SB Nation User Blog: dajafi

Call it June 31st: Braves 11, Phillies 1

dajafi — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:55:45 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

Braves starter Jair Jurrjens held the Phillies hitless through 6 2/3 innings in Atlanta's blowout win Wednesday night. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

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Not much to see here. Cole Hamels struggled to keep his composure early, allowing a third-inning bloop single to opposing pitcher Jair Jurrjens and some close calls that went against him from home plate ump C.B. Bucknor to spiral into a three-run frame that put the Phils in a 3-0 hole. After the team got one run back in the fourth inning on a Jayson Werth walk, a two-base error on a Jurrjens pickoff attempt and a Greg Dobbs sacrifice fly, Hamels totally fell apart in the fifth: a walk to Gregor Blanco, a single to Martin Prado, a two run double by Larry Jones Jr., a run-scoring single by Brian McCann, and Cole's night came to an early and ignominious end with the Phillies trailing 6-1. Reliever Tyler Walker surrendered two home runs and three more runs in all before escaping the inning.

After that, the only drama was how close Jurrjens would come to no-hitting the Phillies. He was seven outs away when Paul Bako singled to end the bid; Shane Victorino later added another single. That was it for the Phillies offense on the evening. The Braves later added two more runs off reliever Jack "Why Am I Still on the Roster?" Taschner.

With the Mets and Marlins also winning earlier, the Phillies' lead in the NL East is now just a half-game, and they could be a bad weekend away from fourth place. Most immediately, J.A. Happ will try to avoid a sweep in Atlanta tomorrow night against Braves starter Javier Vazquez.

The Hangover?

dajafi — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:39:14 -0000

This week, the Phillies and their fans note with relief both the merciful conclusion of interleague play and the month of June, in which the Phils held onto their first-place perch in the NL East despite an 11-15 record for the month and losses in 12 of their final 16 June games. This isn't a new story, of course: the Phils almost always struggle in June, and they're usually particularly awful facing the American League. Rarely is a team happier to turn a calendar page.

But what happens next? Two weeks remain until the all-star break, a stretch in which the Phillies face two of their division pursuers--the Braves, in a series that started with last night's 5-4 loss, and the Mets at home this weekend--and two NL Central clubs, the Reds and Pirates. None of those teams are juggernauts, so the clubs would seem to have an opportunity to regain some of the momentum lost in the prolonged debacle of play against the AL East. Recent history suggests, though, that an immediate bounceback might be unlikely.

Year	W/L	Opponents	Record at start	Record at ASB
2005	6-7	@Mets, Braves, @Pirates, Nats	39-37, 4th (5.5 GB)	45-44, 4th (7.5 GB)
2006	3-3	Padres, Pirates	37-44, 2nd (11 GB)	40-47.2nd (12 GB)
2007	7-9	@Cardinals, Reds, Mets, @Astros, @Rockies	37-35, 3rd (2.0 GB)	44-44. 3rd (4.5 GB)
2008	8-5	@Braves, Mets, Cardinals, D'backs	44-39, 1st (1.0 up)	52-44, 1st (0.5 up)

In each of the last four years, the Phillies ended the period between interleague and the all-star break in worse shape in the division race than when they started it. So while June is thankfully dead and gone, we might not be out of the woods just yet.

Dig Me Out: Phillies 5, Blue Jays 4

dajafi — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:31:07 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

In a start that somewhat mirrored his season to date, Jamie Moyer shook off three early home runs to earn his sixth win Sunday as the Phillies downed Toronto 5-4. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Darren Calabrese)

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It felt like the sort of game they would lose: Jamie Moyer surrendering home runs early, base runners and defenders making mistakes late, and scads of runners stranded on base. But thanks largely to four scoreless (if eventful) innings from three relievers and some nice situational hitting followed by a huge Chase Utley triple in the four-run fourth inning, the Phillies climbed out of a 4-1 hole to down the Blue Jays 5-4 and win this three-game series in Toronto's eerily quiet Rogers Center.

Moyer was shaky early, surrendering solo homers to Aaron Hill in the first and third innings and a two-run shot toJose Bautista in the second. But he retired seven of the last eight Toronto hitters he faced after the Phils gave him a lead, and Chan Ho Park followed with two perfect innings in relief. Ryan Madson, restored to his more comfortable eighth-inning role, allowed a one-out single to Scott Rolen but seemed on the way to getting out of the inning when he induced a dead double-play ball from Adam Lind. But Eric Bruntlett, in his fourth game filling in for benched Jimmy Rollins, bobbled the ball to give Toronto two runners with one out. Madson escaped with a groundout from Alex Rios, an intentional walk to Lyle Overbay and a bases-loaded popup from pinch-hitter Russ Adams. The ninth inning, once again the domain of Brad Lidge, was even scarier: Jays catcher Raul Chavez led off with a bunt single, and then Lidge lost Marco Scutaro with a full-count walk. But he recovered to get Hill to pop up, then caught a huge break when pinch-runner John McDonald wandered too far off second and was caught in a rundown for the second out. Lidge then got Vernon Wells to ground out, locking down his 14th save of the season and first one-run since May 29 against Washington.

Trailing 3-0, the Phils got on the board in the third on Ryan Howard's RBI groundout. An inning later, down 4-1 after Hill's second home run, they loaded the bases with none out on a Pedro Feliz single, a walk to Chris Coste, and a Bruntlett bunt single. Carlos Ruiz plated one run with a fielder's choice groundout to third, on which Bruntlett delivered a beautiful takeout slide to break up the potential double play. Shane Victorino's sac fly scored Coste, and after a walk to Jayson Werth--who drew four on the day to go with a single, and has now reached safely in his last ten plate appearances--Chase Utley tripled off the right-centerfield wall to score two. Six scoreless innings later, the Phils had their 39th win of the season.

Moyer's 252nd career win evened his season record at 6-6 and moved him ahead of Bob Gibson to 44th on the all-time list.

Quick Hit: The Agony of Jimmy Rollins

dajafi — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:06:11 -0000

More photos » by Steve Nesius - AP

Blood, sweat (pictured) and tears notwithstanding, Jimmy Rollins has not been able to shake his 2009 struggles through nearly three months of play. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

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Coming off a four-game hitless streak and crucial defensive lapse in last night's closer-than-it-looked 7-1 loss to Tampa Bay, Jimmy Rollins will ride the pine this evening in St. Pete according to Todd Zolecki's reporting. That's the good news; the bad news is that Eric Bruntlett replaces him at shortstop. Actually, I wouldn't have minded seeing Rollins stay in the lineup, but further down in it. As of today, he's on pace to set a modern standard for futility out of the leadoff spot.

Through 277 at-bats leading off, Rollins has posted a triple-slash line of .195/.237/.289, for an OPS of .526. That's the worst by far among all batters with at least 200 plate appearances leading off; the next most futile leadoff man who's done it that often is Willy Taveras of the Reds, with a .571 OPS. In the ten seasons for which ESPN has splits, the only other hitters with at least 200 plate appearances in the #1 spot to post an OPS under .600 in that role were Taveras (.592), Juan Pierre (.591) and Michael Bourn (.565), all last year. Adding insult to injury is that Rollins' 277 at-bats leading off this season are tied with Ichiro for the fourth-most of any leadoff man in baseball, behind only Marco Scutaro, Brian Roberts, and Ian Kinsler.

Will Rollins emerge from his struggles? At 30 years old, he seems an unlikely decline candidate, and certainly this isn't the first rough stretch he's endured in his career. But Jayson Stark reports that at least some around the game have their doubts:

GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told Rumblings: "I believe in Jimmy. I still think he'll be OK." But one scout we surveyed wasn't so sure, saying: "I've got to write a report on this guy, and I don't know what to write. I mean, this guy looks really bad. You want to say we'll look up in August and he'll be right there. But right now it's June, and he's not showing any signs. So I keep asking myself, 'Is this what he is now?' He's definitely better than he's playing right now -- but how much better?"

Here's hoping that the night off helps the former MVP clear his head and get back on track--and that he either returns to form atop the otherwise-potent Phils lineup, or finds a comfortable spot somewhere else in it.

No, Really: Orioles 6, Phillies 5

dajafi — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:35:32 -0000

More photos » by H. RUMPH JR - AP

J.A. Happ allowed two runs in six innings Saturday night. (AP Photo/H. Rumph, Jr.)

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Most of this game followed the now-established script: anemic hitting, just-good-enough-to-lose pitching, and the characteristic lethargy of the Phils at home, in June, against an AL opponent. Some Baltimore pitcher called Brad Bergesen held them to two hits through six innings as J.A. Happ allowed two runs and Chad Durbin walked Brian Roberts with the bases loaded to surrender a third. Then, in the bottom of the seventh, the Phils woke up: two doubles and two singles made it 3-2, and Ryan Howard--out of the starting lineup with the aftereffects of a 104-degree fever--came off the bench to slam a three-run homer against Danys Baez. Chan Ho Park followed the five-run frame with a scoreless eighth inning, and it looked like the Phillies might secure that rarest of achievements: a win at home in interleague play.

Nope. Ryan Madson allowed a solo home run with one out in the ninth sandwiched between two outs, then a seeing-eye single to pinch-hitter Oscar Salazar. He got ahead of Brian Roberts 1-2... and then threw the single worst pitch I can remember seeing to a good hitter when ahead in the count, a fastball in the dead middle of the plate. Roberts did with it what you'd expect him to do with it, and George Sherrill closed out a truly sad Chris Coste/Pedro Feliz/Eric Bruntlett troika in the bottom of the ninth to wrap things up. The loss was the Phillies' sixth when leading after eight innings, which is six more than they had in 2008.

Right now this team is about as fun as a steel-booted kick to the taint.

More of Same: Orioles 7, Phillies 2

dajafi — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 02:19:26 -0000

More photos » by H. RUMPH JR - AP

When AL teams come to Philadelphia--in June, at least--a celebration is all but guaranteed. (AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr)

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Let's see how fast I can do this:

blah blah blah interleague play blah blah blah can't win at home blah blah blah offense goes into storage after the first blah blah blah mediocre pitcher throttles the Phils sluggers blah blah blah Jack Taschner really, really sucks.

That's basically it. Antonio Bastardo provided a bright spot of sorts, pitching seven mostly solid innings and allowing four runs while walking none. But the three-spot he surrendered in the second, right after the Phils had taken a 2-0 lead, proved enough to drop his record to 2-2. Jayson Werth again hit well in defeat--at some point when I really want to upset myself, I'm going to run his numbers in wins and losses--with two hits, the first a two-run double. Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino each drew a couple walks, but Orioles starter Rich Hill (who also drove in what proved to be the winning run) and closer George Sherrill held Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to a combined 0 for 8 with a walk. Young Baltimore hitters Nick Markakis, Nolan Reimold and Matt Wieters all had run-scoring hits for the visitors.

The Mets beat Tampa in Flushing by a 5-3 score to pull within two games in the NL East.

The Cruelest Month (revised)

dajafi — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:14:27 -0000

More photos » by H. Rumph Jr - AP

Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and Cole Hamels are all among the Phillies whose career numbers for the month of June badly lag their overall production. (AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr.)

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I just got back very late last night from a two-week trip to Australia and Japan, to find that the Phillies had dropped the first two games of their series against the Toronto Blue Jays; this afternoon, I had the dubious pleasure of watching most of the finale, which the team also lost. The result wasn't surprising, as the Phillies have stunk on ice in interleague play pretty much since the outset of Bud Selig's experiment more than a decade ago. But as others pointed out here and on Back She Goes!, the problem might not be interleague so much as the mysterious yet consistent bad vibes that seem to follow Charlie Manuel's team every time the calendar turns to June.

