Happ 2nd In ROY Voting

JA Happ did not win the National League Rookie of the Year award but finished 2nd in voting. Winning the NL honors was Chris Coghlan of the Florida Marlins. Coghlan won 105-94 in votes over Happ. Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson had 37 points and Pirates outfield Andrew McCutchen had 25.

Here is the comparison of the two via Todd Zolecki's article:

Coghlan led all NL rookies in average (.321), runs (84), hits (162), doubles (31), total bases (232), multi-hit games (51) and on-base percentage (.390). Coghlan also posted back-to-back 47-hit months -- becoming the first NL player with 94 hits in a two-month span since 1978 -- and finished sixth in the NL in batting average. Happ was 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA and topped NL rookie pitchers in innings (166), strikeouts (119), complete games (three) and shutouts (two). He had the most wins for any Phillies rookie since Tom Underwood had 14 in 1975. Happ's ERA ranks 11th in franchise history among rookies, and was the lowest since Ben Tincup had a 2.61 ERA in 1914.

Plundered By Pirates

After exploding versus the Mets, the offense basically died down minus a few spurts versus Pittsburgh. Another problem that needs to be corrected before the season ends is the bull pen. Brad Lidge blew another save in the first game and Ryan Madson even followed that up with one the next game, erasing a great start by Cole Hamels.

Tuesday - Pirates won 6-4: After being down 3-2, the Phillies offense exploded to take a 4-3 lead. All Lidge has to do is get three outs, right? Should be an easy task. Not for him as he gave up a hit, an error by Jayson Werth that allowed the tying run to score and then a two-run walk off home run by Andrew McCutchen to end it.

Wednesday - Phillies won 4-1: Hamels went eight shut out innings, allowing seven hits and a pair of walks, striking out seven. Madson came in for the save and gave up a home run. Ryan Howard saved the game with a three run blast. Chase Utley had a homer in the first.

Thursday - Pirates won 3-2: JA Happ pitched a rare complete game loss as he went eight innings. He had the lead all the way until the eighth when he surrendered a two run homer to Garret Jones. He still pitched well, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks. He also struck out four. Paul Bako hit his second homer of the year.

Next Series: Atlanta Braves (67-60, 32-30 on road) @ Philadelphia Phillies (73-52, 33-29 at home)

Braves lead the series 8-4. The Braves are still seven games back from the Phillies and they know they need to sweep to get back in this. The Phillies are streaky and want to avoid that scenario as much as possible. They will have Cliff Lee on the mound during the series and he has shown no signs of being beatable yet.

On the offensive side, the Braves have a tendency to get guys on base but not get them home. They are third in the NL in batting average but only seventh in runs scored. The Phillies have the opposite problem as they lead the league in scoring. Atlanta is fourth in pitching ERA while the Phillies are improving, moving up to sixth.

The match ups at pitcher favor the Phillies despite the first game. Pedro Martinez has shown some bright spots but he isn't much of a difference than Jamie Moyer. Both teams need to win this series but the Braves need a sweep more, a much more difficult task. Phillies will bounce back to win the series.

Pitching Probables:

Friday: ATL: Hanson (9-2, 3.12), PHI: Martinez, P (2-0, 5.14)

Saturday: ATL: Lowe, D (12-8, 4.48), PHI: Lee, Cl (12-9, 2.63)

Sunday: ATL: Jurrjens (10-8, 2.91), PHI: Blanton (8-6, 3.88)