MVN - Most Valuable Network

Phillies Begin Must-Win Series in NY

A few months ago the Mets were an underachieving team that showed little sign of making up for it’s historic collapse last September.

A few months ago Carlos Delgado looked like a left-handed Wes Helms and Mike Pelfrey looked like Kyle Kendrick.

A few months ago feels like a different lifetime.

Every time the Phillies have had a big win over the Mets this season (the 4-run ninth in early July and the 8-7 comeback spring to mind), they simply can’t hold onto the momentum. They haven’t beat the Mets twice in a row once this season. Everything that went right last season has gone wrong this season.

But all is not lost. The Phils are three games behind the Mets as of this post, so a comeback seems manageable. On this day last year, the deficit was five games.

Since these games are so important, Charlie Manuel and Rich Dubee have decided to skip Kendrick’s start in favor of Cole Hamels Sunday night. It will be Hamels-Santana on ESPN in September … the dream game we all discussed prior to the season.

The bullpen will be the storyline in this series, as it usually is with these teams. The games always seem to be close, and the heroes and goats always seem to be relievers. Last year, the Phillies mediocre bullpen shut the Mets down in August and September. This year, the Phillies highly touted bullpen has failed them more times than not.

The problem is Chad Durbin. He has never pitched this much in such a role before, and he is showing signs of fatigue. He has left his slider in the middle of the plate for much of the season, but has been effective because he was pitching low. Recently, he’s been leaving it up and gotten horrible results. Why the Phillies don’t use J.C. Romero as an eighth inning pitcher exclusively now is beyond me, especially now that Scott Eyre has emerged as a very good second lefty.

Offensively, the Phils have been okay lately. Jayson Werth has been hot (I’m the only person in Philly with a Werth jersey, he’s just been my favorite player since early 2007, he’s a five-tool guy who is missing that something that makes someone a superstar, but does everything the right way), Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley have picked it up considerably. The only Phillie who is really scuffling is Pat Burrell, whose average is down to .256. Burrell is never going to compete for a batting title, but based on his production during the second half of 2007 and the first two months of 2008, it’s hard to imagine it being that low.

The Phillies have called up Jay Happ, Adam Eaton, Les Walrond, Andy Tracy, Mike Cervenak, Lou Marson, and Greg Golson for the 40-man roster.

Golson and Cervenak should have been called up months ago. So Taguchi and Eric Bruntlett should have been released months ago. Neither veteran provides much of anything to the team, and waste space that could be filled by guys with something to prove.

Golson has tremendous speed and a great arm from the outfield, so it makes little sense that he wasn’t this season’s Michael Bourn. Cervenak is not young, nor a top prospect, but can you honestly argue that Bruntlett does anything Cervenak doesn’t do?

Bruntlett’s only useful trait is that he plays a bunch of positions decently. But other than his big hit against the Mets in the 8-7 comeback and his dynamite series in Arizona in May, he’s struggled to hit the ball out of the infield this season.

I’d like to see Lou Marson get a start behind the plate. Not in this series against the Mets, but somewhere over the final month. Neither Carlos Ruiz nor Chris Coste is the answer at catcher after this season, so it would be nice to see what the Phils’ top catching prospect has to offer.

Happ and Walrond will be used sparingly, and if my prayers are answered, Adam Eaton won’t make an appearance the rest of the way.

If you notice, I’ve gone an entire post without mentioning the pitiful series loss to the Nationals. What I will say is that if the Phillies fall a game or two short, this is the series we will all remember. They had this one.

If the Phils don’t win at least 2 of 3 against the Mets this weekend, their chance of winning the N.L. East is gone. With Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, and Hamels going (finally), though, the Phillies have the best pitching matchups they’ve had against the Mets all season.

Hopefully the Phillies get as hot this September as they did last. But it’s hard not to notice 2008 has a different feel.

Phils Outlast Mets in Instant Classic

5 hours, 17 minutes. 480 pitches. 49 players.

That’s what it took for the Phillies and Mets to decide a game that had first-place implications.

Down 7-0 in the fourth inning and facing a rolling Pedro Martinez, the Phils appeared dead in the water. But two innings, one sac fly (Pedro Feliz), and two two-run homers (Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard) later, the Phils had cut the deficit to 7-5.