Actually, the Phils haven't been a complete disaster in the season's third month; since the start of Manuel's tenure, they have a collective 59-66 (.472) record in June, which certainly isn't good but is hardly the stuff of baseball nightmares. It just looks crappy compared to the club's overall 390-322 (.548) mark since the start of the 2005 season. And it's actually slightly worse than the team's cumulative record in April (57-63, .475), usually considered the roughest month for the team. Add that June has been the team's worst month in three of the last four seasons, including this one, and has seen more serious injuries than any other month, and you start to get the idea.

So join me, if you dare, for a brief tour of the last five Junes--the true cruelest month for the Manuel-era Phillies.

2005: 15-12 (.556), 135 runs scored/135 runs against. Okay, this doesn't look too bad... until you consider that the month began with the team on an 11-1 streak that actually started on May 31--the day I got married, as it happened. Then from June 14-30, the Phillies went 4-11 and lost five straight series—three in interleague play and two against the Mets. These included the notorious road interleague series at Seattle and Oakland, in which the Phils lost four of six while playing the likes of Tomas Perez and Ramon Martinez at first place as an injured Jim Thome DH’d. Meanwhile, a young slugger named Ryan Howard continued to tear up the International League. Notable transactions in June 2005 included the highly questionable trade of Placido Polanco to Detroit for Ugueth Urbina and Ramon Martinez, as well as a release and re-signing of Amaury Telemaco. Appropriately enough, Thome’s season (and, as it turned out, his Phillies career) ended on June 30 after he went 0-10 in three games against the Mets. The team lost five straight, tied for its worst losing streak of the 2005 season, from June 23-28.

2006: 9-18 (.333), 120/165. The Phillies began June two games over .500 and in striking distance of the Mets in the NL East. And they actually fared pretty well for the first week of the month, winning five of seven after sweeping Arizona… and then the bottom fell out, as they lost three of four to the Nationals and were swept at home by the Mets to fall 9.5 games back and essentially exit the division race. But things got even worse as interleague began: series losses at home to the still-awful Devil Rays and Yankees, the seemingly annual sweep by Boston, and two more series losses at Baltimore and Toronto. Though the team eventually recovered to surge back into the division race, they ultimately fell short of a playoff spot—largely because of the hole they dug for themselves back in June. The month included the signing and sole Phillies appearance (which, not coincidentally, proved to be the last career appearance) of pitcher Adam Bernero. as well as the pickup of Rick White and the trade of Daniel Haigwood to Texas for Fabio "Model Dictator" Castro. Randy Wolf was lost for the season after going six innings against the Brewers on June 11. The Phillies’ worst losing streak of the year, seven games, ran from June 20-28.

2007: 15-13 (.536), 143/166. The outlier, in which the Phils put up a winning record despite getting badly outscored for the month. June began in characteristic fashion, with a 13-0 loss to the Giants at home, but afterward things picked up. They even did fairly well in interleague play by Phillies standards (6-6), albeit against the weak-sister AL Central. The month did end with three straight losses to the Mets, including the major-league debut of J.A. Happ. Notable transactions included one awful free-agent signing (Jose Mesa) and one very good one (J.C. Romero). The bad June injury of 2007? Jon Lieber, who blew out his knee at Cleveland on June 20, two starts after throwing a complete-game shutout at Kansas City. Freddy Garcia was also lost for the year; on the plus side, Kyle Kendrick was recalled to replace him.

