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.

Heroes- Fight of the Century

VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...

Michael Taylor Q&A

Michael Taylor is currently leading the Reading Phillies' offense and is near the top of the Eastern League in most stat categories (3rd in batting avg- .342, 3rd in HR- 14, tied for second in RBI- 55, 2nd in OPS.- .994, tied for 1st in runs scored- 49, tied for 1st in hits...). The 23 year old Taylor is 6 feet 6 inches tall and has quickly grabbed the attention of phans and media alike as a top prospect to watch. I spoke with Mike Taylor over the weekend, and here is that interview. With all the big stats and being among the league leaders in so many categories, do you think you're ready for the next step? It's kind of a difficult question. Do you have anything left to prove here? There's always something to prove. There's stuff to prove every game. I mean that's one thing that's very interesting about this game. It's such a numbers oriented game. You're only as good as your last "whatever statistical category that someone's valuing". ...

Q&A with Justin De Fratus

Justin De Fratus is a 21 year old right handed relief pitcher with the Lakewood BlueClaws. An 11th round draft choice in 2007, Justin had been a starter in his first two seasons in the Phillies organization. Informed this spring that he'd be switched from the rotation to the bullpen, Justin has excelled and become one of the most reliable pitchers on the Lakewood staff. In 19 games this season, Justin is 2-0, with a 1.83 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over 39 1/3 innings pitched. PhoulBallz.com spoke with Justin De Fratus just last night. Here's how that went down... Justin, South Atlantic League all star selections were announced this week, and you were named to the team. Can I get your reaction to that? How excited were you? Very excited about it. Well, especially this year because I just got moved to the bullpen, so this is a new role for me. So, if anything, it's reassuring that I'm doing my job. It's the first time in my pro career that I've been selected as an all star...

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