Phillies Defeat Rockies 8-4

by David S. Cohen on Apr 12, 2009 7:17 AM EDT

Time to get down off the ledge. Put away the Eagles schedule. Forget about those calls to trade the entire team. This Phillies team of 2009 might actually know how to play some baseball.

Against the Rockies on Saturday, the Phillies showed that if you clog the bases, hit a few balls a long way, and get some decent pitching, you can actually win some baseball games.

Brett Myers turned in a signature performance - giving up four hits, three of them home runs. Thankfully, he walked only one and the only other hit was a double, so he gave up only 4 runs altogether. Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge pitched perfect 8th and 9th innings.

The plan worked as the hitters finally came alive. Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth had key hits and Raul Ibanez proved he's this year's April 2008 version of Pat Burrell. We'll take it, as he has 2 of the team's 3 home runs so far.

It's an easy game. Hit a little, pitch a little, and you win games. Today the Phils can actually win a series in early April. Whodathunkit?

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"Brett Myers turned in a signature performance"

That is hilarious, I thought the exact same thing; has there every been a more Brett Myersy game?

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Apr 12, 2009 8:23 AM EDT reply actions

Credit where credit's due

That sentiment comes from dajafi from the game thread last night!

by David S. Cohen on Apr 12, 2009 8:47 AM EDT up reply actions

good

So far on the season for Brett: 13 IP, 12 H, 6 HR, 1.08 WHIP

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Apr 12, 2009 8:52 AM EDT up reply actions

The heck with Blyleven...

What’s the record for ERA to WHIP ratio for someone with, say 200 innings? Myers is at about 5.

Remember the Phitans

by RememberthePhitans on Apr 12, 2009 9:33 AM EDT up reply actions

I almost hope he keeps this up

If the Phils can hit behind him like they did last night, he could win 15+ games while CRUSHING Blyleven’s HRs allowed record, and with a stellar WHIP to boot.

by phatj on Apr 12, 2009 9:34 AM EDT up reply actions

Madson & Lidge filthiness watch

Madson: 2 IP, 6 batters faced, 2 strikeouts, 4 groundouts.
Lidge: 3 IP, 10 batters faced, 2 groundouts, 4 strikeouts, 3 flyouts, 1 HR allowed

by phatj on Apr 12, 2009 9:45 AM EDT reply actions

And this is the counterargument

To my inquiry in the game thread last night about whether Madson is being wasted. Looking at him alone, I’d say yes. But, when you look at him and Lidge together when they’re this filthy, they shorten the game to 7 innings for the rest of the pitching staff. And that’s incredibly valuable. Kinda one of those instances where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts with Lidge and Madson.

by David S. Cohen on Apr 12, 2009 10:18 AM EDT up reply actions

the Madson question

As I wrote in the game thread, I think his role explains the quality of his recent work. Throwing 10-20 pitches an outing, you can let it go more—so his FB is 96-97, not 91-93 as I seem to remember it was when he started. The added velocity makes the change that much better, and his failure to master a third pitch (which I think really did him in as a starter) doesn’t matter when he’s only seeing guys once.

by dajafi on Apr 12, 2009 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions