Postgame: Hamels goes the distance in 3-0 shutout

Here's a situation where the boxscore writes itself: 97 pitches, 68 for strikes, 5 hits, no runs. Cole Hamels continued his mastery of the Dodgers and improved to 4-2 (4.40) as the Phillies extended their win streak to a season-high seven. The Phils' 3-4-5 guys knocked in a run each. With the win, the Phillies are four games ahead of the Mets in the NL East (posted on the go).

Comments

[Mike]

Hamels pitched like the ace he is. I hope the rest of the staff can follow suit.

[Rex]

Can we have the Phils play the rest of their home games away? I mean I'm sure the other teams can use the revenue and the phans seem to be traveling well this year... and you know... the way it looks we might not lose another game that way.

Sick Sick Sick on the road

[Ankit in India]

Just in complete awe of this team right now! Sure there are issues (Rollins, RH PH, a #2/#3 starter) but nothing that is stopping them winning. Sure, if the issues are fixed we might win every game 8-3 and that would be even better.

I have watched the Phils since 1990 and I cringe at memories of the seasons from the 90s (except '93 and Schilling), and the all the broken heart seasons from 2003 through 2006. In comparison to them, the past 15+ months have been almost like a honeymoon! The team is just so much fun to watch and follow. It is also great when the biggest arguments here are what to do with the Gnome or Trashner or whether Moyer knows Spanish or not.

(Sorry about all the positivity, its so un-Philly-like of me.)

[Ankit in India]

Too early but just something to keep in mind:

Most HRs by a trio of teammates: 143 (1961 Yankees - Maris 61, Mantle 54, Skowron 28)

Ibanez 19, Howard 16, and Utley 12 are on pace for 146.

[Jimmie J.]

With injuries to the Mets & Braves, now's the time to get their lead in the standings to double digits.

[pblunts]

Jimmie J: Great point. Time to do another un-Phillies like thing... run away and hide from the division. How about a summer of stress-free baseball as we easily qualify for the playoffs?

[Matt]

Gotta love Comcast Sportsnet. The Phillies travel to L.A. for a rematch of last year's NLCS, Cole Hamels is brilliant in a complete game shutout allowing the Phils to win their sixth game in a row and extend their lead over the Mets in the standings, and what leads off their broadcast in the morning? A story on Brian Westbrook's backup.

[EastFallowfield]

No one can accuse Comcast Sportsnet of being front runners.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

"Hamels pitched like the ace he is. I hope the rest of the staff can follow suit."

Hasn't the rest of the staff all just had a nice round of pitching-Moyer, Blanton, Bastard, Happ and Hamels?

[Mac Tonight]

Matt: I noticed that as well. It's amazing how not just Comcast, but the American sports press as a whole will bump the national pastime on a whim.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

The media is in the business of talking about the things that attract the most viewers. By all outward appearances, baseball has not been the national pastime for at least 4 decades. Football is. With that said, in local news, I can't conceive that a complete game shutout of the hottest team in baseball, in their park, to extend a winning streak to 7 games and to put the team up 3 (?) games on NY would not be the lead story.

[Rex]

It's a shame. Had this series occured 2 weeks from now it would be top news. As it is it's kind of stuck as a great series but in between the stanley cup and Basketball finals. So the two best teams in the N.L. Replaying last years NLCS gets a blip here or there. Just bad timing really.

Too much other stuff going on in LA right now for people to get up for this.

[AFish]

Remember, the Mets have 3 against the Nats, so they should starting winning some games.

[TNA]

I actually do not hope the Phillies run away with the NL East. Look what happened to the Cubs last year. Rather, I hope the Braves/Mets/Marlins, put pressure on the Phillies up until the last couple of games. Nobody remembers regular season glory.

[Pete Happy]

Afish: coming off a sweep of the lowly Pirates, the Nats should be no problem for the Mets . . . . oh wait . . . .

[Mac Tonight]

I have a hunch that it will continue to the Cubs every year they allow Foghorn Leghorn to steer the ship.

For all the temper tantrums, distractions and undeserved accolades, Pinella has led his teams to exactly the same number of WS titles in his 21 year career than Charlie has in his seven years.

But as to your point, TNA, I agree. I don't want to see a complete collapse of NY and ATL, just continued success in Philly.

[Tony D]

I dont think Redding vs the Nationals is an automatic W for the Mets. The Nats can still hit.

[AWH]

Matt, I thought the same thing. IMO, it's June......who gives a sh*t about the NFL right now?

TNA, remember the 2001 Mariners team? 116 wins.

Interestingly, over the years, the Phillies have employed several of the pitchers from that team:

Freddie Garcia, Ryan Franklin, Arthur Rhodes, Jamie Moyer, and everybody's favorite Ed Wade acquisition............Paul Abbott.

If anything, Moyer should be able to remind his teammates of the dangers of complacency - assuming they make the playoffs.

There are still 110 games. this is baseball - anything can happen.
____________________________________________________________________________

On topic, IMO that was probably the best game Hamels has pitched in MLB. The Ks weren't as high, but the efficiency was remarkable.

[Hydrant]

I was going to come on here and post about CSN leading SportsRise with the Brian Westbrook story, but I see you guys already beat me to that.

Now, I understand the NFL, ratings-wise and overall fanbase-wise, has a leg up on the MLB. But, I really don't get why this particular story had any merit to lead a broadcast on a regional sports network over the Phillies game results. I could understand if it was an Eagles game over a Phillies game. But, talking heads and interviews over a complete game shutout?

The other part is not only did they lead with 5 minutes on the Westbrook story, they came back to it later in the program for player reaction interviews. In the one interview with Kevin Curtis, I got the sense that even he felt the questions were a little over-reactionary. The guy had an arthroscopic debridement of his ankle. I understand anytime you put a knife to a human body the word "routine" should not be used, but geez man, to me it's a little sensationalistic.

[Kutztown Fan]

Mac - I'm with you re: Pinella. (Foghorn Leghorn - BWAH HA HA HA HA)

[AWH]

Mac, the Mets and Braves don't have to collapse for the Phils to run away with the division.

Suppose they play .500 or slightly above? If the Phils continue to play .580 - .600, they'll separate thamselves.

I don't expect that, though. The McLouth trade just improved the Braves, and if tommy hansn is as good as they say he is, IMO the Braves will be in it the rest of the season. And don't count out the Mets just yet.

It intrigues me that some folks here seem to think the playoffs are a lock.

I'm not a pessimist, and I'm not being negative, but this is baseball:

The playoffs will be a lock when the Phils' magic number is 0.

[AWH]

Kutztown, didn't a certain Philly radio host, who has his nose up a certain redhead's butt, call Charlie "Foghorn"?

[EastFallowfield]

It was in April when this team was struggling we were worried they were complacent, now we're worrying about them being complacent in first. I guess they're only not complacent when they're headed to first.

[Terry Harmon]

I read the Comcast telecast differently.

I think they "tease" with their lead story, the Phillies, then go to the Eagles in their quest to keep viewers for a longer period of time. If they lead with the Phillies they lose their viewers at 5 past the hour rather than 10 or 12 past.

[joe]

i don't get the converage of NFL throughout the entire year. its frustrating.

and, i'm pretty sure that MLB pulled more $ than NFL last year (2008) in a long, long time.

Young Ace pitcher with complete game shutout against best team in baseball is the lead, not:

Aging running back gets minor surgery.

[tjc]

I send these updates to my brother each morning for the hell of it (cobbled from MILB box scores and Phuture Phillies info) - figured I might as well post them here:

Carrasco finally got his first win of the season last night yesterday, pitching 6.1 innings, surrendering 3 hits and 2 runs while striking out 5. John Mayberry went 2 for 6 in the double header with a double, an RBI and a run scored. He's hitting .280 on the season with 8 HR and 25 RBI.

Joe Savery pitched 6 innings for the Reading win, surrendering 4 runs on 5 hits and striking out 5. Michael Taylor was 3 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored, raising his average to .351 for the season.

Dom Brown was 2 for 5 last night in a Clearwater loss, with two singles. He's hitting .322 on the season. Yohan Flande, a Dominican lefty, pitched 6 innings, surrendering 3 runs (only 2 earned) and striking out 6. Flande is 5-1 with a 2.95 ERA on the season - he's 23, which is a little old for the Florida State League, though certainly not so old that he's not a prospect. Probably the next pitcher to get the bump up to Reading at some point. Flande locates an 89-91 mph fastball well and features an excellent change-up.

In Lakewood, Jason Knapp threw 5 innings, surrendering 1 run on 3 hits and striking out 6. Knapp had a couple of rough outings but has pitched well his last two starts. He's second in the South Atlantic League in Ks.

A couple other pitchers to keep an eye on in Lakewood - Heitor Correa is a 19 year old Brazilian pitcher who is 2-1 with a 2.50 ERA in 6 starts. Correa features a 90-93 mph fastball, a 73-77 mph curveball and good feel for his changeup. His fastball has outstanding late life and produces a lot of grounders. Correa was suspended for all of 2008 (I read drugs in an interview but never saw any other details) - he's only 19 and could move up the prospect rankings quickly.

Justin DeFratus was drafted by the Phillies in 2007 out of junior college. He's 21, a right hander and is 2-1 with a 1.64 ERA pitching out of the bullpen for Lakewood. DeFratus features alow-to-mid-90s fastball (93-95). He has a RIDICULOUS K-to-BB ratio this season - 41 Ks to only 2 BBs. It'll be interesting to see if he stays in the pen or gets moved to the rotation - he was a starter in Williamsport last season, though the knock on him coming out of college was that he lost a lot of velocity after the first few innings. Might be the reason he was moved to the pen.

[Rex]

I don't know if it's a big deal what story they lead with. It's a one day thing for westbrook it just happened to be on the same day. Same thing would happen if Hamels had to have surgery in the offseason and it broke on a monday after an eagles win.

I mean Westy is arguably the best player and possibly most important player on the Eagles. Maybe in Philadelphia right now. So I'm not too concerned if he gets the headline. I mean It's not as if they'd give it a mention if it was Lorenzo Booker going under the knife.

[tjc]

Oh, and I agree with Terry Harmon's assessment - still, it was annoying to have to sit through the Westbrook story, especially since I was only able to follow the game last night online and wanted to see highlights.

That being said, great win!

[Bonehead]

Phils team ERA during seven game streak = 2.71.

Throw out CHPark's one wretched inning, and the ERA = 2.18.

[RIPPP]

I think it is a little to early to discuss running away with the division. There is too much baseball left to play. I could be a bit off, but wasn't last year's team up about 4 games on FLA and 7 games on the Mets through 65-70 games last year?

Injuries, ineffective pitching, or poor play against the NL East in divisional match ups could give the rest of the NL East an opportunity to catch up. I think the NL East is a very good division (other than the Nats) and the Mets, Braves, and Marins all play very well against the Phils.

I think it is important to note that by winning on the road, especailly during a difficult west coast swing, they have kept the pressure on a beat up Mets team to keep winning. It really seems this Phils club has a ton of intangibles, i.e. a winner's instinct, cohesive clubhouse, winning on the road, etc, that other talented teams sometimes lack. I am biased having been a Phils fan, probably like the rest of you, for a very long time, but I can't think of a team I've enjoyed to watch more than the current group.

[RickW]

The road record is ridiculous. The home record will come around.

97 pitches against the league's "best" team?

[clout]

Ankit in India: Do you think Ibanez will hit 60 HRs this season?

[Kutztown Fan]

AWH - I don't listen to that certain radio host as he's a jackass, so I can't verify if he called Cholly "Foghorn." I can, however, believe it happened.

This talk about Comcast leading with the Westbrook story reminds me of a trip I took to Denver almost 20 years ago (oy!).

Saddam Hussein just invaded Kuwait. We turned on the TV to find out what was happening. As these were the infancy days of CNN, etc., we naively went to the local 6:00 news. A pretty, blond, generic anchorwoman started the broadcast with...

