Monday, May 10th

Coors Field

Game 1 of 3

HEROES

• Carlos Ruiz is probably the best catcher in the NL right now (don’t you f*ckin’ dare say Rod Barajas). Chooch was 4-for-4 with the game-winning RBI single in the ninth inning. Ruiz has been an on-base machine. Can you believe that he leads the team in hitting (.364) and leads ALL OF BASEBALL in on-base percentage (.481). He’s hit .500 over the last 10 games… this from a guy who is normally the eight-hole hitter in the lineup! Goes to show how great this lineup can be.

• Ross Gload popped his Phillie cherry with a line drive, three-run homer off Manny Corpas to seal the win. Gload hasn’t played much at all save a few pinch hit appearances. Don’t know much about the guy, unfortunately, but I think he can hit… he just hasn’t had the chance.

• Chase Utley had a couple hits aand made a diving stop at second place that resulted in a double play.

BUMS

• J.C. Romero was terrible. He faced four batters, got only one out and allowed the Rockies to tie the game in the seventh inning.

• Wilson Valdez is a New York Mets reject, which explains why he can look so lost and so bad.

Phillies 2, Astros 1

Sunday, April 11th

All killer, no filler

Roy Halladay carved up the Astros, earning career win No. 150 and complete game No. 50 on getaway day in Houston.

Halladay scattered seven hits, struck out eight, walked none and allowed one unearned run. He was masterful.

On a day when the bats weren’t clicking — Roy Oswalt pitched very well in defeat — Halladay did what all good aces are paid to do.  Halladay got into trouble in the sixth inning, loading the bases with no outs, but forced Cory Sullivan to ground into a rally-killing double play before getting Carlos Lee to pop up to Jimmy Rollins.

Rollins hit his 34th career leadoff homer and Carlos Ruiz knocked in Raul Ibanez with a fielder’s choice in the second inning to make it 2-0.

The Phils produced only six hits, the first time this season they failed to reach 10 or more knocks.

In two games, Halladay is 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA. Stunning.

The Phils’ 5-1 record is their best start since 1993 (8-1).

Carlos Ruiz was the Phillies’ final arbitration-eligible player and on Sunday the 31-year-old catcher reportedly agreed to a three-year contract for  $8.85 million.

The deal includes a fourth-year option at $5 million.

The three-year pact takes cares of Ruiz’s arbitration-eligible years.

—

Well, I think this is a good bargain. Is Ruiz the best catcher in baseball? No way…. but he’s certainly emerged as one of the best defensive catchers, perhaps second only to Yadier Molina in the NL.

Any catcher that can hit .250 and drive in 40-plus runs from the No. 8 hole and provide stellar defense behind the plate is a pretty darn good player. Ruiz has been an underrated contributor. It’s good to see a guy who has worked this hard get awarded …. and it’s hard to believe he’s been a part of the organization since 1998!

Shane Victorino, along with Joe Blanton, is here to stay awhile.

The All-Star center fielder joined Blanton in signing a three-year contract extension Friday, wiping out his final year of arbitration eligibility plus two years of free agency.

Victorino’s contract will pay him $22 million over three years.

The Phillies’ last arbitration case is Carlus Ruiz, whom they are expected to sign to a multi-year deal.

The Phillies had been in talks with Shane Victorino regarding a multi-year deal. Now, it appears, both Carlos Ruiz and Joe Blanton are being targeted for extensions, too.

All three players are arbitration eligible.

Blanton would be a free agent after this season, while Victorino wouldn’t be a free agent until after the 2011 campaign. Ruiz, 30, is arbitration eligible for the first time.

It has been  24 hours since the Phillies relinquished their World Series championship to the New York Yankees. Hell, the Yanks were the better team. 

But… they weren’t a FAR superior team.

In fact, you could argue the Phillies could have repeat had Brad Lidge not blown up in the ninth inning of Game 4. If Lidge gets out of the inning unscathed, and the Phillies scratch out a game-winning, the Series is tied.

Oh well. No sense in playing the coulda/shoulda/woulda game.

So, what went wrong? Hmm, I can think of three things…

Ryan Howard was terrible

The Big Piece was having a tremendous postseason. He had won the NLCS MVP and came into the World Series with 14 RBIs in the playoffs.

After winning the NLCS in five games, the Phillies had a week layoff and that, I feel, was detrimental to Howard’s groove.  Granted, the Yankees’ left-handed pitchers kept the slugger in check, but when a guy is that hot coming into a series and all of the sudden goes soft, it begs the question about too much rest.

Howard is a streaky hitter. He’ll carry the team for a month or two straight. He was doing that in the playoffs until the lengthy time off.

Howard batted .174 with one homer, three RBIs and a World Series-record 13 strikeouts. That’s not the kind of performance I expected. His MIA status was huge.

Pitching: The Yankees were better

Duh, right?

Lidge was awful, as we know. So, too, was Cole Hamels.

The only reliable pitcher was Cliff Lee. Matter of fact, it was that way for the entire playoffs. Whereas the Yankees had three guys they could count on in Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett… the Phillies’ starting pitching was a big question mark.

Last year, the Phillies had an untouchable bullpen. This year? Argggh.

The year-long instability caught up to the Phillies at the very last moment.

Clutch hitting was nonexistent

The Phillies got back to the World Series behind the strength of clutch hitting. Jimmy Rollins, Howard, Jayson Werth, Carlos Ruiz … those guys all came through in the NLDS and NLCS.

Really, the only guy that was consistent in the World Series was Chase Utley… and even he stranded a lot of guys on base when he wasn’t smashing home runs.

Well, those are just a few reasons why the Phillies aren’t preparing for their second straight parade down Broad St.

As my former middle school baseball coach once told me, “When you don’t play as good as your opponent, you will not be as good as your opponent.”

Yeaaah.

Brad Lidge took the brunt of the blame for Game 4′s ninth-inning disaster.

The key play of the World Series came when Johnny Damon stole second base … and kept on running because, well, nobody was covering third base.

Baseball 101 would suggest that Lidge should have been over at third. Every player has to be moving on every play… usually… because, usually, all pitchers have to do on a stolen base attempt is duck for cover. Except for rare instances such as this.

Because the Phillies had the shift on Mark Teixeira, Pedro Feliz had to take the throw at second base.

However, in a situation like this, Lidge shouldn’t have to worry about being an infielder when his focus should be on getting out of the inning unscathed. Instead, Ruiz should have been darting to third base. Charlie Manuel mentioned that in his post-game press conference …

This play could have been avoided all together. Here’s why:

• Carlos Ruiz has no business throwing in the first place. Ruiz was in a vulnerable position. Instead of throwing from an upright position, Ruiz fired from his knees. He got nothing behind the throw, which explains why Feliz had to jump in front and use his body to block the ball… which prompted Damon to keep chugging.
• The shift on Mark Teixeira. Why? The slugging first baseman has done next to nothing at the plate. I understand the Phillies were playing percentages, but a standard defense would have worked there. Instead, Feliz was all the way over near the second-base bag, had to take Ruiz’s throw and, well, the rest is history…
• Where was J-Roll? He was on the other side of the bag… but he could have taken the throw. Rollins admitted it was his bad for not handling the stolen base attempt. Obviously, had Rollins been there, Feliz could have been in a better position to cover third.

Unfortunately, we’re dealt with what we got. The Yankees capitalized on the Phillies’ mistakes.

Damon, as far as I’m concerned, won the Yankees that game. Yes, A-Rod delivered the huge go-ahead RBI double, but Damon worked a helluva at-bat, managed to get on base and manufactured the winning run. Heady baseball on Damon’s part, no matter how you look at it.

The Dud

"I can't wait for (the season) to end."

There’s a quote from Cole Hamels following his disasterous outing against the Yankees in Game 3 Saturday night. Hamels was questioned about his terrible 2009 season and responded with that little gem.

Cole Hamels is done.  So, he can call it a season right now, empty out his locker and go home to his mansion in West Chester, Pa. It’s that type of attitude that has turned Hamels from legend to goat in the matter of 12 months. It’s sad, really.

Hamels had a 3-0 lead to work with and was stellar through three innings. Like a rogue wave, Hamels’ downfall was unseen, but in the pit of my stomach, I anticipated he would struggle at some point.

He was removed after 4 1/3 innings. He allowed five earned runs.

The Story

It was the starting pitching.

Whereas Hamels faltered after a strong start, Andy Pettitte bounced back from a shaky start and pitched six quality innings. The Phillies had a chance to break the game open in the second inning when they loaded the bases with one out. They managed three runs, but it could’ve been much more.

Jayson Werth hit two solo homers and Carlos Ruiz smashed a meaningless one in the ninth. Other than those two, the Phillies’ offense was silenced after the third inning.

Good bullpen pitching by New York. Mariano Rivera earned a two-out save.

All in all, the Phillies simply aren’t hitting. Ryan Howard is in a major funk (nine Ks in three games). I actually think the long layoff shattered the groove he was in. Jimmy Rollins, save a single to lead off the game, didn’t do much. Same for Shane Victorino, who had a dreadful at-bat against Pettitte in the second inning with the bases juiced. Hmm… Chase Utley has gone back to being a non-factor. And Pedro Feliz is Pedro Feliz.

Ruiz continues to rake and Werth essentially carried the offense.  That’s about it in terms of positives in the lineup right now.

The Turning Point

A-Rod’s two-run homer was reviewed by the umpires, who declared the ball would have travled over the right-field wall had it not hit a television camera.

No excuses.

A-Rod’s shot sparked the Yanks. Soon after, Hamels folded. The collapse came when he threw a get-me-over CURVEBALL to Pettitte, who swung and made contact for a hit to center field, which drove in the tying run. Johnny Damon then smoked a two-run double off Hamels.

The Next Game

This is what I feared the most. Charlie Manuel decided Friday that Joe Blanton will pitch Game 4 against CC Sabathia. Basically, as a Phillies fan, all you can do is cross your fingers and hope that Blanton gives you six-plus innings and doesn’t allow no more than three runs.

I have a feeling the Phillies will come out with an aggressive approach against Sabathia. This sounds lame, but I think Sabathia can get rattled if he lets the crowd get into his head. I thought he struggled with that “distraction” in last year’s NLDS. There’s also a possibility Sabathia struggles because he’s pitching on three days rest.

Speaking of the crowd, the fans were lame. Once the Phillies scored  those three runs, I think the feeling amongst the fans was that the game was in the bag.

When the Phillies got down, the crowd went silent for good… pretty much. We need a better effort in Game 4.

And like a New York City STD,  The Bank spread with “Let’s Go Yankees!” and “Hip-hip, Jorge!” chants from about the sixth inning on.

Ryan Howard OVER Mark Teixeira

I understand Tex has the huge contract and he’s probably the best defensive first baseman in all the land. Oh, and he can murder the baseball…

Still, I’d take Ryan’s bat over his. Howard has proven time and again that he is a lethal force that can’t be messed with. He’s a superstar.

Chase Utley OVER Robinson Cano

OK, so maybe Chase hasn’t been the same player since, well, May 2008. That’s cool. I think he’s playing with an injury again, but we won’t know for sure until after the postseason.

I love what Cano brings and he has a bright future. But, by and large, Utley has been the best second baseman in the league since 2007. I know he’s struggle,d but he’s a gamer. Gotta love his attitude.

Jimmy Rollins OVER Derek Jeter

yeah, I know Jeter is the son of Jesus Christ and all, but I’ll take J-Roll any day. Sounds crazy considering he’s nowhere near as consistent with the bat as Jeter, but Jimmy has a flare for the dramatic. He comes through when you need him to. He’ll aggravate you, but he always makes up for it. Not to mention, he’s the best defensive shortstop in baseball. Period.

A-Rod OVER Pedro Feliz

Uhh, yeah, this is a no-brainer. I like A-Rod as a player. He’s a fraud in some ways, you know, because of that steriod thing… but he’s still one of the best of the game regardless

LF Raul Ibanez OVER Johnny Damon

They’re both old, but Ibanez has more potential… if that makes sense.

Shane Victorino OVER Melky Cabrera

Victorino is the best center fielder in the NL, in my opinion. Love him or hate him, he’s a stud. Melky reminds me of a Marlon Byrd type, but I may be wrong

Jayson Werth OVER Nick Swisher

Not even a debate. I would like to punch Swisher in his nose. He just has that look to him…

Carlos Ruiz OVER Jorge Posada

Ruiz has established himself as one of the best all-around catchers in the game. I respect Posada, but at this point in his career, I think he’s a step or two behind his prime.

The Stud

"Duuuhhh!"

"That's why they brought me here, bitches."

Eight innings. No runs. Ten strikeouts. Three hits.

Insane!

The Phillies rode the back of Cliff Lee to take a 2-1 series lead. OK, OK… to be fair, the offense gave him a New York Mets week’s worth of runs.

The Story

Well, obviously, Cliff Lee. Yeah, there was Cliff Lee, too, and also Cliff Lee had a good game. I don’t want to forget to mention Cliff Lee, who was superb.

The Phillies pummeled Dodger starter Hiroki Kuroda, who lasted only 1 1/3 innings and allowed six runs on six hits. It all started with a one-out single to Shane Victorino in the first inning. It went downhill from there.

Ryan Howard continued to rake. He knocked in the first two runs with a belly-flop triple. Jayson Werth then proceeded to hit the living s^&% out of the ball to dead centerfield to make it 4-dick.

Hmm, what was next? Oh… Jimmy Rollins knocked in Carlos Ruiz with a two-bagger and Howard drove in his third run of the game with a groundout.

Pedro Feliz collected an RBI triple and Victorino hit a three-run bomb.

Oh yeah, Carlos Ruiz added two more hits. He’s killing the Dodgers.

The Turning Point

The first moment Lee stepped foot on the Citizens Bank Park mound. The Dodgers didn’t stand a chance.

The Next Game

Old friend Randy Wolf starts for the Dodgers in Game 4. The Phillies send out Joe Blanton, who is making his first postseason start.