Game 12: Home, sweep home vs. Marlins

After getting swept by the red-hot Brewers (who have now won eight straight) in their home-opneing series, the Phillies have a chance to sweep the Marlins on Sunday.

Kyle Kendrick (0-1, 3.75), who served up two homers to Ryan Braun last Tuesday, will face a lineup he's much more comfortable with in the Marlins -- Kendrick is 8-0 with a 1.69 ERA in the past three years against Miami.

Chase Utley will look to keep his hot bat going. The second baseman owns a 14-game hitting streak dating back to last season, and he leads the league in OBP (.537), slugging (.778) and OPS (1.314) this season.

Plus, he's batting .522 with four doubles, two homers, eight RBIs and three walks in his last six games.

Jimmy Rollins is also hitting .417 over that same span with three extra-base hits and five RBIs.

Henderson Alvarez (0-2, 4.15) will take the ball for the Fish, who have lost six straight.

Comments

[PLM]

I wonder if Ruf didnt get hurt would he be on the MLB roster or back in AAA...

[Cyclic]

No news is good news re: Burnett?

[Cyclic]

Ryan Lawrence twitter:
Mike Adams says he'll be activated off DL tomorrow.

[timr]

DPat I'll join the rest in saying I'm very sorry to hear about your loss.

[Cyclic]

Salisbury:
Burnett will pitch wed. He has a hernia but it can be managed.

Hooo boy.

[bullit]

i figured that stairs and moyer would, more or less, alternate as color guys. but it's been just moyer of late.

[Cyclic]

Lawrence: Burnett was diagnosed with a hernia, but had injection and it's said to be "manageable."

[bullit]

did he come with a hernia? or is this new?

[Cyclic]

"If you have a hernia, it will not heal on its own. Surgery is the only way to fix a hernia. Having surgery for a hernia can prevent a serious complication, like part of your intestine getting trapped in your hernia.

Repairing the hernia can also relieve the symptoms of pain and discomfort and make the bulge go away.

If your hernia does not bother you, you most likely can wait to have surgery. Your hernia may get worse, but it may not. In some cases small, painless hernias may never need to be repaired."

"Surgery may not be needed for some time. Many people are able to delay surgery for months or even years and some people may never need surgery for a small hernia. If the hernia is small and you do not have any symptoms, or if the symptoms do not bother you much, you and your doctor may simply continue to watch for symptoms to occur."

"It can take up to 4 weeks after open hernia surgery before you can resume normal strenuous activities. If you have laparoscopic surgery, you may recover sooner."

~~~

Learning about hernias. Courtesy of WebMD.

[NEPP]

I had a hernia in high school for 2 full years before I had the surgery. Hirt like hell some days and was fine on others.

The surgery is a quick fix though...maybe 10 days of "don't do anything" and 3 weeks total of limited exercise. He'd probably miss a month max if he had it right now.

[MG]

DPatrone - Sorry for your life too and sounds what has been a couple of arduous months. Only hope you find some solace and comfort in the near future.

[MG]

Urgh I meant wife.

[bullit]

then i suspect that he had this hernia when he signed his contract.

[NEPP]

To put those dates in perspective, by day 8 or 9 postop I went to a water park down the jersey shore with my friends with zero issues.

[Willard Preacher]

Ugh, MG and his unfortunate typos... I suspect he posts predominantly on a device which uses autocorrect.

At any rate, DPat, put me in the camp of wishing you the absolute best as you deal with this tough time. It seems that you're celebration of your wife's life is a means which is doing you well, and I think you should stick with it. Maybe these Phils will do the absolute unthinkable and win one this year. While it would be an amazing story, I'd miss your rants against the Front Office. I'll take either though. Godspeed, my friend. ;)

[bullit]

NEPP: did they use a mesh?

[NEPP]

I didn't have the mesh inserted...they merely drained a bunch of infected fluid from my abdomen and then used some dissolvable sutures to see the muscles back together. It was a fairly serious hernia too.

[Captain Obvious]

"Television is owned by News Corp."

No... no it isn't

[NEPP]

They didn't do the mesh due to my age(17) at the time as I was still growing and they don't like to insert it in that case. I've had zero issues since then despite a pretty active lifestyle.

[PLM]

i have a hiatal hernia no surgery required in most cases maybe Burnett has the same

[Conway Twitty]

Take 2 aspirin and don't throw more than 130 pitches.

[bullit]

the way aj was reacting it seemed more like an inguinal hernia.

[Dickie Thong]

Matt Gelb (‏@magelb)
A.J. Burnett will pitch the rest of the season with a inguinal hernia.

[Geraldo]

Ted Turner used to own TV.

[nokwurst]

NEPP - re: Frandsen

Actually I think they've been playing Frandsen in the OF in place of McLouth (haven't looked up boxscores to confirm that)

[Geraldo]

I don't recommend anyone Wikipedia-ing inguinal hernia before dinner.

[Dickie Thong]

Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki)
Joe Torre called Phillies to say umpires got play at plate wrong yesterday. Catcher didn't give Gwynn lane to plate.

[NEPP]

Timely correction by Torre.

["sore groin"]

I have tender balls but i can pitch threw it. Had it before i signed with the Phils but Doc didnt give me the cough and turn my head exam..Bwahhaha Phillies 2nd rate medical staff.

[awh™]

Dickie, IMHO Gwynn would have been out anyway. the ball beat him home by enough that any blocking of the plate would have been irrelevant.

A swipe tag would have been sufficient.

[GBrettfan]

did he come with a hernia? or is this new?

Posted by: bullit

***

bullit, this made me laugh. I got a visual of AJ Burnett with a price tag attached to him reading "As is" and stocked on the shelves of "Damaged goods".

[awh™]

That's not to say that the catcher wasn't wrong in blocking the plate.

And was that the crux of why they still called him out? Was it because - in the umpire's judgment - Gwynn would have been out anyway?

Well, what is the rule? If the catcher illegally blocks the plate is the runner safe anyway, even if he would have been out regardless of whether the plate was blocked?

It seems to me that the rule HAS to be interpreted that way, otherwise there's no deterrent to the catcher blocking the plate, as he'll have nothing to lose because the runner is prohibited from running into him.

[Conway Twitty]

Would Utley have gotten an RBI on that, or would that have been an error on the LF on the bobble.

[aksmith]

It's interesting that they called it an inguinal hernia. That's likely what we used to mean by a hernia clasically. The abdominal contents can herniate either directly through a weakness in the abdominal wall or indirectly through the inguinal canal. You have to worry about reducibility of the hernia and in the worst case it can become incarcerated/strangulated.

