Weekend & Homestand Notes

Huge victory by our Phillies on Saturday night!! The Phillies hammered Pirates closer Matt Capps for 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to win the game 8-7. The Phillies are now 7-1 on their current homestand. The team trailed 7-3 entering the final frame, before Matt Stairs hit his 4th pinch hit homer of the season. Four batters later, with Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley on base, Ryan Howard tied the game with a deep drive into the left-center field seats. The Phillies then loaded the bases and Paul Bako won the game with a single that drove in Raul Ibanez to give Tyler Walker his first win as a Phillie. The series and the first half of the season wraps up Sunday at 1:35pm, when "Jay" Happ (5-0, 3.04 ERA) faces (1-2, 4.50 ERA). The Phillies now enjoy a 4 game lead over the 2nd place Marlins in the NL East.

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After batting .309 with a .970 OPS in May, Carlos Ruiz is batting .179 in 27 games since then. Historically, July is Ruiz's worst month for batting average and OPS (.210 and .606 respectively).

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The Phillies bullpen has been superb on the current homestand. In 23 2/3 innings pitched, the relief corp has struck out 29 batters, allowed only seven walks and surrendered just 4 earned runs. That's a 1.52 ERA in 8 games.

A member of the 'pen who has been remarkably solid is Chan Ho Park. In the past 5 weeks, since June 7th, Park has posted a 2-1 record, in 19 2/3 innings pitched, and has allowed just 4 earned runs (1.83 ERA) through 14 games.

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While the GM Ruben Amaro continues to not comment on the Phillies' potential negotiations with Pedro Martinez, ESPN had some footage in the past day or so, of Pedro wearing a Phillies cap at his work out for team scouts on Friday. Below is a very low quality screen grab.

Comments

Amanda said…

What an awesome game!

And hopefully Ruiz will start to get back on track.

Nice screenshot of Pedro.

July 12, 2009 at 11:18 AM

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

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...

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...

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