Utley back in third spot; Frandsen, Nix get starts

Despite two straight ugly losses, the Phillies can salvage a split in the four-game series on Thursday afternoon with Cliff Lee on the mound.

Charlie Manuel has been challenged to come up with different lineups through the first 23 games of the season. Thursday's game is no different. With center fielder Ben Revere struggling, Manuel gives Ezequiel Carrera a start.

Meanwhile, Laynce Nix and Kevin Frandsen also pick up a start to give John Mayberry and Michael Young the day off.

Here's how the Phillies line up against right-hander James McDonald and the Pirates:

1. Jimmy Rollins, SS
2. Kevin Frandsen, 3B
3. Chase Utley, 2B 
4. Ryan Howard, 1B
5. Laynce Nix, RF
6. Dom Brown, LF
7. Ezequiel Carerra, CF
8. Erik Kratz, C
9. Cliff Lee, P

Utley is 4 for 6 with a homer and a pair of walks against McDonald. Ryan Howard is 3 for 4 with a homer while Jimmy Rollins is 3 for 9 with a solo homer.

In his career against the Pirates, Lee is 1-0 with a 3.05 ERA in three starts. He has 20 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings.

The Pirates lineup:

1. Starling Marte, LF
2. Brandon Inge, 2B
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Gaby Sanchez, 1B
5. Michael McKenry, C
6. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
7. Jose Tabata, RF
8. Clint Barmes, SS
9. James McDonald, P

Inge has three career homers off Lee and is 16 for 43 (.372) against the Phils' lefty. Inge has also whiffed 15 times against Lee.

Comments

[lorecore]

DOM finally scores a man from 3rd!!! 1-7.

[Mick O]

I like that the box score will show that Ryan Howard was too fast for McCutchen's cannon.

[Allen Thornberg]

Wouldn't have produced, though, if not for that wild pitch; no way Howard gets home from second on a sac fly.

[Phillibuster]

AT: Nobody gets home from 2nd on a sac fly.

[Little Ollie]

3-1 lead after six. They got us just where they want us.

[Allen Thornberg]

True, but Howard even more so than everybody else...

[mainerob]

Why not bat Galvis in this spot?

[lorecore]

In 2012, John Mayberry was the worst player in the majors at scoring a man from 3rd lt 2 outs, (25%) with at least 15 opps. He was 6-24.

[Willard Preacher]

I don't want to alarm you guys, but technically "2" IS a crooked number...

[bay_area_phan]

If the Phillies lose now, it's all on Cliff Lee and/or the bullpen. When the offense bangs out 5 hits and 3 runs, there's just no reason your team should ever lose.

[Allen Thornberg]

Carrera showing he can fill in for Revere quite nicely.

[Cyclic]

Only thing I didn't like from Utley there, by trying to make it a more difficult throw, he actually put himself closer to the catcher. Whereas if he ran in the normal basepath and slid around the back of the plate, he might have been safe.

[lorecore]

sadly, all evidence suggests that Carrera is the superior hitter to Galvis.

[Phillibuster]

While true, that kid the Cards have who stole 100 bases in a season (or whatever the number was) doesn't score from 2nd on a sac fly.

Any time you impact the ball and make a force out while advancing a runner 2 bases, it has to count as something more than just a sacrifice.

[mainerob]

Stupid, stupid UC. He has Mayberry batting for Nix and then doesn't go with Galvis for Carrera. He could have gone out to play left, moved Brown to right and put Mayberry in center.

Probably one too many moves for his pea brain to absorb.

[SLO Phan]

With McDonald out, the Pirates also lost their best hitter today.

[awh]

Charlie will only pull Kliff now if his arm falls off.

BTW, it's real easy to see why Carrera got DFA'd by the Tribe.

[clout]

Wicked deuce

[Phillibuster]

Galvis isn't a good hitter, however. Trading one sure out for another is pointless if things are working out otherwise.

Especially since as good a defender as Freddi is, he's not an outfielder. I'd rather have 3 outfielders playing if we've got the lead.

[GTown_Dave]

I don't know why everyone is so down on Carrera. He's put the ball in play in the air in consecutive ABs. That alone makes him a better hitter than Revere.

[Allen Thornberg]

At least two of those "balls" to Marte were obvious strikes; this ump is really clueless.

[Willard Preacher]

I'm not sure I have anything in common with anyone advocating Freddy Galvis's use as a pinch hitter.

[SLO Phan]

Too bad we don't have a good BP, so that Cliff would have been able to come out of the game before giving up that run.

[Phillibuster]

Phylum?

[GTown_Dave]

I know Charlie hates to pull a starter mid-inning, but he NEEDS to get Lee out of there, now.

[Sil Campusano]

Cholly and Hurdle, great minds think alike. Lol

[bay_area_phan]

When Gameday said, "In play. Run," I figured it was a homerun. So I'll actually take a single.

[GTown_Dave]

Terrible decision. NEVER listen to the SP. He'll says he's good whether it's true or not.

[HammRadio]

is this a mistake? yes. this is a mistake.

[Phillibuster]

I don't think sticking with Lee when he's been getting outs, by and large, was a terrible move.

Especially not considering it's Lee.

[awh]

GTown, Factoid:

Ben Revere's .472 OPS is the second lowest in the NL, higher than only Juan Pierre's.

[Phillibuster]

awh: Well come on. We know Pierre's not going to get anything to hit out of the 4-hole...

[Sil Campusano]

That was predictable.

[bay_area_phan]

Who could have ever seen that coming?

[GTown_Dave]

Like I said, terrible decision. Charlie never f*cking bothers to learn how to know when his guys are finished. Blithering jackass.

[Allen Thornberg]

Game over.

[Allen Thornberg]

And Alvarez coming up...shoot me now.

[clout]

Broken bat floater. Not much u can do.

[Phillibuster]

How was that a bad pitch, GTown? It was a couple of inches off the dirt when the bat hit it. It's really hard to blame that on the guy throwing.

[awh]

They used to call Sparky Anderson "Captain Hook" because he came out and got his pitchers early.

Isn't Sparky in the HOF?

[Phillibuster]

Sparky didn't have Phillipe Aumont as his best option.

[Sophist]

Yeah, no problem leaving Lee in. Phils needs to sink or swim with these SP, esp. after last night.

[Sil Campusano]

But now he can pinch hit for him! Now he can still get the win if by some freaking miracle we score in the bottom of the inning!

[lorecore]

Maybe its because we're focusing on it more after Amaro's comments this offseason, but I swear the runners who reach base on walks have been scoring at an insanely high rate in phillies games - especially recently.

[GTown_Dave]

Phillibuster: I'm blaming the idiot managing. I've seen this episode of "Phillies Lose!" before.

[Phillibuster]

GTown: Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[lorecore]

Pirates still have Tony Watson available out of the pen in case they get in trouble with utley/howard coming up.

[awh]

Kratz, PH, Rollins

[Phillibuster]

Man, Kratz shaved looks even more babyfaced.

[Sophist]

Kratz' OPS will be .500 when Ruiz returns.

Couldn't imagine a worse month from him.

[Phillibuster]

That wasn't really a fair strike call, all things considered, but technically his bat did break the plane.

[awh]

Jimmy is due for a dinger...

[awh]

Nevermind.

[SLO Phan]

Wait. What? The Phils didn't score any runs there to retake the lead? Hard to believe, Harry.

[Dickie Thong]

Did PNC just buy Citizens or something? I thought they only played this awfully in Pittsburgh.

[awh]

Check this out at mlbtr:

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/04/phillies-notes-.html

Amaro in an interview with Morosi.

[GTown_Dave]

Cheer up, Dickie! This is the favorable part of the schedule!

[Phillibuster]

Pittsburgh signed an agreement with Philly. We lose to them in baseball this year, but in the fall we get to win in hockey and football.

[Willard Preacher]

awh, thanks for the link. Though, it only substantiates my proclamation that we're about to see a fire sale. That is, unless we can play the Marlins every game for the rest of the season.

BTW, WTF is with Amaro even uttering D Young's name in that context? This guy must have inherited Mini Mart's stash of RAJ pictures.

[Sophist]

re Amaro: how could they trade a bunch of their vets and still have a $165M+ payroll next year? There aren't big FA anymore, are there?

[Phillibuster]

I imagine the thought isn't to trade "a bunch" of vets, but rather that a bunch of vets will be available as potential trade acquisitions.