"Iraq invades Kuwait. But the big news is the Broncos get ready for their season opener this Sunday...."

I'm not kidding, either. I'll never forget that.

[mvptommyd]

Great win cole last night. Heidi looked spectacular and Comcast had to put Westbrook as the lead because Westbrook is the Eagles best player.

Moving forward to tonight we will see Moyer going up against Ex-Phillies Eric Milton. Talk about a shot in the past. AWH is going to start having flashbacks again. Milton has actually pitched fairly decent this season so far.

3 starts,14.1 IP, 2-0, 10 K, 5 BB, 3.14 ERA. All 3 starts have been on the road.

[highlander]

Kutztown Fan: That is unbelievable! Having moved to the U.S. in the last three years, I honestly have to admit that the local news reporting (and most national) is atrocious. Feel good "puppy takes care of stray bunny" stories trump major political, criminal and social news on a routine basis.

Rant over.

Sorry.

Go phils...

[Andy]

In re: the HRs, though Raul will not keep up his current pace, if Howard has his normal late August through October, his amount should be substantially more than his current pace. But 144, say, is an average of 48. Since I do not even believe Howard will get to 60, I do not think that that is an attainable average for the three.

In re: the home/away records
The best Home record in baseball is LAD's 20 - 7. The Phil's away record beats that by half a game. Makes me hope the NL loses the AS game.

In re: the pitching
It's been good. Hurray. The current streak is what happens when the hitting and pitching both are good. It doesn't always happen, and will, most likely, not be sustained for too long. But it's a great ride now.

[clout]

You'd have to favor the Phillies in the first 2 matchups of the series (Hamels-Kershaw and Moyer-Milton) and the way Blanton has been pitching, I'd lean that way in Game 3 vs. Kuroda. Game 4 (Wolf vs. Bastardo) is a crapshoot.

[Noodle]

Kutztown Fan - I live near Denver and I am not surprised. The Broncos are a religion here, with John Elway as their god (still).

[Andy]

Bonehead:
I feel obliged to edit your remarks. It should more correctly state:

"Throw out CHPark"

[thephaithful]

I missed the game thread last so sorry if i'm beating a dead horse, but two things raelly stuck out to me...

- Phils defense continues to shine, which can usually go unnoticed by the majority of the fanbase(i.e. nonbeerleaguer), but its been so good lately that i'm hearing it from everywhere and even the tv hosts/analyst.

- I was glad Sarge pointed out Hamels' use of the curveball in the postgame interview, as it was a big part in his performance. Keep lefties off balance and using it to throw for an early strike vs righties looked to have the Dodgers on the defensive all night. He's always had a curve, but he was throwing it with some of the best command i've ever seen him have. I doubt that CG SO result is a coincident.

[Rex]

doesn't eric milton make a living giving up home runs?

or didn't he used to?

[clout]

Looks like Putz is headed for surgery. Mets have had a run of of bad luck.

[thephaithful]

clout: moyer vs milton is as much of a crapshoot than any of the other matchups this series i think.

[Kutztown Fan]

I'd like to feel sorry for Mets fans, but my friend Schaden Freude won't let me. And my other friend, Karma, doesn't think it's a good idea to even think about it.

[clout]

thephaithful: Moyer's allowed 8 runs in his last 18 IP. I know Beerleaguer has declared him washed up, but I don't think that's a fluke. And if this offense can't hit Milton, then we're in Bizarro World.

I'm just thankful they're missing Billingsley.

[clout]

Rex: Well said.

[tom]

Hamels was awesome but what in the world is with Rollins? His D is still great so if it's an injury what kind could it be that only effects him at the plate?

Rollins is 6th on his own team in runs scored (33) and his OPS+ is the absolute worst in the NL East if you throw out the Braves outfield...which atlanta would like to do. The only thing worst than his .264 obp is his .200 obp when leading off an inning.

[curt]

Shocking news: the world http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090604&content_id=5152366&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi>hasn't come to an end because our leftfielder is lefthanded.

