Breaking News: Cliff Lee Is Coming To The Phillies

The Phillies have acquired Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco from the Cleveland Indians for prospects Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, Jason Donald, and Lou Marson. As long as Lee and Francisco pass there physicals they will be on the Phillies.
Cliff Lee is the reigning Cy Young Award winner. This year Lee is 7-9 with a 3.14 ERA. Ben Francisco looks like he is the right-handed bat off the bench the Phillies have been looking for. He is batting .250 this year with 10 homeruns and 33 RBI's.
Some scouts say that Jason Knapp might be a better prospect than Kyle Drabek. The only difference between the two is that Drabek is a lot closer to the big leagues than Knapp is, which is probably the reason why they were willing to part with Knapp. The Phillies were able to avoid giving up there top prospects Kyle Drabek, Dominic Brown, and Michael Taylor. This is really incredible how they did it that way.

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Phils Win Duel In The Desert

The Phillies should really be commended for what they did tonight. They were able to get Dan Haren out of the game in only five innings. Powered by Shane Victorino the Phillies were able to muster three runs off of Haren. Cole Hamels also helped himself out in the fifth inning which led to two runs for the Phillies.
Cole Hamels was really good tonight. All season long we have been looking for Hamels to be consistent. Now, Cole has thrown two good outings in a row. Hopefully this is just a stepping stone to something that could be great. Cole ended up pitching eight innings and only giving up one run. Brad Lidge came into the game in the ninth inning looking to save the game. The Phillies were leading 4-1 and the only runs Lidge gave up was a two-run homerun to Mark Reynolds.
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Phillies:J.A. Happ, who has been the source of trade rumors in recent weeks, is 7-1 with a 2.97 ERA this season. He suffered just the second loss of his career Friday against the Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. It was his first loss in 32 appearances - his last coming June 30, 2007.
Diamondbacks:Yusmeiro Petit has been very inconsistent this season. His last time on the mound, the right-hander was charged with six runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings for the loss against the Pirates, his fifth loss of the season. He pitched six solid innings in his previous outing against the Cardinals but struggled with his command in the start that followed.

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Phils Dominate D-Backs

Tonight the Phillies dominated a team that they should. The Arizona Diamondbacks are a really young team who are just not near the level the Phillies are at. It was a good way to start out a west coast trip.
Jamie Moyer had a lot of baserunners on base tonight but he got out of every jam. In the second inning the D-Backs had bases loaded and nobody out and Moyer got out of it by striking out John Garland then, he got Stephen Drew to ground into a double play. Moyer ended up going 6 2/3 innings and did not give up any runs and that resulted into his 10th win of the season.
Ryan Howard got the Phillies on the board in the fourth inning today with a two-run homerun. The Phillies added on four more runs and they won the game 6-2.
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Phillies:Cole Hamels will start for the Phillies and in his last start Cole went seven innings and gave up three runs. Cole struggled with his pitch count. It was high during the game but worked through seven quality innings.
Diamondbacks:Dan Haren will be a good test for the Phillies. So far this year Haren is 10-5 with a 2.14 ERA. His record is deceiving because he does not get a whole lot of offensive or defensive support but Haren can be extremely dominant and can shut down any lineup.

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Phils Slug Past Cardinals

Rodrigo Lopez has been very consistent for the Phillies since he has been called up. Today was no different. In six innings Lopez gave up three runs over 10 hits. Rodrigo did a good job of scattering all of those hits because usually when a team has 10 hits off of a starting pitcher it means they crushed him.
The Phillies did a great job offensively today. In the first inning they got three runs off of Kyle Lohse. Lohse' command was not very good and the Phillies took advantage of it. Then in the sixth inning the game was tied 3-3 and the Phillies had the bases loaded and Jimmy Rollins hit a grand slam to untie the game. Then, Shane Victorino was the next batter and he also homered. After that the Phillies added on a few more runs and they went on to win 14-6.
Also, the Blue Jays proposed a trade to the Phillies today. This was the proposal.
Phillies Receive Blue Jays Receive
Roy Halladay Kyle Drabek

J.A. Happ
Dominic Brown
The Phillies rejected the offer. A Blue Jays talent coordinator said that if a deal is to get done Kyle Drabek and J.A. Happ will have to be included.
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Phillies:Joe Blanton is on a roll. He allowed just five hits and one run in seven innings Tuesday against the Cubs. He walked none and struck out five. Blanton started the season 2-3 with a 7.11 ERA in his first eight starts, but is 4-1 with a 2.43 ERA (17 earned runs in 63 innings) in 10 starts since May 21.
Cardinals:If you remember, you might recall last year when the Phillies scored 20 runs against the Cardinals. Well the pitcher for them was Todd Wellemeyer. He was also pitch tomorrow against the Phillies. So far this year Wellemeyer is 7-8 with a 5.68 ERA. He is more of a fly ball pitcher which will not help him if he is pitching in Citizens Bank Park against the Phillies.

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Phillies Regain There Winning Ways

I hope nobody was jumping off of the Phillies bandwagon just because they lost yesterday. Because the Phillies had the San Diego Padres coming into town for only one game. Yesterday, the Padres had to fly from San Diego to Washington. Then, when they reached Washington who they are going to play this weekend, they drove up to Philadelphia. So you know they had to been really tied today and they are a struggling team.
Cole Hamels had a solid outing tonight. In seven innings Cole gave up three runs, two of the runs came off of a homerun from Kevin Blanks. Other than that, Cole was in control the whole night. Then in the eighth recent call-up Andrew Carpenter came in, but he was only able to get one out. He surrendered one run and Chan Ho Park came in and shut the door. And the Phils won 9-4.
The Phillies bats really were working tonight. In the second inning they scored three runs orcastrated by a Jayson Werth double. Then in the fourth inning they added on four more runs. Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez both had key RBI's that put the game out of hand.
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Phillies:J.A. Happ was outstanding for the Phillies his last time out, holding the Marlins to five hits over seven shutout innings. The 26-year-old cruised through most of the start, though he had to pitch out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth, getting Ronny Paulino to pop out to short and then striking out Brett Carroll and pinch hitter Wes Helms to get out of the inning. The left-hander will try to continue his unbeaten streak on July 25 against the Cardinals.
Cardinals:Joel Pineiro continues to be one of the most fascinating pitchers in the game this year, having undergone a drastic makeover. He's throwing tons of strikes and keeping the ball in the park, so he's been very successful despite a low strikeout rate. It's gone on for long enough that it's starting to look very real, and his success has significantly deepened the Cardinals' rotation.

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Phils Win Streak Ends At 10

The Phillies winning streak was going to end eventually. But it ended today because the pitching was just not good and they had trouble getting the big hit at times during the game. The Phillies ended streak ended at 10 games and they have now won 14 out of there last 16 games.
Jamie Moyer went five innings today but he had most of his trouble came in the fourth inning when the Cubs had five hits in a row that scored them four runs. Some of the hits weren't hit very hard so a little bit of that was bad luck for Jamie Moyer. Clay Condrey came in during the sixth inning and threw a scoreless inning. Then, the Phillies scored two runs to make it a 5-3 game. Chad Durbin came in and gave up three runs. In the bottom of the seventh the Phillies scored two more runs to make it 8-5. Since Chad Durbin wasn't able to hold the fort down and keep the score the same the Phillies went on to lose 10-5.
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Phillies:Rain cut short what was a very solid five-inning outing for Cole Hamels against the Marlins on Friday, and he was then pushed back an extra day because rain cut Joe Blanton's start after 1 1/3 innings on Saturday. Despite giving up a home run to the first batter he faced, Hamels was in control, finishing his five frames -- before a 78-minute rain delay -- by giving up just that one run on four hits while walking one and striking out five.
Padres:Kevin Correia is coming off his team-leading 11th quality start. He allowed one run on three hits over six innings in the Padres' 3-1 win over the Rockies. He walked four and struck out two. Correia has been the stopper for the Padres much of the season. His six victories have come after Padres losses.

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Phils Make It A Perfect 10

Wow. Who would have thought that the Phillies would be on a 10 game winning streak? Not a lot of people but as long as this team plays the way like they are capable of they can do some very good things.
Joe Blanton pitched tremendous tonight, yet again. He went seven innings and only gave up one earned run. Blanton started the season off a little rough but he has been great the past couple of months. He has been pitching like a number two starter, and it would be great if he can keep it up.
Since the Cubs pitching was so good tonight, the Phillies only scored one run in the first nine innings until it went into extra innings when Jayson Werth hit a walk off three-run homerun.
I must give some credit to the Cubs pitching. They really pitched great and if they were playing pretty much any other team they would of won this game. Rich Harden pitched great, and the guy in the bullpen that really stood out to me was Carlos Marmol. He has some nasty stuff that is closer material.
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Phillies:Jamie Moyer continued his mastery of the Marlins in brilliant fashion during Thursday's win. Moyer retired the first 12 and last eight hitters he faced through seven shutout innings, giving up just one hit and one walk while striking out four and throwing 94 pitches -- 67 for strikes. The only inning he even put runners on was the fifth, when Jorge Cantu broke up his perfect game with a leadoff single and Ronny Paulino walked two batters later. Moyer is now 13-2 in 15 career games against Florida.
Cubs:Carlos Zambrano is coming off a win against the Nationals in which he lasted only five innings -- but that was because the right-hander ran up his pitch count early in the game. Zambrano struggled through a 40-pitch first inning but gave up only one run, and it was unearned. In his past four starts, Big Z has posted a 2.25 ERA. His start against the Nationals was only the second time in 17 outings this year in which Zambrano did not go past five innings. Also, Zambrano is a pretty good hitter and has the power to hit the ball out of the ballpark.

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Phillies Crush Cubs

You would think that all of this Roy Halladay trade talk would eventually get to the players heads. Apparently not. After tonight's 10-1 win over the Cubs the Phillies extended there winning streak to nine games.
Rodrigo Lopez suffered right shoulder inflammation in his last start on July 6th and hasn't pitched since then. Tonight was his first game back and Lopez didn't have his best stuff but he worked out of it and pitched a quality outing. Lopez went six innings and gave up one earned run.
The Phillies offense got out to a great start. With runners on second and third with two outs in the first inning, Raul Ibanez hit a three-run homerun to dead centerfield to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead. After that the Philliesjsut kept on adding on runs. Carlos Ruiz and Ryan Howard both hit homeruns to contribute to there outburst in runs and the Phillies went on to win 10-1.
Also, the Phillies said today that Brett Myers could be back by August but he would have to pitch out of the bullpen. Myers says that he is nowhere near being able to go 100 pitches but he would be a great asset to the Phillies bullpen. Myers will throw a bullpen session on Saturday.
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Phillies:Joe Blanton's last start on Saturday was wiped out after 1 1/3 innings because of a postponement at Land Shark Stadium, but instead of losing his turn in the rotation altogether, manager Charlie Manuel figured the 28-year-old could use that as pretty much a bullpen session and start him three days later. Blanton threw 24 pitches -- giving up two unofficial runs -- and will be on 10 days' rest when he takes on the Cubs. The 28-year-old has a team-high 10 quality starts this season, including seven in his past nine outings.Harden opened the second half in much better form than he closed it.
Cubs:Rich Harden opened the second half in much better form than he closed it. In his two starts prior to the All-Star break, Harden gave up 11 runs on 15 hits over seven innings. In his first post-break start, the right-hander held the Nationals to one run -- unearned -- on three hits over six innings. He seems to like the road grays. Harden is now 5-1 with a 2.17 ERA away from Wrigley Field. But Harden pitched good against the Nationals, that's pretty much like pitching good against a Triple-A team. Harden will be tested more against a superior team, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Happ Impressive Vs. Marlins

J.A. Happ looked like a really good pitcher today. He looked like a kind of pitcher that a team would want if they were looking to trade there best pitcher for prospects. Would I be talking about the Toronto Blue Jays? Yes, I would.
J.A. Happ got into a lot of jams today but he got out of everyone. Whether the jams were created by errors, or hits he showed no signs of defeat and got out of every inning perfectly. Over seven innings Happ only surrendered five hits and one walk. But the most important stat was that he did not give up any runs.
The Phillies only scored five runs today but they should of scored more. Jimmy Rollins had a mental error in the first inning that cost them a run. Pedro Feliz left seven men on base during the game which hurt but the Phillies were able to get to Andrew Miller in the early innings which led to his early departure. Miller was only able to pitch 2 2/3 innings. The Phillies were doing a really good job at working the count because Miller was not throwing strikes.
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Phillies:Rodrigo Lopez left his start on July 8 after five innings because of right-shoulder inflammation. But after some rest with the All-Star break, Lopez assured he's ready to make his third start of the season in a fluctuating No. 5 spot of the Phillies' rotation. In 11 1/3 innings this season, the 33-year-old has given up four runs, and the Phillies have won both of those games.
Cubs:Ted Lilly was pushed back from Saturday's scheduled start because of inflammation in his left knee. He picked up his 100th career win in his last start against the Cardinals. The Cubs' lone All-Star representative matched his season high by going eight innings. He notched his 14th quality start this year, giving up four hits. Lilly has been very good at Wrigley Field this year but he his not going to be pitching at Wrigley Field he will be pitching at Citizens Bank Park. His ERA at home this season is just 1.86.

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Howard Makes History; Moyer Fries Fish

In the previous blog I mentioned that maybe the Phillies should pitch Cole Hamels today but I am really glad they didn't listen to me. Jamie Moyer was absolutely fantastic tonight. In seven shutout innings Moyer allowed just one hit and one walk. Since Moyer has came to Philadelphia I don't think Jamie has ever been this good in a start. Not only was his pitching line tremendous but he jammed so many hitters it is uncanny how he just continues to do this against the Marlins every time he faces them.
Ryan Howard made history tonight by belting his 200th homerun of this career. This is the fastest that anybody in Major League history has reached 200 homeruns. Ryan Howard was not the only one hitting homeruns tonight. Raul Ibanez hit two homeruns and with those three homeruns between Howard and Ibanez that was more than enough runs the Phillies needed to beat the Marlins.
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Phillies:Concerned about the toll on his young left arm, the Phillies decided to give Cole Hamels an extra day of rest out of the All-Star break. Cole threw 227 1/3 innings last year and 183 1/3 in 2007 versus 132 1/3 in '06. Cole has been inconsistent this year. His seasons of ups and downs reached another trough on Saturday, when he allowed three home runs to the weak-hitting Pirates. He only received a no-decision because the Phillies rallied for five runs in the ninth.
Marlins:Following a rough start to the year, the Marlins' Opening Day starter Ricky Nolasco was optioned to Triple-A to try to figure some things out, and it seems like he did. Since returning from his Minors stint, the 26-year-old is 4-2 with a 2.68 ERA in seven starts. In his last outing, though, Nolasco gave up seven runs in six innings against the Diamondbacks. He's 4-3 with a 4.25 ERA in his career against the division-rival Phillies.

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Phils Finish Homestand On Good Note

Coming into this 10 game homestand the Phillies were only 0.5 game up on the Marlins. Now that the homestand is over the Phillies are 4.5 games up over the Marlins and it could be five if the fish lose today.
J.A. Happ threw good on Tuesday but the Phillies couldn't get enough offense to get Happ the win. Today, Happ pitch good, yet again, and the Phillies scored five runs in the first inning to get him the win. Happ went seven innings and only gave up one run. Since Happ came into the rotation he has been extremely consistent. If he keeps it up in the second half and the Phillies make the playoffs he could be in the playoff rotation. But we will worry about that when the time comes.
The Phils offense got off to a great start today. In the first inning Jimmy Rollins got it started with a lead-off walk and then the wheels got going. With the bases loaded Pedro Feliz hit a grand slam that gave the Phillies a 5-0 lead. That was all of the runs the Phillies scored today. When Jimmy gets things started and when he's getting on base he makes everyone else go. He is the spark plug of the Philadelphia Phillies.
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Phillies:Jamie Moyer will pitch the first game back from the All-Star break. In his last start Moyer managed to pitch threw five innings. He gave up six runs on three homeruns. Now, the Phillies could of pitched Cole in this game but they elected to go with Moyer. Cole would of been on normal rest and Cole always says that he requires his four days rest and that's it. Last year if you recall Cole was also on his normal rest coming off of the All-Star break and the Phillies elected to pitch Moyer instead. Cole said that he would of been able to pitch the first game back and he didn't need any extra rest. If I were the Phillies I would try to pitch Cole as much as they can because you would hate to look back on it and say,"If they only would of pitched Cole there." Hopefully it will all work out well and it won't comeback to hurt the Phillies in the end.
Marlins:Chris Volstad will start the Marlins post-All-Star break schedule following up on his best Major League start. Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants, he tossed his first career shutout, allowing just five hits and whiffing six. Consistency remains the key for the second-year right-hander, as he lasted just three innings in his July 3 start. In two appearances opposing the Phillies this season, Volstad is 1-0, having allowed five earned runs in 13 2/3 innings.

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Phils Produce Big Comeback In Ninth

Who would have thought that the Phillies would comeback from being down 5-0 at one point and down 7-3 in the ninth inning. I don't know if many people thought they would comeback, but the players sure didn't give up.
In the ninth inning when the Phillies were down 7-3 Matt Stairs led off the inning with a homerun to right field. Then, the Phillies got two men on base for Ryan Howard. Ryan Howard then, hit a majestic homerun that tied the game at 7-7. Raul Ibanez hit a double to put the winning run on base, then Paul Bako hit a game winning single that gave the Phillies a great victory.
Cole Hamels was pitching tonight and he pitched good on Monday and was looking for more consistency. After the first two inning Cole had already allowed five runs, but he settled in quite nicely and he ended up going six innings and give up five runs. Since we have the All-Star break coming up Cole should be a regular rest to pitch the first game back from the All-Star break.
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Phillies:J.A. Happ had good command in his last start on Tuesday, striking out a career-high seven and walking none. He threw 105 pitches in seven innings and felt fresh enough to last longer. Despite pitching well, he received a no-decision because he allowed two home runs to Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips -- the second of which barely cleared the left-field wall. Although he does not have overpowering stuff, the 26-year-old left-hander has turned into the Phillies' most consistent starter, last losing in his big league debut in 2007. Happ has never faced the Pirates.
Pirates:Virgil Vasquez looked good in stretches in his last outing -- one in which he allowed four runs in six innings. This was his third start since being moved into the rotation and, surprisingly, it's been walks that have been hurting the right-hander. Usually one to go right at hitters, Vasquez admitted he's been timid at times, which has contributed to his eight walks in 18 innings so far. This will be Vasquez's first career start against the Phillies.

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Blanton Pitches Another Gem

In the first inning Joe Blanton made a mistake to Garrett Jones and he hammered it over the centerield wall and into Ashburn Alley. After that Blanton really settled in and did not give up anymore runs for the rest of the game. Blanton could of gotten discouraged but he moved on from it and pitched a gem. He ultimately pitched 7 1/3 innings and only gave up one run.
Joe Blanton struggled in the beginning of the year but he has figured things out in a timely fashion and he has been superb the past couple of months.
The Phillies offense scored just enough runs in order to win the game. All of there runs came in the third inning. With two outs, Shane Victorino and Chase Utley hit back-to-back singles and with great baserunning from Victorino he was able to score from first base on an error from the centerfielder. Then, after Ryan Howard walked Jayson Werth hit a two-run double and that was all the Phillies pitching needed.
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Phillies:Cole Hamels was given a hefty dose of run support in his last outing -- a 22-1 Phillies victory of the Reds -- but he also made the most of the opportunity. After struggling all season with high pitch counts and short outings, he only needed 92 pitches to get through seven innings against Cincinnati, allowing no walks and just three hits. But the key for him going forward will be consistency and finding similar results in tighter games. Hamels won his only career start against the Pirates, but allowed three runs in five innings.
Pirates:Ross Ohlendorf's biggest problem continues to be his start-to-start consistency. Without having an explanation, Ohlendorf has fared very well at times, only to follow his strong outings with a subpar start. Lately, it has been much of the same for the right-hander. Without his slider being overly effective, Ohlendorf was hit for nine hits and five runs in his last start. That came just after a start in which he notched a career-high eight strikeouts in seven shutout innings. This will be Ohlendorf's first career start against the Phillies.

Phils Bats Support Moyer

Tonight was a perfect night to score some runs. Jamie Moyer didn't have his best outing but it didn't really matter because the Phillies offense was so good. The Phillies were down 6-4 going into the bottom of the fifth inning, and that's when the offense really got started. They scored four runs all on singles and walks. The Reds walked four batters and the Phillies got two singles. Then in the sixth inning Jayson Werth hit his 20th homerun of the year. That homerun gave him a homerun streak of four games. The Phillies record for that is five. Chase Utley did it on two different occasions last year.
Chan Ho Park did a great job out of the bullpen. Since Jamie Moyer could only go five innings we needed some to pick up the pitching and Park was guy. Park pitched three innings and did not give up any runs. Then, in the ninth inning Brad Lidge picked up the save to solidify the victory.
Also, Chase Utley did something tonight that doesn't happen often. He hit an inside the park homerun in the third inning. I think that really sparked the Phillies because they were down 3-0 and things weren't going good but as soon as he hit the homerun everything changed.
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Phillies:Joe Blanton out dueled Johan Santana in his last outing. He tossed seven innings of shutout ball, allowing just four hits and striking out five. His fastball was consistently around 88-91 mph, although he reached the mid-90s during some crucial at-bats. He also benefited from some quality defense behind him. Still, Blanton has rebounded from early season struggles by going 3-1 with a 2.63 ERA over his past eight starts. In his lone career start against Pittsburgh, he threw seven scoreless innings and struck out seven, receiving a no-decision.
Pirates:Zach Duke didn't have his best outing last time but Duke still managed to make another quality start. His two-strike wild pitch actually ended up being his biggest mistake, as it allowed what turned out to be the winning run to score. Duke continues to get no support in his losses, though. In his seven losses, he's been provided a total of eight runs of support. He's made quality starts in five of those seven losses. Duke is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in three career starts against the Phillies.

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Victorino Makes Big Pitch For All-Star Game

What could be a better way to get your name out there so people vote for you to get into the All-Star game? How about getting a walk-off hit to win the game? That's what Shane Victorino did tonight to make sure everybody knows that if your not voting for Shane Victorino your voting for the wrong guy.
Rodrigo Lopez was making his second start of the season and he was doing good through five innings. He only surrendered two runs at that point and was doing good. Then in the bottom of the fifth Chris Coste came out to pinch hit for Lopez. Lopez was only at 69 pitches at that point and everybody was wondering why he was coming out. Well, Lopez had a right shoulder inflammation. Chad Durbin and J.C. Romero came in and pitched two scoreless innings. The game was still tied when Ryan Madson came into the game in the eighth inning and he pitched two scoreless innings.
The Phillies were down 2-0 when Jayson Werth hit his 19th homerun of the year and cut the lead in half. Then in the sixth inning Ryan Howard tied the game up with his 63rd RBI of the year. The game was still tied in the ninth and with men on first and second with two outs Shane Victorino came to the plate and hit a walk-off single to left centerfield that scored Pedro Feliz and the Phillies won 3-2.
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Phillies:In his last start, the 600th of his career, Jamie Moyer pitched very well to ensure a victory over the Mets. In 6 1/3 innings, he allowed five hits, one run and one walk. He struck out one. It was a big win for Moyer, who improved to 7-6 with a 5.72 ERA, and the Phillies, who clinched just their third home series of the season. Moyer is 3-0 with a 3.11 ERA in his past three starts.
Reds:In his last start, Micah Owings pitched his second consecutive solid outing, going six innings and allowing two runs in a 5-2 Reds win over the Cardinals. It was Owings' second consecutive win and his third in four starts. Owings also slugged his third home run of the season in the victory. In his career against the Phillies, Owings is 2-1 with a 4.13 ERA. The Phillies rocked him with five runs in three innings in their 12-5 win on May 25.

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Phils Can't Hang On To Early Lead

The Phillies just couldn't get that key hit tonight. In the fourth inning they had the bases loaded with no outs and they couldn't manage to score any runs. With no outs they have to be able to score at the minimum one run. Just fundamental baseball.
J.A. Happ pitched very well but a couple of cheap homeruns were very costly. Brandon Phillips homered two times that barely went over the fence. Happ ended up pitching seven innings and giving up three runs. Ryan Madson pitched a scoreless eighth inning then Brad Lidge came in and the game was tied so his job was to just keep the game the same and let the Phillies bats do the rest. Brad was unable to do that. He gave up one run on a single by Ramon Hernandez and the Reds took a 4-3 lead and went on to win 4-3.
The Phillies bats started out really well. In the second inning they got two runs on back-to-back homeruns by Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth. Then, in the third inning they scored one more run on a RBI by Chase Utley. But after that the bats were silent. The Phillies couldn't muster anymore runs and that's what cost them the game.
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Phillies:Rodrigo Lopez made his first appearance in the Majors since 2007 on Friday against the Mets and he came through in a major way. He allowed just six hits, two runs and one walk in 6 1/3 innings. He also struck out four. It was a relief for the Phillies, who are hoping they can find more consistency in their rotation with the trade market very think at the moment.
Reds:Homer Bailey came up with arguably the best start of his career last Friday against the Cardinals. He gave up two runs and three hits over 7 1/3 innings, leaving with a 3-0 lead. Yet the bullpen couldn't hold the game for Bailey in an eventual 7-4 Reds loss. That shouldn't take away from Bailey's performance, however. He had command of his pitches and retired 12 consecutive hitters at one point. Bailey is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in two career starts against the Phillies.

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Phillies Bats Explode

Tonight's game on paper was suppose to be a pitching duel. But the game is not played on paper it's played between the lines. The Phillies didn't waste anytime getting to Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto. In the first inning the Phillies scored 10 runs. Shane Victorino and Greg Dobbs both hit two-run homeruns in the inning and Chase Utley hit a three-run homerun later in the inning. After that you could just put your feet up and relax.
Cole Hamels pitched really well tonight. In seven innings, Cole only gave up one run. The Phillies went on to win this game 22-1. This does not happen often and will not happen often, let's just hope that they didn't use up all of there runs tonight and get shutout tomorrow.
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Phillies:J.A. Happ has been the Phillies' best starter lately. He is 5-0 with a 2.96 ERA. He followed a June 27 shutout against the Blue Jays by only allowing seven hits and two runs in seven innings Thursday against the Braves. He passed a big test for Charlie Manuel in the seventh inning of that game when he got Chipper Jones to fly out with runners at the corners with two outs. Happ seems to be gaining confidence with every start.
Reds:Aaron Harang pitched another outing worthy of a win last Thursday against the D-backs, but he couldn't get any run support. Harang tossed seven innings and allowed two runs on four hits, but he left the game with his team trailing, 2-1. The Reds would rally to win, 3-2, but Harang remained stuck on his fifth win. He hasn't won a game since May 25, against the Astros, despite posting a number of quality starts during that stretch.

