Game chat: Phils try to inch closer to division title

Standing at the doorstep to 90 wins, the Phillies find themselves in the driver's seat for a spot in the post-season with a favorable matchup tonight. Left-handers Cole Hamels and Mike Hampton toe the rubber when the Phils and Braves continue their series.

The Phillies' magic number to win the National League East is four, with the Wild Card magic number down to three. Elsewhere, the Mets call on Johan Santana to stop the bleeding against the Cubs. First pitch is 7 p.m. And in Milwaukee, Dave Bush takes the hill for the Brewers as they begin a series with Pittsburgh. That one gets underway at 8 p.m.Lineups for the Phillies are posted, and it’s an identical lineup card as last night.

Comments

[Brian G]

bap: Agreed. My line of thinking is that it is guaranteed that Charlie is going to be pinch running for Burrell at least and maybe some others, so it's worthwhile to have a guy who is legitimately fast to fill that role. I think it is less likely we will have a crucial pinch hit opportunity with none of our other guys left.

[redbeard]

Lets Go Phil-lies, LETS GO! (clap clap)

[CJ]

Omar Minaya just got a 4-year contract extension.

Bwhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahha

[bob]

2.5 games ahead of the Mets. The Phils need to at least maintain this lead tonight or else there could be an excessive amount of pressure on Myers' shoulders tomorrow to bounce back strong from his last outing.

[Andy]

Someone explain this to me. Josh Anderson hits in the .160s against LHP; the Braves have him leading off.

[clout]

Brian G: From last thread, I agree with you on Golson, but the problem is the 25-man roster. Golson is a great addition in September when the rosters expand. But if you add him to the 25, then the odds of him finding himself in the batters box become very high. One solution: Since days off are built into the off-season, go short one pitcher. I'd give up a pitcher for Golson's spot. You'll only need 4 starters.

[Sophist]

Unless the Mets offense is MIA, they're winning tonight. Hamels needs to just shut these guys down. McCann gets the start, Chipper does not.

[CJ]

clout: Yeah, that was part of the discussion at the end.

Leave off Condrey (or Seanez), add Golson.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Phils go into the 5 game series with just 10 pitchers. They could always re-evaluate if they're fortunate enough to advance.

[bay_area_phan]

"My line of thinking is that it is guaranteed that Charlie is going to be pinch running for Burrell at least and maybe some others, so it's worthwhile to have a guy who is legitimately fast to fill that role."

Well, you've definitely got a point there. I think I speak for not only myself, but most Beerleaguers, when I say I don't like the pinch running move. But since Cholly is going to do it anyhow, it's at least better to do it with someone who can make a genuine impact with his speed & defense.

[bay_area_phan]

Cole always seems to struggle in the first inning.

[AFish]

Very sloppy start.

[clout]

With Santana on the mound for the Mets and Hamels for the Phils, this would be a very, very bad time for Hamels to have an off-night.

[Brian G]

clout/CJ: That's what I did. But you can keep Condrey and Seanez and leave off Taguchi and Happ(the unneeded 5th starter) to allow you to have Golson on the team.

And I think the guarantee of him giving us a basestealing threat is a slightly higher value than the unmitigated disaster he'll be in the batter's box in the maybe 1 ab he gets.

[Sophist]

I guess we could have mentioned that the Braves 1-4 hitters are all LHP. Anderson shouldn't be a problem, but Johnson is blazing right now and McCann is always dangerous. Prado is even sporting a .320/.380/.471 line this year in 73 games.

[CJ]

Brian G: Right, that was my roster as well. Keeping the extra bat (Taguchi) would mean leaving off Seanez or Condrey in a 5 game series. Might not be a bad idea.

[KoolEarl]

Probably one of those games where Hamels looks off but ends up throwing 7 innings and letting in 2-3 runs... Mike Hampton looks like Beavis

[doubleh]

All this postseason roster talk makes superstitious people like me very wary...let's get there first.

Too much optimism on this board for a bunch of so-called Philadelphia fans. ;-)

[doubleh]

Isn't that only the 2nd GIDP that Werth has hit into all year?

[CJ]

That was disappointing. Utley on first, one out, 3-0 count to Werth. I was thinking how great it would be to have Howard up with two on. Instead, GIDP. Werth hasn't done that much this year. In fact, that's just the 2nd time all year he's done it (and the 2nd time in his Phillies career!).

[clout]

Brian G: That's what I'd do.

[AFish]

@CJ: Werth's other dp was actually a bad call by the umpire. That was his first real dp of the season.