Still, a comeback didn’t appear likely, as they trailed 7-6 with two outs and none on in the bottom of the ninth. Jayson Werth hurt the Mets again, however, with a single up the middle, and Eric Bruntlett FINALLY came through with an RBI double.

Werth is an outstanding baserunner, but a good cutoff from Damion Easley likely would have nailed him to end the game.

The Phillies left Bruntlett at second in the ninth, and squandered great scoring chances in the 10th and 11th, but cashed in during the bottom of the 13th.

Shane Victorino led off with an opposite-field triple, forcing the Mets to intentionally walk the bases loaded. Since the Phillies were out of extra men long before this, Brett Myers became the second Phillies pitcher to pinch-hit (Cole Hamels struck out earlier.)

Myers was apparently instructed not to swing (and with good reason, he’s hitting .044 on the year), and was eventually caught looking on a 3-2 pitch from Scott Schoeneweis.

Chris Coste ended the game with a deep fly ball to center, making him 4-4 on the night, in a game he didn’t even enter until the 8th inning.

Kudos to Charlie Manuel for more brilliant managing. And no, I am not being sarcastic one bit.

Manuel decided to leave catcher Carlos Ruiz in the game after pinch-hitting for Greg Dobbs. He shifted Ruiz to third base and kept Coste in to catch, leaving Bruntlett available as the lone extra man off the bench, just in case the pitcher’s spot came up in the ninth.

Ruiz, who came up with the Phillies as an infielder, had never played a single inning as anything but a catcher in the major leagues. An unorthodox, gutsy call by Charlie turned out to be the right one, as a pitcher would have had to bat with two outs in the ninth had Bruntlett came in to play third for Dobbs.

Jimmy Rollins had five hits in his first five at-bats to increase his on-base streak to ten straight plate appearance, before finishing 5-7. Hopefully Jimmy is FINALLY getting hot, something we haven’t really seen all season. As he goes, the Phillies go. Nobody in their right mind could argue that.

This game was an instant classic. It had all the ingredients of what National League baseball is supposed to be about. Tons of situational pitching changes, double switches, every player used except Luis Castillo. Those who love American League baseball probably see pitchers batting in extra innings and laugh, but I’d pick a game like this over any A.L. slugfest.

This is strategy. This is every pitch meaning more than just a pitch. This is moves being made in anticipation of moves being made later. This is the NBA.

Oops, got carried away there. Reminded myself of those corny NBA commercials. But all hilarious joking by me aside, this is baseball.

Seeing the Phils come back from a seven run deficit wasn’t entirely surprising, given the fact that they have been making huge comebacks all season. Don’t believe? BAH! Look at this:

• 4/3 vs. Washington: Down 6-1 in the sixth, Phillies win 8-7 in 10.
• 7/7 vs. Mets: Down 10-1 in the sixth, Phillies lose 10-9, strand tying and winnings runs at 2nd and third.
• 7/22 @ Mets: Down 5-2 in the ninth, Phillies win 8-6.
• 7/26 vs. Atlanta: Down 9-3 in the fifth, Phillies win 10-9.
• 7/27 vs. Atlanta: Down 5-0 in the fourth, Phillies win 12-10
• 8/26 vs. Mets: Down 7-0 in the fourth, Phillies win 8-7 in 13.

Wow.

That’s a team with character.

Pedro Feliz Saves the Day

I used to work with a die-hard Giants fan who told me repeatedly that Pedro Feliz was the least clutch player he’d ever seen. “He never gets the big hit, you’ll hate him. He’s good defensively, but I’m glad to be rid of him.”

Oh yeah, well rid that!

If that doesn’t make sense, blame it on all the Lil Wayne I’ve been listening to recently. (He’s actually really creative and lyrical if you get past the gimmick and most of the radio music he puts out. Used to hate him. Now I don’t so much.)

I guess you could say I share the same feelings for good ol’ Pedro Feliz, who came on in the seventh inning Sunday night as a defensive replacement, and had the game-tying and game-winning hits. His two-out RBI single in the ninth off Jonathan Broxton (whose name is as intimidating as his frame, anyone with an X in their last name has to be rugged) made it 2-2, and his two-out three-run jimmy-jack gave the Phillies a 5-2 extra inning win. There were six dashes in that sentence.

The Phils have taken three straight from the Dodgers after getting swept out in L.A., home of the wave and the fan who doesn’t like baseball much, but a baseball game sounds like fun! Manny Ramirez has been as ineffective as possible, with no RBI or extra-base hits in the series. Maybe the four decimeters he cut off his hair took all his power away.

Speaking of which, why was that a story in any way? Like, why do I know that Manny had a talk with Joe Torre about cutting his hair? Are we all that bored and starved for writing material? What does a horseshoe do? Is there such a thing as horsesocks? Is anybody listening to me?

The Phillies are now a mere 1/2 game behind the Mets, who lost 6-4 in extras to the Astros. It’s hard to blame the Mets bullpen for this one, though, because Brad Ausmus has a ton of opposite field power. You can only hope to contain him.

As for those powerful little Fishies from Florida, former Phillie-killer turned everybody-killer Ricky Nolasco pitched another good game, leading them to a 5-2 victory over the Diamondbacks.

Nolasco is going to be a very good pitcher. He gets a lot of swing-and-misses, has an equal GB:FB ratio, has improved every month this season, and is tied for 8th in the N.L. in complete games. With one. That stat makes me want to cry. CC Sabathia is rolling over in his tub of jelly.

Speaking of Sabathia, the N.L.’s best pitcher, let’s talk about the league’s second best pitcher…Adam Eaton!

How’s Adam doing, you ask? Well, after struggling in Single-A, he’s really turned it around at Double-A Reading, where he is 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA and seven homers allowed in 21 innings. You’re not alone, I can’t wait until he gets his September call-up either.

Brett Myers takes the hill tomorrow night against Chad Billingsley in the final game of this series. Every time I hear Billingsley’s name, I don’t think of his potential, or 3.10 ERA, or 168 K’s in 162.2 IP, or that, like Woody Harrelson, he is from Defiance, Ohio. I think of the scene in the beginning of “Friday Night Lights” where the guy in the passing car yells “BILLINGSLEY! Party at Taylor’s house! Gonna get wasted! BILLINGSLEY!!!”

When I refer to “Friday Night Lights,” I mean the movie. Not the television show that was absolutely awesome during its first season, and pathetically turned into Laguna Beach during it’s strike-shortened second season.

Like Bill Simmons, I highly recommend watching the first season of the show, but don’t bother after that. The football disappears, and in its place comes a love octagon between all eight members of Dillon, TX.

Myers “The Man” Again, Just Ask the Nats

When Brett Myers was recalled from Triple-A following the All-Star break, few new what to expect.

The righty had struggled in every way during the first half, leading baseball in home runs allowed, losing velocity on his fastball, and failing to hold leads. His control was an issue, too, as he was falling behind too many hitters, allowing them to lay off his nasty curve that often falls out of the strike zone.

Maybe Myers was right. Maybe in that month away from the big leagues he regained his swagger, his confidence, his ability to pitch like we all know he can.

The Phils gave the lowly Nationals their 12th straight loss Wednesday night, backed by Myers’ nine-hit shutout. He walked one and struck out nine, improving to 3-1 with a 1.94 ERA since his recall from Lehigh Valley. In his last five starts, Myers has walked five and struck out 28 in 36.2 innings.

To provide proper perspective, we must all remember these are the Nationals. They are the National League’s equivalent to a Double-A team, and Myers’ two best performances during that stretch came at their expense. His next best start was against the Nady-less, Bay-less, good player-less Pirates. But he also pitched well against the Cardinals and Dodgers, two very good offenses.

While a handful of starts won’t definitively allow us to call Myers an elite starter just yet, he is turning it on at the right time and performing up to the lofty expectations set for him.

The Phils bats continued to struggle, mustering only four runs, one of which came by a Nationals error. Two came on a Greg Dobbs homer, and one came on a Jayson Werth bloop double to right.

Pedro Feliz was activated from the 15-day D.L. Wednesday, and will likely be back in the starting lineup Thursday. His presence will allow Dobbs to return to the pinch-hitting role he excels in. It will also send Eric Bruntlett back to the bench, where he can think about life after baseball, a reality that should come true for him in a few months.

The Mets and Brewers also won Wednesday, keeping the Phillies at 1.5 and 4 games back in the division and wildcard races.

Jamie Moyer takes the hill tomorrow night against Tim Redding, a man who had a string of dominant starts against the Phillies until his last. Hopefully the Phils get to him again, as they need a sweep before a string of ten games against the Dodgers, Mets, and Cubs.