Games 30, 31 & 32: Time For Jamie To Hang ‘em Up?

The Phils lost two of three against the Dodgers this week at Citizens Bank Park. Throughout the series, the Phillies were plagued by a fairly putrid offensive output. Among the culprits, Chase Utley and Shane Victorino have not hit nearly as well as they did earlier in the season. Rollins, however, did have a hit in each game of the series, an encouraging sign that maybe he’s primed to break out of his season-long slump.

Aside from the Jayson Werth’s exciting steal of home in Tuesday night’s game, the biggest story from this series for me was Jamie Moyer’s continued ineffectiveness. Jamie gave up 7 earned runs in 4.1 innings to take the loss in Wednesday night’s game. This follows his last two starts, both against the Mets, in which he gave up a combined 12 earned runs in only 8 innings of work.

When a 46 year old pitcher looks that bad in three consecutive starts, one has to question whether age has something to do with the poor output. Jamie was never a power pitcher, but he thrived on hitting his spots. Maybe that 46-year-old arm isn’t as accurate as it once was. The Phillies better hope Jamie gets it right soon or they will be put in a tough situation. If this rough stretch continues for Jamie, the Phillies will need to face the unenviable task of telling 20 some odd year big leaguer that he just doesn’t have it anymore. As a Jamie Moyer fan, I hope this never comes to fruition, but reality is reality.

Game 27,28, and 29: The Good and the Bad

For the second time this season, Atlanta came into Philly and took two of three from the Phighins. Were there any new developments in this series? Nah. The Phillies confirmed their mediocrity to this point in 2009. Let’s take a quick look at one extremely encouraging and two extremely discouraging players from this weekend’s three-game set.

I guess we’ll start with the lone point of comfort from the weekend:

Cole Hamels: The ace is back. At least, we think he may be back. Hamels secured his first win of the season on Friday by allowing only 2 earned runs on 3 hits and 2 walks over 6.0 solid innings. Even more encouraging, Hamels left the game on his own terms and not via freak injury.

And, of course, the not-so-good:

Jimmy Rollins: Rollins hitting woes continued over the weekend. Rollins managed only 1 hit in 14 plate appearances during the three-game stretch. Although Charlie asserts he has no other option for the lead-off spot, he must consider dropping Rollins down in the order at this point. Rollins can’t ignite an offense with the ice-cold bat he’s had all season.

Brad Lidge: What’s up with the closer? So far this season, I can’t remember a Brad Lidge outing where he did not give up at least 1 run. After entering the game with a 10-3 lead on Friday night, Lidge managed to give up a three-run homer to Casey Kotchman. Then, Lidge gave up another run in Sunday’s loss. Lidge’s ERA has ballooned to 8.53. Unlike last year, Lidge has not been ‘lights out’ so far this year.

Manny Ramirez (wait, nevermind) and the Dodgers roll into Citizen’s Bank Park for the three-game series starting tomorrow night.

Games 23,24,25,26: I guess 2-2 Ain’t Bad

So, here's the quick and dirty rundown of the Phillies week. I'm far too lazy to go into detail right now. All in all, it’s not too bad to split four games on the road against two good teams, the Cards and the Mets. However, it surely would have been nice to grab a win in New York.

The Phillies stormed into St. Louis and took both games against one the best teams in baseball so far this season. Joe Blanton gave the Phils a much-needed quality outing from a starter on Monday when he pitched 6 innings while giving up on one earned run on the way to a 6-1 win. The Phils also benefitted from a Ryan Howard grand slam and a Jayson Werth two-run homer.

In game two of the St. Louis series, the Phils needed far more offense to overcome Brett Myers shaky outing. This time Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth provided the bulk of the offense in the Phils 10-7 win.

Then, the Phils ran into a wall named Johan Santana as they lose 1-0 to the Mets. The encouraging news coming out of this one though was Chan Ho Park’s solid outing. It’s about time this guy put together a decent game. Without it, he probably would have been on his way out of the rotation. He still may just be a shaky start away from assuming a role as long reliever.

Tonight, Jamie Moyer couldn’t get out of the third inning as he gives up 7 early runs. The Phils clawed their way back and made the game close. However, they still fell short in a 7-5 loss.

Game 22: Walk This Way

So, today’s Phils-Mets rainout bought me a little more time to write about yesterday’s wild game at Citizen’s Bank Park. I was planted in section 202 for yesterday's game and, to be quite honest, I was far too tired and lazy to post anything last night. Thus, I’m writing now.