[SLO Phan]

Yep, here we go.

[clout]

This is how Aumont drives you crazy. Gets a guy out on a great fastball with late movement and then hits the worst hitter in the lineup and then forgets the strike zone.

[Willard Preacher]

I don't know that there's another player in all of professional sports that gives me the excited to watch/impending doom feeling that Aumont brings to the table.

[Phillibuster]

WP: I imagine that guys standing in the batter's box feel the same way.

[Sophist]

Didn't we see this last night? Is anyone warming up?

[GTown_Dave]

Sophist: Nope. And why bother, right? Bullpen sucks, so there's no need to waste energy managing.

[HammRadio]

Don't worry Durbin is warming...

[curt]

Looks like Cholly will have to learn to love bringing Aumont out to throw in late and tied situations.

[Sophist]

Really? Aumont at 18 pitches, bases loaded and responsible for 1 out, is riding this one out?

[MG]

Aumont is going to give it up here. He has no idea where the ball is going today.

[Sophist]

Is Papelbon dead? I mean, what are we saving the dude for? We don't have any 9th inning leads??

[SLO Phan]

LOL.

[awh]

Aumont needs to change professions and become an Italian chef.

[GTown_Dave]

If nothing else I'm hoping Aumont's repeated failure to show any consistency will hasten his departure. I'm tired of this farce.

[can_of_corn]

Can't believe I wasted a work from home day to watch the precise game as last night.

[MG]

Poor man's Wayne Gomes is a nice comparison so far for Aumont.

[clout]

Not a problem. Jack says that unless the Phillies score 5 or more runs, it doesn't matter how many runs the pen allows.

[johnnysanz3]

Ugh, this team.

[awh]

I am absolutely disgusted. Just disgusted.

[Phillibuster]

I feel like Aumont might do better with fine French cuisine.

Or sloppy joes. It's hard to tell which it'll be when he puts it in the oven.

[johnnysanz3]

Throwing in the white flag, here comes Durbin, LOL

[curt]

He's improving - the Reds only needed 8 minutes to get it done.

[Willard Preacher]

Piece of advice for RAJ - when you do decide to call around to other teams to see what you can get for all these veteran expiring contracts, do it on an off day, or at the very least before Cholly has a chance to go to his bullpen. You'll have a bit more leverage...

[Phillibuster]

Didn't Durbin not allow any runs (inherited or otherwise) in his last 2 appearances?

Sounds like we've got our new 8th inning guy!

[TK]

So is Amount ever going to be good? If not, can we just set Ruben Amaro's office on fire already?

[Five-4-One]

So its official, Ruben got exactly bupkiss for the first Lee deal.

Yeah, this the guy who is going to rebuild this team. Terrific.

[SLO Phan]

I think the most disappointing thing here is that we all thought this team would be better than this. And that, to me, is one of the biggest differences between now and the late 90s. Back then, we didn't expect anything and that's exactly what we got. But now, we expect this guys to do better than this and it isn't happening. And it's not happening in almost all facets of the game. 2008 might as well be 33 years ago.

[HammRadio]

The Phillies are out doing themselves in trying to generate the worst game of the year.

[Phillibuster]

Maybe we really, really want to get Appel?

[lorecore]

Smart move by Charlie...bringing in Durbin to intentionally walk a guy means that runner won't be inherited.

[GTown_Dave]

I'm sure that will be an Out once D. Young is in RF.

[Willard Preacher]

Hang on, you mean you can be safe on a tag play at the plate?

[clout]

Throw was in time but way off line.

[Phillibuster]

It sucks, but sac fly is one of the best feasible outcomes in that situation.

Now we just have to hope Melancon trips on the mound and shatters a hip.

[Willard Preacher]

"The Phillies are out doing themselves in trying to generate the worst game of the year."

You accidentally omitted "daily" from this sentence.

[MG]

Aumont a Homeless man's Wayne Gomes?

[lorecore]

Gtown: The decision to leave in Lee in the 7th is hard to argue, and even harder after watching the 8th.

[GTown_Dave]

Phillibuster: Won't matter. Pittsburgh will just roll out someone else the Phillies can't hit. Basically anyone w/ an arm.

[Phillibuster]

GTown: I beg to differ. I counted at least two arms on Phillipe Aumont.