Pocket Aces

Back-to-back shut outs: a loss and a win. Last night, Brett Myers pitched very well. He took a no-hitter into the 7th inning and his final line consisted of 1 earned over 7 1/3 innings on 1 hit and 6 walks, while striking out 8. The Phillies would lose the game 2-0 as Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez absolutely dominated the Phillies lineup, striking out 8 batters.

Today was a different story as the Phillies turned the table and shut out the Reds 5-0. Cole Hamels pitched his second complete game shut-out on the season and rebounded nicely after two poor starts. After, a shaky first few innings, Cole settled down and pitched exceptionally well. He also struck out 4. The Phillies ended their homestand going 9-1.
The Phillies benefited from 3 reds errors that turned into 3 runs for the Phils. Geoff Jenkins hit a solo home run and Ryan Howard had an RBI single. Reds pitcher, Homer Bailey pitched well, but they could not do anything against Cole Hamels and the Phillies defense.

Ken Griffey, Jr. started his first game of the series and nearly hit his 600th home run twice, but one was a double and the other a great catch in center by Shane Victorino. "The Kid" received an amazing standing ovation from the generally tough Philadelphia crowd.

Coined "1a and 1b", Brett Myers and Cole Hamels finally pitched well in back to back starts. They threw 16 1/3 innings, allowing 1 run and striking out 12 combined Reds. If the Phillies can continue to get this type of pitching from their "aces", watch out.

The Phillies have an extremely tough stretch ahead. First, they go on a 9 game road-trip against Atlanta, Florida, and St. Louis. After that, they return home to face defending World Series champs, the Red Sox and AL West's best in the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

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Chase Utley...Still the Man

Picture taken from CSN.com
What doesn't Chase Utley do? Oh yeah, he never gives less than 100%. Tonight, Chase Utley started the scoring with a 2-run line drive home run (he's hit a home run in 5 straight games) and then he ended the game by making his second spectacular diving catch of the game. The Phillies used to long ball to score all of their runs tonight as Pedro Feliz hit it a 2-run home run and Chris Coste followed him up with a solo home run.

Kyle Kendrick pitched well enough to earn his 5th win on the season, but he was chased in the 6th after allowing 2 base-runners who hit him hard. Kendrick gave up 4 earned on only 5 hits, but he did give up solo home runs to rookie phenom, Jay Bruce, and Edwin Encarnarcion. Chad Durbin allowed a double to Adam Dunn to complete Kendrick's line. Chad Durbin pitched well in the 7th, followed by Gordon and Lidge pitching perfect 8th and 9th innings.

Phillies fans, I hope you realize that you may be watching one of the greatest second baseman to ever play the game. We're at least talking about one of the greatest second baseman that the Phillies have ever seen. Utley became the first second baseman ever to hit 20 home runs in less than 60 games. Ever. Let's thank Chase for not signing with the Dodgers when they drafted him in 1997. In Utley's last 8 games, he is batting .419 with 7 home runs and 19 rbis. He's also scored 11 runs during that span. He's also homered in 7 of his last 8 games.

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Here Comes the Kid...and his young friend.

The Cincinatti Reds are in town and that means The Kid, Ken Griffey, Jr. will have the opportunity to hit his 600th career home in Philadelphia. Junior is not in the starting lineup tonight. Griffey's new teammate, Jay Bruce, is now in town and he has been given the opportunity to bat in front of Ken Griffey, Jr.

Through 6 games and 22 at-bats to start his career, Bruce is hitting .591 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs. He's also walked 6 times and struck out once during that span. Bruce is rated the #1 prospect by many media and scout outlets.

Enough with the Reds, the Phillies come into tonight leading the National League East for the first time in June in recent memory. MVP candidate, Chase Utley, continues to rake in the numbers and earned player of the week honors, after hitting his 20th home run and knocking in his 50th RBI on the season. The Phillies have gone 5-1 on their current homestand and at least 1 winning would guarantee a winning home stand. The Phillies need to try their best to win 3 of 4 from their series and hope for a split at the worst.
The Phillies battled all weekend with the Marlins to take over first place and they have to expect to continue to battle with the Marlins as well the Braves and resurging Mets through and past the All-Star Break. The Phillies offense has continued their ability to spark the team and at times, they make it look it is easier for them to perform when they are down early rather than up. I'm not sure if the explanation is pitch selection or just chance, but recently, it seems to be the case.

The Phillies have won 9 of their last 12 and every pitching rotation recorded a win in their last start except for ace, Cole Hamels. Here's a look at the pitching match-ups.

Tonight: Bronson Arroyo (4-4, 5.29 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (4-2, 4.84 ERA)
Arroyo is 3-0 in his last 5 starts. He last faced the Phillies on April 7 giving up 4 home runs and 5 ER in 5 2/3 innings, but he did strike out 6.

Kendrick has given the Phillies the opportunity to win 7 of his last 8 starts. Kyle Kendrick is coming off his best start of the year against Colorado, when he gave up 2runs, while striking out 5 and walking one.

Tomorrow: Aaron Harang (2-7, 3.81 ERA) vs. Adam Eaton (1-3, 4.99 ERA)
Aaron Harang is coming off his worst start of the year, but it was largely due to him pitching 4 innings out of the bullpen during the Reds 18-inning game a few weeks ago.

Adam Eaton earned his first win of the year in his last start and he has 6 quality starts on the year. To put it bruntly, Eaton either pitches well or really, really, really bad -- which is a big reason why his ERA is so high. In his last start against the Reds, he pitches 7 2/3 innings, but earned a no-decision.

Wednesday: Edinson Volquez (7-2, 1.46 ERA) vs. Brett Myers (3-6, 5.52 ERA)
Volquez has pitched superb this season and there are no signs of him slowing down. Volquez was traded by the Rangers for Josh Hamilton and both players have excelled for their respective teams. Volquez earned his first win of the season against the Phillies

Brett Myers last start was a tale of two pitches. In his first inning of work, he looked like the Brett of early in the year, allowing 3 runs, but he shut the Marlins out for the rest of the game. Myers struck out 11 and was able to locate with higher velocity after the first inning.

Thursday: Homer Bailey (0-0, --) vs. Cole Hamels (5-4, 3.73 ERA)
Homer Bailey is making his first start of the year for the Reds. Last year, the Phillies lineup hit him up pretty hard. Last year, he gave up 6 earned in 1.2 innings of work against the Phils. Ryan Howard hit a home run off Bailey this year.

Cole Hamels is coming off back-to-back bad starts, but he'll hope to rebound against the Reds. For his first 2008 win, Hamels pitched 7 strong innings against the Reds, only allowing 1 earned and 5 hits.

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Phillies Recap - Week 1

Week 1 Games (3-4, 3-4)
Phillies 6 - Nationals 11
Phillies 0 - Nationals 1
Phillies 7 - Nationals 6
8 Phillies @ 4 Reds
3 Phillies @ 4 Reds
2 Phillies @ 8 Reds
5 Phillies @ 3 Reds

I am a bit indifferent about the start to the season. We had 4 good starts and 3 really bad starts, two by Myers and one by Moyer. I'd expect Myers to improve because he normally starts slow and it'll take a little time for his velocity to return with his stamina after a year in the bullpen. The lineup has had a few bright spots, but they fell well below expectations after one week. Guys like Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino will come around though. So now, onto some stats.

Team Batting - 49/199 .245, 27 runs (3.85 a game), .318 OBP, 7 home runs, 21 walks, 42 strike outs
Team Pitching - 62.1 IP, 32 ER allowed, 4.62 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 36 Ks, 28 Walks
Team Fielding - 7 errors

Batters
Jimmy Rollins - 9/30 (.300), .344 OBP, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 2 2B, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 SB
Shane Victorino - 4/28 (.143), .172 OBP, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 SB
Chase Utley - 9/26 (.346), .438 OBP, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 8 R, 2 2B, 5 BB
Ryan Howard - 5/24 (.208), .333 OBP, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, 1 2B, 5 BB, 10 K
Pat Burrell - 10/23 (.435), .519 OBP, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 4 R, 3 2B, 4 BB, 5 K
Geoff Jenkins - 6/23 (.261), .320 OBP, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 2B, 2 BB, 8 K
Pedro Feliz - 6/23 (.261), .292 OBP, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 5 K
Carlos Ruiz - 3/19 (.158), .200 OBP, 1 RBI, 2 R, 2 2B, 2 K
Eric Bruntlett - 1/2
So Taguchi - 1/3, 1 R, 1 2B
Chris Coste - 2/8, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB
Jayson Werth - 1/5, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 BB, 1 K
Greg Dobbs - 1/9, 1 RBI, 4 K

Pitchers
Brett Myers -(0-1) 10.0 IP, 13 H, 5 BB, 6 K, 7 ER (6.30 ERA), 1.80 WHIP, 2 HR allowed
Cole Hamels - (1-1) 15.0 IP, 10 H, 5 BB, 10 K, 2 ER (1.20 ERA), 1.00 WHIP, 1 HR allowed, 1 Quality Start
Jamie Moyer - (0-1) 3.2 IP, 9 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 3 ER (7.36 ERA), 2.73 WHIP
Kyle Kendrick - (1-0) 5.0 IP, 8 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 4 ER (7.20 ERA), 2.00 WHIP
Adam Eaton - (0-0) 7.2 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 2 K, 3 ER (3.72 ERA), 1.30 WHIP, 1 Quality Start

Brad Lidge - (0-0, 1 SV) 2.0 IP, 2 BB, 2 K, 1.00 WHIP
J.C. Romero - (0-0) 3.0 IP, 2 H, 3 K, 0.67 WHIP
Rudy Seanez - (0-0, 1 Hld) 2.0 IP, 1 K, 0.00 WHIP
Chad Durbin - (0-1) 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 ER (2.70 ERA), 1.80 WHIP
Ryan Madson - (0-0, 2 Hld) 4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 3 ER (6.23 ERA), 1.15 WHIP, 1 HR allowed
Clay Condrey - (1-0) 3.2 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 4 ER (9.82 ERA), 1.91 WHIP
Tom Gordon - (0-1) 2.2 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 5 ER (16.88 ERA), 3.00 WHIP

So as you can see, the pitching was not very good last week and the hitting was inconsistent and there were far too many strikeouts in our lineup (6 per game). The good news is that the Phillies are off to better starts than in 2006 and 2007 even with the poor hitting and pitching. The hitting will rebound and the pitching will always be suspect. Overall, the bullpen didn't do too bad. Our starting pitching put us in early holes that were difficult to climb out of.

Offensive Player of the Week: Pat Burrell
Pitcher of the Week: Cole Hamels

Next Week: 3 games @ Mets, 3 vs. Cubs

Home Attendance: 3 games, 38,456 per game (88.4% Capacity)

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