2008: 12-14 (.462), 112/101. The Phils’ sole losing month (not including March, in which they played one game and lost) in their championship season. Again, it wasn’t until the second week of June that things went south; through June 13, the team had a 9-3 record for the month, culminating with a 20-2 blowout of the Carindals in St. Louis that marked the eighth time in 53 games that the team had scored in double digits (and their second 20-run performance in 17 games). It was also the last time the Phils would crack 10 runs until July 26; they’d score 12 more the next day, and that was it for double-digits in 2008. After June 13, the Phils scored 47 runs in their 14 remaining games during the month (an average of 3.4), and were held to two runs or fewer in eight of those games; through their first 69 games, they had scored 373 runs (an average of 5.4), and been held to two or fewer just 13 times. Probably not coincidentally, Chase Utley's marked offensive falloff began in mid-June; it's likely that he sustained the hip injury that bedeviled him through the remainder of 2008 around that time. The team had its worst losing streak of the season (six games) from June 17-24.

2009 (through June 18): 8-8 (.500), 81/76. Again, it’s tough to differentiate between the Phillies’ interleague struggles and their general pattern of sucking in June; this year, the team’s inexplicable struggles at home (8-18 against all non-Nationals opponents) adds another layer to the story. The just-concluded 1-5 stretch against Boston and Toronto made this June look much worse than it did a week ago; on the other hand, the month already has seen Brad Lidge, Scott Eyre and most recently Raul Ibanez to the disabled list, and Ryan Howard has dropped down his annual rabbit hole with 27 strikeouts and a .232 average in 69 June at-bats.

The good news? The team has just ten games left this month, around off-days on the 22^nd and 29^th. And maybe the rain will keep up.

Bite Down on This: Blue Jays 8, Phillies 7

dajafi — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:37:08 -0000

More photos » by H. Rumph Jr - AP

Scott Rolen and the Blue Jays beat the Phillies yet again on Thursday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park to finish a three-game sweep. (AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr.)

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Maybe it's interleague play. Maybe it's the evil month of June (of which more later). Maybe it's playing at home. Maybe it's the ongoing championship hangover/karmic balancing act from 2008. But things really aren't going well for the Phils right now, as the team's run of hard luck continued in today's painful 8-7 loss to visiting Toronto that capped a three-game Blue Jays sweep.

Facing junkballing lefty (and son of former Phillies coach) Brad Mills, the home team showed some offense early with home runs from Jayson Werth and Jimmy Rollins, and got another solo shot from just-recalled John Mayberry Jr against the possibly pseudonymous Dirk Hayhurst in the fifth to go up 5-3. But Joe Blanton had his worst start in a month, allowing nine hits including two homers in 5.1 innings, and despite some good clutch pitching with runners on from Chan Ho Park, J.C. Romero and Tyler Walker, the bullpen ultimately couldn't hold the lead. In the eighth inning, a seeing-eye single, a Pedro Feliz error on a dead double-play ball, a a bloop single to score one run and a Scott Rolen double to plate another put Toronto up 7-5. The Phils rallied to tie the game in the bottom half on a Greg Dobbs pinch-homer and a two-out RBI single by Shane Victorino, but Victorino was caught stealing to end the inning. In the first at-bat of the ninth, Rod Barajas homered to dead center field off Ryan Madson to provide Toronto's margin of victory; Jeremy Accardo, the eighth Toronto pitcher of the afternoon, stranded two Phillies to end it. So at least we wore out the Jays' bullpen for their weekend series at Washington...

The Phillies stay home for three more delightful interleague tilts against AL East bottom-feeder Baltimore. It's hoped that we'll win at least one.

Piti the Citi: Phillies 6, Mets 3 (10)

dajafi — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:19:13 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

The Phillies couldn't quite lay out Tim Redding Thursday night, but in the end they flattened the Mets yet again. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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Take a moment to consider with sympathy the plight of the Mets fan. His team boasts a core of future Hall of Famers, makes at least one huge acquisition every winter, and habitually "wins" the NL East, if not the league and/or the World Series, every March. Then the games they count in the standings begin, and things seem to go well for awhile. And then the Phillies show up on the schedule, dredging up two Septembers' worth of nightmares as well as only slightly less scarring memories of did-that-just-happen comeback wins earlier in the last two seasons, and one of two things happen: the Mets win and immediately start bleating about how the Phils aren't in their heads anymore and they're ready to start playing up to their talent and dominate like everyone expects, or they lose and prove, to themselves and the world, that the Phils are deeper in their heads than ever, and that this is a team that probably won't ever do more than shuffle its executives and managers toward the unemployment line.

The last two nights in Citi Field fell squarely into the second category, as twice the Phillies rallied from late-game multi-run deficits to win in extras. It was Chase Utley with the solo shot in the 11th Wednesday night; about 24 hours later, Raul Ibanez did in the Mets with a three-run bomb in the 10th, the eighth home run hit by the Phils in this three-game set. But while the MVP front-runner earned another share of glory--and notched his eighth homer of the year against a lefty, in this case hapless Mets reliever Ken Takahashi--the Phils' bullpen carried the club for the second straight night. Clay Condrey, Chad Durbin, Scott Eyre and Ryan Madson fired four shutout innings in relief of Jamie Moyer, who turned in another game performance (6 IP, 3 R, 8 H, 0 BB, 3 K) as he continued his journey back from the brink of obsolescence; Condrey was particularly dominant, with two clean innings, and in all the quartet allowed just one hit combined. Pedro Feliz was the offensive star earlier on, with two hits and two runs against noted Phillie-killer Tim Redding; he added a third later on to raise his average to .312 on the season.

The Phillies improved to an astounding 23-9 on the road for the season--the 7-3 trip through San Diego, Los Angeles and New York just concluded actually lowered their road winning percentage--and stretched their division lead over the Mets to four games. They now go home to face the Red Sox in the always-delightful interleague play, while the Mets stay local to take on the Yankees.

Bastardo is Their Daddy: Phillies 10, Padres 5

dajafi — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:06:57 -0000

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP

Birthday boy Raul Ibanez didn't bring cake for everybody, but he did furnish two souvenirs for Petco Park spectators. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

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For one night at least, the Phillies didn't look like a team in need of a rotation upgrade. 23 year old lefty Antonio Bastardo handled the Padres with ease in his major-league debut, going six innings and allowing just one run as the Phils won their fifth straight game and moved to 10 games over .500.

What looked to be an intriguing matchup between Bastardo and San Diego ace Jake Peavy didn't materialize, as the Phils plated four runs off Peavy in the first inning with RBI doubles by Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez accounting for most of the damage. Peavy left after the inning with flu-like symptoms, stomach pains, or soreness in his ankle, depending on (I think) the mood of the Padres PR staff at different points in the evening. Staked to that 4-0 lead before he took the mound, Bastardo mostly relied on a fastball that sat at 93-94 with movement, working quickly and notching four strikeouts in his first two innings. He finished with five, against four hits--including Adrian Gonzalez's nightly home run, his league-best 22nd this season--a walk, and a hit batsman.

The Phillies added on, scoring two runs each against three Padres relievers. Ibanez was the star, clubbing two home runs after his early double and driving in five to celebrate his 37th birthday. Greg Dobbs added a solo shot in a rare start at third base, and Shane Victorino had two hits and scored twice. The game seemed like a laugher until Chan Ho Park took the mound in the seventh and let the Padres back into it by allowing four runs on four hits and two walks in his one inning of work. Chad Durbin followed and retired the first five men he faced, but surrendered an infield hit and two walks with two outs in the ninth to create a save situation in what had been a nine-run game two innings earlier. Fortunately, Ryan Madson--giving Brad Lidge a well-earned night off--needed just one pitch to retire Kevin Kouzmanoff and secure Bastardo's first career win.

The Phils moved two and a half games ahead of the Mets, who lost earlier, and ran their road record to 18-6. They go for the sweep tomorrow behind another rookie left-hander, J.A. Happ; Chris Young will start for the Padres.