Game 32: Asche starts vs. lefty, while Howard sits

Believe it or not, Cody Asche will start at third vs. southpaw Mark Buehrle on Wednesday ... and Ryan Howard will get the night off.

All is took was the baserunning gaffe of the year, a botched play at shortstop and an 0-for-2 day at the plate for Freddy Galvis, combined with a 4-for-4 night and a game-tying grand slam for Asche for Asche -- finally -- to get the start at third base against a left-handed starter.

Asche has been crushing the ball recently and is 9 for 22 with three doubles, two homers and eight RBIs in his last eight games.

It's the first time he's in the lineup against a lefty starter since the second series of the year against the Cubs.

And even with the designated hitter creating room for a ninth bat in the order, Howard, who's 8 for 37 vs. LHP this season, will sit in favor of John Mayberry Jr.

Jimmy Rollins will get another day off from the field, but he'll serve as the DH and Jayson Nix will man shortstop. Rollins has started only once as a DH -- July 1, 2011 in Toronto -- and he went 0 for 4.

Cliff Lee (3-2, 3.00) opposes Buehrle (5-1, 2.25) at the Rogers Centre.

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Comments

[Willard Preacher]

I give Phillies fans a lot of crap, but to be fair - STILL PLENTY OF GOOD SEATS AVAILABLE IN TORONTO!

[Cyclic]

7 pitch AB.

I'll take that from Revere.

[GBrettfan]

At least the loss will be quick, with two fast workers pitching.

[Cyclic]

I lost the announcers, but I still have the stadium sounds.

This is a beautiful way to watch baseball.

[Phillibuster]

Chase looked like he got more of that one.

[Phillibuster]

Cyclic: You can watch every game that way. You just won't get the infographics.

[Cyclic]

6 outs, 6 flyouts

[Phillibuster]

Byrd remains the wyrd.

[Cyclic]

Byrd is the word

[Phillibuster]

And let's hear it for the astroturf bounce. I'd almost forgotten what that was like.

[Cyclic]

Brown remains down

[Conway Twitty]

If I was a beer vendor tonite, game time under 2 hrs. and less than a 1000 people, I'd have to think about one of those jobs spending a few hrs. at the computer:)

[Phillibuster]

Thanks, JMJ. Swinging at stuff a foot outside and high is usually a good plan. I'm glad you got the memo.

[Cyclic]

I have a bad feeling this game is gonna suck

[bay_area_phan]

I'd like to keep the poetic theme going. What rhymes with Mayberry and is a synonym for "worthless piece of sh*t?"

[Phillibuster]

Dingleberry?

[bay_area_phan]

Philli: Actually, that kind of works. Close enough, anyhow.

[Phillibuster]

Keep it up, Jayson. Freddy needs to spend some time soul-searching in Lakewood.

[Phillibuster]

BAP: I remember my old Creative Writing prof reminding us that a word rhymes with itself. Or in this case, a multisyllabic proper noun.

[Phillibuster]

Cody, gettin' that OBP up.

[Phillibuster]

Also, when they cut to him staring down the pitcher, you can really tell the Nixes are related.

[bay_area_phan]

"I remember my old Creative Writing prof reminding us that a word rhymes with itself."

Yes, I have used that technique in several of the songs that I've written for Beerleaguer, when I can't think of another word that rhymes. It feels like cheating but sometimes it can't be helped.

[Cyclic]

Nix trying to get tossed. Maybe he wants Galvis to play

[Phillibuster]

Nix just had no concept of the inside of the zone in that AB. Every single strike was called, and not even so far in that it was on the black.

[bay_area_phan]

What's he upset about? That was a fairly obvious strike.

[Phillibuster]

Nice work, Benny. Now time for James to get something done.

[Cyclic]

J-Pop

[Juums]

Well done, Nix. Spoil a good PA that burned a lot of pitches by looking you want to throw a tantrum over taking what was something that should've been swung at.

The Revere Express also continues to chug along.

[Phillibuster]

Sigh. Well, Jimmy is going to do that sometimes, I suppose.

Time for some Chase redemption.

[Phillibuster]

Ugly. But that's what a good Buehrle breaking pitch looks like to a lefty, I guess.

[bay_area_phan]

Utley's still-gaudy numbers sort of mask the fact that he has been terrible for like the last 3 weeks.

