Cincinnati Reds @ Philadelphia Phillies GameThread, Jun 2, 2008 7:05 PM EDT

June 2: Arroyo vs. Kendrick

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 5:57 PM EDT Comment 59 comments

Cincinnati Reds @ Philadelphia Phillies

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The Phillies hope to continue their successful homestand as the Reds come to town for a four-game set. Kyle Kendrick faces Bronson Arroyo tonight in the opener; at least initially, he won't have to worry about Ken Griffey Jr., who is not in the starting lineup owing to "general soreness." Griffey, of course, is one home run away from becoming just the sixth player ever to reach 600 for his career.

But the Reds have enough other dangerous bats, including veteran slugger Adam Dunn, second baseman Brandon Phillips, rookie first baseman Joey Votto and phenom Jay Bruce, who has begun his big-league career with 13 hits in his first 22 at-bats (.591), including three doubles and two home runs. He's also drawn six walks and struck out just once.

The Phils can hit a little as well. Chase Utley won NL Player of the Week honors and brings a streak of four straight games with a home run into tonight's contest. Shane Victorino has hit in 13 straight games, one off his career high, and is batting .435 with a stunning 12 runs scored over his last six games.

The Phillies lineup tonight is:

1. Jimmy Rollins SS

2. Shane Victorino CF

3. Chase Utley 2B

4. Ryan Howard 1B

5. Pat Burrell LF

6. Geoff Jenkins RF

7. Pedro Feliz 3B

8. Chris Coste C

9. Kyle Kendrick RHP

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Comments

I love when Wheels puts on fake accents, i.e., “He’s from BeauMAWNT, TEXAS!”

by WholeCamels on Jun 2, 2008 7:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

499

I remember when Griffey came to town sitting on 499 in 2004, the same night Thome was at 399 (and hit 400). Griffey sat out.

Then it started to rain, and naked streakers hit the field. Great fun!

by WholeCamels on Jun 2, 2008 7:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Jesus Bruce at the dish…

Lines it right at Howard, third out. THAT GUY AIN’T SO GREAT.

/Karma shield ACTIVATED

by WholeCamels on Jun 2, 2008 7:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Holy mother

Chase Utley…

HR #21

Griffey is a sissy.

by WholeCamels on Jun 2, 2008 7:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Chase Utley, juicing?

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 7:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Chase exists on another plane of reality.

For Who? My teammates.

For What? To Win.

How Much? Where do I sign?

by jonk on Jun 2, 2008 7:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

After Wheels has harped on Dunn’s strikeouts so much, I almost hope he cranks a homer.

Almost.

by WholeCamels on Jun 2, 2008 7:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Feliz walk alert!!!!!

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 7:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Happy Pete reaches base via non-hit!

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 7:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Kendrick has thrown all of 29 pitches through three innings.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 7:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I wish Chase hadn’t tried to score there…

by WholeCamels on Jun 2, 2008 7:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Good on Smith, bad on Utley there. Out at home.

Actually, it was a pretty close play and it took a great throw to get him. That the OF cut it off was unlikely—ah, it was Bruce.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 7:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

BROOOOOCE with a homer. Surprising?

My karma shield can eat a D

by WholeCamels on Jun 2, 2008 7:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

OFJOAB special for Bruce.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 7:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Pay-dro!

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 8:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

COSTE!!!!

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 8:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Make it rain fellers.

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 8:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Back-to-backers for Happy Pete and Coste.

This just in: Phils like hitting against Bronson Arroyo.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 8:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’d love to see Coste make the all-star team. I wrote him in twice online today.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 8:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

that’s a good idea…I think I will follow suit.

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 8:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

While it’d be nice to see him on there, McCann deserves to start over him.

by wehatetolose on Jun 2, 2008 9:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

McCann? Martin I could see, not sure about McCann.

You’re probably right, but what does “deserve” have to do with the all-star game?

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 9:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Kendrick’s ability to succeed despite never striking anyone out is freaky.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 8:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

fluky?

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 8:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Feliz sucks. Yeah…he really friggin sucks. Never load the bases in front of this man, you are just setting yourself up to fail.

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 8:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’m definitely concerned that we might need those runs. These guys can score as well as we can.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 8:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don’t even want to think about it. I am trying desperately to erase it from my memory. Ugh…really churns my stomach.

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 8:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why is Feliz batting in front of Coste anyways. I mean, I guess I understand the logic of having a selective hitter batting in front of the pitcher, but Coste’s performance certainly warrants hitting above 8th in the order.

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 8:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That’s it for Kendrick. Durbin coming in with two on, one out.

Bruce really is freakin’ sick.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 8:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

weird…so Manual leaves starters in longer than he should and he takes them out curiously early. Is there any reason that Kendrick had such a short leash? He only threw 70 pitches.

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 8:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes. They were hitting it hard all over the ballpark and he wasn’t getting any swings and misses.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 8:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

guess you are right. I would have let him face Philips…

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 8:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Removing Kendrick was such a smart move. When you have a contact/control pitcher that is starting to get hit hard, it’s time to get him out. Kendrick was leaving his sinker up and that’s the pitch he was hitting. When he’s not getting ground balls, he’s not very valuable.

by wehatetolose on Jun 2, 2008 9:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ugh. Dunn doubles in two; I’m surprised it didn’t go out. He hit it to the deepest part of the park.

Hung it.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 8:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Leaving in Durbin to hit, I see.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 8:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Someone made the point yesterday that this team plays better when they are behind. Tonight seems to be a really good example of that.

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 9:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I have a bad feeling about the rest of this game. I hope I’m wrong. The momentum seems to be just sapped out of the team after the Feliz GIDP to end the 5th inning.

The Reds that have to be faced are 2-7. That’s their 6 toughest hitters. Ugh. Maybe Flash can give Bruce the IBB so that Lidge gets 6-8 in the 9th. The thought of Gordon pitching to Bruce makes me very scared. Bruce reminds me of a fearless Francoeur, who has just killed Flash.

by Bilzo on Jun 2, 2008 9:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bruce is a better hitter than Francoeur. He drew six walks in his first 28 plate appearances; I think Yay Guys (as we like to call Francoeur) didn’t reach six BBs until his second year in the bigs.

But yeah, I’m with ya.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 9:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, I have the bucket ready if I feel the need to vomit in the next 2 innings. Let the games begin.

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 9:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know you’re exaggerating, but try to keep in mind that even under a best-case scenario for this good-but-not-great team, the Phils are going to lose 40 to 45 more times between now and the end of September. And some of them are going to go down like you smacked your big toe with a hammer. That’s just how baseball works.

That said, I’m a little nauseated too. This has just felt to me like a game that will get away since about the fifth inning. Let’s hope we’re wrong.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 9:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah…I am just still sick from that atrocious GIDP and the following Feliz AB. The slightest thing could tip me over.

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 9:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did Feliz not hit a 2-run home run today? He was more or less unlucky with the GDIP that was hit to set up Encarnacion perfectly to tag Burrell.

by wehatetolose on Jun 2, 2008 9:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Still astonishing to me that Ed Wade was never able to sign or trade for David Weathers when he was Phils GM.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 9:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Well, he got Bruce out…something most people have failed to do. Way to go Flash!

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 9:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Woo hoo Gordon!!! Lidge next…lets get some runs!

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 9:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Nice job by Gordon. He seems to pitch better with more work.

by wehatetolose on Jun 2, 2008 9:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Probably right—he might just have been rusty yesterday.

I saw in one of the philly.com articles today that he’s on pace to pitch 58 innings this year. That’s low for a setup guy, but probably about perfect for Gordon given his age, health issues and past tendency (not last year, but in his Yankees period) to slump in the second half.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 9:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

True. I mean most of his bad, scary innings seem as if they come off long lay-offs. When he blew in 2006, he started to suck after the all-star break and then he seemed unhealthy.

For his K/9 ratio, he should be pretty lights out.

by wehatetolose on Jun 2, 2008 9:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m no expert on swing mechanics, but I’d love to see Utley’s and Dobbs compared. Chase’s swing is so short and quick and fluid; Dobbs seems to lunge and flail, and when he’s going bad it gets long.

But you can’t argue with the results.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 9:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Dobbs is a left-handed version of Burrell haha.

by wehatetolose on Jun 2, 2008 9:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thought Rollins beat that, but the ump disagreed.

Here comes Lidge. Kalas reminds us that he had a rough save against the Reds back in early April—there was an error or misplay, an IBB to Griffey, an unearned run, and a called third strike to end the game that IIRC was high and outside.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 9:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Jimmy has had a tough few games at the plate…hope he gets it together soon.

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 9:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Got Dunn…whew…

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 9:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

That slider is nasty!

by wehatetolose on Jun 2, 2008 9:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

These K’s both came on full counts. Really filthy, and shows just how much confidence Lidge has in his slider.

by FuquaManuel on Jun 2, 2008 9:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I wasn’t trying to bash Feliz for his GIDP, that’s one of his negatives, but compared to what we’ve had at 3rd base over the last few years, I’m elated with Feliz. I didn’t get to see his GIDP, but it sounded like bad luck. Had Burrell stopped maybe they’d have scored a run, but like I said didn’t see the play.

That was just a turning point in the game. The fact that Feliz was batting was immaterial.

WOO CHASE UTLEY.

by Bilzo on Jun 2, 2008 9:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yup. Feliz has been pretty much exactly what we expected: good defense, good power for a bottom-of-the-order guy, lousy on-base skills, upgrade over the previous dreck at the position.

by dajafi on Jun 2, 2008 9:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs