The Phillies welcome the red-hot Miami Marlins to Philadelphia for a weekend series, and will send Kyle Kendrick, hot off his first career shutout last weekend in St. Louis, against free agent signee Mark Buehrle for the Marlins.

Hot Friday Night Action.

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If you're anything like me, you were a little confused by all of the medical terminology being thrown around this week regarding Roy Halladay and his shoulder injury. Thankfully, Dr. Bradford Parsons, Assistant Professor at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital in the Leni and Peter W. May Department of Orthopaedics, volunteered to answer some of our questions.

1. What is the latissimus dorsi muscle, where is it located, and what functions does it perform?

The latissimus is a posterior shoulder and upper back muscle that goes from the trunk/shoulder blade to the humerus (arm bone) and help maneuver the arm into the body (adduction) and internal rotate the arm around the shoulder joint.

2. Is this a common injury for athletes (particularly pitchers), and what is the standard course of treatment?

Given that the latissimus is a muscle which spans the shoulder joint and scapular area, it is susceptible to injury with throwing but is not a common cause of shoulder pain in throwers.

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Cliff Lee versus Dillon Gee. Phillies versus Mets. I went to that cutesy rhyming well too much last time and now I'm stuck. Oh well.

Rubber match tonight in Flushing. The Phillies are once again without Carlos Ruiz; with tomorrow's off-day, he will have four straight days off, which ought to be good for whatever is ailing him.

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The Phillies go for the series victory tonight in New York against the Mets and will send the suddenly scuffling Joe Blanton to the hill, against noted boob-enthusiast Jeremy Hefner. OK I'll admit that I may have gotten my Hefners confused.

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Word has come down that Phillies starting pitcher Roy Halladay will be placed on the disabled list due to a Grade 1/Grade 2 latissimus (shoulder) strain and is expected to miss six to eight weeks. He will be completely shut down for three weeks.

Of course the best news out of all of this is that it appears that the rotator cuff and labrum are in tact.

More on this as it develops...

Halladay placed on DL. Grade 1/2 strain in lat. Hopes to be back in 6-8 weeks.

— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) May 29, 2012

True Ace(TM) Cole Hamels takes the hill for a holiday afternoon tilt against the Mets this afternoon in Queens. Jon Niese chucks sphere for the Metropolitans.

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The Phillies seek a modicum of revenge for last year's surprising postseason defeat at the hands of the Cardinals, going for the four-game sweep in St. Louis.

Roy Halladay goes for the Phillies on a steamy Missouri afternoon, and will be opposed by Adam Wainwright, who sat on the bench last fall recovering from Tommy John surgery.

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Although I was born and grew up in Pennsylvania, most of my father's side of the family (going back over a century) is from in and around the St. Louis/eastern Missouri area. As a result, I've been there a few times.

When I was about eight years old, we visited distant relatives who worked for Anheuser-Busch, who gave my brother and me stickers and plush toys (!!!) for a mascot from a new ad campaign that Bud Light would be launching that fall. Spuds McKenzie, of course. Looking back more than 25 years, it's kind of amazing how brazenly child-oriented that ad campaign was.

Why am I discussing this? Because good or bad, Kyle Kendrick makes me want to drink a lot of beer. And against Jaime Garcia, it's prime 30 pack season.

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Cliff Lee still hasn't won a game, but the Phillies prevailed in ten innings thanks to a two run blast from Hunter Pence that gave the Phillies a 5-3 victory over the Cardinals.

More later...

And we move on to game two of this four game holiday weekend series between the Phillies and Cardinals with a pair of pitchers were interesting Phillies postseason histories.

Cliff Lee, master of the 2009 playoff run (and let's not talk about 2011 NLDS Game Two) and Kyle Lohse, Kaz Matsui Grand Slammist.

No nudity please.

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It was a project of mine to replace the tournament with something which might furnish an escape for the extra steam of the chivalry, keep those bucks entertained and out of mischief, and at the same time preserve the best thing in them, which was their hardy spirit of emulation. I had had a choice band of them in private training for some time, and the date was now arriving for their first public effort.