[Hydrant]

Amongst the positivity of the 7 game winning streak and all the talk of pitching, I think one topic we have not spent much time debating is Jimmy Rollins. Even with the resurgent pitching and the offensive performance the rest of the lineup, how much longer can we endure having a routine popout playing at the top of the lineup?

I love Jimmy's heart, passion, and willingness to step up for Team USA and play in the WBC. But, missing the routine at-bats of spring training had a major effect on Jimmy's preparation for this season, especially considering he needs almost double the prep time to get both his left-handed and right-handed swings in order.

I don't think Jimmy is in decline quite yet. I think the WBC did not allow him to develop the timing required to consistently stand on top of the plate and get the bat head out on the ball to drive the inside fastball. His LD% went from 19.9% during the MVP year of '07, to 24.0% in '08, and now all the way down to 16.8% this season, the lowest at any time in his career. And, while he sported a 44.4% FB rate in '07, he also carried a 10.7% HR/FB rate. Compare that to his 39.6% FB so far this year, second highest of his career, but a dismal 3.8% HR/FB, again, the lowest of any time in his career. Even otherwise stellar offensive teams have to suffer at some point when their leadoff hitter has a .264 OBP.

Also, if you think his glove redeems him, think again. Looking over his Ultimate Zone Rating stats, they have him pretty much middle of the road in MLB, 13th in the NL. His glove did play well in previous seasons, but it's looking down this year.

So, what do you do with Jimmy?

[clout]

How about this: Ruiz (.431 OB) leads off and J-Roll(.264)bats 8th?

[clout]

curt: Even more shocking is that season isn't 162 games.

[Tony D]

Jimmy will come around. Ibanez is due for a bad slump and when he does I bet Rollins will start to rake. The bat speed is still there just be patient.

[Bob]

I also missed the game thread but was surprised/pleased by a few things.

-I am in awe of the Phillies current fielding. The only defensive mistake they made last night I can remember was the botched Hamels non-coverage of first base, and I'm not sure he would have beat the runner to the bag anyway. It's a cliche about winning with defense, but some of the plays had to take a bit of starch out of the Dodgers.

-What a pleasure to see Cole so in command. Not many mistakes there. Also a pleasure to see the frequent camera pans to Heidi.

-Is it just me? I'm watching Hamels v. Kershaw in a rematch of last year's playoff series and the stadium seemed empty, like some Marlins/Nationals game on a non-descript night of drizzling, 90 degree, humid, east coast weather. I know the Lakers are playing and the smoothie bars are open till 10, but geez...

[curt]

clout - a little math exercise for you: what would Raul have to hit over the final 2/3 of the season to finish with a .250 BA vs. lefties? Answer: .200

So, as usual, your comment is cute but beside the point.

[mjoeohilly]

Umm, does anyone remember last year when we beat the Cardinals like 20 -5 or something? I think we were like 11 games over .500. What happened next? If I'm right we went like 3- 11 or something the next two weeks, against american league teams.

So the point is I'm not going to get overly excited about our record right now, though I do admit the phills have played some good ball.

[Jack]

Ah, Curt. Thanks for reminding me.

In 2009, through 52 games, we've faced 18 lefties and gone 14-4.

In 2008, through 52 games, we'd faced 18 lefties and were 12-6 against them.

If you recall this offseason, Clout predicted that not only would we be worse against lefties this season, but we would face far more lefty starters because of Ibanez replacing Burrell. As you can see, almost exactly 1/3 of the way through the season, neither of those predictions are true.

[NAME]

Running away with the division would've been bad last year, but not this year. The team has already won the WS...they know how to win. If a team runs away with the division and hasn't done anything in the postseason....then the pressure starts.....

That said, I don't think we will run away with the division.

[doubleh]

Ha! Did you guys see this quote?

Via David Murphy's Twitter:

"'Nuff said. Orlando Hudson on Cole Hamels' CG SHO: "You saw it as well as I did. He stuck it up our asses the last two times he faced us."

Sorry for the cursing, Jason. It's a direct quote.

[clout]

Jack, curt: is it possible conditions might change with 110 games left to play? No? OK, then.

[Kutztown Fan]

Who knew Orlando Hudson was so eloquent?

[Andy]

In re: Jamie Moyer's "Last three starts."

We keep sticking those three together like they're something special. But if you take out the last one, they're two games totalling 7 ER in 12 IP, with a WHIP of 1.58, which is not all that stellar. Sure you can add in the other if you want to build some sort of cherry-picked statistical basis for saying he is a fine pitcher.

But one of those games is 6 IP 4 ER. So you're basically claiming that an ERA of 6.00 is great.

Interesting.

I do agree that the start against Milton will be a crap shoot. I hope that the Jamie Moyer clout claims is back for good really is. I hope we don't get the guy for whom a 6.00 ERA is an improvement.

[doubleh]

So now of course to the National media the Braves made the acquisition they did because the Phillies and Mets are "decimated by injuries".

Maybe the Mets are, but the Phillies? Not really. Other than Myers, the Phils problems are that the pitching has been horrific until recently. One trade could really make a difference for this team.

[EastFallowfield]

There hasn't been enough discussion of Rollins? There's been plenty of anger directed his way this week with so many of the other targets doing too well to face much of it lately.

[AWH]

highlander, rather than "Feel good "puppy takes care of stray bunny" stories", I prefer to watch Animal Planet and see THIS.

[Albert]

The Phillies are the best team in the NL East, no questions asked.

[G-Town Dave]

"I'd like to feel sorry for Mets fans, but my friend Schaden Freude won't let me. And my other friend, Karma, doesn't think it's a good idea to even think about it."

Kutztown: No offense, but your friends kinda sound like downers. In contrast, my friend Bwahahahaha!!! & I enjoy each & every thing that goes wrong for & w/ the Mets quite thoroughly. After all, they'd do no less for us ...

[G-Town Dave]

EF: In all fairness, most of that anger has been coming from me. Other Phils fans, who were probably preoccupied w/ the dreadful run of starting pitching the team endured until recently, are only just now catching up.

[Pete Happy]

G-Town Dave: I like your friends. I want to party with those guys, all season long!

[Jack]

Clout: Of course things can change. Merely noting that 1/3 of the way through the season both your predictions about left-handed starters have been wrong.

[LA Jeff]

In defense of Comcast Sportsnet the Phillies game had literally just ended, there was no post game live. They needed time to gather sound bites and finish the highlite reel.

[CJ]

On June 13th of 2008, the Phils lead the New York Mets by 7.5 games.

I'm just saying... there's a lot of season left.

[bay_area_phan]

I was actually less concerned about left-handed starters than left-handed relievers. Many left-handed starters have close-to-even righty-lefty splits; that is the very thing that has allowed them to be starters. It's LOOGYs who are really specially designed to exploit the lefty-lefty matchups in the late innings of games.

I don't have any specific numbers about how the Phillies have fared against LOOGYs. I can definitely recall some instances where the LOOGY came in & shut down the 3 left-handers. As a whole, though, I certainly haven't perceived this to be a glaring or recurring problem with the Phillies. They've obviously made more than their fair share of late-inning comebacks, & 2/3 of their lefties have raked against left-handers which, I presume, would include LOOGYs.

[AWH]

110 games left = season over.

Yeah, right.

Hey clout, Milton is "1-2 with a 5.56 ERA in four career starts against the Phillies", so maybe it's advantage Phillis tonight.

This will really be the opportunity for us to see whether Moyer has turned it around. If he goes 6-7 IP with 3-4 R against this lineup, then that should go a long way to silence those who think he's washed up.

Of course, they may never agree, even if he throws pitches 5 straight games of 6IP/1R baseball.

Blanton/Kuroda? I rate that a toss up. Blanton is pitching well, but Kuroda has been tough on the Phils in the couple of times they've seen him, with them posting a whopping .295 OPS against him in the regular season, and the Phils scoring a whopping 2 runs in 6 IP in the playoffs.

Wolf/Bastardo? IMO, the only thing that MIGHT make it a crapshoot is that the Dodgers haven't seen Bastardo yet. If I were evaluating it based on how well the Phils have doen against Wolf (.672 OPS in 2 games), I might give the advantage to the Dodgers.