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Phillies Sweep Mets

This is how it was suppose to be in the beginning of the season. Beating up on teams just like World Champions are suppose to do. The Phillies really beat up on the Mets this weekend. The Mets are really beat up right now with injuries but the Phillies did a good job of beating a team when there down.
Jimmy Rollins got things started in the first inning with a lead-off homerun off of Johan Santana to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. When Jimmy starts off the game well it sets the tone for the whole game. I'm sure it really helped out Joe Blanton because he knows that there facing Johan who is extremely tough but when he sees his team scoring a run in the first inning it must calm him down a lot.
Joe Blanton pitch really well today. Blanton went 7 1/3 innings of shutout baseball, he passed the ball to the bullpen and they got the job done. Chan Ho Park got a key double play in the eighth inning. Then, Brad Lidge got probably his easiest save of the year today. What I like about Lidge's save was that he was locating his fastball extremely well and he was using his fastball to get ahead in the count then he would pound the hitters with his slider. The Phillies ended up winning 2-0.
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Phillies:Cole Hamels has really struggled his past couple of starts. He has been a little inconsistent this year and he is hoping to get back on track. Cole hasn't been terrible but he hasn't been what everybody thought he would be. Hopefully Cole will get back on track and get on a hot streak.
Reds:Cueto gritted out six innings for a 1-0 win over Arizona on Wednesday. He had four walks, all within the first two innings and eight strikeouts. But he allowed just one hit -- an infield single by Felipe Lopez in the third inning. After that, Cueto retired his final 12 batters in a row. Early on the right-hander had lowered velocity but was dialed up to 94-95 mph after he stretched his back out following the second inning. Hopefully for the Reds, this won't be a deeper concern down the road.

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Moyer Pitches Phils To Second Straight Win

It's amazing how the Phillies have played so poorly during interleague play but as soon as the Mets roll into town things start to click. For the second consecutive game the Phillies played good fundamental baseball.
Jamie Moyer was one of the main reasons why the Phillies were able to win today's game. Jamie pitched 6 1/3 innings while only giving up one run. The Mets have seen Jamie so many times throughout the past couple of years but it doesn't seem to matter. Jamie does the same thing everytime out, but he locates his pitches and when you do that you are setting yourself up to be successful.
The Phillies didn't get a whole lot of runs today but they didn't need much. Jimmy Rollins had a key double that scored two runs in the fourth inning but other than that there weren't any key highlights in the game.
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Phillies:Joe Blanton allowed eight hits and three runs in just five innings Tuesday against the Braves at Turner Field. He didn't pitch poorly. He just threw a lot of pitches. Not only did he allow eight hits, he also walked three (although two were intentional). That had his pitch count at 93 through five innings, so when the Phillies had a chance to score the tying run in the top of the sixth, they pinch-hit for him. Blandon had been pitching well before Tuesday, too. He has had a 3.45 ERA in his previous seven starts.
Mets:Johan Santana gave up five earned runs on nine hits in his last start against the Brewers on Tuesday, losing for the third time in his last four starts. Santana left the game in the seventh inning after giving up a leadoff home run to Prince Fielder. Santana has a perfect 4-0 record against the Phillies in his career, with a 2.95 ERA in eight starts. He has faced Philadelphia twice already this year, with his last start coming on June 9 when he allowed five runs on four homers in eight innings in a 6-5 Mets win.

