Game chat: Phils hope to resuscitate lifeless lumber

The Phillies have gone 22 innings without scoring against an opposing starter and have been blanked in 28 of 29 innings. They'll try to reignite their thundersticks in Game 2 tonight from Citi Field.

Preview: The Phillies swap out the 6-7-8 hitters tonight, but they're not the only ones who've struggled over the last seven days. Shane Victorino is hitting .105/.227/.158. Ryan Howard is producing at a .188/.316/.375 clip. Placido Polanco is hitting just .200/.294/.333. They've also run into some problems on the mound, posting a 6.58 ERA over the same stretch. For the Phillies, Joe Blanton (1-2, 5.06) looks to build on a solid, seven-inning start in his previous outing. He'll face lefty Hisanori Takahashi, who shut out the Yankees over six innings in his first start since moving from the bullpen to the rotation. The Phillies (26-18) maintain a three-game lead over the Marlins in the bunched-up National League East. Only four games separate the Phils from the last-place Nats and Mets.

Notes: Before the game, it was revealed that Carlos Ruiz has been playing through a sore shoulder since late April, reportedly making it difficult to throw. ... It would be impossible for close Scott Mathieson to pitch any better than he has for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. According to Morning Call beat writer Jeff Schuler, Mathieson "made his eighth save look easy Tuesday night, getting the final three outs on just nine pitches. That's after throwing 28 pitches the night before in a two-inning save." The 26-year-old right-hander is 2-0 with a 0.76 ERA, 5 saves and a 26/6 K/BB ratio in 23 2-3 innings. ... Yesterday in Reading, right-hander Drew Naylor tossed a three-hit, complete-game shutout over Portland. He's 3-1 with a 2.64 ERA this month. Both Mathieson and Naylor are included on the Phillies' 40-man roster... Finally, Beerleaguer's senior correspondent scouted Lakewood this weekend and offered his take over e-mail on former first-rounder Anthony Hewitt: "Horrible, horrible."

Comments

[Matt]

Really, could Mathieson be any worse then what's in the bullpen now?

[Willard Preacher]

Don't forget Dom Brown's TWO triples yesterday. At least a few players in the Phils organization have been seeing some recent success.

[denny b.]

There is no real place for Mathieson right now. Herndon can't go anywhere. Figgy is the long man. The rest haven't pitched poorly.

In another month, if he continues to blow away AAA hitters and Lidge is still not back, it may be time to bring him up and get him into the late inning mix. I am not convinced Contreras is the long-term answer in the 9th inning. I think he will be great in the 7th or 8th inning and I think that's where they eventually want him to be.

By reading a eye-witness account, Mathieson threw 2 consecutive nasty sliders to former Phil Mike Cervenek last night for strikes in the 9th inning. So, he is obviously doing more then just throwing his 98 MPH heater.

His numbers over a year's worth of work speak for themselves. You physically couldn't pitch much better then he has over that year.

[denny b.]

Back to my thoughts on the eventual batting lineup...

I wonder if moving Howard to 5th, would be looked at as a "demotion" for Ryno? I don't care if he would get his feelings hurt or not, but I think this is a move that needs to be made.

You can still knock in a ton of runs out of the 5 hole. With Utley and Werth hitting in front of Ryno, that actually could give him more runners on base to hit with.

Ryno is a stud. This isn't a real knock on him. But the facts are, that he has ALWAYS struggled to hit against LOOGY's. And he looks like he always will. Its his achillies heal. Everybody knows it.

Having a proven 100 RBI, all-star right-handed hitter like Werth makes this move easy. Putting him 4th, will make opposing managers think late in games. Do you want to have Pedro Feliciano face Werth? No, you don't. So do you then start pitching around Werth to get to Howard? If you do, Howard then still has to be able to do something. But in this case, at least he has an extra man on base (which also could take the "shift" away from opposing teams).

I just hate to see our offense grind to a halt, because guys like Phil Coke, Yusmerio Petit, Pedro Feliciano and Eric O'Flaherty can make our middle of the lineup look feable. We shouldn't make it so easy for these teams.

Either that, or we stay with what we have and hope we do all of our business in the first 6 innings of games. Unfortunately, once you run into teams like the Yankees, their starting pitching makes it harder to score early.

[J. Weitzel]

Couldn't Herndon serve as the long man?

[GTown_Dave]

More good news:

"Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said before Wednesday's game Happ is nowhere near being ready."

