It's the Same Old Song: Braves 9, Phillies 3

by taco pal on May 31, 2010 4:32 PM EDT

Pretty much says it all:

Actually, today's game did feature a bit of a change of pace, in that the Phillies did score three runs today, all in the top of the seventh, when four straight hitters (Raul Ibanez, Carlos Ruiz, Wilson Valdez, and Ben Francisco) doubled. But that would be all she wrote for the Phils' lineup. And otherwise, pretty much everything that could go wrong did.

Offensively, the Phillies threatened in both the first and second innings against a wild Tommy Hanson (who ended up giving up one run in six-and-two-thirds innings, with three walks and only two strikeouts). But they promptly bailed Hanson out with inning-ending double-play ground balls in both innings, never mind the fact that Hanson isn't a groundball pitcher. The Phillies would finish the game with only six hits, including the four seventh-inning doubles.

Starting pitching-wise, Joe Blanton reversed his early-season pattern of starting strong and hitting a wall. Instead, he gave up a two-run homer to Chipper Jones right out of the gate. The first two outs of the first inning were recorded on deep fly balls caught on the warning track. A third run scored in the first on a deep fly that Ross Gload (playing right in place of Jayson Werth today) dropped for an error. Three more Braves would score in the third, although two of those three runs were probably the fault of Ryan Howard, who let a probably double-play ball go under his glove for an error. While Blanton would then settle down, the damage was done.

The bullpen also failed to cover itself in glory. After the Phillies' three-run outburst in the seventh, Antonio Bastardo entered the game and gave up a one-out hit to Jones and a walk to Brian McCann. Chad Durbin then came in to face the suddenly resurgent Troy Glaus, and promptly gave up a first-pitch three-run homer, putting the game away. (On the bright side, Brad Lidge pitched a one-two-three eighth inning in his first appearance since being activated from the DL.)

Oh, and also, Charlie Manuel was ejected from a game, arguing a call that was probably correct.

All in all, this was a stone cold butt-kicking: the ~~worst~~ second-worst margin of defeat the Phillies have suffered since their slump began a week-and-a-half ago. After enjoying a five-game lead as recently as May 17, the Phillies now, on May 31, find themselves in second place by a half-game to the red-hot Braves, who are now 19-4 in their last 23. June couldn't come quickly enough.

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Didn’t we lose by 8 to the Mets last Tuesday??

by dannijd on May 31, 2010 4:55 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

Woops, missed that one. Will fix.

by taco pal on May 31, 2010 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Nice write-up Taco P. Not a great way to round out your holiday weekend having to describe the carnage of that game. All you guys with the post game writ-up duty during this slump of slumps have been such good soldiers that I feel compelled to honor your sacrifice this Memorial Day.

Back to the game. Best part of the game was the end of it and then getting to laugh at Day-glo Darren Daulton with his George Hamilton tan-in-a-can during the post game.

by j reed on May 31, 2010 5:06 PM EDT reply actions

Thanks. I was trying to work a Memorial Day allusion into the write-up too, but couldn’t figure out how. Or at least not tastefully.

by taco pal on May 31, 2010 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, I was with you, but something along the lines of paying homage to the great Phillies offense that served this country so well — cheapens what the holiday is really about. Then I was thinking cold wieners on a plate, which was more of an aha! metaphor.

by Wet Luzinski on Jun 1, 2010 7:28 AM EDT up reply actions

Blanton or Kendrick???

After this game I found myself wondering, all other things (money, ability to assign to the minor leagues, etc.) being equal, and assuming that when Happ finally returns it is as a starter, who do you send down/ DFA/ put in the bullpen, Blanton or Kendrick??? Right now, I am not a fan of either of them, but know that one needs to stay. Blanton is more of a known entity, and is definitely more consistent, but that consistency of late has lately been consistently giving up runs. Kendrick is less consistent, but has had several strong outings (most recently Friday night). If things keep up the way they have, I’m starting to think that Kendrick may be the one to keep.

by dannijd on May 31, 2010 5:15 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

1. One question mark is plenty.

2. Blanton stays. It’s a ridiculous question to even ask. Kendrick sucks, he belongs in the minors as an emergency option.

by FuquaManuel on May 31, 2010 5:20 PM EDT up reply actions

To give a small amount of credit to KK, he hasn’t been totally sucky this year. 4.87 xFIP isn’t good, but it isn’t horrible either (for a sixth starter). But you’re right that Blanton’s clearly a better pitcher than Kendrick. He has a long track record of being a better pitcher than Kendrick. To choose Kendrick over Blanton just because Blanton’s struggled at times over a grand total of six starts this year would be extremely foolish.

by taco pal on May 31, 2010 5:30 PM EDT up reply actions

The only thing I see to be concerned about with Blanton this year is his K rate. But with a sample size of only 6 starts, I’m gonna withhold any judgments.

by FuquaManuel on May 31, 2010 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Also, all other things aren’t equal. Blanton makes a lot more than Kendrick, so your whole premise is ridiculous.

