Fun with Bullpens: Phillies 5, Cubs 4

by PhillyFriar on May 20, 2010 4:17 PM EDT

The first 4 innings of this game felt like they took 12 minutes to complete. Aside from a Chase Utley homer in the bottom of the first, both Ryan Dempster and Joe Blanton were ruthlessly efficient, and it became fair to wonder if Blanton could go the distance on something like 90 pitches.

The pace slowed substantially in the middle frames, however, as a Starlin Castro RBI single in the fifth, a Jimmy Rollins 2-out, 3-run homer in the sixth, and a 2-run Cubs top of the seventh (including a Derrek Lee solo job) chased both starters and handed a 4-3 game over to the bullpens. And that's when the fun started.

Manuel went to Antonio Bastardo in the top of the eighth to be, quite literally, a LOOGY. But after getting ahead of Kosuke Fukudome 1-2, the diminutive southpaw left a fastball inner half that the Cubs' leadoff man yanked into the right field seats to tie the game up. In came Danys Baez to face the rest of the Cubs' right-leaning lineup, and after falling behind 3-0 to Ryan Theriot, he recovered to retire Theriot on a grounder, Lee on a pop up, and erstwhile Phillies prospect Marlon Byrd via the strikeout.

It was then Lou Piniella's turn to play reliever roulette, and he tabbed his best lefty, John Grabow, to pitch to the heart of the Phillies order in the bottom half of the frame. Walks by Utley and Rollins brought Raul Ibanez to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs, and Grabow promptly surrendered an RBI single to the Phils' left fielder (who had been 8-for-40 against southpaws heading into this game) to give the hometown nine a 5-4 advantage.

That left just the final act, starring newly minted closer Jose Contreras. The Big Truck -- his newly minted nickname, apparently -- continued the roller coaster by hitting Alfonso Soriano after an 11-pitch at bat, then saw a Mike Fontenot single put runners at the corners with nobody out. Contreras settled down to strike out Starlin and pinch hitter Aramis Ramirez, then induce a foul pop up from Geovany Soto to end it. It was a 31-pitch inning from the big Cuban, but it got the job done.

The win breaks the mini skid by the Phillies in advance of the beginning of interleague play this weekend. In the meantime, feel free to take a ride on the Bullpen Express, Philadelphia's favorite new roller coaster...

via www.fangraphs.com

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Comments

Bring on the Sox!

by taco pal on May 20, 2010 4:23 PM EDT reply actions

Wish Beckett was pitching

Of course, we can make anyone with a lousy ERA get better at any time.

by EastFallowfield on May 20, 2010 4:28 PM EDT reply actions

Fri: Hamels (4.29 ERA, 3.72 xFIP) vs. Lackey (4.86 ERA, 4.85 xFIP)
Sat: Kendrick (5.24 ERA, 4.77 xFIP) vs. Matsuzaka (7.89 ERA, 4.60 xFIP)
Sun: Halladay (1.64 ERA, 2.91 xFIP) vs. Wakefield (5.31 ERA, 5.05 xFIP)

So we’ll be facing two knuckleballers in a row, with R.A. Dickey tentatively scheduled to pitch the first game of the following series.

by taco pal on May 20, 2010 4:32 PM EDT reply actions

Crazy how close Lackey’s ERA and xFIP are… Guess you get what you’re supposed to with him.

"I tried to run him over but Eli had his big boy pads on and he kind of stopped me from getting in the end zone. The next time I’ll try to jump over his head.’’ - Asante Samuel

by foos05 on May 20, 2010 4:55 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I believe Moyer’s are also only .01 apart.

by taco pal on May 20, 2010 5:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Phillies batters need to put their Patient Pants on for Matsuzaka. Dude walks everyone.

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on May 20, 2010 4:58 PM EDT up reply actions

They must have been at the cleaners this week, because they didn’t use them too much. Hope they are back in time for this series!

"Tortorella’s got it all wrong ... Gaborik shouldn’t be messing with our skilled player." -Peter Luuko

by doubleh on May 20, 2010 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Speaking of the knucklers, anyone have any stats on our lineup’s success/failure vs knuckeballers? I can’t imagine we have much experience with them…

"I tried to run him over but Eli had his big boy pads on and he kind of stopped me from getting in the end zone. The next time I’ll try to jump over his head.’’ - Asante Samuel

by foos05 on May 20, 2010 4:58 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

here is the link to how Current Phils have fared against Wakefield. I’m unaware of another established knuckler in the league, so I think his stats should suffice.

Highlights (guys with >5 PA and current Phils):
Gload: 1/8 1K
Ibanez: 8/28, 4 doubles, 1 HR (0.846 OPS)
Polanco: 1/15 (0.243 OPS)
Rollins: 1/7 (0.286 OPS)
Ultey: 0/6
Werth: 4/8 1 HR (1.375 OPS)

by Bilzo on May 20, 2010 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions

As I recall, Larry Bowa used to throw a mean knuckler and pitched BP (when he was coaching) before the old matchups with Charlie Hough. Wonder if anybody can do that now….

by Boundforbeach on May 20, 2010 5:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Raul’s had pretty good lifetime success vs. Lackey too, from their days playing against each other in the AL West. In 48 AB, he’s at .375/.434/.438 (no homers though).

by taco pal on May 20, 2010 6:00 PM EDT up reply actions

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on May 20, 2010 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions

No slop throwing lefties though…that’s…good?