Amaro: No Timetable For Happ

[joe l]

So who pitches for the Phillies first, Happ or Pedro?

[BobbyD]

Ruiz out tonight with bad shoulder.

At what point is it ok to say this season isn't going to end well??

They have injuries all over the place and no amunition for the trade deadline.

[GTown_Dave]

Should things go horribly awry & JW's mysterious new endeavour not pan out as hoped, he's always got a future writing euphemistic ad copy for the erectile dysfunction industry. Look no further than tonight's Game Chat headline for proof.

[bay_area_phan]

I was thinking the same thing about Herndon serving as longman. He used to be a starter so it's not like he can't pitch multiple innings, if necessary.

The importance of the longman job is overrated anyway. It's a pretty rare game in which the longman has to come in and pitch more than 2 innings. Generally speaking, it's 3 innings at most and, more often, 2. Of Figueroa's 7 relief appearances this year, only 1 was longer than 2 innings. Herndon has more going for him than Figueroa and, surely, he's capable of pitching 3 innings in a pinch.

[David]

why can't we replace herndon? who cares if he goes back to the angels. This team is too good to stash this guy on the roster.

[clout]

denny b: You prefer Durbin, Figgy and Bastardo over Mathieson?

[Hugh Mulcahy]

BobbyD, I think that point is if / when they're eliminated from contention in September.

Regarding splitting Howard and Utley, I don't know how much you gain other than teams might pitch around Werth. Utley is killing lefties, for the most part, and teams will still bring in Feliciano, etc. to face Howard.

[clout]

Hugh: You gain nothing by splitting Utley/Howard because Uts already hits lefties. In fact, putting Howard/Ibanez together is far worse than the current lineup of Utley-Howard-Werth.

[bay_area_phan]

Also, while I count myself as a Scott Mathieson skeptic, I do think we're getting near the point where we should see what we have with him. He may or may not be able to succeed against big league hitters, but there isn't anything left for him to prove at AAA.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

good point on bunching Howard / Ibanez. As it stands, now, Werth might get a chance to face that lefty if they leave him in to pitch to Ibanez - assuming Howard isn't out no. 3.

[Spitz]

BobbyD: At what point is it ok to say this season isn't going to end well??

Um, I'd at least wait until they are no longer in first place!

[Old Phan]

Bobby D, when the Phils are mathematically eliminated.

[curt]

I'm still guessing Happ will have a date with the surgeon before a date on the mound at CBP. Learn to love KK.

[Sophist]

This season isn't going well? I'm glad there are monikers. Sometimes I wouldn't believe some of the people who post around here have ever followed a baseball team prior to September 1st.

[bay_area_phan]

Any pitcher with a funky delivery is death to the Phillies' lineup.

[Sophist]

BAP - True, but there's value in limiting the big league IP on Mathieson's arm, aren't there? Until this week of more losses than wins, there was no rush. The BP isn't really losing any of these games. Let it just play out.

[Sophist]

Takahashi is a high SO, high BB lefty. I'm getting a weird vibe on this one.

[Scott]

So. We can't hit Japanese pitchers, and we can't hit knucleballers. God help us if one of our rivals picks up Eri Yoshida...

[Spitz]

Don't worry - Big Ben Francisco is in the lineup tonight. All is well.

[Old Phan]

Good job, Kentucky/Tennessee Joe.

[Wally]

Might as well go to bed early tonight fellows, according to Wheels and TMac, Takahashi is the Japanese Cy Young. Not to beat a dead horse BUT these guys have to go. If TM calls another “pop up” when the ball reaches the warning track, I’m turning them off. I’ll take Andy Musser any day.

[Old Phan]

Your 2010 MVP, Ben Fran.

[philwynk]

Fransiscoooooooo!!!! Never a doubt. MVP for BEN!

(j/k)

[Old Phan]

philwynk, psychotic minds think alike.

[bay_area_phan]

That inning was Francisco's fault.

[Old Phan]

Yesterday's game was Ben Fran's fault, too.

[Willard Preacher]

This season isn't going to end well?

We're still in first place, with half the regular 9 in contention to be named All-Star starters!

I'd much rather take these lumps now, than toward the end of the season.

[GTown_Dave]

While it may not always be readily apparent everything that Francisco does, & everything that he fails to do, ends up hurting the Phillies. Everything.

[Old Phan]

Gtown, no doubt about it.

[Old Phan]

In fact, the real story about Ryan Madson was that he didn't kick a chair, he kicked Francisco.

