A few notes from today's 5-3 Phillies loss to the Braves:* After leading the majors in runners stranded last season, the Phillies went 1-for-7 and left 10 men on base. Much will be made of the homers Brett Myers and Ryan Madson allowed to Edgar Renteria, but if the Phillies had scored when they had runners on second and third and nobody out in the seventh inning, Renteria would've been rendered irrelevant.
*The lineup switch with Ryan Howard and Chase Utley didn't matter much in the ninth inning. When Braves closer Bob Wickman fell behind in the count to Howard with Shane Victorino on second base, he intentionally walked Howard to get to Utley, who cooperated by fouling out to third base to end the inning.
* There's absolutely no way Aaron Rowand should've been credited with a hit in the sixth inning on the bloop that deflected off Braves 2B Kelly Johnson's glove. Even Rowand would admit that, although he'll take it.
* In a touching moment, former UD outfielder Vince Vukovich threw out the ceremonial first pitch as part of the pregame tribute to his late father, John Vukovich, a longtime Phillies player and coach. I had the chance to talk to Vince during the game, and he talked about how much he valued the past six years after Vuke's beat his first bout with cancer. "We could've lost him in '01," Vince said. "Me and my dad just got closer and closer. Not a lot of fathers and sons get to experience what we experienced. I've been telling people, his 59 years were probably equivalent to a lot of people's 100. He was a guy that people could like. He did things the right way." Fittingly, Vince threw his first pitch to Phillies bullpen coach Ramon Henderson, one of Vuke's closest friends.
3 comments:
Hard not to think that we're in for a very similar season as last year after watching that game.
Shame Myers couldn't get out of the 8th. Even over 100 Pitches, you had the sense that he might get the call in the ninth. I don't think the Matt Smith righty vs. Chipper was the matchup Charlie wanted but that 'pen can't really do any better.
And A lot has been mentioned about Lieber's weight, but when Alfonseca came trotting out for roster announcements he looked like a bloated whale. I had no idea he was that big.
At least the sun came out.
Chalk up the Phillies first loss to
Mgr. Manuel...
No way should Myers have gone into
the 8th inning. He no doubt talked
his way into doing this. It was
inevitable what happened. Also, no
reason to change lineup. Also, when you are losing left and right
in spring training, you cannot go
into the season and start winning.
Wrong attitude by players.
Anonymous: I think Paul W. hit it on the head. With a one-run lead and two outs in the eighth inning, would you rather have one of the Phillies' relievers on the mound or a tired Brett Myers? Manuel picked a tired Brett Myers, and I have a hard time disagreeing. Clearly, the Phillies lack faith in their bullpen. None of the choices -- Madson, Geary, Alfonseca -- inspire much confidence. If Myers had gotten out of the eighth, I think they would've gone to Gordon in the ninth. But they didn't want a 3-2 lead in Madson's hands. In the 10th inning, we all saw why. And until Pat Gillick finds an eighth-inning reliever that Charlie can trust, I think we'll see him push his starters a little farther than they can go.
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