Tagged: Marlins
Beat-Down for Phillies; Snooze-Fest for Fans
I cannot remember the last time I was as bored at a Phillies game as I was today. Literally, I could have slipped into a coma. Between the excessive heat and lack of any Phillies offense, it was basically nap time. The only thing that kept me awake was my disdain for the cheering Mets fans. And the only good news of the day is that all the Mets fans have gone home.
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom blew through the Phillies line-up with ease; as if the Phillies players were asleep, along with the fans. Maybe the Mets spiked the Phillies Gatorade with Ambien? It is he only logical explanation for the total lack of activity from Phillies bats.
The only Phillies hit of the day came from the pitcher, Zach Eflin, who now has a higher batting average (.231) than Ryan Howard (.159), Freddy Galvis (.229) and Jimmy Paredes (.228). And he pitched pretty well; not his best outing, but still a quality start.
Alas, Eflin was all alone out there. Some fielding did occur behind him, but nothing exciting. And the total lack of hitting by the rest of his teammates made for a very boring and pathetic loss.
So the Mets are gone, having won 2 of 3 games in the series, and the Marlins are coming in next for four games.
Here is the full Photo Album from the final Mets game.
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Photos by Jenn Zambri
Phillies Beat Marlins to Avoid 100 Loss Season
The Phillies have 99 problems but 100 losses ain’t one. Sorry, could not resist. So yeah, the Phillies escaped the dreaded 100 loss season today by the skin of their teeth with a 7-2 win over the Marlins that included many odd and interesting moments. For starters, Roy Halladay made an appearance on Phantavision with his stuffed Chooch pillow to congratulate Carlos Ruiz on being honored for the four no-hitters he has caught for the Phillies. Charlie Manuel joined Chooch on the field to celebrate.
A few not-so-great moments occurred once the game began. For example, Jeff Francour missed what appeared to be a routine fly ball to give the Marlins a lead. And as if so disgusted by his play, a bird apparently committed suicide and had to be carted off the field by Phillies security personnel.
But things began to brighten up when it started looking like David Buchanan might actually get a win. Not only did he pitch well, he also had 2 hits in the game and scored a run.
Suddenly, players began smiling and sliding into bases and collecting extra base hits. When you sit through a 99-loss season, seeing this in the last game of the season was somewhat miraculous.
But the strangest part of the day had to be seeing future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki make his major league pitching debut in the 8th inning. Apparently, it was a long-time dream of Ichiro’s to pitch so he asked his manager to put him in. It was a treat for the crowd as well. Ichiro gave up 1 run to the Phillies on 2 doubles; he tossed a total of 18 pitches.
So after a very bad season, the Phillies end on a high note. And they also get the 1st round draft pick as well for being so awful. Bonus. Here is the Photo Album from the game. Also, here is another album for anyone who is interested; I took a tour of Petco Park in San Diego last month. There was a charity event that day so the field was littered with stationary bikes, but the view is still cool.
I also took some video today of Halladay’s speech, Cody Asche addressing the crowd and a few other things. I hope to have that uploaded in the next week or so. Goodnight for now!
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Photos by Jenn Zambri
Phillies Choose Their 2016 Manager
Today the Phillies chose their 53rd manager by promoting Pete Mackanin from Interim Manager to the permanent role…at least for the next year. Pete played for the Phillies in the late 1970’s and is now the 8th person to have managed, coached and played for the team. Larry Bowa, who is the current bench coach, is also a member of that club.
This move is not a surprise. The team really began to come to life after Mackanin took over when Ryne Sandberg ran off. While youth, trades and injuries have made it impossible for them to win much, the Phillies have at least looked like a team that is trying since Mackanin was put in charge. He has also kept the youngsters in line, like when he benched Odubel Herrera this past Sunday for throwing a tantrum after an at-bat. Herrera seems to have taken the lesson to heart and apologized to Mackanin earlier today. This is a good sign that Mackanin can bridge the gap with this team from awful to, hopefully, competing again in a few years.
So, totally off topic, I recently went to Los Angeles to a Dodgers game to see Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins play in blue uniforms. I took a tour of the stadium before hand, which was very interesting. The stadium itself is huge and not easy to find your way around, but Emma from Dodger Blue World was nice enough to give me a quick tour of the upper deck, which was very cool. The view from above is amazing! Thank you, Emma!
The game itself was a very strange one. The guy sitting next to me said he had been going to Dodgers games for 30 years and that day was the first time it had rained while he was there. Yes, I went all the way to L.A. to get rained on. So by the 4th inning, the camera was put away for good as I did not bring my usual Philly rain gear. But I did manage to get some pictures before the 16 INNING ordeal ended. Yes, 16 innings….and the Dodgers lost. But I had photos to Chase and J-Roll to cheer me up! I also saw Davy Lopes and….believe it or not…GREG DOBBS! I have no idea why he was there watching the game, but I got a shot of him too. It was an ex-Phillies reunion. 
If anyone is interested, here is the full Photo Album from the pre-game tour and the start of the game. I also visited Petco Park in San Diego, but am still working on those photos; I will post those in the next week or so. In the meantime, it looks like the Phillies might actually win a game tonight….shhhh! I should not say that too loudly. Cross your fingers that the Marlins stay quiet.
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Photos by Jenn Zambri
Phillies Sweep for Christmas in July
Instead of coal in their stockings, the Phillies received a 3-game sweep of the Marlins for their Christmas in July celebration today. Considering they started the second half of the season as the worst team in baseball, this is nothing short of a miracle. Please wake me if I am dreaming…
It looked like a sure win today early on as the Phils exploded for 5 runs in the second inning. There was a lot of staring at home runs (Ryan Howard and Freddy Galvis) and celebrating. Even Cole Hamels had a hit in the inning.
But the warm fuzzies wore off quickly as Hamels bombed in the 3rd inning. The fielders were awfully busy while Hamels struggled to get by. 
Ultimately, Hamels took the 3-run lead the Phillies spotted him and handed those runs right back to the Marlins. By the end of the inning, Hamels had 76 pitches and would not return to the game.
In his defense, it was hotter than hell today. The temperature was 93 degrees at game time and got hotter as the game went on. It even looked for a minute like we may lose the home plate umpire, who needed assistance getting cool. 
So it would take 5 bullpen arms to finish the game after Hamels’ early exit. Both Elvis Araujo and Luis Garcia pitched perfect innings.
But then Ken Giles blew a save in the 8th inning, where the Marlins took a 7-6 lead. Giles was all over the place which sent many of the few fans in attendance streaming towards the exits, myself included. I was melting by then and not sure if I’d make it to the car if I stayed much longer anyway.
But luckily for the Phillies, Jeff Francour decided to play Santa Claus today and unwrap a 2-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Phillies an 8-7 win. I enjoyed the hit from the comfort of my air-conditioned car, which made finding the energy to celebrate a bit easier 😉
The Phillies take on the Rays tomorrow. Game time is 7:05pm.
Here is the full Photo Album from today’s game.
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Papelbon Implodes in Shocking Phillies Loss
The day started out so well. It was sunny outside, people seemed happy…even Chase Utley was smiling on the field during warm-ups. Anyone who follows this team knows what a rare moment that is. It just seemed like a good day where a sweep of the Marlins was totally possible. Heck, there was even breakdancing during the game! It was all going well until the 9th inning…
Before that frightening 9th inning, starting pitcher, David Buchanan pitched very well, allowing only 1 run on a solo homer through 6 1/3 innings. Although, he did almost have his head taken off while attempting to bunt, which was a bit scary.
But baseball carried on and the Phillies racked up hits, stolen bases and Ryan Howard even showed patience at the plate, drawing a walk in the 4th inning.
I finally got to see Maikel Franco play in person. He had an interesting day that included a broken bat RBI single where he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. He also had this play at third where he bobbled the ball, recovered and still got the out:
By the 9th inning, the Phillies had a 4-1 lead. But then Jonathan Papelbon came into the game. Granted, he has been mostly good all season. And anyone can blow a save…it happens (unless it is 2008 and you are Brad Lidge). When one blows a save however, that person should expect to get boo’ed. In fact, that person should boo themselves for sucking on that occasion. Instead, Papelbon decided to look into the crowd as he walked to the dugout and grab his crotch demonstratively in reply to the boo’s. After the game, he said he was “adjusting” himself. Really? And he could not wait 10 more steps to do so? I am not buying it.
His attitude just sucks. And his response was way out of line. After ejecting Papelbon for the gesture, umpire Joe West grabbed Papelbon by the shirt and shoved him. I cannot wait to see the blow back from that…stay tuned.
So the Phillies will ride this smelly, stinky 4-5 loss all the way across the country to San Diego where they start a 4 game series with the Padres tomorrow. For now, here is the Photo Album from today’s game which includes the happier moments.
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Photos by Jenn Zambri Photography
Feast or Famine: Phillies Sweep the Marlins
After losing 3 straight games to the Brewers, the Phillies bounced back with 3 straight wins over the Marlins. This all-or-nothing week ended with big offensive performances from 3 players today.
Chase Utley, Tony Gwynn Jr. and Will Nieves all had a 3 hit day. Nieves knocked in two runs in the 5th to tie the game at 3-3. And then Utley had the big bang in the 8th with a go-ahead home run, making it a final 4-3 Phillies win.
Kyle Kendrick pitched mostly well, although he was up and down. His game started a bit shaky thanks to another Ryan Howard error on the very first batter of the game. So Kendrick started in a hole right away, but he hung in there.
Other than the one error, the fielding was fairly clean. There was one base running blunder as Gwynn Jr. stumbled around third base and went home anyway where he was thrown out.
But the bullpen came into the late innings and actually held the lead. In fact, all 3 guys, B.J. Rosenberg, Antonio Bastardo and Jonathan Papelbon, retired each of the 3 batters they faced. Finally!
Speaking of the bullpen, Justin DeFratus has been sent back to the minors after some rather disastrous outings recently. Luis Garcia has taken his place.
And just one fun note about today’s game, it was Kid’s Opening Day. As part of that, some children were apparently commissioned to render their best images of Phillies players which were shown during each players first at bat. Some of the drawings are hysterical. Check out my Photo Album from the game to see those and more game shots.
The Braves come to town tomorrow. Game time is 7:05pm.
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Photos by Jenn Zambri Photography
Sandberg Signed; Phils Swept by Mets
It’s official – The Phillies announced today that Ryne Sandberg is no longer the “interim” manager. He has been signed to a 3-year deal, with a club option for a 4th year. With a new manager in place, everyone was smiling and laughing before the game.
But the smiles faded as the day wore on. It is a shame the Phillies could not scrape out a win for Sandberg today; they got swept by the Mets in a 3-game series.
For the first 3 innings, Cliff Lee was so sharp, it looked like he may pitch a no-hitter. But he ran into trouble in the 4th inning and allowed a run. He wound up allowing 2 runs over 7 innings, which is still great, but only helpful if the offense does its part.
At the plate, the Phillies left too many runners on base (8) and went 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position. There were a few amusing moments, like when Cliff Lee swung the bat so hard, it split in two, even though he did not hit the ball (see photo). And Chase Utley apparently got a big chuckle out of the Mets pick-off attempt.
There were also many adventures in the outfield with balls played off the wall that could have been caught, Domonic Brown bobbling a ball which allowed an extra run to score and the Phanatic lost his shirt again.
And in the end, the Phillies could not muster a win. I suppose that was a fitting end to the home games in a sad 2013 season.
Here is the full Photo Album from today’s game, including pre-game shots.
The Phillies go to Miami on Monday for the second-to-last series of the year. Game time is 7:10pm.
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Photos by Jenn Zambri Photography
Mayberry’s Big Night & More Umpire Follies
The last two or three years have been strange ones for Phillies outfielder John Mayberry Jr. He has gone though spurts of looking like a solid ballplayer and even more spurts of looking totally lost at the plate. While see-sawing between the two extremes, Mayberry has been unable to stick as an everyday player.
But last night against the Marlins, Mayberry had probably the most memorable night of his career and he did not even start the game. He hit a solo homer in the 10th to tie the game back up after Antonio Bastardo surrendered a run to the Fish in the top of the inning. Then in the 11th, Mayberry whacked a game-winning grand slam home run.
There were a number of ‘firsts’ for Mayberry in this game:
– Mayberry’s first career grand slam
– Mayberry became first player in major-league history to hit two home runs in extra innings with one being a grand slam
– Mayberry also became the first Phillies player to hit a walk-off grand slam since Dale Murphy on Aug. 6, 1991, against the Cubs
Those are some pretty impressive statistics. And with Delmon Young still underachieving (he is hitting only .220 in 100 at-bats), perhaps it is time to hand right field over to Mayberry for a while. Mayberry’s defense is significantly better than Young’s and his offense cannot possibly be any worse than Young’s.
Young has actually cost the team runs with his defense and I cannot imagine the Phillies putting up with that for much longer. And he is not making up for it with his bat either. 30 games played and 100 at-bats should be nearly enough for them to pass judgment. We shall see…
As for the umpire follies, Bob Davidson strikes again! How this ridiculous man still has a job is beyond me. Last year, Davidson was actually suspended after ejecting Phils skipper Charlie Manual for his bad “situation handling,” according to MLB. What actually happened was he interfered with the catcher on a play and then cussed out Manual for arguing the point.
Davidson’s animosity towards the Phillies is still going strong, because last night he made one of the worst calls I have ever seen. Davidson called interference on Ben Revere who slid head first (not spikes first) into second on a ground ball hit by Michael Young. Young was called out due to the imaginary interference; Davidson claimed he saw Revere grab the leg of the Marlins 2nd baseman. It was clear to both the naked eye and on the replay that Revere did no such thing…it was not even close.
Revere did not grab anyone; he did not roll into 2nd; he did not even go out of the basepath or miss the bag. Davidson literally just made up the call.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Bernie Miklasz, “…if I listed every call that Davidson got wrong I’d be typing for the next 48 hours at least. He’s a disgrace to the game and has been for many, many years. Baseball people laugh at him.” It seems everyone hates Davidson…and with good reason.
After the game, both Revere and Manual made some very amusing comments about the bad call. Revere said, “I know [Davidson] was standing right there, he said he did see it, so I’m just like, man needs some glasses or something.” And Manual interjected, “Bob’s kinda getting a little old.” Plus, the crowd at Citizens Bank Park booed Davidson relentlessly for the remained of the game.
And yet, no one can say why this man still has a job. MLB has made a habit out of ignoring the total incompetence of some umpires. Even with their reputation being continually tarnished, MLB has done nothing to redeem themselves.
In fact, Joe Torre, who is in charge of MLB umpires, on-field discipline and other areas, was actually at Saturday’s Phillies-Brewers game where a huge umpiring mistake was made in the bottom of the 9th inning. Kyle Kendrick was called out at second base even though the fielder dropped the ball. The next batter doubled, which would have scored Kendrick and tied the game up. Instead, that blown call cost the Phillies the game.
The crew chief acknowledged the error after the game, but to my knowledge, Torre said nothing. Granted, this was a far less egregious error than the blatant, BS call by Davidson. All of these bad calls are screaming for additional replay, but is anyone listening?
Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil…get nothing done. *Sigh*
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Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography
Lee Pitches Another Gem
In a year full of drama for the Phillies, Cliff Lee stepping on the mound is a sight for sore eyes. The same can be said when he steps to the plate as well. In a complete game shut-out of the Marlins last night, Lee also collected 2 hits, giving him a team-leading .316 batting average. And his .350 on-base percentage is second only to Michael Young (.378) among active Phillies.
Simply put, Cliff Lee is amazing.
Yet those offensive numbers are a bit disturbing in another respect. When your ace pitcher is leading the team in average and OBP, there are some serious problems. Granted, Lee only plays once every 5 games, but it is still a somewhat revealing statistic on a team that has struggled to score runs.
There was some offense last night though, and some signs of life all around. Although they only scored 3 runs, most guys hit the ball well and as team, they collected 12 hits, which is way better than their usual production this year. On Tuesday night with Tyler Cloyd pitching, the Phillies racked up 7 runs on 15 hits in the win.
But again, this has been a pattern; the Phillies have 1 or 2 games with solid offense and then they go right back to not being able to hit the broad side of a barn. And with the injuries mounting, can they get any kind of consistency?
The latest injury to Chase Utley is extremely worrisome. Utley was finally having a good year, after missing time in both of the previous 2 seasons with knee issues. Now, it appears he has an oblique strain of some sort; he will have an MRI today and will likely be put on the DL along with Roy Halladay, Mike Adams, John Lannan and Carlos Ruiz. Stay tuned…
Today is an off day as the team travels to Washington to take on the Nationals. News on Utley should be coming very soon…cross your fingers!
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Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography
Spit-Gate, Injuries and Other Depressing Phillies News
The Phillies looked like a shell of a team last night against the Miami Marlins, who are possibly the worst team in all of baseball. Leave it to the Phillies to make them look like All-Stars. Ugh.
When Domonic Brown smacked a home run in the second innings, it looked like the Phils might have carried over some momentum from Sunday’s dramatic walk-off win. But that was the end of the momentum and the beginning of Spit-Gate.
Marlins pitcher Alex Sanabia entered Monday’s game with a dismal 5.00 ERA and a 2-6 record. After the Brown homer, Sanabia apparently thought some cheating was in order. He was caught on camera spitting on the ball and did not make any attempt to hide it.
First of all, this is just gross. It is also against MLB rules. But did it really affect the Phillies hitters? Probably not too much…they have basically sucked all season long. However, it did add insult to injury in this very unsettling loss.
Even Cole Hamels could not hide his emotions as he slammed his glove around on the Phillies bench after his outing. And after the game, he did not speak to reporters. I believe Hamels is feeling the same frustration we all are; specifically, WHY can’t this team score runs?! Poor Hamels is now 1-7 on the season. Last year, he had 6 losses for the entire season…already this year, not even half way through the season, he has that total beat.
Two runs allowed in 6 innings should get you a win…unless you are on the Phillies, apparently. Making matters worse, this team is now riddled with injuries. Carlos Ruiz came back after his suspension to play only 16 games before being put on the DL with a strained hamstring. Mike Adams is on the DL with a bad back. John Lannan is still on the DL with no expected return date being reported. And now Ryan Howard has sat out 2 games in a row with a sore knee and possible a torn meniscus.
And at least half of the bullpen may as well be injured; they might actually pitch better. Because our healthy pen cannot stop runs from scoring. Phillippe Aumont gave up 2 more runs last night and has a 4.15 ERA, plus many inherited runners have scored on him. Pretty much everyone in the pen is guilty of that too. And check out some of the other ERA’s: Chad Durbin, 8.10; Jeremy Horst, 5.09; BJ Rosenberg, 20.25 (1 game). Yikes!
As all the crap keeps piling up on this team, it is going to be harder and harder for them to dig their way out of the heap. And I do not want to hear anyone else talk about how it is still early in the season. As far as I am concerned, it is never too early to play winning baseball. And thus far, this team has not shown they can do that.
Game time tonight is 7:10pm; Tyler Cloyd will pitch.
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Photo via NBC Sports
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