This experiment was baseball.*

Where ash and maple crash and horsehide's

Red stitching

clash under the purplepink dusk sky

Midwestern Mississippi cries of MARK TWAIN voice passing down

Through American generations

Heroes emerge, scrambling for a Gateway's freedom

Manifest Destiny

Freesway

HAKUNA MATATA

"There are no worries anymore."

Cloven in two, Solomon's wisdom

*Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Chapter 40

The Phillies have seemed to have a way of not hitting for what feels like weeks at a time, and then their bats will put it together on a night the starting pitching stinks. Tonight was one of those nights. Also, a grown man ran onto the field in the nude, and that's fun stuff.

Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook got dinked and dunked for four runs in the first inning, which is hard to believe but it'll happen. The Phillies would add two more in the second to take an insurmountable lead...

The lead was never "surmounted" but it was most definitely "mounted." The Cardinals would score four in the third, and three in the fifth, including a game-tying two run home run to deep center by the loathsome Yadier Molina.

The Phillies answered quickly in the top of the sixth, scoring two runs on RBI singles from Freddy Galvis and pinch-hitter Mike Fontenot to take a 9-7 lead. The Cards would score again in the bottom of the seventh, and the Phillies would score their 10th run in the eighth on a solo blast from Ty Wigginton. Antonio Bastardo worked a scary eighth inning, allowing a Cardinal run but finally striking out Carlos Beltran with two runners on base for the final out of the inning.

Jonathan Papelbon allowed a single hit in the ninth but no runs to register his 13th "Save."

Four Phillies -- Galvis, Carlos Ruiz, Ty Wigginton, and Placido Polanco -- collected three hits apiece, with new papa Jimmy Rollins collecting two base knocks of his own. Phillies starter Joe Blanton allowed seven runs in 4.1 innings, pheeeeeewww.

An exciting game, but the bad kind of "kill you dead" excitement.

GameGraph below.

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What do the Phillies need right now? Oh, I know, four away games in the home park of the defending World Champs and first place St. Louis Cardinals, that's what!

Joe Blanton goes for the Phillies against Jake Westbrook of the Cardinals.

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Cole Hamels faces the Washington Nationals for the first time since he dumbly drilled rookie Bryce Harper in the back with a fastball, and double-dumbly admitted to doing to intentionally after the game. I'm sure we'll hear no end of that tonight during the game, or during the postgame reporting on the national networks.

Edwin Jackson gets the ball as the Nationals look to sweep the Phillies.

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Roy Halladay got rocked early and the Phillies split-squad lineup got on base but really couldn't score and yeah stop me if you heard this before, Nationals win 5-2.

The Nationals scored four runs off Halladay in the third, including a two-run triple from Bryce Harper and another solo home run from Ian Desmond. The Nationals would add a fifth run in the fourth inning on a home run from Rick Ankiel. Jordan Zimmermann threw a ton of pitches but made it through six innings allowing just one run. Halladay settled in after his rough second and third innings, but yeah, the damage was done.

I hate writing these things.

Phillies scored in the second on a ground-rule double from Hector Luna and again in the eighth on a solo home run from Erik Kratz. Carlos Ruiz was ejected during Roy Halladay's crummy fourth inning, for the offense of turning his head to speak to the home plate umpire. What a dick.

The third inning showed the Phillies failing, again, to score a runner from third with less than two outs, and the culprit again was Hunter Pence.

Phillies fever. Catch it.

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The Phillies look to snap a three game losing streak and get back on the Road to Winningsburg tonight against the visiting Nationals.

Roy Halladay goes for the Phillies against Jordan Zimmermann of the Nationals.

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The Phillies' bats have gone silent again, Nationals' starter Gio Gonzalez threw a ton of pitches but kept the Phillies off the board, and the Phillies wasted another solid start from Kyle Kendrick en route to a 2-1 Nationals victory on Monday night in Philadelphia.