[Willard Preacher]

So, Francisco is actively killing this team?

[Spitz]

Phils are 0-4 in games that BenFran starts. I'm not holding my breath tonight.

[GTown_Dave]

Old Phan: See? That's exactly the kind of stuff I'm referring to. I wonder what Wright's excuse is ...

[Willard Preacher]

Spity, BenFran just needs AB's to stay sharp. Relax, he'll be raking one of these days....

[curt]

That 3rd strike to Wright was unhittable - I'd probably check it for substance.

[Old Phan]

That ball was a strike.

[Spitz]

Willard, I was just kidding. Although I'm not sure that BenFran has ever, or will ever, "rake".

[bay_area_phan]

"In fact, the real story about Ryan Madson was that he didn't kick a chair, he kicked Francisco."

If that were true, Ryan Madson would be my new favorite player.

[Willard Preacher]

Spitz, I was kidding, too.

I do not subscribe to the mindset that our bench just needs some more AB's. There's a reason they're on the bench, and not in platoons.

[Knight]

I don't think Barajas ever hit the ball that hard for the Phillies.

[curt]

Ben Fran could have gunned Davis but that wouldn't have been sporting.

[philwynk]

Mets up 1 - 0. Game. Over.

Am I whining enough to become a "made" Beerleaguer?

[bay_area_phan]

Sadly, I suspect the Mets have scored all the runs they will need.

[Spitz]

Its too bad that Chase Utley was born a few years before BenFran and therefore didnt overlap with him at UCLA. Otherwise, BenFran's influence would have made Utley an even hard worker and better player.

[Willard Preacher]

@philwynk - going to have to do much better than "Game.Over."

More along the lines of Season=Over.

Especially since we already have a "At what point is it ok to say this season isn't going to end well??" in this thread.

[curt]

phil - You have your whiny BLers and your zen BLers. You can either whine about the Phils or whine about the whiners. Whatever moves you.

[Spitz]

Wow, 1 pitch Vic strikes again. Jeez

[TK]

All whining is merited given the team's play the past 30 innings.

[Old Phan]

The offensive juggernaut continues....

[GTown_Dave]

This offense is so bad they could strike out on one pitch. In fact, I'm surprised they haven't.

[bay_area_phan]

This looks like a continuation of last night's monstrosity.

[TK]

What an awful pitch.

[Old Phan]

They could hit into a triple play with no one on base.

[GTown_Dave]

Was that supposed to be a cutter? 'Cause I've really grown to love watching Phillies pitchers throw that little gem ...

[curt]

As long as Ben Fran has more ABs remaining than the Mets have runs we're golden.

[GTown_Dave]

Dammit! Another Stolen Base given up by Chooch!

Oh, wait ...

[Old Phan]

The good thing is that we know they will snap out of it soon. In the meantime, it isn't too pleasant.

[bay_area_phan]

I'm thinking about how bad Moyer looked last night, then I'm doubling it. That's how bad Blanton looks tonight.

[Old Phan]

Kentucky/Tennessee Joe not looking sharp tonight.

[PhillerUp]

What a bunch of whiny little women you all are. You give Philly a bad name. Phils would be embarrassed by your lack of confidence.

[Willard Preacher]

I just wish it wasn't so damn upleasant against the Mets. I don't care that the division lead against the Fish is shrinking in the midst of this swoon, but letting the Mets think they have a chance (and allowing them to sell a few more tix) is nauseating.

[TK]

Stolen Base percentage this year vs. the Phillies must be 120%

[curt]

Mets have 45 SBs. We project to 45 SBs all year.

[Spitz]

Interesting math BAP. Alternatively, you could think about how great BenFran has looked this year, divide that negative 10, and thats how good Blanton looks tonight.

[bay_area_phan]

Ghastly hitting slumps are certainly nothing new to Phillies fans. Nor is it terribly unusual to watch our starting pitching stink it up for 6 or 7 games in succession. And, on occasion, we've even had to endure some ongoing periods of bad defense from this team in recent years. What has been rare about the last 10 days or so is that all 3 of these maladies have befallen the Phillies at the same time.

[PS]

What the hell is wrong with you guys?

You're the two-time defending NL champs, you are in first place, you are losing 2-0 in the 4TH INNING TO THE METS! and you are crying up a storm.

Buck up. A lot of fans would love to have the Phils' problems.

[curt]

"bunch of whiny little women"

Perhaps, but we've outgrown sexism and sizism.

[curt]

Mets announcers are convinced that Utley has a bad hip again.

[Curt]

Mets announcers are convinced that Utley takes it in the pooper again.

[philwynk]

"phil - You have your whiny BLers and your zen BLers."

In that case, I'm holding out for a few Om Runs.

[NEPP]

Utley has been off for 2-3 games...must be the hip!

[GTown_Dave]

NEPP: Remember when Utley screwed up 2 similar throws toward the end of last season & it definitely signified that he's a mental case? That, plus the hip ... absolutely devastating to his productivity.

[NEPP]

****NEPP: Remember when Utley screwed up 2 similar throws toward the end of last season & it definitely signified that he's a mental case? That, plus the hip ... absolutely devastating to his productivity.****

Clearly he was the next Steve Blass.

[bay_area_phan]

To paraphrase the Mets' announcers, last year at this time, Ibanez looked like the best FA signing of the off-season. This year, the Phillies would love to get rid of that contract.

Who would have ever foreseen it?

[GTown_Dave]

Anyone associated w/ the Mets organization should pause before critiquing the signings of other teams. Mr. Pot, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Kettle ...

[NEPP]

How's that Ollie Perez signing working out?

[MG]

'Sleep . . . offense . . . sleep' must be pumped through the Phils' dugout as a subminial message.

[Greg V.]

I love it that the only runs scored by the Phils since Friday night were a meaningless 3 run bomb from Ross Gload on Sunday. These games have been horrible!

[denny b.]

"denny b: You prefer Durbin, Figgy and Bastardo over Mathieson?"

No, I don't.

Durbin has a valuable role and has pitched pretty well. Figgy is just a mop up guy, so he is obviously expendable. Bastardo is intriguing and could help.

If you were convinced Herndon could pitch 3 or 4 innings if need be, then I'd move Mathieson up and move Figgy out. Unfortunately, its more likely that Figgy gets moved out when Lidge comes back.

The thing about Mathieson that is so interesting is he throws really hard and is a strikeout pitcher; yet has great control/command. That is a combo and that should translate to whatever level he is pitching at. I think its also what they like so much about Bastardo, from the left side.

Guys like Baez and Romero are two examples of guys who have very good stuff (and in Baez's case, throws very hard), but have always had trouble throwing strikes consistantly. That was the case in their younger days and is still the case today.

The bullpen is crowded right now. At least we have some depth there. Not many other places we can say that about.

I remember the Phils going through a stretch like this last year, when it felt like they'd never score another run the rest of the year. Its painful to watch, but at least they will get out of this soon. I think.

[MG]

denny b- They will. If they don't snap out of it to rally late tonight, they are going to get swept tomorrow. Pelfrey has been tough at CitiField.

[DH Phils]

clout: "You prefer Durbin, Figgy and Bastardo over Mathieson?"

Durbin and Bastardo combined in 2010: 28.1 IP, 2.54 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 29 K

[MG]

Watching Blanton pitch tonight has been painful too. If the Mets were having better ABs, they would have chased him already.

Getting behind hitters all night, missing location on everything, and just looks like a guy who is really fighting himself out there tonight.

[Old Phan]

Good thing is he's only given up 2 runs so far.

[Old Phan]

I'd like to see him steal a base right now.

[Greg S. in Lanc, PA]

The Phils are about to explode like a zit on a teenager. 5 runs this inning.

[Hope SE]

Has anyone seen a rationale of why the Phils have not been running this whole year? Inexplicable, at least to me.

[MG]

Old Phan - Yeah. This is the kind of game the Phils have stolen a fair amount of the last couple of years. Getting a shaky starting pitching out that only leaves them down 2 or 3 runs & spring to life late offensively to steal a W.

If they don't get to Takahashi here, I don't see them taking this game. Phils' bench is has given them no spark, Mets have some options to neutralize the Phils' middle hitters (Feliciano in particular), and Met's reliever have been tough at CitiField.

[NEPP]

****Has anyone seen a rationale of why the Phils have not been running this whole year? Inexplicable, at least to me.****

No idea but its really freaking annoying. We're not running AND we're getting run all over by every team with even a little bit of speed.

[tax accountant]

we are gonna regret not sending him home. wtf sam

[dlhunter]

Great at bat by Howard.

[Matt]

$25 million

[NEPP]

Howard is killing me.

[Hope SE]

Pick him up Jason.

[Old Phan]

"Howard is killing me"

Unlike the rest of the lineup?