervous, maybe it is the presence of Erin Andrews that does us in.

[Ryan]

Jack: That's only the cubs that have that problem

[Ryan]

I meant mvptommyd

[mvptommyd]

Ryan: True, But honestly do you blame them. I wonder if she has messed around with any players because I have heard on many occasions she is the talk of the sideline/dugouts whatever the case may be.

[Phillesh Phanatic]

I think it's key that Myers shows up big tonight. Last ESPN game, he didn't look so good. Let the nation see him step it up and redeem himself. It can only help his confidence.

[lekh tizdayen]

Adam Eaton's only true skill is swiping a credit card...that is, until the cashier asks him "Credit or Debit?" at which point he gets flustered, starts sweating abnormally, walks around in circles with a defeated look on his face, starts swallowing rapidly and telling himself "You're a big boy Adam, and big boys don't cry"

[Reed]

mmm, Erin Andrews

Phils O needs to step on the Cards' necks tonight.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

lehk: I would bet that Adam Eaton's finances are the least of his worries. He might be crying about the minor league busses he has to ride, but at $24 million, those bus rides are probably a bit more tolerable.

Myers: It will be interesting to see how Myers pitches tonight against an MLB lineup. As encouraging as the game against the Nats was, I'm a bit less than convinced of the authenticity of the Myers resurrection. The Mets lineup, featuring Tatis/Chavez/Schneider (or Castro)/Castillo (or that other 2B) is less than overwhelming as well.

[denny b.]

Win this one tonight, and you start to stretch out the lead again in the East.

Take 2 out of 3 from the Marlins next week, and you drop them a game farther back. With Josh Johnson, Anibel Sanchez and Chris Volstadt pitching those 3 games, and hot weather coming, that's a lot of right-handed, flyball pitchers coming to town. And, Marlin-killer Moyer starts the series on Tuesday. Cholly couldn't have scripted that any better.

Then, you have the awful Pirates next weekend (with Ian Snell and some kid junkballer named Herrera, 2 of the 3 starters). While, the Mets and Marlins beat up on each other.

This game tonight, becomes very important. Not going to be a killer if they lose it, but another game added to the lead, in early August, with the Mets having their issues, would be awfully nice.

Get to Wellemyer early, like they did last month at Busch, and put some numbers on the board. The Phils are due again, for one of those big nights (that isn't against Atlanta). Especially, Utley.

[Sophist]

Wellemeyer was injured in the 20 run game. He probably shouldn't have pitched.

[Andy]

My concern about today's game is that Myers' skill set is a lot like Blanton. (Good curve set up by inconsistently okay fastball) (from the right side). If he's not sharp the Cards might be tuned right into the kind of stuff he's offering.

Here's hoping the hitters decide it's time to punch Wellemyer's clock again.

[GM-Carson]

With the Astros sweeping the Mets, and the Rox beating the Fish, the Phils are primed for primetime tonight to make some room in the standings.

[GM-Carson]

Don't sleep on the Pirates, they're not nearly as bad as people think they are. Phils should beat them no doubt, but that club even without Nady, Marte, and Bay still has fight in 'em.

[Ryan]

MVPtommyd: I think EA only does the Wednesday night games for sideline repirting anyway

[EastFallowfield]

We're either 6-4 or 7-4 on ESPN I think. The Fox jinx is the bad one.

[MG]

Carson - Without Nady and Bay they have become an incredibly offensively-challenged team. Coupled with LaRoche on shelf, they have only two bats (Doumit and McCouth) that are legit. More importantly, there starting pitching stinks. Face a bunch of marginal guys or guys have tremendously bad years like Snell.

Exactly the type of team the Phils have a good job cleaning up this year. Shaky starting pitching and an offensive that isn't going put 5 or 6 runs most night til the end of the season.

Phils probably drop a game but about as a good an opportunity as the Phils will have to sweep the rest of the season.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

I didn't get to watch the game last night, but I did see some breakdown of a Blanton v.s. Pujols at bat. Blanton got him looking on a pretty nasty pitch. Blanton has a lot of skill, and he really appeared to hammer the zone in that at bat. If he does that consistently, I don't see why he can't be close to the same pitcher he was for the A's in the last two years. Blanton seems to be a tough guy/grinder type. He is essentially the anti-Eaton. This is the same guy who got into a brawl with Ichiro Suzuki. I'm not one to advocate brawling, but fighting with Ichiro is one sure way to become unpopular. I'm glad the Phillies have a pitcher like Blanton who isn't afraid to do some things for his team that may not help him individually in the long run.

[MG]

Pirates did have to make those trades in order to get the prospects they need to rebuild but man they are still at least 3 years away from even really contending again because their pitching is just horrible. Maybe some underrated arms in the pen but is there a single guy in that rotation who is even worth building around in the next two years?

Snell completely bottomed out this year, Gorzelanny has been even worse than Snell and has health questions to boot, and Duke sucks. Really Maholm is the only credible starter they have had this year and the top of their farm system is as barren as the Phils in terms of pitching prospects.

Plus, it is not like the Pirates have the budget to go out and sign a decent starter at $8-$9/M year. Granted the Pirates might be finally headed in the right direction because they realized they need to completely bottom out but man they will be lucky to put out a competitive team that sniffs .500 over the next 2 years.

[J. Weitzel]

Everyone saw that Carrasco was promoted? Just so it's clear, it can't possibly be based on performance. He's been wildly inconsistent for most of the season.

[MG]

JW - Didn't understand the Carrasco promotion either. Incredibly erratic so move him up a level and possibly have his ego/confidence (supposedly shaky to start) take a hit against slightly better hitters?

Just best served going through the rest of the year at Reading and seeing if he can build on something the last 6 weeks on a team that isn't getting any kind of attention/no real pressure on Carrasco.

[Sophist]

Carrasco through 6 IP: 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO. Maybe the move up will motivate him further?

[Andy]

Sophist -
Or maybe AAA is the new AA.

[Floyd]

Anyone know a way to watch the game on the 'net for someone without Cable?

[BB]

I love how mets fans still visit when they fall back, soo desperate for our validation. I live here in NYC and they do the same to yankee fans. 'please tell us we are important!' Then if they win one game against us or the yankees they become vulgar gloating insufferable infants.

[Indiana Sarge]

No Victorino tonight?

[John]

Doesn't a local affiliate (I suppose ABC) carry the national games, given local interest? Or is that just for bigger stuff than a regular season MLB game?

[BB]

Jason is it possible they are using the , give him enough rope strategy?, just to find out is he really is an A list prospect? I am not really sure how these things are handled.

[BB]

Shane hasn't had a day off in a while.

[MG]

Floyd - There used to be some proxy sites that you could use but the last ones I knew were shut down by MLB. Radio and ESPN Gamecast isn't bad but still no TV.

[BB]

Floyd, I just checked the NFL proxy sites I use for preseason NFL and they are shut down as well. Radio :)

[BB]

BTW Floyd, which one's Pink?

[Sophist]

Rollins
Werth
Utley
Howard
Burrell
Jenkins
Dobbs
Coste
Myers

against RHP Wellemeyer (.263/.324/.414 vs LHB -- .252/.308/.404 vs RHB)

[Floyd]

Radio it is. Charlie on right now...trying to translate his words without watching his mouth move is pretty tricky.

[Floyd]

Charlie just confirmed - day off for Victorino.

[lekh tizdayen]

Anyone else think that the phillies waited until after the trade deadline to promote Carrasco...honestly seems like a good strategy (in a vacuum situation in which this is the only factor).

[clout]

Unless Vic is hurting or needs a rest, there's no logical reason to sub Werth for him vs. RHP.

[AFish]

Joe Morgan just told me that if the Phillies don't outscore the other team, they'll have problems. Thanks, Joe.

[MG]

Who is more annoying - Tom McCarthy or Joe Morgan?

[Sophist]

Agreed, clout. Especially with the way Vic's been playing. Looks liek he's started the last 39 straight and 64 of the last 65, if I'm reading the game logs right.

Miller on ESPN just said that Rollins claims he feels the best he has all season these last 7-10 days.

last 7 games: .286/.394/.571.

[MG]

AFish - You forgot the other nugget from Morgan, "If JRoll returns to his form last year, it will help the Phils to hold on to the NL East."

Normally I hate to jump on the bash train but Morgan clearly doesn't even prepare anymore. Frankly it is embarrassing and a shame a pro like Jon Miller has to work with him.

[redbeard]

mg, tom mccarthy

[clout]

MG: I agree that the Pirates are nothing special this year, but I wouldn't be so quick to dimiss Snell (26), Gorzelanny (25)and Duke (25). They are quality prospects and each of them could wind up as good or better than Maholm (26). I can't think of another team that has 4 quality pitching prospects in their mid-20s already in the rotation and winning games.

[AFish]

I'm sure Vic needs a rest. The Phillies are facing RHP in all three games of the Florida series.

[joe l]

Maybe it's my FIOS, but the game is coming it at somewhere around 3 frames per second on ESPN.

[clout]

Actually, I just did. The Marlins. Only they have 5 quality pitching prospects, not 4 and they're younger than the Pirates.

[MG]

But the Phils have an off-day tomorrow so there really was no reason to give Vic a breather tonight. Maybe he tweaked something and Cholly wanted to make sure. Otherwise Vic should be in the lineup tonight.

[MG]

Clout - Duke stinks. Maybe Snell or Gorzelanny have had terrible years and both have injury questions/concerns. Wouldn't be surprised if Gorzelanny has major surgery this offseason that forces him to miss a decent part of '09.

[Tommy Hutton's Wristbands]

Reboot your FiOS receiver (unplug, wait a minute and plugin) it shouldn't take more than a commercial break total.

[AFish]

A lot of times the Phillies like to give a player a day off before an off day, so the player gets two straight days off. Given that the Marlins are throwing all right-handed pitchers, Vic's bat will be more important in the Marlins' series.

[J. Weitzel]

To be clear, I don't have a problem with the Carrasco promotion; they probably have better people surrounding him in LV. With Marson and Donald gone to China, Reading is becoming a wasteland. So I don't have an issue, other than saying that it's because he's been good in Double-A. He's been a mixed bag.

[AFish]

Joe Morgan must not watch a lot of baseball. He's never seen Myers not pitch a great game.

[joe l]

@tommy hutton... the commercial was fine. it's only when they cut to the game it's choppy again.

[philsphan]

"I don't think I have ever seen Brett Myers pitch a bad ball game"- Joe Morgan

ESPN is fun!

[MG]

I like Howard but ever since there was the debate about who was a better player at the end of '06 - Pujols has clearly demonstrated that he is the better player.

[Tommy Hutton's Wristbands]

joe, Sorry that's all I got. I didn't see it on my FiOS in Central NJ. Good luck.

[Floyd]

Myers throwing 92/93, which is good to see.

[joe l]

thanks. i'm up in MA, so I doubt they'd even care if I told them this is the only time I get to watch the Phils on TV and oh my god if I have to listen to joe morgan for another minute i'm going to cancel my service... or something like that.

[Sophist]

Floyd - he's also throwing strikes. 9 pitches, 6 strikes. A solid, efficient inning.

[philsphan]

Geoff Jenkins is a "dangerous hitter".

[MG]

"Geoff Jenkins is a dangerous hitter" Miller states. Say what?

[AFish]

Jenkins is "a dangerous hitter but only hittign .243." Please explain.

[MG]

C'mon Dobbs. Would be nice to pick up a 2-out RBI here.

[Tommy Hutton's Wristbands]

If you ignore the 757 out he makes in 1000 at bats he is dangerous.

[Run Up The Score]

Never doubt Miller.

I really want to see Mather drop one of those lazy flies.

[joe l]

I forget his name, but does the ESPN play by play guy have to end every sentence as if he's asking a question?

[Floyd]

And that's what happens when you throw 6 fastballs in a row - even Jenkins hits it.

[Cory]

VIC should be in this game.

[Spitz]

Man, Ludwig just kills the Phillies.

[Philschoke]

When was the last time the Phils won the world series? haha

[frothy]

Whenever Jon Miller speaks, he seems perpetually surprised.

[MG]

You notice that the Cards are swinging at that first pitch fastball a ton tonight. That is decent advance scouting in full effect since the Nats sat on it for the first few innings and let Myers dominate them.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Brett Favre's plane touches down in Green Bay, courtesy of the Brett Favre/Red Sox Sports Network's in-game break.

In other news, Elvis has left the building.

[MG]

Mets troll - Not much of a difference between '86 and '80 you loser. Back to your hole.

[Floyd]

Myers has responded well so far this inning though...hasn't been rattled by the run.

[AFish]

Myers has great location with his curve ball tonight.

[Spitz]

Encouraging to see Brett limit the damage. Didn't seem like he was doing that earlier in the year.

[MG]

Cards are chasing fastballs up around their heads that inning. If they keep that up, Myers' location issues with his fastball won't be much of an issue.

[Sophist]

Well, it looks like the Phils will have to score more than 1 run to win this thing.

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

First time seeing Myers since the Mets game, and he looks different. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. This rotation could drastically improve if Myers/Blanton pitch close to their potential.

Favre (minute by minute update): Chris Mortensen reports that Brett Favre is considering breaking wind. Media experts are puzzled by these late breaking developments.

[Phillies worst team ever]

Remember when the rockies swept the Phillies?

[Inside/Outside the Parker]

Remember when the Astros were playing good baseball? Who did they just get through sweeping? Oh, it was the Mets, almost forgot.

Remember the only time the Rockies lost in the playoffs? Oh yeah, it was the World Series, almost forgot.

[Floyd]

Don't feed the trolls - it makes them grow.

[joe l]

7 games with 17 to play.

[baxter]

Joe Morgan: When you step into the batters box, what goes through your head?
Albert Pujols: I want to hit the ball.

[Spitz]

3 innings in 40 minutes. Do these guys have somewhere they want to get to tonight?

[AFish]

Myers has thrown only 28 pitches through 3 innings.

[phils fans are trash]

Over a seven-day period, the Phillies lost a 6 1/2 game lead and trailed the first-place Reds by one full game.

[phlipper]

I love it when Mutts trolls try to pretend that they weren't ready to strangle their grandmothers when their team completely collapsed in Sept. 07.

[baxter]

Is Howard's babip really .458 like Joe Morgan said?

[tutpsu]

When does Joe Morgan run out of hot air?

[Floyd]

Is Wellemeyer really just throwing fastballs, or is gameday lying to me?