What we've been seeing a lot of in the last decade is a sports hernia, which is not quite the same thing. It involves the same part of the body, but it's more of a chronic strain of the abdominal muscles of that area that can become intensely painful with repeated injury.

I've spent many a night in the ER waiting for hernias to reduce with ice packs and pain meds so they won't need emergency surgery. If this is causing AJ pain, then it will likely need surgery at some point, but unless there are issues like incarceration or strangulation, injections may be able to manage the situation. However, this is the Phillies' medical staff we're talking about here, so I expect an amputation of at least half of one limb within the next few weeks.

[GBrettfan]

Not that I have any great desire to see Pettibone pitch after Hamels returns, or to see Buchanan or Manship make a start before then, but shouldn't Burnett have the hernia repaired? Aside from the fact that it has to be painful to pitch, and is likely to hamper his ability to pitch deep into games (something we've already witnessed), the Mayo Clinic website says they can become life-threatening. Maybe that's not likely and is something that can be seen with adequate time to take action. But why take the chance?

[DPat.]

Timr & MG~ Thank you very much.

[PLM]

Recovery time according the net is 7 days. Would it be better to get it done now and put him on the 14 day DL since Cole is on his way back.

[Cyclic]

No RBI. Gwynn was stopping at 3B before the bobble.

[Cyclic]

No need to DL him. Wait for a few more outings where he walks 6+ and goes 5 or less.

[Conway Twitty]

I don't like 4 game series against division rivals. You have to win 3 of 4 to gain ground, and a split gives other teams a chance to gain on both.

[Cyclic]

Well better hope we win today. Then all we have to do is take 2 of 3....

[Cyclic]

Also, I have a feeling Adams will get his first L before his 4th appearance

[Conway Twitty]

Cyclic: We have to win the first 3, because Thursday is getaway day, where we are historicly bad, and already 0-2.

[Cyclic]

And it's the only game I'll get to watch all the way through.

At least I'll be at a bar for part of it...

[PLM]

Cyclic thats exactly my point lol. Might as well get er done now. If the whole season he is going to be pitching in some pain and interrupting his concentration.

[bay_area_phan]

A 1-3 series loss would be right in line with my expectations, and would leave me feeling nauseated.

A 2-2 split would leave me feeling indifferent.

A 3-1 series win wouldn't change the fact that they're probably headed for a 90-loss season, but it would at least provide some short-lived reason for enthusiasm.

Another thing that would provide some short-lived reason for enthusiasm would be an actual game thread.

[GBrettfan]

Wow, BAP, pretty optimistic that you didn't mention the possibility of the Braves sweeping us.

[GBrettfan]

It is definitely time for a game thread....preferably with a "Jump to newest comments" option.

[Cyclic]

I know Burnett =/= Hamels, but this tidbit was encouraging.

"Cole Hamels pitched with same injury in 2011 before having surgery in the offseason. He went 14-9 with a 2.79 ERA in 32 appearances (31 starts) and finished fifth in National League Cy Young Award voting."

From: http://zozone.mlblogs.com/2014/04/14/burnett-plans-to-pitch-with-hernia/

[GBrettfan]

I completely forgot this:

Todd Zolecki ‏@ToddZolecki 44m
Cole Hamels pitched through same injury in 2011.

[bay_area_phan]

GBrett: I'm working on trying to be more concise. I said I'd be nauseated if we lost 1-3, so I figured it was implicit that I'd be nauseated to an even greater degree if we lost 0-4. Any appearance of optimism was unintended.

[bay_area_phan]

"Cole Hamels pitched through same injury in 2011."

So did Worley in 2012, and he was horrible. Of course, he has also been horrible ever since, so the hernia probably wasn't the reason for his horribleness. But I do remember countless debates in which Group A blamed the hernia for Worley's horrible 2012 season, and Group B pointed out Hamels' strong numbers while pitching through the exact same injury.

[The Komcast Comrads]

The game is on another network. You don't deserve no stinkin game thread.

[Hernia Groupie]

I love all this hernia talk.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

As someone who had a hernia repaired after age 30, I wish someone suggested an injection instead.

[Willard Preacher]

The 2014 Philadelphia Phillies: Still Plenty of Good Seats Available

(isn't tonight a Dollar Dog Night, too?)

