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Six shut out innings by the bullpen, a diving catch by Jayson Werth and two homeruns by Chase Utley won the game for the Phillies and got their lead in the NL East back to 3 games over the Metropolitans. It was a surprising effort from the bullpen as Scott Eyre, JC Romero, Jack Taschner, Chad Durbin, Ryan Madson and even Chan Ho Park shut down the Mets lineup in the extra inning victory. It was a risky play by Werth, who could have allowed the winning run to score if he hadn't made the catch on the ball batted by David Wright. It was clutch hitting by Utley, who, with his second homerun of the game, gave the Phillies an 11th inning lead that they would not let up. Huge win for the Phillies! ------------------------- Stats to ponder- Jimmy Rollins in the lead off spot this season- 49 games, .208 avg (47-for-226), .244 OBP, 1 HR, 29 runs. Jimmy Rollins batting any place else in the lineup this season- 7 games, .409 avg (9-for-22), .440 OBP, 3 HR, 6 runs. Carlos Ruiz against the Mets ...

Joe Blanton, Brad Lidge and Jamie Moyer have all put together some solid performances as of late. All three had awful stretches recently, but now seem to be back to World Championship form. In his last two starts, Blanton is 2-0, with a 1.93 ERA and 16 K's in 14 innings pitched. In the three starts that preceded those, Blanton was 1-1, with a 7.50 ERA in 18 innings pitched. Just a couple weeks ago, Brad Lidge had given up runs in a career high 6 straight appearances. And as recently as two weekends ago, Lidge blew two saves in New York against the Yankees. In Lidge's last 5 appearances, he's allowed just 1 baserunner, and he's saved each game, including the last four on consecutive days. Jamie Moyer, who just won the 250th game of his career on Sunday, has put together three straight outings where he's pitched 6 full innings and gave the Phillies a real shot to win each game. In his last three games, Moyer's ERA is 4.00 in 18 innings pitched. In the three starts...

J-Roll has batted under .200 for a calendar month twice in his career. In April 2004, Rollins went 13-for-71, for a .183 average. The following month, Rollins went 30-for-107, which is a .280 average. And in August 2005, Rollins went 22-for-117, for a .188 average. The month that followed saw Rollins go 49-for-122 for a .402 average. Rollins is batting .171 so far in May 2009. Improvement is not far away for Jimmy. The Phillies are 10-2 in games this year which Rollins scores at least 1 run. The Phillies are 4-12 in games which Rollins does not score. Jimmy Rollins in 6 games against the Braves this year is batting .071 (2-for-28). In 2008 Rollins batted .284 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2007 Rollins batted .347 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2006 Rollins batted .367 against the Braves in 18 games. Jimmy Milestone Watch: 6 more RBI and Rollins will tie Scott Rolen for 25th all time in Phillies RBI leaders. 7 more triples and Rollins will tie Richie Ashburn for 4th all time i...

You may have heard that our Phils swept the Marlins this weekend. The two wins on Friday and Saturday marked the first time since September 1957 that the Phillies won back-to-back games after entering the 9th inning at a deficit. The third game of the series, a 13-2 win on Sunday, was the first time all season that the Phillies did not trail in a game. The Phillies are 8-1 when Shane Victorino scores at least one run. The Phillies are 8-2 when Chase Utley has an RBI. The Phillies are 8-3 when Ryan Howard has at least one hit. The Phillies are 7-2 when Raul Ibanez scores at least one run. Jimmy Rollins still has not stolen a base this season. There are three games left in the month, and if Rollins fails to steal a base, it would be the first time in his career that Rollins did not steal a base in the opening month of the season. In 2004, Rollins stole just one base in 19 April games, and ended the season with 30 steals. Last season, when Rollins missed much of April with an injury, he s...

I have some statistics for you all to ponder. Who remembers that old left fielder for our Phillies named Pat Burrell? It's been a while, but if you still have some memories of him, these numbers could be of interest to you. I just thought we'd take a look at Pat's numbers in Phillies' wins against Pat's numbers in Phillies' losses. In Phillies wins... Batting avg-.296 HR- 159 RBI- 580 Slg %- .570 In Phillies losses... Batting avg- .215 HR- 92 RBI- 247 Slg %- .391 Take from this comparison what you will, but I'd assert that this displays Pat's inconsistencies. An argument could be made that this shows how integral Pat was for our Phillies in wins, but if that's the point of view one chooses, there's no ignoring what type of credit he'd deserve in the losses. Blame. ***** And here is another quick look at the spring performances of John Mayberry Jr. and Greg Golson. Golson was traded for Mayberry in the offseason, as Texas and Philadelphia swap...

It's been a long time...I shouldn't have left you without a strong blog to step to. Think of how many weak blogs you slept through. Time's up. Sorry I kept you.... So, those Phillies are still clinging onto first place after one of the most sucktastic weeks in recent memory. 5 straight losses to the two best teams in the American League. 9 total runs scored in those 5 losses. .166 batting avg. during that streak. And 4 straight series losses to top it all off. Slumps R Us. The much talked about Chase Utley slump (0-for-24) was broken on Sunday with a double. The Philadelphia phaithful responded by offering the all star second baseman a standing ovation for hanging tough and getting back into the proverbial swing of things. Utley's sad stretch now stands at a 1-for-27 (.037 avg) skid. Silently creeping up to match Utley's recent ineptitude, is Pat Burrell. Pat the bat is currently stuck in a 1-for-19 (.053 avg) slump. The season long pinch hitting slump continues fo...

Philadelphia Magazine published an article this week all about our Phantom Phive...the ownership group of the Phillies. The author, Richard Rys, even compared the ownership group's popularity in Philadelphia to that of Mumia Abu-Jamal at a police function. He also claimed that the famous ball field saying, "play ball", has been replaced in the front office with "play it safe." Comedic zings and punchlines aside, while stories like this are a good read, all they do is put me in a Phoul mood. With the Flyers' loss in the 2008 playoffs, Philadelphia has just completed its 100th consecutive major pro sports season (counting the big 4 teams) without winning a championship. Yes, 25 years times 4 teams= one hundred seasons without a championship . Quotes from the face of the Phillies ownership group, Dave Montgomery, like, "I just believe the organization needs an image that’s not directly tied to wins and losses", completely makes me want to violate that...

Who’s the furthest away from setting the green grass at CBP on fire? Brett Myers , “the #1 starter”, has a 7.71 ERA in 3 May starts this season. Myers’ career ERA in May is 3.34, which is actually his best month. After scorching every bit of turf he stepped on during April, with a 1.136 OPS and only striking out 15 times in 27 games, Pat Burrell is hitting .231 in May with 15 strike outs in 12 games played. Burrell’s career OPS in May is .933, which is his best month aside from the small sample size of October games he has played. Ryan Howard has a 6-game hitting streak going, which has raised his batting average to .182 for the season. Howard’s career splits improve each month of the season. His batting avg in May is .017 higher than April, June is .033 higher than May, July is .014 higher than June and so on. So, with typical improvement in production expected from these 3 home grown talents not happening, should the Phillies be worried? I’d have to say no. There is too much talent...

Welcome to the Phillies baseball blog brought to you by Fox Sports 1260. Some entries here might be thoroughly organized, and based on one topic. Others, today’s for example, will feature details on various Phillies related matters. To kick things off on the best note possible, don’t expect the Phillies to make the post season this year. In case you missed it, last week the Phillies announced that they were bringing Mike Lieberthal back for one day, so he can retire as a Phillie. Many of you are aware that every season since 1992 that the Phillies did not have Mike Lieberthal on their roster, that won the division title. Sure, it was only 2 years out of 14, but obviously it’s a certainty that Liebey is a jynx. June 1st, the day Lieberthal returns, will be D-Day for the Phightin’ Phils. Gavin Floyd: Ace Starter?! Twice in under a month, the phormer Phillies top draft pick has flirted with a no hitter for the Chicago White Sox. His strike out to walk ratio (19:18) is not gleaming at all,...