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Lopez Guides Phils Past Mets

What could be a better way to kick off your fourth of July weekend then a whooping of the Mets? Nothing. The Phillies granted everyone's wish by getting great pitching from Rodrigo Lopez and excellent hitting tonight from there lineup.
It all started in the bottom of the first inning when Jimmy Rollins lead off the game with a double. Then the Phillies offense was unleashed. They scored three runs in the first inning off of Livan Hernandez. In innings two and three they added to there lead by getting one run in the second then three in the third. Those were all of the runs that the Phillies scored in this game but it was a lot more than they needed.
Rodrigo Lopez was making his Phillies debut today and he did a fantastic job. In 6 1/3 innings Lopez only gave up two runs which both came in the seventh inning. Lopez really located his fastball well. He's not a flamethrower but he locates his fastball. A lot like Jamie Moyer. Hopefully Lopez' strong pitching performance will snowball throughout the Phillies rotation.
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Phillies:Jamie Moyer struggled in his first two innings against the Blue Jays on Sunday, but Moyer settled in his next three innings to pick up the victory. In five innings, he allowed four runs on five hits. He walked two, struck out four and threw 82 pitches.
Mets:Fernando Nieve failed to make it out of the fourth inning in his last start against Milwaukee, giving up three runs to lose for the first time this season. Nieve threw just 3 1/3 innings, leaving the bottom of the fourth with the bases loaded and one out. Nieve gave up three runs -- which were as many as had given up all year -- on 11 hits, throwing 68 pitches. Nieve has made five appearances against the Phillies, all in relief. He has given up five runs in 1 1/3 innings.

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Phils Get Swept Out Of Hotlanta

The Phillies are very lucky to be where they are. They just got swept by the Atlanta Braves and they lost first place. They are now tied with the Florida Marlins for first place in the National League East.
J.A. Happ pitched very well tonight. Happ went seven innings and only gave up two runs. Those two runs came on a Casey Kotchmen two-run homerun. Ryan Madson came into the game in the eighth inning hoping to keep it at a 2-2 tie. Madson was unsuccessful. In one inning, Madson gave up three runs, including a two-run homerun by Garret Anderson.
The Phillies bats could never get going tonight. They have a lot of chances with two outs to score but they failed most of the time. They did manage to eek out two runs thanks to RBI's from Greg Dobbs and Pete Happy. On a high note, Jimmy Rollins snapped his longest hitless streak of his career by getting a base hit in the third inning.
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Phillies:Right-hander Rodrigo Lopez will make his season debut Friday against the Mets. He takes left-hander Antonio Bastardo's spot in the rotation. Bastardo is on the DL with a strained left shoulder. Lopez is 5-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 13 starts this season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He is 65-65 with a 4.80 ERA in his seven-year Major League career. Because of arm problems, he last pitched for the Rockies in 2007. Lopez signed a Minor League deal with the Phillies at the end of Spring Training after they watched him pitch in the World Baseball Classic.
Mets:Livan Hernandez only had one bad inning against the Yankees in his last start. Hernandez surrendered three first-inning runs last Sunday. Hernandez was in total control after that, allowing just one more hit as he completed seven innings for a third consecutive start. Although Hernandez has pitched well of late, the Mets have lost his past four starts. While this will be Hernandez's first start against the Phillies this season, he has a 10-8 record and a 3.36 ERA against Philadelphia in 24 career starts; he is 2-2 with a 5.45 ERA in five starts at Citizens Bank Park. Chase Utley is 8-for-24 lifetime against the right-hander, and Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard each have two home runs -- but averages below .200 -- against Hernandez.

Hamels Gets Roughed Up

I am not a pitching coach or a genius. But what I am is a Phillies fan, and what I am seeing out of Cole Hamels this year is not who or what he is. Cole is the Phillies ace. So far this year he has not proved it. Last year out of 39 total starts (including playoffs) Cole went seven innings 28 times out of those 39 starts. I expected Cole to be even better this year. After seeing what he could do in the playoffs last year, you expect bigger and better things. Hopefully he can work things out and get back on track.
As for the game, it wasn't pretty. There absolutley zero positives that anybody could take out of this one. The Phillies lost 11-1. The Braves pitcher Jair Jurrgens was excellent. He brought a no-hitter into the seventh inning but Paul Bako broke that up, so that was the highlight of the evening.
Jimmy Rollins extended his streak without a hit to zero for his last 27 at-bats. When J-Roll has a multiple hit game the Phillies are 12-4 in those games. Stats do not lie. Jimmy must get going, or the Phillies lead in the NL East will disappear.
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Phillies:Happ needed just 100 pitches to shut out the Blue Jays on Saturday in Toronto. He allowed just five hits and didn't walk a batter in the first shutout of his professional career. The Phillies really need Happ to have a strong outing.
Braves:On a 94-degree Saturday afternoon, Javier Vazquez threw 120 pitches over 7 2/3 innings and allowed just one run. However, the Puerto Rico native once again fell victim to a punchless Braves offense, taking the loss. Over his past six starts, Vazquez has a 1.90 ERA and a 1-3 record. The only damage came on an RBI single by Mark Kotsay that scored Kevin Youkilis.

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