[CJ]

Cole better bear down. He's our ace. And needs to start acting like it. This is virtually a Triple A lineup he's facing.

[doubleh]

Is Cole beleaguered from too many innings pitched or has he lost a little of that cockiness/confidence that used to make him so nasty?

[bay_area_phan]

Hamels looks like he's wearing down. His WHIP & BAAA are both far higher this month than in any prior month, and he hasn't been terribly sharp in any of his last 3 starts -- and isn't looking sharp in this one either. The Phillies will need both him & Myers to be in top form if they're to have any chance of knocking off the Cubs. Hopefully we can clinch in the next day or two and not have to use Hamels again this year. That would give him 7 days rest between now & Game 1 of the NLDS. He could use it.

[CJ]

That was bad luck for Cole. Shattered the bat.

Cubs lead 1-0.

[CJ]

bap: I'm praying we get to close this season with Kendrick pitching Saturday and Eaton pitching Sunday :-)

But we have to close the deal first.

[Sophist]

6 of Hamel's last 7 starts are very, very good.

5-1, 46.2 IP, 12 R, 2.31 ERA, 9 BB, 35 SO, .242/.282/.371 against

Credit the Braves bats (Prado, Johnson, McCann, and Kotchmann in particular) with very good AB. He's throwing strikes, they're just fouling them off.

[CJ]

Base-cloggers on 1st and 2nd.

Flyin' Hawaiian at the plate.

[CJ]

Bah... two DPs already. That's how you kill a rally.

[Andy]

I hate the way this game is starting.

[TK]

Don't worry Pete Happy now.

[Andy]

I mean, "Yippee!"

[CJ]

Nice job Pete Happy! Each team now has a run on a bloop single.

[GoPhilsGo]

1-1 isn't great, but it could be worse. Lets see if Cole can reduce the pitch count a bit

[thephaithful]

Wow victorino AND werth DPs in back to back innings, that usually doesnt even happen in the same season, let alone 1 game.

[Andy]

CJ - You're kidding about the Joe Morganesque "base-clogging" comment, right?

[Sophist]

Hamels' count: 45 pitches, 32 strikes (12 foul balls)

[bay_area_phan]

CJ: Even if we clinch, I would probably stick with the normal pitching schedule. I do believe in momentum, and starting KK or Eaton would result in a likely loss and kill all the momentum that we have built up over the last few weeks. Besides, Happ is scheduled to make the last start of the season & he could use all the experience that we can get him.

[thephaithful]

just curious here, not jumpng to conclusions or anything but:

How much do you guys think the cheapseats will go for on the open market(not face) at CBP? over.under $100 ?

[TK]

Hamels not sharp tonight.

[thephaithful]

world series tickets i meant to ask

[TK]

But at least he's owning Franceour.

[EastFallowfield]

The "Nothing to Play For" Cubs have a 2-0 lead on the Mets after 2 1/2.

[KoolEarl]

Cole...what was that!!!

[redbeard]

come on cole. you cant do that. relax.

[John]

Teams should run on the Phils more often. Even when they're nabbed before the pitch, the Phils find ways to let 'em off the hook! Has happened too many times this season.

[AFish]

Hamels didn't have a plan there. He panicked and threw the ball away.

[KoolEarl]

Thankfully it only resulted in 1 run and couple more pitches.

[Andy]

Cole forgot the primary rule of Phils' pitching: give up runs after you get a lead. The Phils haven't gotten a lead yet. Someone (Eaton?) needs to talk to him about that.

[bay_area_phan]

If Cole pitches like this in the playoffs, it will be another one-and-done post-season appearance for the Phillies.

[Sophist]

Ah, strange start from Hamels. 62 pitches, 44 for strikes is the update. Lots of fouls, one or two bloop hits, and a ball thrown into LF foul area.

[Matt B.]

Does anyone here use MLB.tv? I just moved to Detroit from Philly and can't get the game in. Is it because my CC is registered to philly?

[Sophist]

Cole is wearing the long sleeves.

[Sophist]

Matt B - They usually do it by IP address, but if your account info is in PA area, then they may have you blocked. There's a help forum and a phone line. They usually clear it up fairly quickly.

[Andy]

I hate the way this game is starting.

Posted by: Andy | Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 07:44 PM

ditto

[Andy]

Make. Them. Pay. Pat.

[redbeard]

come on pat, time to protect.

[Andy]

nuts

[redbeard]

wow that was a good catch

[KoolEarl]

Ah well..... they did run up Beavis pitch count

[Sophist]

Burrell was aggressive in that AB.

[fljerry]

Matt B
yes thats what happens- you can not see MLB in Philly cuz its on TV there

[curt]

Atlanta's certainly catching all the breaks tonight...for a change.

[fljerry]

Comcast has you by the gonads if you do not have them

[curt]

Shawn Marshall is throwing a heck of a game.

[Sophist]

Matt - If you don't have it already, here's the contact page:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/help/contact_us.jsp

[Sophist]

There it is Hamels. 71 pitches, 50 strikes through 4.

[KoolEarl]

1-2-3 inning for Cole, hope he can have a few more economical innings.

[bob]

i recall people on BLer were ridiculing the Braves' lineup at the beginning of this game because they were all lefties. thanks for the jinx. we've got to stop counting our chickens before they hatch.

[GoPhilsGo]

Glad I have the DirectV extra innings package. Rarely are any games blacked out

[PhillyBlunt]

MLB.tv is done by IP addresses. If you are getting the blackout message, call them up. If you aren't getting the blackout, then your bandwidth might not be able to handle it, you might need some plug-ins, or you might be a Mets a fan.

[philb]

Time to warm up 'Wonderboy' - let's get the bats going...no black holes...

[Brian G]

Do we really, bob? Why, bob? Why do we have to stop?

[bay_area_phan]

Marshall is basically a reliever, who has made only 5 starts this year & none since June. For the Mets to be losing to him, on a day that Johann Santana is starting, is mind-bogglingly pathetic.

[Matt B.]

Sophist: Thanks. I just called them up and they were able to override the setup and I can watch the game now.

[AFish]

Why does TMac interview Sarge every night?

[bob]

anybody watching the mets-cubs game? Santana just got one of the luckiest hits of all time.

[Andy]

Brian G.
Because bob says so.

As for me, I'm too busy counting chickens to stop:

...forty-six;forty-seven;fortyeight...

[redbeard]

brew crew up 2-0

[bay_area_phan]

In searching for a word to describe tonight's offensive performance, the word "listless" springs to mind.

[Andy]

Wegner has a strange strike zone.

[Matt B.]

PhillyBlunt: If I was a Mets fan I'd stand in Yankee Stadium to see what it felt like to be meaningful in life for just a second. Thankfully i was blessed with the intelligence to root for the Phillies.

[Matt B.]

I forgot to add as the stadium was blowing up.

[NEPP]

Considering we've won 13 of 17, don't you think you guys are being a tad rough on the offense? They can't kill it every night.

[Sophist]

bob - Hamels isn't your usual LHP. He's tougher against RHB, so Cox has good reason to go after him with lots of lefties. Same is true of Hampton actually. Hamels CH is supposedly harder on the righties.

[phargo]

I prefer "lackluster". Nothing personal.

[Tray]

If the Mets don't make the playoffs, would they break up large parts of the team? I'm sure they'd have that impulse, but I don't know who it would really make sense to part with.

[Sophist]

NEPP - Hampton is doing a good job keeping the ball off the plate. Burrell probably could have worked a count with the bases jammed, but he wanted to be aggressive. Can't fault him for it.

[phlipper]

Howard is only 14 for 32 (if I remember right from the radio broadcast) against lefties recently.

Good thing Cholly listened to BL posters and started platooning Howard.

[NEPP]

Give Ruiz credit for doing the little things and turning the lineup over with another walk...I dont know the stats off the top of my head but his walk rate is way up in the 2nd half.

[Brian G]

Tray: Complete bullpen overhaul and addition of Sabathia and/or Sheets/Burnett.

They're in New York and moving into a new stadium. They'll be spending some money.

[Brian G]

Andy: haha.. brilliant.

[Sophist]

Tray - No question they blow up the pen. They basically need to rebuild their periphery. No reason to panic and lose that core of Reyes-Wright-Beltran.

[bay_area_phan]

"Lackluster" works too.

[curt]

Marshall just walked Castillo to get to Wright, who promptly knocked in 2.

[bob]

sophist - i realized that looking at the splits before the game...but just wanted to use it as an opportunity to make a comment about respecting the game...

[Andy]

Sophist -
Here's a challenge. How many foul balls have the Braves hit tonight?

[bay_area_phan]

Mets and Cubs are tied.

[Sophist]

If I were the kind of person who brings signs to games, and the kind of person who stands behind cameras with my big sign, I'd make a sign that says, "Tom McCarthy is a Mets fan" and walk all over CBP with it.

[Tray]

You don't think there's an off chance they'd do something crazy and trade Reyes?