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)

New York Invasion

The Phillies and their fans invaded Queens this past weekend, including the Phillies Nation bus trip on Saturday where a fight was shown in their section by Comcast. After dropping the first game thanks to some poor pitching by Cole Hamels, the Phillies bats exploded as they handled the Mets to win three of four games during the series.

Thankfully Hamels has been the worst pitcher of the four who will make up the playoff rotation. He will pick his game back up when he's needed in the clutch. He hasn't been pressured all year due to a lack of competition in the division so I am confident he will be fine come October.

This series saw some great pitching, a lot of errors, a lot of pop from the Phillies line up, and even an unassisted triple play to end Sunday's game by Eric Bruntlett. Pedro Martinez earned a win in his home coming to New York and even tallied a hit.

Friday - Mets won 4-2: Hamels lasted five innings and got the loss as he surrendered four runs on 10 hits. He allowed a home run to Jeff Francoeur, who had a pretty good series versus the Phillies. Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard had two hits apiece for the Phillies.

Saturday - Phillies won 4-1: After Tim Redding dominated the Phillies, he was pulled due to a pitch count. Chase Utley capitalized with a two-run homer that gave the Phillies the lead for good. Brad Lidge earned his 24th save.

Sunday - Phillies won 9-7: This was one crazy game. After the Phillies jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first thanks to three homers by Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz, the Mets answered back. Martinez pitched six solid innings as the Mets stayed in it the whole game. In the bottom of the ninth with a 9-7 score and no outs, Francoeur hit a line drive with runners on first and second to Bruntlett who caught the ball, stepped on second, and tagged out Daniel Murphy for the game ending unassisted triple play. Lidge earned his 25th save.

Monday - Phillies won 6-2: There was no drama in this game but plenty of errors. The Phillies and Mets combined for five errors in the game. Cliff Lee pitched very well despite giving up two runs, none earned. He went seven innings and allowed six hits and struck out five.

Series MVP's:
Ryan Howard: 5-19, 4 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Chase Utley: 5-12, 4 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
Eric Bruntlett: 4-9, R, unassisted triple play

Next Series: Philadelphia Phillies (72-50, 40-21 on road) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (51-71, 33-28 at home)

Phillies lead series 3-0. This series is almost as predictable as the last. The Pirates will be seeing a Phillies offense that has just caught fire again. If they keep up this tear, this can be a very easy three wins as the Phillies look to expand on their seven and eight game leads on Atlanta and Florida respectively.

The Pirates offense is at a low as it is 12th in average and 13th in runs scored in the NL. The Phillies are 11th in average but climbing while they sit on top of the NL in scoring. As far as pitching, the Phillies ERA has dropped some more as they now sit sixth in the NL while the Pirates are 13th.

This should be another easy series for the Phillies as they find themselves in a race with Los Angeles for the top seed in the NL. Sports Illustrated still thinks the Dodgers are the best team in baseball and the way they Phillies are playing, they are proving them otherwise. I expect a sweep of the Pirates as the Phillies get set to come home versus Atlanta.

Pitching Probables:

Tuesday: PHI: Blanton (8-6, 3.86), PIT: Ohlendorf (11-8, 4.15)

Wednesday: PHI: Hamels (7-8, 4.78), PIT: Maholm (7-7, 4.74)

Thursday: PHI: Happ (10-2, 2.59), PIT: Morton (3-6, 5.21)

Phils Plunder Pirates

The Phillies earned a huge sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates to cap an incredible 9-1 home stand, erasing the memories of that 1-8 home stand in June. They started the stand with a sweep of the Mets and then won three of four versus Cincinnati. Pending today's games for the Marlins, Braves, and Mets the Phillies are currently 4.5, 5.5, and 7 games in first place respectively.

The Pirates came into this series on a cold spell and the Phillies were hot, playing teams they should and did beat up. The Pirates became the next victim of that Philly Butt Whuppin'. I said a few weeks ago that I am not worried about the Phillies because they heat up in July and they proceeded to make me look good. With the All Star break finally here, I will look back at the first half of the season probably Monday or Tuesday.

Friday - Phillies won 3-2: Shane Victorino provided the spark with three hits and a pair of doubles. The Pirates got their only two runs on solo homers off Joe Blanton and Brad Lidge. Blanton 7.1 innings, giving up a run on four hits, one walk, and striking out six. Lidge pitched .2 innings to earn his 18th save.

Saturday - Phillies won 8-7: Cole Hamels got roughed up in his outing, lasting six innings and giving up five runs on seven hits. The Pirates managed to hit three homers off the struggling ace. After falling early 5-0, the Phillies fought back to make it 5-3. Chad Durbin surrendered two runs in his very short outing as the Pirates made it 7-3.

In the bottom of the ninth, Matt Stairs hit a pinch hit homer to start things off. Then with one out and two men on, Ryan Howard hit a three-run bomb to left center to tie it up at seven. Ibanez hit the next pitch over the center field wall on a bounce for a ground-rule double, Jayson Werth walked, and Pedro Feliz hit an infield single off Mat Capps rear. Paul Bako stepped in and hit a walk off single to win the game.

Sunday - Phillies won 5-1: After scoring five runs in the ninth the night before, the Phillies got five quick runs thanks to a Howard sac fly and Feliz grand slam in the first inning. JA Happ pitched tremendous ball, going seven strong and giving up a run on four hits and two walks, striking our four.

Series MVP's:

Ryan Howard (PHI): 3-7, HR, 4 RBI's

JA Happ (PHI): 7 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K

Next Up: The All Star Break. I will go into more detail about the first half and the ASG tomorrow and Monday. Have a good few days and don't forget to watch the dingers by Howard on Monday in the derby and our five all stars on Tuesday.

News 7/10/09

Ibanez to play today: article

Phillies Nation:

Comcast Sportsnet reports that Raul Ibanez went 1-for-3 (doubled) in a rehab start with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Ibanez drove in two runs and walked twice. Ibanez plans on playing tomorrow against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Martinez to pitch infront of Phillies: article

While Pedro Martinez throws a simulated outing for the Philadelphia Phillies, his agent and the club are negotiating a contract.

"The Phillies saw me this past Tuesday in a simulated game and I felt very good with my fastball and all my pitches," Martinez said Thursday.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. denied reports a deal was done, but confirmed the team's interest in the three-time AL Cy Young Award winner.

"He has not been signed," Amaro said before the NL East-leading Phillies played Cincinnati on Thursday night. "We've seen him pitch. He's not in town."

Phils Take Three From Reds

Despite losing a heart breaker on Tuesday, the Phillies welcomed a lowly team into the Bank and did the job. Winning three of four versus the Reds, the Phils kept some distance on the Marlins, Braves, and Mets. The offense lit up, didn't show up, then showed up, and then out swung the Reds. Jimmy Rollins, Jayson Werth, and Chase Utley had incredible series's.

Monday - Phillies won 22-1: 22 runs. That's all I really need to say but I'll throw in a few stats. Cole Hamels pitched well and got the offensive support he needed, even from himself. Rollins, Utley, and Werth all homered. Rollins went 3-4 with a few runs and an RBI, Utley had a pair of hits with four RBI's, Werth went 2-5 with five RBI's and Greg Dobbs had four hits. Hamels 2-4 with a two-run double.

Tuesday - Reds won 4-3: After going up 3-0, JA Happ got beaten by Brandon Phillips, who had two homers and three RBI's. The losing blow came at the expense of Brad Lidge as he coughed up the winning hits in the top of the tenth. Utley had three hits in the losing effort.

Wednesday - Phillies won 3-2: The Flyin' Hawaiian got over the hump in his All Star bid as his walk-off single scored in Pedro Feliz in the bottom of the ninth. Shane Victorino and Dobbs had two hits and Werth hit a solo homer.

Thursday - Phillies won 9-6: The Reds took the early lead 3-0 and later broke a 4-4 tie with a two-run fifth. The Phillies answered in the bottom half with four runs and did not look back. Utley and Werth both had a pair of hits and homered, Utley's being a stand-up inside-the-parker that caromed off the left-centerfield wall. Feliz and Rollins also added a pair of hits. Lidge notched his 17th save.

Series MVP's:

Jimmy Rollins (PHI): 7-17; 6 runs; double; 2RBI's; .524 OBP

Chase Utley (PHI): 7-17; 2 runs; 2 doubles; 2 homers; 6 RBI's

Jayson Werth (PHI): 6-15; 5 runs; 4 homers; 9 RBI's

Next Series: Pittsburgh Pirates (38-47; 12-29 on road) @ Philadelphia Phillies (44-38; 18-23 at home)

This is the first meeting of the season between the two teams. The next will be at the end of August.The Phillies are playing good baseball going into their final series before the break, winning six of their last seven games. They are 6-1 on this current home stand despite the season-long struggles at the Bank.

The Pirates are just a lowly baseball team and are thankful every year that the Washington Nationals exist. They have lost seven of their last 10 and don't seem to be anywhere near catching fire going into the break. I expect a series sweep by the Phillies and I will not tolerate a loss of any sorts.

Everything has been going right for the Phillies. Starting pitching has been good and will hopefully get better if the Phillies add some arms in Pedro Martinez and Roy Halladay at the expense of maybe losing Happ. Happ will most likely be a part of a trade with Halladay if they can pry Doc from Toronto so his last start as a Phillie could be nearing.

The offense has been good. Sure they had back to back games of only scoring three runs but they were book ended by 22 and nine-run efforts. The bull pen has been very rock solid despite Lidge's inconsistency but he re-established that in Thursdays win with a save.

Pitching Probables:

7/11: Duke (8-7, 3.28), Blanton (5-4, 4.69)

7/12: Ohlendorf (7-7, 4.63), Hamels (5-5, 4.70)

7/13: Vasquez, V (1-2, 4.50), Happ (5-0, 3.04)

FIM #2: Joe Carter....

...That's all I needed to really type for a title. You say his name and every Phillie fan will instantly remember 1993 and the Phillies being one out away from forcing a game 7 with Toronto. Instead, Joe Carter belts a game winning 3-run homer that won the World Series. He became the 2nd player in the history of baseball to win the World Series for his team via air mail. The first being Bill Mazeroski of the 1960 Pirates when he hit "The Shot Heard 'Round the World."

After taking a commanding 3-1 series lead, Curt Schilling stepped on the mound for Philadelphia in game five and shut out the Blue Jays 2-0 to pull Philadelphia within one game. Terry Mulholland took the mound for Philadelphia and Dave Bush pitched for Toronto in Game 6. After being down 5-1, Philadelphia scored five runs in the top of the 7th.

It’s the bottom of the 9th of and Mitch Williams stands on the mound. The Philadelphia Phillies, trailing 3-2 in the series, are leading the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 in Toronto. All Williams needs is three more outs and the Phillies take Toronto to game seven.

It’s now the 9th inning. Ricky Henderson steps in and is walked. Devon White comes up to the plate next and hits a pop fly for out number one. Paul Molitor then singles to put runners on first and second with one out. Joe Carter steps up to the plate and has a 2-2 count on him.

Carter has been ineffective all series, and is looking to get a hit off of Williams. Williams knows Carter is a dangerous hitter, despite his cold spell. He also has Henderson standing on second, waiting to take third at any given moment. Carter steps in. The 2-2 pitch, and Carter hits a shot deep to left field that made the city of Philadelphia moan and mumble to themselves, "maybe next year."

FIM #6: Schmidt Hits #500

Harry Kalas couldn't have said it any better:

"The 3-0 pitch... Swing and a long drive, there it is, number 500! The career 500th home run for Michael Jack Schmidt!"

Mike Schmidt stood in against Don Robinson of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Down 6-5 in the top of the 9th, Schmidt had 2 men on with 2 outs. He took Robinson's 3-0 pitch 360 feet deep to left field, becoming the 14th player in league history to hit 500 home runs.

With that home run, Schmidt put the Phillies ahead for good as they went on to win 8-6. That home run not only signified a win but it also symbolized what he did his entire career for this city. Schmidt is considered the greatest Phillie of all time and the greatest 3rd baseman in the history of the game.

It was the perfect scenario for Schmidt. His team was trailing and they were down to their final out and the hero was at the plate. He delivers the heroic home run and we all live happily ever after. There was one tiny flaw to that moment though. ''It didn't happen at Veterans Stadium, and that's unfortunate,'' Schmidt said in the article I found.

Here is the article from the New York Times the next day.