Game 5 of 162: The Offense is Alive?

Finally, the Phillies offense has awakened. Some people may dub them a sleeping giant because when they're about to explode, they explode in big numbers. Last night, 8 Phillies crossed the plate, including three when Ryan Howard hit a 2-out base clearing double. Jayson Werth added a 2-out RBIs of his own when he hit a two-run triple break a 3-3 tie. The Phillies knocked in 7 of their 8 runs with 2 outs. Raul Ibanez hit his 2nd home run of the year to lead the Phils in that category.

Base runners were of plenty of the Phils as they had 15 hits, but did leave 12 men on base. Pedro Feliz continued his hot start with the Phillies and went 3-5 with an RBI. The Phillies 15 hits nearly equaled the 21 they had total against the Braves.

Brett Myers allowed 4 runs on 3 home runs again, but he managed the damage to only 2 solo home runs and pitched at least 6 innings for his second straight start. He threw 7 innings on 102 pitches striking out 6. Sure, he has giving up 6 home runs this season, but he does have a nice 12/2 K/BB ratio. Once his velocity gets back up, Brett's home runs allowed should lower.

Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge threw hitless 8th and 9th innings to secure the win. Today, the Phillies will have their first opportunity a series in this young season.

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Game 4 of 162: Cole Train Derailed

Oof, that was definitely not the start this team wanted, or needed from Cole Hamels. According to Phillies beat writer Todd Zolecki, it was Cole's worst statistical start of his Phillies career.

Offensively, the Phils did not fair much better, but there were a few bright spots. Phillies star of the game was Jayson Werth who went 4-4 and scored all 3 Phillies runs, including a solo home run in the ninth. Chase Utley also went 2-3 for the Phils.

The offense continues to struggle this season. Call it what you will, but they're killing worms more than they're killing baseballs. Ryan Howard produced 7 outs in 5 at-bats. Yes, that does mean that Ryan Howard grounded into not one, not two, but three double-plays. It was a rough day all-around for the Phillies and despite a walk-happy 7th by the Braves, it has been a rough start to the season for the Phillies. The bats will come around, they always do, but let's hope it happens sooner than later.

Back to pitching, Cole Hamels main problem was the fact that he left the ball up in the zone. Hitters, especially in Coors Field are going to hit those balls very far. Yes, he only allowed one home-run, but he was yielding gappers left and right. J.A. Happ pitched well in his second-sting of long relief, but it was Chad Durbin who fell apart in the 7th. He gave up 3 earned on a walk and 2 hits.

Fans should have had lowered expectations for Cole Hamels. He's still not at 100% for the season and I'd even expect his next start to be a little iffy. Let's hope he was not rushed.

Injury News: Carlos Ruiz left the game in the 7th inning because a strained right oblique. He is listed as day-to-day. Lehigh Valley catcher, Lou Marson, was scratched from his start last night and is in Denver in case Ruiz is moved to the DL.

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Game 4 of 162: Preview

Game: Philadelphia Phillies (1-2) @ Colorado Rockies (2-1)
Pitchers: Cole Hamels (0-0) vs. Jason Marquis (0-0)
Time: 4:05PM, CNP
Weather: 49F, 11 mph winds blowing out to left

Cole Hamels will make his 2009 debut and hopefully he can help the Phils move back to .500 and build their first winning streak of the season. Everyone involved with the Phillies feel that Cole Hamels' elbow is at 100%, but there should still be a cause for concern. He pitched a lot of innings last year and the effect remains to be seen.

In 2008, King Cole set career highs in starts (33), innings pitched (227 1/3), and strikeouts (196). Every year, Hamels comes in what the idea that he can win the Cy Young. He has the stuff, but let's just hope he has the stamina and fatigue to continue over the long haul.

Last year, his win total would have been higher if he had receiver more run support. Currently, the Phillies bats are not exactly alive, but they'll be looking to get them moving in hitter-friendly Coors field against hitter-friendly pitcher Jason Marquis. Many of the Phillies have good career numbers against Marquis in a limited amount of at-bats.

So far, so good? The Phillies have walked 15 times and struck out only 15 times. A 1:1 ratio is pretty damn good, especially for the Phillies. The bats will come alive, they're normally dead to start the season. I'd expect a nice explosion today!

Dear Cole, please don't allow any home runs. At least not in the first inning! Hopefully the Fightins jump out to the early lead today.

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Phillies Complete the Sweep

The Phillies bats weren't exactly fireworks again, but they took advantage of 8 walks by Greg Reynolds and used their power stroke to complete the season sweep of the Rockies with a 6-1 win. Chase Utley hit a 3-run home run in the 5th inning and Geoff Jenkins later followed with a 2-run home run as well. (Highlights after the jump)

Adam Eaton pitched well again for the Phillies with his 6th quality start and earned his 1st win of the year. Eaton pitched 6 strong innings, giving up 1 earned on 4 hits and only 1 walk. Except for the third inning, Eaton stayed out of trouble on way to his best start of the year. Keep in mind, Eaton had a very good May last year, but it was the summer month when he exploded.
The Phillies scored in the first when Geoff Jenkins was walked with the bases loaded to bring home Shane Victorino. Shane Victorino extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Chase Utley's home run was his 17th in the year and he upped his RBI total to 46. Jenkins hit his 4th home run of the year and now has 14 RBIs.

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Psh, you call that offense?

The Phillies scored early and often to jump out to a 7-0 lead before the third inning. However, they would not score anymore runs and it was enough to hold the lead the rest of the game.

Kyle Kendrick pitched 7.1 innings and allowed only 2 earned on 7 hits and 1 walk. He also stuck out 5 Rockies. Kyle Kendrick lowered his ERA to 4.84 and it starting to look like the consistent pitcher who hit his spots last year. During his ups and downs, his composure remained the same and positive. Tom Gordon and Brad Lidge pitched the rest of the game and they both allowed 1 earned. Kendrick is now 4-2 on the season. The Phillies are 7-2 in his starts.

Rockies' pitcher, Ubaldo Jimenez, pitched well, but the Phillies just hit everything they saw in the first two innings. After the first two innings, they only had 2 hits the rest of the game in what looked like an attempt to make sure the game was official before the rain came. The same rain that later cause an a delay of more than an hour.

In the first, Rollins, Victorino, and Ryan Howard all got on to load the bases with 1out when Dobbs dropped a single into right. Rollins scored and Victorino knocked catcher Yorvit Torrealba out of the way.

Utley got it going in the 2nd with an RBI double to score in Rollins. Howard drove Utley in with an RBI double and then scored on Jenkins' RBI double, capping off the scoring for the game.

After 35 runs the past 2 games and 42 total in 20 innings, it seems as if the Phillies offense cooled off. Hopefully that was just last night because they will need plenty of runs tonight with Adam Eaton (0-3, 5.37) on the hill as he faces the Rockies' Greg Reynolds (0-1, 4.08).

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Blowouts are fun!

Maybe the Phillies' starters need to give up 3-run home runs every first inning because it seems to spark the offense. After scoring 15 runs yesterday, the Phillies put 20 on the board today to beat the Rockies 20-5. Jamie Moyer improved to 5-3 and struck out 7.

The other great news, Jamie Moyer now has recorded a win against every Major League team. Moyer came into the game 0-4 lifetime against the Rockies and his start looked dim after a Ryan Spilborghs home run, but Moyer settled down after Utley tied the game at 3 in the bottom half of the first with a 3-run bomb himself. Chase Utley also set a career high with 6 rbi's tonight, feel free to see the rest of the box scores below.

Every starter reached base and Pat Burrell was the only one without a hit. Also, every pinch-hitter recorded a hit, except for pitcher Clay Condrey who batted for himself. Wow, you rarely see something like that happen. Also, the only players with RBIs were Bruntlett, Moyer, Burrell, and Victorino.

Jimmy Rollins - 1-4, 2 R, 1 rbi, 1 BB
Bruntlett - 1-1, 1 R
Victorino - 1-2, 4 R, 2 BB
Utley - 3-6, 2 R, 6 RBI, 1 HR
Howard - 1-2, 3 R, 3 RBI, 3 BB
Burrell - 0-4, 1 BB
Bohn - 1-1, 1 RBI
Feliz - 4-6, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 2B
Coste - 3-6, 2 R, 4 RBI, 1 HR, 1 2B
Taguchi - 3-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 2B
Condrey - 0-1
Moyer - 0-1, 1 R, 1 BB
Dobbs - 1-2, 1 R, 1 2B

19 total hits and 28 total base runners.

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Pat the Bat

The Phillies are over .500 in April for the first time since 2005. All thanks to Pat Burrell's heroic three-run double in the top of the ninth. Brad Lidge was lights out in the bottom of the 9th to record the save. Ryan Madson earned his first win on the season. The Phillies swept the two game series and goto Milwaukee for another two-game series.

Chase Utley failed to hit a home run for the sixth straight game, but he did have two hits and 2 rbis.

Phils had 8 runs on 11 hits.

2B: Bruntlett, Utley, Feliz, Burrell
HR: Werth
RBI: Utley 2(20), Taguchi (2), Werth (8), Dobbs (6), Burrell 3 (22)

Myers through 7 innings allowing 6 earned runs on 11 hits and 2 home runs. His ERA rose to 4.78.

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