It was as if the Mets were just house sitting for the Phillies. The house being first place of course and the Mets were forced to go back to their second place, one bedroom apartment and leave the Phillies first place mansion. It was as if the Phillies had gone on a vacation since Tuesday and have come back refreshed and ready for work. That’s at least how it looked Sunday as the Phillies took back first place and sent their rival New York Mets packing.
If you had asked a Phillies fans what they thought of the team’s chances before Friday night’s game they might have said fairly good. After Friday night’s game however the faith might have been missing a bit. Friday saw the Phillies send pitcher Kyle Kendrick to face off against Mets youngster Jonathan Niese. Normal Kendrick start it seemed like as the right hander gave up a pair of HR in the second inning and then a solo shot to former Phillie Rod Barajas.
The only sort of offense the Phillies managed to get off Niese was a base hit by Carlos Ruiz that scored Jayson Werth. Other than that one mistake Niese pitched great going 7 IP giving up 1 ER while striking out 7. Kendrick managed to go only 5 IP letting up 4 ER and was lifted for reliever Danys Baez who proceeded to get rocked by Mets hitters.
A Jose Reyes single, Rod Barajas double, Angel Pagan triple brought in a combined 4 ER for Baez. He was a HR away from the cycle pitchers look to avoid. The game was capped off by Phillies closer Brad Lidge returning to action, and promptly giving up a HR to Phillies killer Rod Barajas. It was a day for the Phillies to forget and a day for Rod Barajas to remember as the Mets throttled the Phillies 9-1
Saturday was a pitcher’s duel on paper. The Phillies were sending the best pitcher in the National League to the hill and the Mets were countering with Mike Pelfrey. Pelfrey entered the game with a .69 ERA in 5 appearances this season. He also was looking to extend his 24 inning scoreless streak and managed to get that streak to 27 before the Phillies hitters woke up.
A Jayson Werth single, Juan Castro double, and Shane Victorino HR saw Pelfrey give up 6 ER in one inning. He entered the game having only given up 2 ER in the entire month of April. His ERA went from .69 to 2.40 on the season. While the 6 runs were great Roy Halladay needed just one to pick up his fifth win of the season. Halladay pitched a complete game shut out while striking out 6 Mets hitters. He lowered his ERA to an amazing 1.47 and for the first time in his Phillies career had more than 115 pitches, throwing 118 for the win.
The rubber match was a Sunday night nationally televised game on ESPN. It saw the self proclaimed "best pitcher in the NL East" Johan Santana go against 47 year old Jamie Moyer. On paper this looked like a lock for the Mets but the Phillies hitters had other plans.
In the first inning however things leaked bleak for Phillies fans. While on a full count Jamie Moyer gave up a 3 run HR to Mets third basemen David Wright. A quick 3-0 hole wasn’t what the Phillies were expecting and normally a three run lead should be all your ace needs but no one does failing quite like the New York Mets.
The Phillies quickly answered back against Santana as Placido Polanco showed that David Wright wasn’t the only third basemen who could go deep. Polanco hit a solo shot, his third of the year. The next Phillies run came from the new 125 million dollar man. A Santana offering was hammered to the opposite part of the field as Ryan Howard started his night off with his fifth HR of the year. The Phillies ended the inning but were only down by 1 which was encouraging.
In the top of the 4th Phillies killer Rod Barajas struck again as he hit a 2 run HR over the left field wall. It put the Phillies in a 5-2 hole as Barajas hit his third HR in as many days. With the Phillies down by three they went on the attack against Santana in the fourth inning, an inning the lefty soon won’t forget.
The big AB came from one Jamie Moyer. The Phillies had managed to plate one run already in the inning, an RBI single from Raul Ibanez, but after Santana pitched around catcher Carlos Ruiz to get to Moyer, Moyer looked to make him pay. NO ONE messes with a 47 year old pitcher. With 2 outs in the fourth Moyer was able to get the count to 2-0. Santana managed to throw the next pitch for a strike to make it 2-1 but his next pitch was outside for a ball to make it 3-1. At this point Phillies fans could taste the run but Santana had other plans throwing a strike to make it a full count. After fouling off a pitch Moyer was finally able to work the walk which scored the second run of the inning making the score 5-4. It was possibly the most epic AB by a Phillies pitcher since Brett Myers AB in the 2008 NLDS against CC Sabathia. Every Phillies batter, including Moyer, either scored a run or hit an RBI in the fourth inning.
Most Phillies fans remember that AB because it was capped off by a grand slam from Shane Victorino. With the bases loaded and 2 outs Shane Victorino hit a grand slam HR over the left field wall making it 8-5 and shocking every Mets fan in attendance. Santana obviously rattled proceeded to give up a base hit to Placido Polanco and then a HR to Chase Utley, this time to right field. Santana was pulled and lasted just 3 2/3 innings giving up 10 ER. The rest is just icing on the cake as the Phillies reclaimed the top spot in the division with a final score of 11-5
THE GOOD:
· At the beginning of the season Johan Santana was asked who was the best pitcher in the NL East. Without even considering Phillies ace Roy Halladay he replied “Santana” and it’s a quote that is haunting him after this series. Santana gave up a career high 10 ER on Sunday night. In 10 games against the Phillies in his career he has had 2 games where he has allowed 4 HR. In the rest of his 229 career HR he has only had just one other game where he gave up 4 HR. The best pitcher in the NL East pitched this weekend but it wasn’t on Sunday.
· Jayson Werth has reached base in all 24 games this season. It is the longest streak in the majors. If Raul Ibanez can start hitting the way he did last year then Werth’s efforts to get on base will be a big boost for the Phillies on the score board.
· Roy Halladay should start paying me rent since he has been featured on “THE GOOD” just about every week. What more can you say about the guy that hasn’t already been said? He came into Saturday’s game with an ERA under 2 and managed to lower it. He is leading the National League in IP with 49 out of a possible 54. The next most is Dan Harren with 40 IP. Cliff Lee certainly looked good on Friday but Halladay one upped him on Saturday.
· Joe Blanton will make his season debut on Monday against Cardinals rookie Jamie Garcia. The starting pitching, other than Halladay, has been rocky at times and the recent news of JA Happ’s setback doesn’t help. Blanton will hopefully add a much needed boost to this Phillies rotation.
THE BAD:
· JA Happ suffered another setback in a bullpen session this past weekend. Now they are expecting him to miss even more time. He could have came off the DL this week but that certainly won’t happen which means more Kyle Kendrick and Jamie Moyer for Phillies fans who are growing weary of the weak pitching that they have seen from both pitchers.
· New Year same result? When Brad Lidge came in to Friday’s game I know there were many Phillies fans who were expecting the 2008 Brad Lidge but received signs of the 2009. Lidge gave up a solo shot to Rod Barajas and it just made Phillies fans once again question “is this guy really back?” He has become like the girlfriend who will cheat on you but when you catch her she will tell you she won’t anymore. Then you turn your head and she’s with the guy down the block. You don’t know why but you always take her back and expect her to change. That is Brad Lidge.
· Phillies lost another pitcher to the DL this week as set up man Ryan Madson was placed on the 15 day DL. According to reports Madson did battle with a chair, and the chair won. After being taken out of a game Madson kicked a chair breaking his toe. I’m still wondering if the guy was wearing shoes because if he was able to break his toe wearing a cleat then the Eagles need to sign him to punt because he must have one strong leg.
UPCOMING SERIES:
The Phillies will welcome the St. Louis Cardinals into Citizens Bank Park this week in a possible preview of the 2010 NLCS. The pitching matchups are Blanton VS Garcia on Monday, Adam Wainwright VS Cole Hamels on Tuesday and Kyle Kendrick VS Brad Penny on Wednesday. This series will not be easy for the Phillies. While you may not have heard of Jamie Garcia you may want to learn his name quickly because he has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. He enters Monday night’s game with a 1.04 ERA and has given up just 3 ER in 26 IP this season.
Tuesday the Phillies will face one of the best pitchers in baseball in Adam Wainwright. Wainwright was in contention for the NL CY Young award last season and is back to form in 2010. This season he has a 4-1 record and a 2.13 ERA. He comes in with a career 3.10 ERA against the Phillies so hopefully they can raise that up.
Finally the Phillies will face a throw away in Brad Penny. The Phillies faced Penny last year shortly after he was released by Boston and picked up by San Francisco. Penny baffled Phillies hitters and he is baffling everyone this season. With pitching Guru Dave Duncan’s help Penny has a 3-1 record with a 1.56 ERA.
Now everyone knows about Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols but one guy that is on fire for the redbirds is rookie third basemen David Freese. Freese is entering the series with a 5 game hitting streak. A .333 average, 2 HR, and 15 RBI are nothing to ignore so Phillies pitchers need to watch out for Freese. I don’t say this very often but the Phillies really need to bring their A game so they don’t get swept. They get lucky in the sense that they don’t face Chris Carpenter but the guys they are facing have nasty stuff. It also doesn’t help that former Phillies reliever Ryan Franklin has flourished in St. Louis becoming their closer.
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