Game 18: Once again, Phils aim to avoid sweep

The Phillies avoided a sweep to Atlanta by squeaking by with a 1-0 win in that series finale. After dropping two straight in Colorado, they hope to salvage a game against the Rockies in the series finale Sunday.

All you need to know is the Phillies' offense has scored three runs in four games and none of the other mind-blowing stats about how anemic their offense has been lately will actually blow your mind.

• Like they've gone four straight games without an extra-base hit for the first time since 1968.

• Or that it's been the first time any team in baseball has done that since the expansion Marlins did it in September 1993.

• That their last extra-base hit was Domonic Brown's go-ahead three-run bomb against the Braves on Monday, which still brings back bad memories because of the ensuing ninth-inning collapse.

• That Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Brown are a combined 2 for 23 in the series against consecutive right-handed starters. (They'll face another righty in Juan Nicasio today.)

• And, the two runs they earned in this series were actually unearned. So they've got exactly one earned run in four games.

Roberto Hernandez (1-0, 3.86) opposes Juan Nicasio (2-0, 3.50).

WATCH FOR...

• John Mayberry Jr.'s name to appear on the lineup card. He's 3 for 5 off Nicasio with all doubles. The rest of the Phillies are 4 for 37 (.108) against him.

• Hernandez vs. Justin Morneau, who's 9 for 31 off the Phillies' pitcher with two doubles and three homers.

• Our weekly dose of Wil Nieves, which might actually not be a bad thing since Carlos Ruiz is 4 for 23 in his last seven games.

Happy Easter, everyone. 

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Comments

[M. Martinez]

- Will Schweitzer

Re: Ben Revere

His strengths are an illusion because they're almost completely negated by his weaknesses.

Prior to this season, he was regarded as an above average defensive CF, but with one of the worst arms in baseball. He can hit for a decent average, but provide zero power. He's fast, but a poor baserunner.

This season, he's been the second coming of Lonnie Smith in CF.

At his best, Ben Revere is a highly flawed imitation of Juan Pierre, and he is not the starting CF or leadoff hitter for any team that has any interest in contending for a playoff spot.

Gwynn, for as awful as he's been at the plate throughout his career, may be the better all around ballplayer if, for no other reason, than the fact that there's at least one aspect of his game that doesn't have a significant downside. At the end of a season, though, neither one is a permanent solution in CF.

If anyone is foolish enough to give up anything of value for Revere in a trade, pull the trigger and go with Gwynn. At least it'll eliminate the illusion that this team has an in-house CF for the foreseeable future.

Nice piece of analysis, Will, if you don't mind getting labeled "clueless" on Beerleaguer.

[Jake]

DOSE not "does." There's at least one glaring spelling error in every one of your posts, Mike. Not that anyone cares anyway (1 other comment all day). Although I'm glad there's no completely stupid "key matchups" section in your post today, at least. Clearly no one cares about BL today since it's Easter, so I'm out too now. But please use actually proofread your posts from now on- at least feign professionalism please.
Happy Easter!

[bullit]

perhaps others have had trouble connecting to the beerleaguer server, like me. this is the second day it's been unavailable all morning.

[Phlipper]

Jake - that wasn't a spelling error, it was a typo. There's at least one glaring logical error in each of your comments. Not that anyone cares anyway. But I just thought that I'd mention it even though no one cares. I don't care either. But what they hey, might as well mention it, eh? But not that anyone cares, please actually think logically in your posts from now on.

Oh, and also: "...please use actually proofread...."?

Kind of ironic, don't you think?

[PLM]

Wheres the team meeting behind closed doors thing? I suspected that this team was going to stumble and fumble out the gate. Its still early turns too its too late real quick to fix if possible the flaws.

["Sensible Ruben Amaro Jr"]

I will step down if this team with its high payroll doesnt make the playoffs again. I admit i goofed on Howard's contract. Ever since Ive been trying to assemble a good team but that contract gets in the way at times. I apologize for turning the best run by any Philly team in to the ground.

[aksmith]

This team is dreadful. I still root for them to win, but it's tough watching them. And are all those of you who thought this team would get out of the gate 7-3 feeling appropriately foolish?

There is but one upside to this start and this pathetic offense: I find it hard to believe that any player with his pride intact will refuse to be traded from this abortion of a team.

Cliff Lee, Ryan Howard (plus about 18 million per year to defray expenses), Jimmy Rollins would be my guesses. And the rejuvinated Papelbon should be sent packing as soon as possible before he 'splodes again. I would add Utley to the list, but I'd really like to see him finish as a Phillie. Although in the right deal, I'd certainly trade him too. The only one I'm split on is Cole Hamels. He's young enough that he could still be productive when the Phils might be relevant again. But since Ruben Amaro, Jr. will likely be doing the trading and possibly the rebuilding, I don't see much hope for the Phillies being any good in the next three to four years minimum. So, I guess the yard sale should start on everyone.

[Meyer]

That was a good AB again by Howard. There's hope.

[Will Schweitzer]

M. Martinez: That's nothing new. I was labeled "clueless" on Beerleaguer for all sorts of things, beginning with my statement in 2010 that Domonic Brown was not yet ready for the major leagues on a contending ballclub.

If you go back in the Beerleaguer archives, you'll find that pretty much everybody who posts here has the same percentage of opinions that ended up being correct and opinions that ended up being completely short sighted. The only difference is in their skill in arguing on the internet.

[Jake]

Just stopped by to see I'm being trolled again. I haven't posted in about a week.

[bay_area_phan]

I believe it was only 2 days ago that someone asked: which comes first? A Ben Revere homerun or a Ryan Howard triple?

Voila, we have our answer.

[MG]

So Galvis is PH for Asche vs LHP? Do wonder if Sandberg is going to essentially platoon Asche at 3b until further notice. Can't blame if he does since he is still trying to win and Asche has been inconsistent at best defensively and dreadful offensively so far.

[MG]

Nix sucked last year for the Yanks and all the NY media did was criticize him.

[bay_area_phan]

Why is B.J. Rosenberg still on the roster? And why is Sandberg using him in the rare game that the Phillies actually have a chance to win?

[MG]

Heads up play by JRoll and Utley on the challenge. Gift the Phils have to take advantage of now.

[MG]

You suck Rosenberg. Straight as arrow 93 fastball that he can't command or control consistently.

[MG]

Hit the showers you bum. Do reason Rosenberg doesn't deserve a demotion at this point and they keep up Camp when Hamels comes back.

[MG]

Freddy flashing some nice leather!

[bay_area_phan]

Pretty sure that Asche wouldn't have made that play.

[MG]

Bummer no cycle for Howard.

[bay_area_phan]

Oh, come on, scorers. Give him a double so he can have the cycle.

[Meyer]

Howard with some scorekeeper karma.

[bay_area_phan]

They may actually change that ruling. An error is when there's an affirmative misplay that gives the guy an extra base. Diving for the ball, and having it get past you for a double, is not an error.

[Meyer]

Diek needs to show some balls and shut these Rockies down now.

[Meyer]

DITHL?

[Curt]

Asking 5 innings of our BP is mission impossible.

[GBrettfan]

Our BP sucks.

[MG]

Diekman can't even get out a LH bat and instead hangs a pitch Morneau hits out.

Another Phils reliever who doesn't have a good secondary pitch.

[bay_area_phan]

I guess we have entered "loss attributable to the bullpen" territory -- although Fausto's start didn't help matters either.

[MG]

If this were pro wrestling, Rosenberg would be your classic jobber who probably even used his own name and would getter pinned in 2-3 minutes.

Diekman would be a known jobber with some kind of gimmicky move but still get kiss a$$ kicked and pinned.

[GBrettfan]

I'm rooting for the error to be overturned so Howard can have his cycle. Pretty cool.

That was some nifty defense by Galvis a little while ago, too. I saw the double play (at home and 2B) on replay. First of the game I saw today.

And I loved seeing the Phillies come from behind. So disheartening to see it given back.

[Meyer]

Maybe as LA said, "I think he (Diek) learned something".

[johnnysanz3]

How long until Diekmans 8+ ERA he has been carrying the entire season surpasses "small sample size" and "he has potential" and becomes "he is a secondary LOOGY / mop up reliever"

["Sensible Ruben Amaro Jr"]

Ok BL'ers we just need a little time. I will attempt to fix the bullpen. We are going to fast track Severino. DeFratus will be back up soon. Im working a trade with Ceasare and or Galvis for another BP piece.

[bay_area_phan]

That was for all the people who think that sacrifice bunts always work.

[Curt]

Is it too soon to start looking forward to the third (fourth?) incarnation of Aumont? DeFratus?

[bay_area_phan]

I notice the poster named Mini-Mart hasn't been around for the last few innings.

[GBrettfan]

That bunt stunk.

[GBrettfan]

Nice to see these hits today!

[Curt]

Anyone who had Howard down for 4 big hits today, congrats.

[MG]

'This happens all the time here.' No it doesn't TMac and get tired of his endless ball washing.

[GBrettfan]

I know the Rockies have scored the most runs of anyone in the NL, but enough already!

[bay_area_phan]

If the Phillies somehow manage to win this game -- which I doubt -- I wonder if clout will attribute the win to the bullpen's fine performance? After all, when the bullpen entered the game, we were losing.

[bay_area_phan]

This is getting reversed. Galvis was out.

[Five-4-One]

How in the hell did galvis get thrown out there?

[bay_area_phan]

Opponents' numbers against Jonathan Papelbon at Coors Field:

22 PAs, .333/.333/.619/.952

[MG]

Papelbon gives this up. Guaranteed.

[Iceman]

As in the first game of this series, it's clear if you can't score 12 runs in Coors Field, you deserve to lose. Bullpen did it's job tonight.

[Iceman]

Its* job

[bay_area_phan]

The Rockies' announcers are trying to figure out why the RedSox let Papelbon go, when he has more saves than any other pitcher since 2007. I wonder if the RedSox' decision had anything to do with the fact that RAJ offered him 4 years, $50M?

[bay_area_phan]

Still, the Rockies' announcers do have a point about not letting a top closer go. The Sox have been terrible ever since they decided to let Papelbon go, whereas the Phillies have had nothing but success since signing him.

[MG]

Papelbon has no feel for the ball today. He keep gripping it and trying to scuff it a bit. Third time already this inning he came off the mound to do it.

[GBrettfan]

This is gonna be really aggravating when Papelbon blows this as he seems determined to do.

[MG]

Not a single splitter do far from Papelbon. Definitely grip issues.

[MG]

First splitter from Papelbon. Stairs is right that as a hitter you don't have to worry about the difference between a 84 splitter and. 90-91 fastball.

[clout]

Flash leather!

[MG]

Hell of a play by Galvis and JMJ there and no TMac Howard doesn't remotely make that stretch play.

[GBrettfan]

Nice job by Galvis and Mayberry! Unless it's overturned. In which case, it would still be a great effort.

[bay_area_phan]

Bizarro world. Sandberg brings in a defensive sub who is even worse defensively than the guy he replaced, and the defensive sub saves the game with a great scoop.

[MG]

BAP - JMJ may be a weak defensive 1b but he is superior to Howard then again I would argue that just about any 1b on a MLB roster is better defensively than Howard unless you argue someone like Dunn.

[NEPP]

Howard with a hell of a game. Wish it wasn't Easter and I could have watched it.

[Jake]

Philliper- yeah I made a mistake too, I'll admit (I was gonna say "use spell-check" but then decided that a "professional" writer would do more than that. And yes, technically it wasn't misspelled. But the point still stands that there are constant grammatical errors or just plain stupid parts of the post), but then again I'm not the one supposedly running a "professional" blog. The comments by the top posters are still great but the blog itself has really taken a hit because these comcast guys just don't care (and the team sucking doesn't help either).
Glad they got the win, the road trip could still be saved potentially, especially with Hames coming back.

[bay_area_phan]

MG: It's a tough debate because they're both terrible, but in different ways. Howard is completely immobile & can't throw. Mayberry can move & throw, but is even worse on ground balls than Howard and much worse at scooping errant throws. So, of course, the game ended with Mayberry scooping an errant throw.

[GBrettfan]

Re-watching that double play between home/3B and at 2B. It was a great play by JRoll, too, to start it off by throwing to home.

[GBrettfan]

Since Howard's left-handed, the throw would have been easier for him to handle, without having to backhand the glove.

I agree with BAP that the defensive weaknesses of Howard and Mayberry are different. Howard looks more immobile than ever this year, at least to me, which is a liability. But he's traditionally been pretty good at scooping throws.

[MG]

BAP - Howard can't stretch any more especially with his right foot and has no range.

["Sensible Ruben Amaro Jr"]

Mr. Marlon told me he can still hit .300. MAG was suppose to be the center of my bullpen.Stuf just not working out.

[MG]

This crappy bullpen came in with a 5.84 ERA today (White Sox were worse coming into today at 6.12) and they did lower it despite giving up 3 ER in 5 IP.

After today, there is no reason that Rosenberg doesn't get sent down when Hamels comes back up. Those 2 BBs after gifting an absolute gift DP were inexcusable.

[StairsTalksTooMuch]

I have no idea why DeFratus went down and Brian Rosenburg stayed up in the first place.

Neither one is great shakes, but I think DeFratus is better and slightly tougher to square up. Rosenburg should go back down, shave off that goofy-ass facial hair and try and learn a 3rd pitch. The straight as an arrow 93 MPH fastball and hanging slider isn't going to cut it.

Then again, once we all see Shawn Camp's inferno-inducing 'stuff', we'll probably be pining for Rosey.

[limoguy]

I'll take the W. Not sure how it happened, but Jimmy seems rejuvenated. Have enjoyed watching him this year.