Kendrick slopped his way through the early innings, working numerous deep counts, but settled in after a Rich Dubee mound visit in the fourth, retiring 11 in a row to finish his seven innings. The Nationals scored a single run in the second on a solo home run from Ian Desmond, and scored again on an RBI single from Desmond in the fourth. And that's it. Kendrick finished with just five hits allowed in seven innings, striking out four and inducing 11 ground ball outs. Raul Valdes pitched two scoreless innings to continue the Phillies' run of solid bullpen work.

The Phillies' offense was lousy again, perhaps exemplified by the sixth inning when Placido Polanco led off the frame with a walk off Gonzalez, followed by a double down the third base line by Shane Victorino leading to a second and third, no out situation. Hunter Pence promptly lined out to the strong-armed Rick Ankiel, and Polanco failed to tag and attempt to score. Carlos Ruiz then hit a grounder to first base, and Polanco was gunned down at home by a LaRoche of some sort. Mayberry then popped out to right to end the misery.

The ninth inning saw the Phillies score their sole run thanks to an incendiary Henry Rodriguez, who issued a leadoff walk to John Mayberry. With one out, Mayberry would advance to third on a Mike Fontenot single, and would score on a Ty Wigginton sacrifice fly. Pinch hitter Hector Luna drew the two out walk, representing the winning run, only to see the rally snuffed out on a hump-back line drive to second base from Polanco.

End. Go to bed.

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The Nationals and New Pot-stirrer, Bryce Harper, come to Philadelphia for what promises to be a fairly soggy series.

I'm sure someone will boo Bryce Harper, and then kittens will die or something equally terrible.

Kyle Kendrick pitches for the Phillies against Gio Gonzalez.

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So there was a little dust-up between the Phillies' brass and the "traditional" media yesterday, in case you didn't hear...

Cortisone and Ryan Howard: Easing the pain, or worsening it?
I'd heard discussions of this at the time, but never anything close to "definitive."

Inside the Phillies: Workouts by Phillies' Howard are off-limits, as reporter finds out
Smuggy and Co. vs. The Fourth Estate. Whether you support Brookover's "right" to be there to investigate the story, his treatment by the staff was pretty shabby, in my opinion.

These two stories begat this...

Ruben Amaro Meets with Phillies Beat Writers Concerning Articles in Sunday's Inquirer
Amaro also reportedly scowled, crushed an empty can in one hand, said "You."

Phil Sheridan: It's a little late for Amaro to complain about coverage

But there is plenty in their history to illustrate that they choose secrecy and a kind of condescending disdain when dealing with the media, who in turn convey information to the millions of fans who pump millions of dollars of revenue into this franchise. The decision to "take a pass" on answering reasonable questions was consistent with their history. So is disliking the outcome.

The Blog shall inherit the Earth.

David Murphy: Phillies fumbling Howard, Utley situations
Losing is a stinky cologne.

Vance Worley has a bone chip

"What is, exactly, a bone chip?" Worley asked Hamels. "Can you give me some of your symptoms?"

The quote that launched a thousand slashfics.

Philllies Scoop: Harper throws a charge into Nationals rivalry with Phillies
Let's all get outraged and let Bryce Harper play us all like fiddles!!

Crasnick - Phillies are keeping an eye on Red Sox 1B/3B Kevin Youkilis during minor league rehab
So I guess that part's true. And I guess any "dream" of shipping Joe Blanton for Kevin Youkilis straight-up kind of went bye-bye around about the third home run the other night.

Late-inning use of Ruiz leaves questions after Red Sox win weekend series from Phillies - delcotimes.com
It certainly does.

Video: Phillies Prospect Julio Rodriguez
Our good friend Ryan Petzar sits down with the Reading pitcher.

Ruf, R-Phils break out bats to rock 'Cats
Ruf! Ruf! Good boy!

Zoo With Roy: Coincidence? I think Not.
In which the Zookeeper takes credit for Freddy Galvis' recent power surge. It's as reasonable an explanation as any.

Cliff Lee struggled early, serving up some cookies to some hot hitters that promptly wound up in the seats, as Josh Beckett kept the Phillies offense in check and the Red Sox cruised to a 5-1 victory on Sunday in Philadelphia.

