Week Four Wrapup – Making every hit count, Phillies end week with a sweep

The Phillies played sloppy baseball for the first time this season, committing 5 errors in a 3 game series with the Brewers and the offensive woes continued as the team hit a combined .186, .131 with runners in scoring position.  But the starting rotation was as good as advertised and went 5-1 with an ERA just under 2.50 and the Phillies offense was good when it counted, slugging ten extra base hits as the Phightins.  All told, Philadelphia posted a 5-2 record for the week, dropping the first series against the Brewers 1-2, before sweeping the Padres in a four game set at Petco.

Joe Blanton put together back to back good appearances.  His line for the week: 2.89 ERA - 14 IP 2ER 14H 2BB 7SO

Ibanez looked awful at the plate, going 1-22 and striking out 10 times.  Manuel started John Mayberry Jr in leftfield in the Padres series fanale against left hander Wade LeBlanc.  Mayberry made good contact in all three appearances against LeBlanc collecting a RBI double in the seventh. 

The back end bullpen trio of Ryan Madson, Jose Contreras and Antonio Bastardo have given up one run 27 combined appearances.  They have converted 8 of 8 save opportunities and have a combined WHIP of 0.89.  A questionmark going into the season, Charlie’s made it a strength.

                                     

Stat of the week:

Phillies pitching throws 23 straight scoreless innings.

Highlights:

Phils pitching notches two more shutouts

Seems like there one or two of these a week.  Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt combined with an efficient bullpen to throw two, Cole going 8 strong in San Diego, twirling his newly refined cureball and his plus plus changeup for 8 strikeouts and a whole lot of broken bats and nubbers. 

Ryan Howard beats the Padres in the 11^th

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the Padres intentionally walk Jimmy Rollins to get to Ryan Howard with the game on the line.  Howard blooped a two-run single down the left field line to win the game. 

Week Three Wrapup – Phillies roll on, pitching lives up to hype

Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee pitched like the One-Two Sucker Punch Ruben Amaro envisioned in signing Lee to a 5 year deal, throwing complete games in a back to back appearances against the Nationals, (something that hasn’t happened in over ten years ).   Lee tossed a 99 pitch shutout in the rubber match.  Their combined line: 2-0 18IP 9H 3ER 3BB 21SO.  

Roy Oswalt left the game in the sixth inning of his start with a tweaked lower back.  Oswalt, who has had back issues in the past, says he’ll be ready for his next scheduled start.  If you’ve ever had back problems, particularly lower back problems, you’ll know that this is something that bears watching.  Oswalt’s has been very good in the early going, his line in his first 3 starts, 2-0 2.50 ERA 18IP 18H 4BB 14SO.

The offense wasn’t very sharp, leaving an astounding 73 men on base, in only five games.  They were good enough to win however, going 3-2 in a rainshortened week.  Carlos Ruiz was clutch knocking in two game winning runs.  He looked sharp in the Washington series, blocking the plate well and throwing better than he has shown so far. 

Manuel continued to bat Rollins in the 3-hole.  While the former MVP has continued to put together good at bats, getting on base and posting a solid average (.298/.355), he didn’t record his first RBI of the season until the 13^th game of the season.

Stat of the Week:

The Phils only hit .220 for the week but in clutch situations, they posted a healthy .295 RISP (13 of 44 ). 

Highlights

Carlos Ruiz breaks up a no-hitter

Nationals pitcher, Jordan Zimmerman was electric for six innings, mixing 95mph heat with a sharp power slider and good control of the plate.  The Phillies were hitless to open the bottom of the sixth.  Ruiz, who’d struck out badly in the third was looking for a breaking ball, preferably down and in.  Zimmerman hung an 0-1 curve and Ruiz deposited the pitch into the left field seats.

Cliff Lee was dominant in his third start of the season.  The Nats didn’t have many good swings the entire night, and Lee only needed 99 pitches to get through nine.  Phils win 4-0.

The Dobbers can still hit

Greg Dobbs beat the Phillies with a slap shot pinch hit for the Marlins.  Dobbs, who was not resigned this off-season, is off to a good start with the fish hitting .421 with 7 RBI.