[Komkast]

Game 13: Who gives a crap, we certainly don't

[Hugh Mulcahy]

They posted the 7 day thread the other day. The next one was a bonus and was not due until comments close on the existing thread.

[Conway Twitty]

Franzke: "I spent the afternoon reading the 7-page rule on home-plate plays, and I'm more confused than ever."
LA: "Maybe they should have a U-Haul salesman write the rules instead of a lawyer."

[bay_area_phan]

If Ryan Howard had been playing 1st base for Atlanta, that would have been a hit.

[Cyclic]

Hahaha, bap. I was thinking the same thing.

12 pitches after the first for Santana. That's not gonna cut it, Phils.

[Cyclic]

Wait I shouldn't laugh. Our firstbaseman is terrible

[Replacement Level Poster]

Revere could have done that.

[bay_area_phan]

That'll keep the poster named Mini-Mart away for awhile.

[Cyclic]

Anyone seen M. Martinez?

[Hugh Mulcahy]

I thought that was a popup.

Didn't they give Revere an error the other night for dropping a ball after banging into the wall?

[Cyclic]

Out of trouble for now.

But the extra pitches just mean trouble later.

[Cyclic]

BIG PIECE!

[bay_area_phan]

Ok, I take back the gratuitous shot at his defensive shortcomings.

[Conway Twitty]

Howard was thinking triple the way he busted out of the box.

[GBrettfan]

Yay, Howard!

Maybe there's no game thread because it's the 13th game and that would be unlucky...?

[GBrettfan]

I like this from Ben Davis after Gwynn missing the catch that became a triple:

Ben Davis ‏@bendaviscsn 15m
Catch the ball. Catch the ball w/ your glove. Use your glove and catch the ball!

[GBrettfan]

*missed*

[Iceman]

Just love the one-sided conversations TMac has with the Phanatic every so often. What a blubbering buffoon.

[Cyclic]

Again they can't get a shutdown inning.

(I just know Heyward's gonna score)

[Hugh Mulcahy]

The old 1-5-2-4 double play

[GBrettfan]

That was pretty awesome getting both runners there!

[Willard Preacher]

Pitching and DEFENSE!!!

[Cyclic]

Wow. Shocking.

Awesome.

[Phillibuster]

Roberto, you big beautiful bastard(o)!

[Phillibuster]

Man, above average infield D there, and Howard clobbers the unclobber-able pitcher on the 2nd pitch.

[bay_area_phan]

Fausto's command is pretty spotty tonight but, when he throws strikes, he's inducing a ton of weakly hit GBs.

[Ryan Howard's Slow Gait]

No game thread?

[Phillibuster]

Nice work Tony!

[Willard Preacher]

Great bunt hit by Gwynn there. Revere, enjoy the rest of the week off.

[bay_area_phan]

Terrible decision by Gattis to throw to first on that bunt.

[Phillibuster]

I feel like Gwynn should be teaching Revere how to bunt for a hit.

[Cyclic]

Now score him!

[bay_area_phan]

That sacrifice was idiotic. Yet another example of Sandberg trying to prove how smart he is by overmanaging.

[Phillibuster]

Seriously. Rollins has been doing a good job getting at least singles lately, odds of Gwynn scoring from 2nd on 1 out is better than 3rd with 2 outs, unless Sandberg thinks we're going to see a WP.

[Iceman]

I think Hernandez's stuff has looked really good in his first three starts. It's encouraging.

Basically if he keeps the ball in the park, he will be successful. Hitters don't look comfortable up there against him.

[GBrettfan]

Franzke is of the opinion that Rollins was trying to bunt for a hit. LA isn't so sure and agrees that a sac bunt there was dumb.

[what game r u watching]

Rollins bunted on his own, forgot there was 1 out. Look at the reaction in the dugout by everyone.

[DE fan]

No new game thread (or post-game thread for that matter), no "jump to newest comments" button for a few threads now, and there is STILL a glaring spelling error in the thread header...after a promising start, I see the "writers" here are back to not giving a crap...sigh....

Sorry for complaining and not adding to the discussion, but this is really disappointing...

[Willard Preacher]

"I think Hernandez's stuff has looked really good in his first three starts. It's encouraging."

I'll take it. Far exceeding my expectations, and in light of the MAG "whiff" and Hamels injury, we need it!

[Phillibuster]

No results, but not a terrible AB by Howard. Looked like he was gunning for the fences again, though.

[Phillibuster]

Blughr. Bad luck strikes again.

[Juums]

Bad luck or good defense. It's hard to tell the difference sometimes. Or whether there's a difference at all.

[Phillibuster]

Nice work on D by the guys who've been catching flack lately. Whether on the left or right side.

[bay_area_phan]

It feels like Asche hasn't had a hit since opening day.