[AWH]

CJ, my post above concurs.

[AWH]

bap, this doesn't break down RHP/LHP for relievers, but it will give you an idea of what the team is doing overall:

baseball-reference.com Phillies 2009 splits

[AWH]

2nd try:

baseball-reference.com Phillies 2009 splits

[Hibachi]

"In defense of Comcast Sportsnet the Phillies game had literally just ended, there was no post game live. They needed time to gather sound bites and finish the highlite reel."

I would buy this, except for Comcast Daily News live started with Eagles stuff for about 20 minutes yesterday.

[CJ]

How about Jayson Werth's night last night? It wasn't flashy, but that base hit after Chase was intentionally walked was great to see!

[AWH]

Grrrrrr, I'm posting like a Mets fan.

Here's a Phils fan post:

baseball-reference.com Phillies 2009 splits

[MG]

Everybody is talking about the recent starting pitching but the reality is that this team is on pace to score over 900 runs this season (903 at 5.57 R/G).

Even the 2007 offensive juggernaut only scored 892 runs and actually had averaged slightly less runs/game at this point.

Simply put, a historically precedent offense and very solid defense have offset a below average pitching staff.

[AWH]

CJ, he also got that hit on a very tough pitch that was down. It's not like it was a meatball.

If Werth can pick it up the next couple of games it will help a lot.

I wonder if he gets a little extra motivation playing against the Dodgers, it being that they released him after he had hurt his wrist?

[Andy]

AWH - If he throws two straight games of 6 and 1, I'm on board and preparing to barbecue a big black bird.

If he goes 6 and 4, I'll be eager to hear how many people think that that is a good start.

[Bob]

I'm loving the ride so far, and I'm wondering if we can put the idea of the Phils being "complacent" or "distracted" or whatever, away for good. The more I think about how easy it is to fall off the cliff after winning a Series, and the death of Harry, the more I really marvel at these guys and credit all of them. I think they are something special.

But yeah, in the same theme of CJ and AWH, the sun doesn't shine on the same dog's rear every day. Plenty of bruises and bumps to come.

[doubleh]

I hope Vic can get in one of these games to see if he can sustain his Dodger slaying ways...imagine all 3,000 fans booing his every move.

[MG]

In their 32 wins, this team is averaging an absurd 7.5 RS/G. You could even trot out a staff of Adam Eatons and still win with that kind of absurd run support.

[CJ]

MG: That's the scary part... this team is on this ridiculous pace already... and we all know this offense tends to pick it up when the temperature warms.

Howard is slugging .919 over his last 10 games.

[dick allen-15]

Can someone identify the Brunette who was sitting next to Mrs Hamel's..outstanding !!!

As far as the game goes..kudo's to Cole for coming back after that horrendous outing vs. Nationals..Cant stand watching this enormously talented team with Bruntlett drone in the lineup..My enjoyment of the game is diminished every time he shows his ugly face on the screen. Please waive Bruntlett asap.

[Albert]

MG: Watch what you say. Amaro trolls and Eaton IS a free agent. Oh lord I would jump into traffic.

[CJ]

Perhaps Heidi was sitting beside Jenna Morasca... her fellow Playboy cover girl from Survivor.

[AWH]

Andy, I'll say it right now:

If Moyer goes 6 and 4 against the top scoring team in the league, that's a good start - for a 4th or 5th starter of ANY AGE.

I think the problem that the "he's washed up" crowd has is one of unrealistic expectations based on 2008, which was one of the top years any 40+ pitcher has ever had.

I have never expected Moyer to duplicate 2008, and thus am not disappointed in his performance so far.

Every pitcher has ups and downs. Two starts ago Cole Hamels gave up 6 R in 6 IP.

If, at the end of the season Moyer wins at least 10 games and has an ERA of 4.75 or better, then I'll consider it a successful season for him. If his ERA is league average or better, then he will have been more than successful.

For crying out loud, he is 46 after all.