[Wayne from PA in Nebraska]

I would send down Nix, Galvis, Mayberry and Brown, and tomorrow bring up Brignac, Hernandez, Henson and Thomas.

[Cyclic]

Chase looks rather pathetic.

Loved the torrid hot streak to start the season, but now the cold streak is twice as long.

Also, I liked it better when his cold streaks carried a .700 OPS rather than .550.

[bay_area_phan]

Francisco helped us out by swinging at Ball 4.

[Phillibuster]

Not that he could have gotten that one, but there was Brown jogging leisurely again. No way he knew it was going over the wall when he broke that direction.

[bay_area_phan]

I have to begrudgingly admit that Byrd is a really good defensive right fielder.

[Cyclic]

Insurmountable

[Phillibuster]

Chooch, as expected, starting to cool off.

[Phillibuster]

Wow. That is a lot of empty seats.

[Phillibuster]

I liked Domo's look of sheer admiration for that ball he just hit. Like it was going to land in Niagara.

[Cyclic]

Chooch doubled and raised his OPS last night

[Phillibuster]

Didn't he double twice? No, that was Byrd...

[bay_area_phan]

This shocks me, but the Phillies' team OPS against LHP this year is somehow .748 -- compared to .671 against RHP. I'm not sure where that's coming from because it's inexplicable & totally at odds with what my eyes tell me.

[Phillibuster]

Cliff appears to have Bautista's number tonight.

[Phillibuster]

Is that something like his 4th first-pitch curveball in 4 innings? He's feeling confident.

[bay_area_phan]

Basically, these are the Phillies who are hitting LHP better than RHP:

Chooch: 1.206
Byrd: .992
Revere: .872
Dom: .967
Mayberry: 954 (SSS)

[Meyer]

Nothing short of a Fair Weather Blow-up Doll Night will fill the stands in these beginning lean years.

[Phillibuster]

Yeah, Revere's reverse (small) splits are actually kind of nice, considering the odds of advancing a runner against LHP on this lineup.

[Phillibuster]

Meyer: This game is in Toronto.

[awh™]

bap, I have been told that Mayberry can no longer hit LHP. What gives>

[Phillibuster]

Huh. Shifting for Asche already? Interesting. I wonder if that'd pay off in the long run, or if he doesn't pull as much as he might.

[Cyclic]

My eyes tell me Mayberry still sucks

[Meyer]

Oh. Thanks.

[bay_area_phan]

It's weird to me that a LH hitter can be better against LHP than RHP, although Ichiro had similar splits. I guess their ground ball/line drive style works better on pitches that are tailing away from them, rather than running in on their hands.

[Phillibuster]

Hm. Does appear that most of his power hits are pulled. Though he gets a fair number of singles up the middle, and a few singles and doubles to the left side.

Looks like the majority of his liners are to right also, although he hits a few to center and left. As seen here

[Phillibuster]

Interestingly, Asche has no "bloopers."

[Phillibuster]

Wow that's a nasty curveball he's got tonight.

[Cyclic]

Lee's curve is just ridonk tonight

[Phillibuster]

Nice catch.

[bay_area_phan]

Remember that off-season Dom-for-Bautista rumor that everyone on Beerleaguer thought was such a terrible idea?

[Phillibuster]

Problem is, Bautista's likely to see plenty of DL time.

Also, his cost would have prevented them from getting AJ, guaranteed.

[GBrettfan]

Stairs pointed out that Dom was popping his hip ahead of his swing rather than using his lower body to power the swing. Hope Dom notices that, too.

[bay_area_phan]

"Also, his cost would have prevented them from getting AJ, guaranteed."

Perhaps. I'm not saying I'd go back and do it, if it meant losing out on Burnett. I'm just saying that, in hindsight, the move doesn't seem nearly as ridiculous as it was treated at the time.

[Phillibuster]

I don't think anybody was thinking ridiculous as far as an OPS comparison. However, considering the injury factor and the cost, it didn't strike me as an awesome idea.

On the other hand, I suppose we could have him instead of Byrd? Or was that after the Byrd signing?

[Phillibuster]

Can Lee end the streak?

[bay_area_phan]

I think it was before, but I'm not sure. I believe I was against the idea, as well. If I recall, I said it would be a good move if we were in win-now mode, but I didn't think we had any realistic chance of winning now.

