Bumps in the Road

When you come into another team's home park and outhit the home team 17-2, you'll probably come away with the "W". That's exactly what the Los Angeles/Anaheim/California Angels did tonight in front of another sell-out crowd at Citizen's Bank Park. The loss drops the Phils to 1-3 on the current homestand and 3-7in their last 10.

The Phillies offense continues to struggle in this homestand. In the last three games, the Phillies have scored only 5 runs. Hardly enough for a team so reliant on their ability to score in bunches. It's no secret the Phillies starting pitching is suspect. The team relies on one dominant lefty ace in Cole Hamels, one seasoned veteran who can give you a solid outing most of time in Jamie Moyer, two guys who, on a good night, may be able to pitch well enough to keep you in the game in Kyle Kendrick and Adam Eaton and one fallen Opening Day starter who can't find his way since rejoining the starting rotation after spending last season in the bullpen in Brett Myers. With a starting rotation that looks like that, this team must score a ton of runs to win games. They won't win many 1-0 or 2-1 games. Instead,they must count on that loaded offense to score 6, 7, 8 runs a game. If the offense slumps, the Phils sputter. We see evidence of that now.

Make no mistake about it though this offense will find its groove. It's too potent not to. When you have 2 former MVPs in Howard and Rollins and a potential MVP in Utley, you will hit the ball eventually.

On another note, Jim Salisbury of the Inquirer penned a great piece in today's paper which essentially called out Phillies struggling starter, Brett Myers. Salisbury did not mince words in the piece. Instead, he decided to get right to the point:

"Yo, Brett, you stink. You're 3-8 with a 5.58 ERA in 15 starts. Your club is 4-11 in those starts. You're supposed to be better than this. Are you?"

That about sums it up for me. We'll see what Myers does tomorrow night against Vlad's Angels in game 2 of the series. Good luck Brett, you'll need it. Anyway, here's the link to Salisbury's story:

www.philly.com/philly/columnists/20080620_Jim_Salisbury__Trade__Phils_just_need_Myers_to_improve.html

Goodbye Curt

Today, former Phils starter and ego-centric blabber-mouth, Curt Schilling, called it a season, and, quite possibly, a career, when he announced he will undergo shoulder surgery early next week. Schill grated on the nerves of many, but I always liked the guy. Sure, sometimes we all wanted him to shut up, but you can't question the guy's intensity. He brought everything he had to mound every single night. He was the perfect fit for Philadelphia when he was here and, if he does decide not to resume his career, I'll miss watching him pitch.