[AWH]

From MLB.com:

" Phillies rookie pitchers are 7-0 with a 2.91 ERA in 20 games (five starts). Opponents have hit just .181 against rookie left-hander J.A. Happ, which is the lowest mark amongst NL rookie pitchers. ... The Phillies bullpen entered Thursday with a 3.72 ERA, which ranked sixth in the league. "

[p. Red]

One thing that encouraged me about last night's outing by Hamels was he admitted that in his last few starts, although he was effective, he was throwing too many pitches. He switched up his approach tonight and you could really see the difference. Less trying to strike guys out and more just throwing strikes and trusting in his defense. Hopefully this trend continues. As much fun as it is watching Hamels ring up a bunch of guys, I could get used to complete game shutouts with less than 100 pitches.

As far as why there wasn't anyone at the game, the Lakers were playing. That is all you need to know. I lived in LA for a few years and in LA it goes something like this:

1. Lakers
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2. USC Football
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3. Dodgers

[johnnysanz3]

Was looking at the phillies 2009 splits, and the number that I like the most is this:

High Leverage
.303 .393 .578 .970

I don't know how they figure that out, but it's a sexy stat, and I like.

[MPN]

I have to disagree with Rex above. If the Phillies made a trade acquiring Oswalt and Alex Rodriguez during the winter meetings on a Monday during Eagle season, on Toyota Daily News Live Barkann would mention a Phillies trade following an Eagles win, or maybe a big trade if the Eagles loss. Then they'd give it maybe 5 minutes during the show, sandwiched in between "when should Kevin Kolb get a start" inane chatter, etc. And only then if Rich Hoffman was a panelist. My Lone Gunman style conspiracy theory on this is that Gov. Rendell, through David Cohen, in coordination with the reverse vampires needs to keep all of this attention on the Eagles so that voters don't start asking why exactly we paid all of this money for 1/2 an Eagles stadium that hardly gets used, and when it does get used the Eagles shake down whoever wants to use it (e.g., Temple football).

[MPN]

Sorry, a burrito was harmed in the posting of that message and hence the numerous spelling and grammar issues...

[The Truth Injection]

I mentioned it towards the end of the last thread but it bears repeating. I think in the past 5-6 months of baseball we have seen the maturation of Cole Hamels into a true ace, and a definitive top young arm in Major League Baseball. He has developed a fairly decent curveball which he can now throw for strikes (wasn’t always the case) and he does a good job of mixing the fastball and change-up. Also he shows the ability to pitch with finesse at times and hit corners and spots. For a guy with a 93 MPH fastball and a wicked change, being able to hit spots like he can is icing on the cake.

More than that though, he seems to trust his stuff implicitly. We saw him turn a major corner in October last year where he proved he could step up and be “the guy.” Sure he has had a bad outing or two this year but everyone does. Cole has now become the type of ace that this team has not had since Schilling back in 99-2000. He is a guy that every 5 days you feel like there is a win coming your way. I sincerely hope he is a Phillie for the rest of his baseball life because he is a fun pitcher to watch, and like so many on this team, an easy guy to root for. On top of that, he is still really young and probably is still only at about 90-95% of his potential. That’s the scary part. I think he can be even more dominant than he already shows he can be. I’m talking 10 starts a year like the one last night where he just completely swallows up an offense. Enjoy the guy while he wear our colors.

[MG]

Philly is a football town. It just is. Phils though have been a successful team the past several years and have a chance with a deep playoff run over the next year or two of really cementing another generation of Phils' fans.

As for the brunette sitting next to Heidi Strobel I imagine it was Jen Utley. It was the players' wives section and as they usually banter vapidly during the course of game while periodically checking in with the game.

[Jack]

Interesting question: Does Happ have a shot at NL Rookie of the Year?

[rdgcans]

Stuck in DC watching the pitiful Nats...as their season is a lost cause, was wondering if the Nats have anybody worth pursuing (at a bargain basement cost?) that might address the Phil's RH PH need?

Willingham, Kearns, Belliard, any others?

[Mac Tonight]

Jack: Aside from Happ, who are the likely contenders at this point in the season?