[GBrettfan]

Dom's bringing me down.

[bay_area_phan]

Cliff Lee & Mark Buehrle are the best left-handers in baseball, according to the Jays' announcers? I believe they're forgetting, like, the game's best pitcher. I believe they're also forgetting multiple other guys who are better than Buehrle.

[bay_area_phan]

At least he busted it down the line to avoid a DP

[Rally Red '67]

In play (outs) Your 2014 Philadelphia Phillies!

[bay_area_phan]

" I have been told that Mayberry can no longer hit LHP. What gives."

Why don't you take a look at his OPS after this game. It'll probably drop 200 pts since it was only based on 15 PAs.

[bay_area_phan]

Correction. 19 PAs. 15 ABs.

[GBrettfan]

Oh, Ben.

[Atlanta Phil]

Wonder why they didn't have Lee as DH. Phil's offense isn't outdone by their bullpen. Nothing ever changes! The offense and bullpen are just as bad as last year and no changes!

[bay_area_phan]

Oh brother. It's hard to keep defending this guy. The defensive gaffes just keep coming fast and furious.

[MG]

Can't give Kratz a fastball like that.

[Juums]

KRATZ'D!

...no, wait, that's a bad thing now. D'oh.

[bittel]

And a three run lead feels like 30.

[GBrettfan]

Kratz beats Lee and the Phillies, for sure. Nice guy, but it stinks that we're going to drop at least 3 to the Jays.

It also stinks that our offense has only scored in 1 inning out of the past 3, is it? games.

Hm. Another hit. Maybe Lee is done.

[GBrettfan]

And another 2-R HR. I'd say it's a done deal now. Crap.

[bay_area_phan]

I know Jake said it would never happen but you can see Cliff Lee getting old before our eyes. He's still capable of brilliance, but the bad stretches are becoming more and more frequent.

[Five-4-One]

Hey its our other ace in our vaunted overpaid pitching staff which is actually the strength of our team. Hey good strategy rube.

[Five-4-One]

BAP, you are seeing the predictably ugly side of rube's pitching at al costs strategy.

[NEPP]

Ugh.

[bay_area_phan]

If Hollands gets totally battered here, it might end the illusion that he is a viable major league pitcher. In which case, it would actually have served a useful purpose.

[Rally Red '67]

If Mr. Lee's woes (hits allowed come to mind) continue, he's not going to bring (name your nauseating noun here) at the deadline.

[Phillibuster]

Now, was Hollands in for the situational pitching, or was it just he was the one who got warm the fastest and they felt the need to yank Cliff (understandably) as fast as possible?

[Phillibuster]

Honestly, I still don't expect Lee to end the season with an ERA over 3.50. More likely 3.30 at the worst. That may be wishful thinking on my part, but he's just too good even for most of this game. He had one bad inning after he'd shown some of his stuff a little bit too much by the 3rd/4th time through the lineup.

If he waits until the 4th to start throwing one of his pitches, he probably doesn't give up more than 2 this inning.

[Phillibuster]

If Mike Trout hits a grand slam off Camp, is that spawn-camping?

[Phillibuster]

Kratz is now officially a Phillie-killer, yes?

[Hugh Mulcahy]

have the Phillies won a seriesagainst an American league team since the 2008 World Series?

[Jolly Cholly Manuel]

Hittin wedder comes early in Canada.

[Jake]

BAP - A declining Lee is still better than Mike Olt + org filler

[Jake]

This feels like the 2013 post-ASB losing streak bottled up into one dreadful inning

[GBrettfan]

Ugh, indeed. I stopped watching when Lee was about to be pulled. Glad I did as I see things only got worse.

[Rich D]

Once again, the Phillies just can't compete with A.L. teams. The Angels' series has the potential to be ugly.

[bay_area_phan]

"A declining Lee is still better than Mike Olt + org filler."

Wait, you're conceding the possibility of a declining Lee? That is progress. But no one was talking about trading him for Olt last year. And certainly no one was talking about trading him for organizational filler.

[Marc H]

Am I correct in thinking that we care more than the players seem to?

[bay_area_phan]

"Am I correct in thinking that we care more than the players seem to?"

I'll take a stab at answering that question: No.

They undoubtedly care. They just suck.

[Atlanta Phil]

Even Sanberg gave up on this game! Bring up minor leaguers that want to play!