Before I get to the game, I will say I had two very pleasant experiences at the ball yard this week. First, I grabbed myself a Charlie Manuel bobblehead on Tuesday night. I also able to get close enough for some pretty good pictures of the World Series trophy that night. I'll post those when I get I can. Then, yesterday, I had the chance to watch the Phils beat the hated Mets in a bizarre, yet extremely exciting game. All in all, a pretty good week for me personally.

You probably know by the now the Phillies beat the Mets 6-5 on a walk-off walk by Shane Victorino. What a marathon. The game clocked in at 3 hours 43 minutes, which could be the longest Phillies game I’ve ever attended. Of course, 18 total walks between the two teams tends to put a drag on the game.

Anyway, this game drives home even further how deep-routed the Phillies pitching problems are this season. The Phils put all sorts of runners on base in the early innings against a ridiculously wild Oliver Perez. In fact, Perez issued six BBs in just 2.1 innings. Yup, six walks.That’s how wild he was. You would think, considering the lackluster Mets pitching, the Phils should have ran away with this one. However, that was not the case as Jamie Moyer allowed 5 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in 5.2 innings of work. Once again, Charlie had to go to an over-worked bullpen probably about an inning earlier than he wanted. In all, the Phils used 5 relievers over the final 4.1 innngs to finish off the Mets. Like I said before, this bullpen will be fried and utterly useless in a few months unless these starting pitchers can get it together in a hurry. These 4 or 5-inning outing won’t cut it for too much longer.

Well, enough complaining. We did beat the Mets so I shouldn’t dwell on the little things too much. It shouldn’t matter how they do it, but as long as the Phils beat up on the Mets I should remain happy.

Game 21: The Pitching Struggles Resume

It looks like the Phillies fooled us during the last two series. For a few games this week, we forgot about the Phillies horrific start to the season. After a sweep of division leading Florida and a series win against Washington, I thought the Phillies of last year returned and I temporarily forgot about the pitching woes that have plagued this team throughout the early portion of this season.

Then, Chan Ho Park took the ball tonight and I was suddenly reminded of the first two weeks of April.

Park gave up 7 earned runs tonight in 4.2 innings as the Phillies lost to the Mets 7-4. Once again, the bullpen was taxed as it had to clean up the mess Park left by throwing a combined 4.1 innings. At this rate, the bullpen will be dead by mid-July. These short, lackluster outings by the starting pitchers can’t continue much longer, especially from the two biggest culprits, Chan Ho Park and Country Joe Blanton.

The only Phillies player who may have had a worse night than Chan Ho Park was Jimmy Rollins. Rollins took the collar tonight, going 0-4. At what point does Charlie need to shake up the lineup? With Rollins struggling so much in the leadoff spot, shouldn’t Charlie consider moving him down in the order? After all, if your lead off guy isn’t getting on base, he can’t really set the tone for the rest of offense effectively. If I was Charlie, I’d bat Victorino leadoff, followed by Werth, Utley, Howard and Ibanez, Rollins. This way, Rollins can work out his struggles in the lower half of the lineup and wouldn’t prevent the big bats from getting RBI opportunities early in the game. Your leadoff hitter is supposed to get things started. Right now, Jimmy Rollins isn’t the best candidate for that.

Game 13: Hot & Cold

11 runs last night. Only 1 tonight.

The Phillies offense couldn’t get anything going tonight as they drop the second game of the series 3-1 to Milwaukee tonight. The Phils only run came via a Jayson Werth solo homer in the ninth. The Phillies threatened later that same inning by putting runners on the corners with two outs. However, Chris Coste struck out to end the game.

Posting may be light through the weekend as I attempt a paint job in my house. For most this would probably be a one-day project. However, judging from my last painting exploits, I have a feeling this may turn into an all weekend project.

Game 8: Blanton Can’t Deliver

Joe Blanton’s Goldberg-like Phillies undefeated streak came to an end tonight as he takes a loss in tonight’s game in Washington, 8-2.

In what has been the recurring theme for the Phils this season, they fell behind from the get-go when Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer in the first inning. It seems as if every time I turn on the game this season, the Phils are already down by two or three runs. Yes, this team is one of the best come-from-behind teams in baseball. However, they need to jump out front more often. This team can’t play catch up all season.

The Phillies return home tomorrow night to start a four-game series with the Pads. Of course the highlight of the weekend will be the planned festivities for the great Harry Kalas. Much like the season’s opening series, we are looking at a pretty emotional homestand for the Phightins this time around. Unfortunately, this one won’t be as cheery.