Phillies news and links — Eight games to an ‘embarrassing loss’

Friends, compadres, buddies, I’m going to keep it short today, because last night’s game was a vomitous pile of excrement. Or, as Pete Mackanin put it:

Or how about this?

Oy. Let’s get to the news.

Phillies lose dignity, baseball game

It’s strange how much things change in a few days. The Phillies nearly swept the Nationals, and now they’re in danger of being swept by the Mets. Last night’s game was pretty horrific (sorry to Paul Boyé who covered it for us), with the Phillies giving up seven home runs and 14 (!?) extra-base hits. That’s just... so, so bad. Last night’s loss was a hope-sucking loss, and for more than one reason...

Clay Buchholz is in for a DL stint

Yeah. Buchholz injured his arm last night, his right forearm. Otherwise known where the flexor tendon is. You might remember another famous Phillie who had flexor tendon problems: Cliff Lee. He had them right before he never pitched again. To be fair, Lee’s issue was a tear, while it seems that Buchholz’s is just a strain. But we won’t know until today, when Buchholz gets more tests. It doesn’t look good, and he’s probably headed for the DL.

Adam Morgan optioned to Triple-A

Glory be. Adam Morgan seems like a nice guy and all, but he has no business pitching against a team like the Mets. And if he can’t pitch against them without it becoming an embarrassing mess (at the very very least), then he has no business in the majors. It’s true that every Phillies pitcher last night gave up runs against the Mets, but Morgan is supposed to be the long man. He gave up seven hits and four runs in 3 ²⁄₃ innings, but that included four home runs. FOUR. Pete Mackanin seemed okay with sacrificing him, because he’s supposed to be the long man. But if your long man experience is always “he keeps giving up runs be we need him to eat some innings, so he’s on his own” maybe it’s time to find a new long man. I feel bad for Morgan (and the quotes from this Matt Breen article are heartbreaking), but it is what it is.

Around the Phight

• The designs for the holiday weekend uniforms were released yesterday, and you know what? I think most of them look pretty sharp.
• The Phillies are the most profitable team in baseball, so at least some good news came out of yesterday.
• Noah Syndergaard stole the Phanatic’s ATV, and that is NOT okay, Noah!

Tweet of the day

I want Noah Syndergaard to play for a team I don’t hate so, so much. If he played for a team I didn’t hate, I’d own every shirsey and jersey. But instead he plays for the Mets. Sigh.