[Iceman]

I can't believe there's a team with a worse bullpen ERA than this bunch of losers.

Hopefully BJ locked himself in his room and watched a Duck Dynasty marathon so he can right himself for the rest of the road trip. Need his arm to hold it down in the middle innings.

[CantCutEverbody]

fwiw - Rosenberg looked real good during spring training + pitched well for Sandberg down the stretch last year....he earned his shot that he is now blowing by pitching up in the zone and not throwing quality splits & sliders like he had been.

[Conway Twitty]

bap: That was me that asked about a Howard triple, and due to a family gathering, I missed it. Was it legit?
Since I noted the Phils poor record in getaway games, even when they were good, they won the next 2. Maybe I'm figuring out this reverse jinx stuff.

["Sensible Ruben Amaro Jr"]

On the horn now Galvis is on the trading block. We need another BP i have tons of Utility fielders.

[bay_area_phan]

Conway: Didn't see it either, so I can't say. I did, however, see Howard's hit, where he reached 2nd on what was charged as a single and an error. And the error call was complete crap. A single and an error is when, for instance, the hitter singles & then the outfielder throws the ball away or boots it, allowing the hitter to take 2nd. If the outfielder dives for a ball and misses, and the hitter gets to 2nd, it's always ruled a double. I still say the ruling will be changed by tomorrow & Howard will get his cycle.

[bay_area_phan]

"Rosenberg looked real good during spring training + pitched well for Sandberg down the stretch last year."

"The stretch" is usually a reference to September, when Rosenberg had a 6.23 ERA, 1.731 WHIP, and .375 opponents' on-base percentage. He did have a good August, though, based on a sample size of 8 innings. Those were pretty much the only good 8 innings of his entire career.

["Sensible Ruben Amaro Jr"]

We have such talent as Barry Enright stacked in the minors.

[Dragon]

I knew when the dreaded squirrel failed to show up that we had a chance.

[johnnysanz3]

beerleaguer.com domain broke, but site is accessible by beerleaguer.typepad.com albeit completely devoid of css/formatting.

[Shane]

I wonder if they forgot to pay the domain registration fee. This could be your chance to own beerleaguer.com !!!!

[Curt]

Resurrection?

[Chris in VT]

The zombie corpse of Beerleaguer marches on

[If the Schu fits]

Beerleaguer lives!

[If the Schu fits]

Beerleaguer lives!

[Curt]

After 8 years of BL games threads it was kind of odd to check in last night and find nada.

[If the Schu fits]

Beleagered Beerleaguer I should say.

["Sensible Ruben Amaro Jr"]

Wow we are back.

[limoguy]

Typepad, which is the host server for Beerleaguer, has been under malicious data attacks for the past 5 - 6 days.

[PLM]

Beerleaguer where did you go.

[Monday, April 21, 2014 at 10:31 PM]

Great swing by Ruiz going the other way. Ruiz is a streak hitter and I'm sure more hits will follow. 2 runs should be enough for Lee.

[GBrettfan]

It's back! I thought it had become very unceremoniously defunct! Even though I thought TPTB would at least give us a heads' up before shutting down the site, I wondered if anyone would revive it when it went down.

[Rally Red '67]

God bless you, GBrettfan! You'd be welcome to join The Good Phight. Regardless, you are Madame Secretary of Beerleaguer!

[Dickie Thong]

Blogging Platform Typepad Enters Day 5 Of On-And-Off DDoS Attacks

You can now add Typepad, the blogging service owned by SAY Media, to the growing list of technology companies that have undergone DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks, which crash websites and other online services for what are now days a time. In Typepad’s case, the company is entering its fifth day under attack, after a series of on and off again hits began on Thursday night, just ahead of the long Easter holiday weekend.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/21/say-media-owned-blogging-platform-typepad-enters-day-5-of-on-and-off-ddos-attacks/

[Dickie Thong]

FWIW, Philliedelphia has been down as well.

[Cyclic]

Glad it's back!

The Typepad folks were working hard.

[Meyer]

Created by the administrators of the gods and forever to live a long life, baseball will live regardless of a88holes. Let's play ball.

[Cyclic]

Thanks, GBrett for telling me about the Phils starters this series.

Saw Lee last night... one of the best games I've ever been to. Lee was magical.

[bay_area_phan]

This feels like a loss.

[GBrettfan]

I thought about you, Cyclic. It's a treat to see Lee pitch when he's "on"!

[GBrettfan]

Thanks, Rally Red. I joined the game about an hour into it last night and did follow along at TGP, although I didn't post. I was going to tonight if this site was still down.