by FuquaManuel on May 31, 2010 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Blanton is a good pitcher and was brought up thru the Oakland A’s organization who have been suppling the league with quality arms for awhile. I was more than happy when I heard that we aquired him. Keep in mind that Blanton didn’t have the benefit of a full spring training when suffered an oblique strain which landed him on the DL for a month and are very hard to rehab from. In some ways you could argue that he’s just getting stretched out (endurance wise that is). The other issue is that he has been giving up runs in the later innings, usually around the time , when you factor in his injury, that he should have been pulled. One of Manuel’s flaws is knowing when to pull his pitcher which is difficult if you come from the hitting side of things. The pitching coach is usually more qualified to determine when his starter is fatiguing unless the manager was a pitcher when they played. Dubee is a notch above a dorsal fin on the evolutionary ladder and therefore is about as useful as a doormat when it come to conseling Manuel about the appropriate time to pull his starter. Perhaps one of those starts Blantton was kept in to rest the bull pen. Also demoting Figueroa and not KK probably because Dubee felt Figgy isn’t a ‘’rotation guy’’ sounds like a rationale from the Dubee classic Stats? You Don’t Need No Stinking Stats. : Coaching Pitchers with Crystal Power .

by j reed on May 31, 2010 6:13 PM EDT up reply actions

If there’s an encouraging thing to take from recent events, it’s the fact that the Braves’ red-hot lineup was, one month ago, struggling just as badly as ours is today. Things fluctuate over the course of a 162-game season. We will hit again, and it will happen sooner rather than later.

by taco pal on May 31, 2010 5:16 PM EDT reply actions

Bleh. Bleh. What a mess. Hopefully this slump can take the place of our normal June-July interleague suckfest, but I that doesn’t seem likely.

Aside from decent pitching during the slide, they have been doing practically everything wrong. Errors, GIDP’s galore (and almost always perfectly on cue), and a total inability to hit with men on base. The rally today was a positive sign, for sure, but 3 runs is still weaksauce. I’m waiting patiently for the day that we can once again generate more than one scoring rally per game and maybe start hitting some balls over the fence again and they keep making me wait. Maybe tomorrow, but probably not.

by FuquaManuel on May 31, 2010 5:18 PM EDT reply actions

I have to admit that, after giving up on this pigf*ck of a game after the top of the fourth, I was actually almost content when I got to the gym, checked, and saw that we’d avoided the shutout.

One way to think about this skid is that it’s killed their margin for the annual interleague swoon; if they do the usual 4-11 or what have you, they’ll be below .500 at the end of June, and with the division suddenly decent-to-good, that probably means no playoffs.

by dajafi on May 31, 2010 5:19 PM EDT reply actions

Yes, I’m worried about that too. And I see no reason to believe that they can do any better in interleague this year. Thus, with that in mind I think it might be time to begin tempering my expectations for this team and preparing myself for the likelihood that they miss the playoffs.

by FuquaManuel on May 31, 2010 5:27 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t think there’s a causal relationship between interleague play and the Phillies sucking.

by taco pal on May 31, 2010 5:31 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s the whole question… Do we suck in interleague because of timing, or because the AL is better??? If it is the former, there is still hope for us… If the latter, we may wind up losing too much ground to get back up… I am losing hope, with only the knowledge that we have bailed out of these crap streaks before giving me some comfort and hope.

by dannijd on May 31, 2010 5:40 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

It obviously is not the latter, otherwise you would have seen other similar or inferior NL teams struggling in interleague play to the same degree. But you don’t see that. While the AL does somewhat better than the NL in interleague play, our struggles in 2008 and 2009 are completely disproportionate, which strongly suggests that it was all just a coincidence. Every team goes through bad stretches over the course of a year. It just so happened that in 2008 and 2009, our worst stretches coincided with interleague play. In 2007, they didn’t.

Also, even if it were the case that our struggles are explained by the fact that the AL is really that much better than the NL (which it isn’t), then it still wouldn’t be cause for concern. Our competition for the playoffs is other NL teams, who also have to play interleague games.

by taco pal on May 31, 2010 5:46 PM EDT up reply actions

So I take it you still have hope?

by dannijd on May 31, 2010 5:57 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

My apologies for being blunt, but losing all hope in the season over a bad stretch of nine games is just dumb.

by taco pal on May 31, 2010 6:05 PM EDT up reply actions

I buried them last week… There is something about 4 shut outs in 5 games that will do that to me… I am trying to remember that we know how to score (it helps that I saw Howard and Werth hit homeruns 5/21 live)… And that the pitching staff is showing their merit… It is just hard to watch them play as they have for the last two weeks (Since 5/18) and have hope for their season.

by dannijd on May 31, 2010 6:09 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Seriously??

What the hell??!! That is all.

by PhilsForever on May 31, 2010 6:23 PM EDT reply actions

Hey everyone . Want to feel better about our offensive woes – turn on MLB Network and watch the Giants (They are facing Umbaldo J.to be fair) put up one of their renouned anemic offensive performances they have been gracing the League with the past few years.

by j reed on May 31, 2010 6:24 PM EDT reply actions

The Giants did not give me much comfort— any game where ubaldo is involved, you can not expect the opposing offense to make much more than a cameo… That being said, Ubaldo was impressive again— if he can do anything close to keeping it up, he is going to run away with the Cy Young award.

by dannijd on May 31, 2010 10:04 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions