Sell the Ball Park...Phillies Need to Stay on the Road!

After an awful home stand where the Phillies went 1-8, the defending champs bounced back on Tuesday night with a 10-1 victory against the Rays. The win for the Phillies improves their road record to a Major League best 24-9 (.727 winning percentage), while their home record is second worst in the majors (13-22). I'm pretty sure most phans would be in favor of the Phillies relocating some of their home games, going forward.

Despite Jimmy Rollins' 0-5 effort out of the lead off spot, in game 1 of the series in Tampa, he scored a run. Since the Phillies won the game, that improves the team's record to 28-7 (.800 winning percentage) in games that Rollins plays and scores at least one run. In games that Rollins plays and does not score a run, the Phillies are 8-23 (.258 winning percentage). That's surely proof that Rollins is key for the Phillies as a table setter and a leader.

J-Roll's struggles reflect the Phillies' issues at home. His batting average is 44 points higher on the road than it is in Philadelphia. The 2007 NL Most Valuable Player is not playing like his former self, but if he returns to form, the team will benefit greatly. Rollins scored at least one run in 102 games in 2007. If Rollins could get going on that MVP/139 runs scored pace, and the Phils continue to win at the same rate when he scores, they'd easily be looking at another division title.

John Mayberry Jr. hit a big homer in the rout of the Rays. The 3-run blast in the first inning put the Phils up by 6 and allowed them to sail the rest of the way.

Here's your MLB contribution comparison for Mayberry Jr. and the guy he was traded for in the offseason, Greg Golson...

Junior- 7-for-24 (.292 avg), 2 doubles, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 4 runs.

Golson- 0-for-1, 1 K.

Golson is in the Rangers organization and was called up for a cup of coffee in May, but was sent back down. With triple A Oklahoma City, Golson is hitting .277 with 1 homer, 25 RBI and 6 steals.

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The South Atlantic League All Star game was played Tuesday night in West Virginia, and friend of Phoul Ballz Justin De Fratus was the winning pitcher for the Northern Division all stars! After giving up the tying run on a homer in the top of the 9th inning, De Fratus got the win when the North team scored the walk-off victory following two singles and a throwing error by the South team.

More of your BlueClaws contributed to the win. Professional baseball's steals leader, Anthony Gose, stole two bags, had two hits and scored twice. Travis D'Arnaud, who played on the North team with his brother, West Virginia short stop Chase D'Arnaud, had a hit in one at bat. Tyler Cloyd pitched a scoreless inning and struck out 2. Second baseman Harold Garcia was hitless in 2 at bats. Reliever BJ Rosenberg did not pitch.

Lakewood manager Dusty Wathan was the manager for the victorious North Division team.

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...

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