For the second game in a row, Red Sox shortstop Mike Aviles led off the game with a solo home run. Nothing else to editorialize here. Just crushed the pitch into the left field seats. Lee then recovered to strike out the side, but would allow another run in the second on an RBI single by (wait for it) Mike Aviles.

The Red Sox put the game away in the third on a long three run home run by Jarrod Saltalamacchia (I spelled this correctly without looking, hooray for a smart boy). Watching the game on TBS, Ruben Amaro, Jr. was in the broadcast booth with Dennis Eckersley and the other guy. Hearing Amaro's grunt of displeasure was almost worth it.

Lee settled in after the Saltalamacchia bomb, finishing with nine strikeouts over seven innings, but really that's like saying you drove to work really well after causing a six-car pile-up pulling out of your driveway.

The Phillies had a few opportunities, but like Saturday night, they were hitting balls hard that just failed to drop. It happened. The best chance to break out came in the eighth as the Phillies loaded the bases with two outs for the struggling (read: terrible) Ty Wigginton, who grounded out weakly to second base.

Also like Saturday, seeing the Phillies bullpen pitch effectively was a pretty neat experience.

GameGraph of inevitability after the jump

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The bacchanal that is Pat Burrell Retirement Weekend comes to a conclusion this afternoon as the Phillies and Red Sox match up in the rubber game of their three game Interleague Spectacular.

Cliff Lee goes for his first WIN of the season because he sucks, and will be faced with fried chicken enthusiast Josh Beckett. Baseball.

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Tonight's the night when Pat Burrell, Philadelphia legend, returns to Citizens Bank Park to retire as a Phillie before the throngs at Citizens Bank Park, who never once booed him, no sir.

But there's also a baseball game. Joe Blanton goes for the Phillies against Jon Lester of the Red Sox, who's been less-than-lustrous so far in 2012.

Discuss the game below, and don't let your girl get Burrell'd.

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On a night where Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel was relegated to the owners' box thanks to a one game suspension from the Commissioner's Office, things went almost exactly as they were drawn up.

The Phillies jumped on Red Sox starter Daniel Bard early, scoring four runs in the first inning and never looking back, as the Phillies topped the Sox by a score of 6-4. The two teams would combine for five solo home runs -- three for Boston, two for Philadelphia.

Phillies starter Cole Hamels pitched very well, his only major blemishes being a pair of long home runs to Mike Aviles in the third, and Cody Ross (Satan's Imp), in the sixth. Hamels would strike out nine and allow just one walk in seven innings.

Bard was erratic in the first, walking the bases loaded and then surrendering a two-run single to the red-hot Carlos Ruiz. The Phillies would add two more runs in the frame on a sacrifice fly by Ty Wigginton, and an RBI double down the left field line from John Mayberry.

The Phillies would score again in the fifth on a solo shot from Hunter Pence, his tenth on the season. The homers by Ross in the sixth off Hamels and Adrian Gonzalez off the struggling Chad Qualls in the eighth would cut the Phillies lead to 5-4, before Freddy Galvis would add an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on his second home run of the season.

Jonathan Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth off his old team for his twelfth save of the season.

There was a scary moment in the fifth inning, as Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia was struck in the ear by a ball that ricocheted off Ty Wigginton, laying him out on the ground and causing a fair amount of blood. Saltalamacchia was removed from the game.

And an equally funny moment in the ninth, when Red Sox Manager Bobby Valentine ran on the field to argue an out call at first base, only to have the umpire inadvertently spit his gum on him. I had a laugh.

Come back tomorrow as Jon Lester takes on Joe Blanton, and Pat Burrell triumphantly returns to Philadelphia.

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Here we go, as MLB's annual "interleague rivalry weekend" kicks off with the continued insistence that the Red Sox and Phillies have some kind of historical beef. That 1915 World Series was a bitter one, you know.

Daniel Bard goes for the Sox against Cole Hamels of the Phillies. Joy and fun.

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