There seems to be on thing standing in the way of the Phillies right now and it’s getting over .500 for the first time this season since being 1-0.
In order for the Phillies to get back into first place, they must take baby steps to getting there.
Baby steps.
Playing team baseball is doable. They’ve done it already this year a few times. The next step is getting over that mountain of .500 baseball.
First place is there, just over the mountain and in plain site. But how do the Phillies get over this mountain?
The offense is getting there, though there are games where it just sputters. Look at last night’s 5-2 loss to the Mets as the best example: 10 men left on base an a putrid 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
The starting pitching has been excellent and the bullpen, well that has lost the Phillies seven games this season and it’s been frustrating.
Last night, Halladay cruised through seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk. It was a masterful outing by Halladay wasted once again.
This time, the bullpen played a part in blowing a team win with Jonathan Papelbon taking the loss for the bullpen’s seven loss of the season.
Though he’s been on the shelf for six days, Papelbon got the first two batters out in the top of the 9th inning before surrendering a two-out walk, single and three-run homer to a rookie who had yet to record a Major League hit.
The baby stumbled with that loss, and it kept the Phillies two games under .500 and five games behind the first place Nationals.
Tonight, Joe Blanton will try and get the team back on its feet as it tries once again to get to .500. Coming off a complete game shutout, Blanton will go up against a struggling Miguel Batista, who’s 6.92 ERA suggests the Phillies should feast on a struggling, mediocre pitcher.
Tonight’s Lineup
Rollins 6
Pierre 7
Victorino 8
Pence 9
Ruiz 2
Polanco 5
Mayberry 3
Orr 4
Blanton 1
Werth Sounds Off — Yes this is a bit of old news but let’s let the words of Jayson Werth sink in.
Sunday’s 9-3 win over the Nationals saw Cole Hamels pissing off Washington G.M. Mike Rizzo and the rest of baseball with his admission to hitting Nationals rookie sensation Bryce Harper on purpose.
It also saw the Phillies fans in their “Occupy Nationals Park” shirts pissing off former Phillie Werth in right field. Werth, who broke his wrist diving for a fly ball in the 6th inning, said he was jeered by Phillies fans and didn’t take too kindly to it.
“After walking off the field feeling nauseous knowing my wrist was broke and hearing Philly fans yelling ‘You deserve it,’ and, ‘That’s what you get,’ I am motivated to get back quickly and see to it personally those people never walk down Broad Street in celebration again,” Werth wrote in an email to the Washington Post.
Maybe Werth shouldn’t be emailing people about a handful of idiots and lumping them in a group of good fans, instead resting his wrist because he won’t be playing baseball for the next three months. That’s just my opinion.
TTB 