I like our chances to take 2 of 3 which of course means we will be swept.

by FuquaManuel on May 20, 2010 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions

And t’aint gonna see Jon Lester. He’s a no slop lefty but the last time we faced him it were’nt to prudy.

by j reed on May 20, 2010 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Can’t believe the Braves won today. It was our old friend Miguel Cairo who made the key error in the 9th that probably cost the Reds the game.

by taco pal on May 20, 2010 4:35 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah it was an epic fail considering that Mike Leake held the Braves to 1 run for 6 innings and the Reds managed to put an 8 run hurting on Hanson, driving him out of the game after 1.2 innings.

by j reed on May 20, 2010 5:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Contreras had ice water in his veins during that half inning, that was mad impressive how he got out of that jam to earn the save.

by PhilsForever on May 20, 2010 4:48 PM EDT reply actions

He was trying to make sure that we got our standard, Brad Lidge, heart attack save, even if Lidge was not there to do it…

Philadelphia: Phinally home to more than just a Hollywood Boxing Champ
- Drunken Bleachers

Re-sign Jayson Werth!!!!

"I never want to look back and wonder 'What if I had tried harder'"

- Chase Utley

by dannijd on May 20, 2010 7:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Calling Matt Swartz:

Ice In His Veins, or Fire In His Belly?

by Steve J on May 20, 2010 10:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I guess the nice thing about Contreras being a longtime starter is that you don’t so much worry when he needs a lot of pitches to get through an inning.

That said, a Phils blowout and/or Hamels complete game tomorrow night (yeah, right…) would be nice.

by dajafi on May 20, 2010 5:10 PM EDT reply actions

With Kendrick throwing against the Sox, I hope Figgy will spend extra time in the film room to brush up on Boston’s line-up.

by j reed on May 20, 2010 5:33 PM EDT reply actions

Anyone see the schedule for the Phillies starting on Friday? The Phillies are about to go into an absolutely brutal end to May and beginning of June. Let’s just say if the the Mets, Marlins, and Braves want a chance to gain ground on the Phillies, they will have their chances after the Sox series.

by PhilsForever on May 20, 2010 5:41 PM EDT reply actions

Don’t forget the bizarrely legit Nats.

by Cormican on May 20, 2010 7:20 PM EDT up reply actions

In the comments recapping last nights game I tabulated the phils scores by their runs, then grouped them together from 0-3, 4-7, and 8+ and somebody remarked that you should win most of the 3 run games. I disagreed. Here’s my data to support that using last years record (regular season only):

Phils shutout 7 times
Scored 1 run 14, went 2-12
Scored 2 runs 17, went 2-15
Scored 3 runs 20, went 6-14
Scored 4 runs 24, went 15-9
Scored 5 runs 21, went 15-6
Scored 6 runs 13, went 11-2
Scored 7 runs 13, went 10-3
Scored 8+ runs 33, went 32-1.

by Bilzo on May 20, 2010 5:48 PM EDT reply actions

I have kind of viewed it as our pitching needs to hold them to 3 so that we only need 4 to live. What I am surprised at is the fact that we actually won a smaller percentage of 5 run games than 4 run games, and 6 run games to 7 run games. I am also a little bit taken aback at the number of games that we won by eight or more runs.

Philadelphia: Phinally home to more than just a Hollywood Boxing Champ
- Drunken Bleachers

Re-sign Jayson Werth!!!!

"I never want to look back and wonder 'What if I had tried harder'"

- Chase Utley

by dannijd on May 20, 2010 7:12 PM EDT up reply actions

they won a higher percentage of games where they scored 5 runs. They won 15 of 21 (71.4%). For games where they scored 4 runs, they won 15 of 24 or 62.5%

by Bilzo on May 20, 2010 8:28 PM EDT up reply actions

Ooooops… Guess my dirth of math skills just
got exposed

Philadelphia: Phinally home to more than just a Hollywood Boxing Champ
- Drunken Bleachers

Re-sign Jayson Werth!!!!

"I never want to look back and wonder 'What if I had tried harder'"

- Chase Utley

by dannijd on May 20, 2010 10:44 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Yogi Berra may not have said it but he probably thought it: any time you score 8 runs or more you’re probably gonna win and vice versa.
That is a lot of games with 8+ runs, roughly 20%, almost as many as the number of games with less than three runs.
Also, last night someone was referring to the fact that the average number of runs per game was on the order of less than five. That number is per team, not the total for the two teams. So it would make sense that you aren’t going to win a lot of games where you score three runs or less.

by phillyinportland on May 21, 2010 2:17 AM EDT up reply actions

All depends on the kind of offense you have. If you have a team that averages 5 runs per game, the 3-run games will happen, but should not be an everyday concern. In 162 games, losses happen. Blah blah blah marathon.

by Wet Luzinski on May 21, 2010 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions