Sunday, August 9th

Marlins 12, Phillies 3

This was the ugliest loss of the season.

The Marlins finally solved Jamie Moyer and Josh Johnson pitched like an ace for Florida, which swept the Phillies and is four games back in the division.

We could have seen the last of Moyer, who allowed 11 hits and three runs over five-plus innings.

The Phillies have had 1-9 homestands, horrible starting pitching and a closer who can’t close, but this loss ranks at the top of worst moments of 2009.

Shane Victorino was ejected for arguing balls and strikes… in center field.

Victorino ran in from center field and had to be restrained from home plate umpire Ed Rapuano.  Victorino threw his arms up in the air after a pitch by Rodrigo Lopez was called a ball in the seventh inning. Victorino pushed Paul Bako out of the way and nearly made contact with Rapuano.

Go here to watch it all unfold.

(The ejection was bush league all the way. Rapuano should be disgusted with himself and, consequently, fined for his actions).

The Marlins unloaded for six runs in the seventh. Jayson Werth, who replaced Victorino, failed to put his glove on the grass to field a single up the middle by Mickey Man… err, Chris Coghlan, allowing three runners to score while Coghlan advanced to third base.

The Phillies’ bats, meanwhile, were quieted once again. Raul Ibanez and Ryan Howard both haven’t hit a home run in 12 games and Chase Utley is mired in a terrible slump.

Ibanez hasn’t had an RBI in August.

The lack of production is mind-boggling.

Philly will look to get back on track at Wrigley Field starting Tuesday.

Player of the Game

Chris Coghlan

 

Saturday, August 8th

Marlins 6, Phillies 4

Cole Hamels labored through 5 1/3  innings while the Phillies’ offense sputtered for the second straight night against Florida.

The Marlins have won the first two games of the weekend series and are five games behind the Phillies for first place.

Cody Ross’ two-run homer off Hamels (7-7, 4.77 ERA) in the sixth inning gave the Marlins a 4-3 lead that stood. Hamels allowed four earned runs over 5 1/3 innings, throwing 115 pitches.

Hamels’ outing got off to a rough start when he surrendered a solo homer to Chris Coghlan to lead off the game. Following a 3-0 July, Hamels is 0-2 and has yielded 10 earned runs in two starts this month.

I was at the game tonight. I studied Hamels’ body language, and it was very poor from the outset. In the third inning, with the Phillies ahead, 2-1, Utley bobbled a groundball, thereby muffing  a routine double play and allowing the Fish to score the tying run.

It seemed that Hamels showed his disgust by throwing his arms in the air. Utley immediately came over to Hamels for a quick word.

I interpreted it as Hamels showing up Utley. Not good.

After the game, Hamels did not speak to the media. Charlie Manuel said he is “trying too hard.”

Whatever.

I’ll stand by what I said in an earlier post: Shut Hamels down. Give him a mental rest. Let him collect his thoughts, relax for a couple weeks, and come back ready to go for the final month or so of the regular season. At this point, I fear Hamels is a destructive presence. He’s losing his cool, and that’s not good for the chemistry of this team

The Phillies’ bats were nonexistent with runners on base.  They scraped together a pair of runs in the first tinning to take a 2-1 lead. In the third, Nick Johnson gave the Phils a gift by dropping a routine popup, allowing Ryan Howard to cross thee plate to make it 3-2.

Howard was 4-for-4, tying a career high in hits. The Phils pelted Florida starter Sean West for six hits in the first two innings, but were pretty much blanked the rest of the way…

The Phillies were 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position.

Former Phillie Brian Sanches (2-1, 1.14 ERA) pitched a scoreless fifth inning for the win.

With Josh Johnson toeing the slab Sunday, a Florida sweep appears likely.

Player of the Game

Cody Ross