Phillies Follies: Losing 3 of 4 To The Pirates
Realizing the season is not quite even halfway over, it is hard to say that the Phillies are done. But after losing 3 out of 4 games to the worst team in the league this weekend, it sure does feel that way. Murphy’s Law has ruled this team for about 2 months now where anything that can go wrong does. Massive injuries to star players, a serious and prolonged offensive slump, pitching and hitting never going well on the same day and now this; 3 loses to the Pirates.
The one win in this series came on an offensive explosion of 12 runs. But if the Phillies need to score 12 runs every time to win a game, then I guess their season really may be over.
5 runs on 9 hits today did not cut it. Dane Sardinha, the Phils 4th string catcher, getting two hits and a home run did not help. Greg Dobbs, who is in the worst hitting slump of his career, got a hit and an RBI; no matter though. It also did not help.
The big boys like Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins did absolutely nothing in this game. And besides the solo home run by Sardinha in the 7th, the Phillies offense gave up after the 3rd inning. And then there was the pitching…
While Joe Blanton looked solid through most of the game today, he began to fall apart quickly after 6 innings. He threw 3 pitches at the start of the 7th inning which ended up like this: home run, single, double. Blanton left with one out and Jose Contreras came in with two runners on base. Contreras picked up the disaster right where Blanton left off, allowing a double, a single and 3 more runs to give the Pirates a 6-5 lead. So the Phils entered the 7th with a 3-run lead and the pitching blew it.
It only got worse when Mike Zagurski came in for Contreras and allowed two more runs to score on a 2-out single. So Blanton’s final line was 5 runs over 6 1/3 innings. He was fine through 6 innings, but when Blanton starts to fall apart, he really goes down hard. Then the bullpen totally ruins the day by allowing a 3-run lead to turn into a 3-run deficit…against a last place team. Disgusting.
So the Phillies went on to lose by a score of 5-8. If the Braves win today, the Phillies will enter tomorrow’s 3-game series with the Braves down by 6 games. That means, even if they win the series, they will still be a minimum of 3 games back with only 4 to play before the All-Star break. Or worse, they will lose ground and dig a hole too deep to emerge from.
Does anyone out there think the Phils can sweep the Braves? After losing 3 of 4 to the Pirates, they do not stand a chance. I will be happy to eat those words if they do, but the odds are certainly not in their favor.
Phillies All-Stars
With all the recent injuries, many Phillies, like Placido Polanco, dropped off in the All-Star voting late. As a result, the only Phillie to make it in via fan vote was Chase Utley. Utley cannot play due to his recent surgery and will be replaced by Martin Prado of the Braves.
Two more Phillies were added to the roster; Roy Halladay won the player’s vote and Ryan Howard was added by manager Charlie Manuel. Both are very deserving. Halladay’s dominant performances plus the Perfect Game he pitched this year make him an obvious choice. Howard is one of the league leaders in RBI’s with 58 and was batting .296 coming into today’s game.
Earlier today, MLB.com posted the starting rosters for each league. Take a look at the list. Notice anything wrong? Either the writer just got used to typing the word “Yankees” over and over or Evan Longoria was just involved in some weird, mysterious trade. No need to panic Rays fans; Longoria is still in Tampa.
By the way, I hope everyone has a Happy 4th of July, despite the Phillies being a major bummer. This is one of my favorite photos that I have ever taken and it always makes me feel better:
Happy Independence Day!
Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography; Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schultz
*Read more about the Phillies at my other home page, Phightin’ Phils Phorum in the My Team Rivals network*
Phillies Phollowers 
Congrats to your all stars 😀 And with Charlie Manuel managing again i’m sure it’ll be a great one! Although Omar Infante was quite a surprise. It might be a strategical move more than anything else because this is actually not an exhibition game it means something 😛
Happy 4th to you too!
http://mimi.mlblogs.com
Jenn,
Inoticed that earlier too, but decided that MLB.com was just understaffed on a “Holiday” and one poor soul was writing all the updates and posting for the day.
But still, with 5 Yankees on the staff, maybe they were hoping they could sneal Longo into pinstripes for the All-Star game.
Glad Roy Halladay got a chance to again take the mound for an All-Star game. Funny that Halladay made it while Edwin Jackson another AL-transplant All-Star to the Senior Circuit was left off even the reserves of the squad.
Still, the roster shows a nice blend of speed and power, and has a hint of power pitching that might adjust up well against the AL squad.
Rays Renegade
http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com
Lots of crazy stuff in your post. Losing 3 of 4 to the Bucs? Very weird. But those Pirates are one of those dangerous teams that can beat anybody any time. Sorry it had to be you.
Evan traded to the Yankees? I would quit baseball altogether right there. Period.
http://raysfanboy.mlblogs.com/
That is a great picture. I hope you had a happy 4th despite that bummer of a ball game. I always was suspious of some kind of hex or hoax was put on this team. They need someone to reverse the curse and quickly. What I am more distressed and discouraged about is their complacency. There’s no fire. They need to get mad and come out swinging. The talent is still there despite the injuries. It seems they come out one day to play, score big, and then act as if everything is okay. They have to carry the fight every day and every game. Ugh! I’m distressed for sure and that’s saying something for me. Barb
http://barbward.mlblogs.com
The Phillies are hardly “done!” Aren’t they famously a second half team? As for the number of Yankees on the All Star team, Torre put six or seven on during his tenure, so having five is not that unusual.
– http://janeheller.mlblogs.com
Err… yeah. I think it’s safe to say the Phils are in trouble right now. Not done… but definitely in trouble.
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/
http://mtrredstatebluestate.com
Actually with Halladay, Moyer and Hamels going the odds on a sweep aren’t that bad, just physically unlikely because of the Phillies lack of offense, and since the Braves lost 4 back isn’t too bad, it could be worse….
-peter
Phillies Outside