Phils Superstars are Superduds in Game 1

When the top 4 players in your lineup go a combined 0 for 15 with 9 strikeouts, you're not going to win many games.

The bottom line is, that the triumvirate of Rollins, Utley and Howard, who make up arguably the best infield in the league, did not perform. We'll let Victorino off the hook for now, because he has been out for some time, and let's face it...he's not on the same level as the other three.

There is no doubt that Rollins, Utley and Howard were the 3 biggest reasons we made the playoffs in the first place, but when you get there they have to perform. I'm not mad at them, I'm just analyzing the game and their failure this afternoon is the biggest reason for the loss.

Consider these numbers:

Rollins: 0 for 3, 1K

Victorino: 0 for 4, 1K

Utley: 0 for 4, 4Ks (ouch!)

Howard: 0 for 4, 3Ks

Total: 0 for 15, 9 Ks

If you have any other reason for losing that game... you're wrong!

On the pitching side, thanks to his long sleeve shirt, Hamels had one bad inning and then was lights out, retiring 15 of the last 16 batters he faced. He pitched well enough to win. Too often it seems like Hamels falters for an inning early in the game and then settles down, only to have that early inning haunt him. Maybe he doesn't warm-up enough in the pen before the game. Maybe he needs some of the pressure of pitching perfectly taken off his shoulder. I don't know. He pitches well enough in all the other innings to warrant his praise. He's pretty damn good.

It's not a good thing when you lose a game at home in a shortened series. Now we have to win 3 out of 4... for some reason, even with the Phillies late season push, it seems daunting. It will seem a lot easier if we can get the first one under our belt. It won't be as hard as Uncle Charlie trying to get all his fat under his belt...

Tomorrow's match up brings together two rookies. Kyle Kendrick vs. Franklin Morales. Of the 2 Kendrick has a lot more experience. Morales has only pitched in 8 games this year for a combined 39.1 innings of major league experience. Another stat in our favor is that Kendrick is 7-1 at home with a 3.76 ERA. It will be a contest of who will blink first, my guess is Morales. Kendrick is consistently credited with being calm and even-keeled regardless of the situation, and after a few first inning playoff jitters, I've no reason to believe that tomorrow will be any different. We'll jump on Morales early, wake up our superstars and win one handily.

Cole Hamels Pitches Phils to First Place... Alone

Jimmy Rollins draws first blood again. It wasn't in the first inning this time, but boy was it timely.

Being there in person makes it very vivid. Let me set the scene.

Top of the 4th. Cole Hamels had just settled in after struggling a bit in the second inning giving up 3 hits but being bailed out by forcing a double play to end the inning. The 3rd inning Cole began to find his groove with 2 strikeouts, but really hit stride by striking out the side in the top of 4th, priming the fans for what was coming in the bottom of the 5th.

Greg Dobbs singled to lead off the 5th. Ruiz followed him by being beaned in the hand. 1st and 2nd, nobody out, Cole Hamels is up.

Hamels lays down a perfect bunt moving the runners to 2nd and 3rd. This is where it gets fun. Amidst twirling rally towels and "M-V-P" chants, Rollins confidently stepped up to the plate and lived up to his new moniker by smacking the first pitch up the middle scoring both Dobbs and Ruiz. Proving once again why he is so important to this ball club. He scores 'em and drives 'em in. How many other lead off men do you know with 93 RBIs?

Rollins, however can not over shadow the superb pitching performance of Cole Hamels. Hamels' only trouble came in the second inning (mentioned above). After the second inning, Cole Hamels recorded 13 Ks through the next 6 innings. In other words of the 18 outs recorded from the 3rd inning through the 8th, only 5 were not Strikeouts. That is impressive. Hamels struck ou the side in the 4th and 6th, including 5 in a row from the 3rd through the 5th. Cole Hamels was doing his best Cole Hamels impression tonight. And despite a Ryan Howard homerun a Chase Utley RBI double, an excellent catch by Aaron Rowand and a two run single by Rollins, he is without a doubt the MVP of this game.

8 inning pitched, 6 hits, 0 Runs, 13 Ks, 1 BB - and 1 bullpen pitcher used. Meaning , our pen will be well rested for the weekend games, and more importantly for tomorrow's game when Adam Eaton is scheduled to pitch. So Manuel should have a short leash tomorrow with Eaton and all the bullpen stooges.

Oh, and in case you live in a box and only have access to the Phillies game through a transistor radio, the Mets lost.

Phils lead the East by 1 game with 2 to play. That sounds pretty good doesn't it? I have tickets to Sunday's game as well, here's to happy times.

Pic below is my wife and I at tonight's game. (Isn't she beautiful?) She made me take this same picture 6 or 7 times until she was satisfied with the results. I'd be happy to post all them by request.

PS - He said it not me...

"It's embarrassing. It's pretty pathetic." - David Wright on the Mets' "Colossal Collapse"

"Do we smell it? Yeah, of course we smell it." - Charlie Manuel

Phils Start Homestand with "messy" win

The Phillies' destiny is in their hands. Tonight they started an all important 10 game homestand, where they hold a 34-25 record. That's a winning percentage of .735, or about 74%. If the law of averages holds true, the Phillies should win 7 of the next 10 games.

Currently we're tied with the Padres for the Wild Card lead...but that's not good enough. There is still a lot of baseball left to play and I want the East. I want the Mets to come to town and leave with their tail between their legs.

If the Phillies come out of this homestand with anything less than 7 wins, then I'd be disappointed. It's bad enough we lost 2 games to the Pirates. It would be even worst to follow that up with a poor showing at home.

The good news is we secured a much needed win tonight, in a game that could have easily slipped away. Kyle Kendrick did his job again, and kept the Fightins' in the game, and gave them a chance to win. Our bullpen did their job tonight and we came out victorious. The game was a sloppy rain-soaked bore fest, but to quote former Phils' announcer Scott Graham, it's "in the win column for the Fightin' Phils".

But... bad news is afoot. Tomorrow's scheduled starter, our consistent Cole Hamels has soreness in his elbow and will miss the start tomorrow. JD Durbin, who has been pitching well with a 5-2 record is slotted to take his spot. This means that the Ancient One, Jaime Moyer is now the only Phillies starter not to miss his spot in the rotation.

Durbin has the stuff to be a good starter. He's proved that with a complete game shutout earlier this season. I've also watched him strike out the first two batters in a game at the Cit where he seemed untouchable for the first inning. He just needs to make the right decisions. His 5+ ERA is not encouraging, but his 5-2 record proves that he's a battler.

But... good news is also afoot. Chase Utley has been given permission to begin hitting off of a tee and increase his workouts. Some sources say he could be in the lineup as early as Monday. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's concentrate on beating the Dodgers tomorrow, where the Phils will face Derek Lowe and his 11 losses. He does however have a 3.45 ERA.

And another thing... I was the first to say that Carlos Ruiz deserved to start over Rod Barajas, and I'm glad Barajas and his faux injury are out of the picture, I'll even support Ruiz and say that I think he is the catcher of the future for this team. But at this point in the game it's time to go with the hot hand, and the catcher of the present and in this case, it's Chris Coste. Coste had better start at least 6 of these upcoming home games.


One win at a time boys.

Games Worth Watching

It is refreshing to me to know that every 5th game is a game worth watching. Every 5th game we have a shot. Every 5th game we could see a gem. Every 5th game, we have the privilege of watching Cole Hamels.

As a kid I was too young to really remember Steve Carlton. I saw him on the back-end of his career. He was a name, but I didn't know why. I'm 30 years old and really didn't start paying attention to the Phillies or baseball until the 1986, when I was 10. In that year, Carlton was 9-14 with a 5.10 ERA, while playing for 3 different teams. Not quite the Steve Carlton some of my elders would remember.

But lucky for me, the Phillies have another pitcher with the ability to put up numbers similar to Lefty's in Cole Hamels.

When Schilling was pitching with us, it was a game worth watching every 5th day. Cole Hamels brings that same feeling.

Tonight Cole Hamels enters the game with a 13-5 record, 3.46 ERA and 150 strikeouts. With some luck, he'll hit 200 Ks in his first "full" season in the bigs.

I look forward to many years of games worth watching, every 5th day.

It's also yet another year where the Phillies will be playing "games worth watching" through September. Sure that's nice to continuously be in the hunt, but let's make the playoffs. Let's not accept mediocrity anymore. This might be the team that has enough passion to overcome the inept management.

PS - Chase Utley began light tossing. And Shane Victorino exited a rehab game with tightness in his calf. The Phils are holding steady, 4 games behing the Mets in the East, and 1 game behind the Padres for the wild card. Hang in there guys. You have Cole Hamels every 5th day.

Chico and The Man

It is only fitting that Cole Hamels pitches on Cole Hamels Bobble Head night. The last time the Phillies gave away a bobble head, it wasn't a bobble head but rather a hula dancing Shane Victorino. On that night, Shane Victorino hit the game winning walk off homerun in the 9th.

If Cole Hamels hits the game winning homerun in the 9th tonight, then it will be a game for the ages. But we're not expecting Cole to do that. We're hoping he's not hitting in the 9th.

Tonight's starters were Matt Chico and The Man, Cole Hamels. Chico is 0-5 on the road this year, while The Man is 10-2 at home in his career (6-2 this year). Things look good for The Man.

After pitching a gem and losing 1-0 in his last outing, I think Hamels needs to come out and just pitch well. Our offense is working on all cylinders right now, and we'll only need to score a few to give Hamels (The Man) some room to work with.

It's nice to see the Phillies put another streak together. This team is too good not to make a run. We have too much offense to continue to lose. Many think we're a few pitchers away from being a legitimate contender.... and with the trade deadline, coming the Phils still haven't made a move, and we're still not sure whether they are going to be buyers or sellers.

My thoughts, are that we do nothing (i know... that stinks doesn't it)... do nothing... offer Rowand the money he deserves, take the money we'll save by getting rid of Lieber, Garcia and Burrell and sign every top tier pitcher we can get our hands on. We won't fold the season right now, but we can play the odds and keep this nucleus and use the offseason to build on it.

Congratulations to our Phillies' All-Stars!

The 2007 season was one that started with a lot of optimism. Not since the signing of Jim Thome has the city been so excited about the boys in red and white. And for good reason.

The end of the 2006 season brought many positives to the franchise. The Bobby Abreu trade seemed to bring new life to the Phillies as they nearly played their way into a playoff spot.

The offensive prowess of the middle infielders (Utley and Jimmy Rollins), and the amazing play of the National League MVP Ryan Howard was enough to give you goosebumps... but wait... there's more.

The off season brought in 17 game winner Freddy Garcia... we resigned veteran Jaime Moyer who helped lead us in August and September. The Phils added proven starter Adam Eaton and seem to have a logjam in the starting rotation... so much that many were calling to trade some of the excess.

Cole Hamels' rookie performance was good enough to impress even the most fair weather of all Phillies fans.

We were "the team to beat" in the National League... or so Jimmy Rollins would have us believe.

Unfortunately, things happen. Injuries happen. Slumps happen. Bad trades happen. Barajas happens. And when things happen, it throws plans out of whack... this is the story of the 2007 Philadelphia Phillies...

But... let's look at the bright side. We have 3 All-Stars. Congratulations to Chase Utley, Aaron Rowand and Cole Hamels. With a nod to Jimmy Rollins, you all deserve to be there. I have no doubt that Utley, Howard and Hamels, will not be making All-Star break vacation plans for years to come. And Jimmy will make his appearances now and then....we're privileged to have all for of these guys on our side...

3 All-Stars is a good showing.... 4 would have been nice... but 3 is great.

Remember the days when the Phillies would have the obligatory, All-Star players? You know, because every team must be represented? That is when we had something to complain about.... when Kevin Gross and his efus pitch was our All-Star.

To make us feel a little better about our recent slide... let's remember some of those obligatory All-Stars... at least from my generation.... because I have no idea who Ken Raffensberger is!

1996 - Ricky Botallico

1990 - Lenny Dykstra

2003 - Randy Wolf

1997 - 1998 - and although well deserving.. Schilling was our lone representative.

1991 - John Kruk

2000 - Mike Lieberthal

Let's be thankful that we have a handful of perennial all-stars on our team and hope that the front office will surround this core with solid role players to do something with....

Congratulations to Cole Hamels, Chase Utley and Aaron Rowand.

Cole Hamels is in good Company... Literally....

Cole Hamels had a Jon Lieber like outing tonight. Let's hope Jon Lieber has a Cole Hamels like outing in his next start.

Hamels did not look like himself, he looked like Hole Camels again... but again...he's only human. I'll take 9 wins to 3 losses from any pitcher, any time... He'll be back.

Hamels does have some problems. He gives up the long ball. Currently, he leads the league with 17 homers surrendered in 103.2 innings, which translates to approximately 1 homerun every 6 innings, or 1.5/9 innings.

Surely this is a bad sign, but consider the following statistics.

Pitchers Who Have Surrendered the Most Homeruns in their career... I have asterisks, next to the names of the Hall of Famers. He's got a lot of innings to pitch to get there, but he would definitely be in good company... Nice to see another Phillie who is the career leader in this category.

CAREEN HOME RUNS

Pitcher HR

Robin Roberts 505*
Ferguson Jenkins 484*
Phil Niekro 482*
Don Sutton 473*
Frank Tanana 448
Warren Spahn 434*
Bert Blyleven 430
Steve Carlton 414*
Gaylord Perry 399*
Jim Kaat 394
Jack Morris 389
Charlie Hough 383
Tom Seaver 380
Jim Hunter 374*
Jim Bunning 372*
Dennis Martinez 372
Dennis Eckersley 347*
Mickey Lolich 347
Luis Tiant 346

SEASON HOME RUNS

Pitcher Year HR

Bert Blyleven 1986 50
Jose Lima 2000 48
Robin Roberts 1956 46
Bert Blyleven 1987 46
Pedro Ramos 1957 43
Denny McLain 1966 42
Robin Roberts 1955 41
Phil Niekro 1979 41
Rick Helling 1999 41
Bill Gullickson 1987 40
Robin Roberts 1957 40
Ralph Terry 1962 40
Orlando Pena 1964 40
Phil Niekro 1970 40
Ferguson Jenkins 1979 40
Jack Morris 1986 40
Shawn Boskie 1996 40
Brad Radke 1996 40
Ramon Gritz 2002 40
COPYRIGHT 2004 Century Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group


So what does this tell you? I'm not sure, but if Hamels is being compared to Left and Left and is 8th all time in most homeruns allowed, than Hamel's Achilles heal is alright by me.

And doesn't it also seem like Cole Hamels gives up a lot of first inning runs? I would pull the stats on runs per inning, but I'm pretty tired and am fending off sleep.

PS - Say hello to Cole Hamels' wife... Heidi, she was on the Survivor. I told you he was in good company....

The Phillies' Fab Four

When you think of the Philadelphia Phillies, the first names that pop into your head are probably Howard, Utley and Rollins. Add to that, the best pitcher in the National League Cole Hamels.. and you've got yourself a pretty good core of great young players.

Today, The Fab Four forged forward flattening San Francisco, 5-2.

Hamels contributed greatly with a 5 hit, complete game posting his NL leading 8th victory. Rollins respectfully scored a run and recorded an RBI. Utley scored twice, and Howard hit in the clutch driving in 2.

Previously I mentioned that we would be saying the words Howard and Hamels an awful lot in the coming years. Today was no exception. Howard and Hamels helped hand homerun boy and his hackless teammates a big L.

But, Howard and Hamels.... need some help.

Howard and Hamels

Howard and Hamels. The names flow nicely. As nice as Schmidt and Carlton or Bunning and Callison.

Howard and Hamels.

Say it to yourself, quietly at first... and then louder. Now shout it...Howard and Hamels. Nice, right?

Be prepared to say these words with confidence, and practice it so that if flows off your tongue nicely, and without hesitation. Howard and Hamels.

Howard and Hamels are going to help this organization win some ball games. Howard and Hamels are going to be perennial All-Stars. Howard and Hamels will be MVP and Cy Young candidates for years to come. Howard and Hamels are young. Howard and Hamels are Superstars in waiting. Howard and Hamels will be the future of this franchise.

Oh, and don't look now, but we've also got the best shortstop/second base combination also. Utley and Rollins are pretty damn good too. Rollins and Utley sounds good too. Or is it Utley and Rollins...

Rollins to Utley to Howard... not quite the same as Tinkers to Evers to Chance... but Howard and Hamels... wow, that sounds nice.

Howard and Hamels helped us complete the sweep of the Atlanta Braves this afternoon. Howard contributed with 2 homeruns, leaving the Mendoza line behind and proving that he is back to his old self. Hamels, simply pitched 6 innings with 3 earned runs and 8 Ks. Hamels now leads the league in strikeouts with 86 in 74.2 innings. Good stuff, huh?

Howard and Hamels. The names should make you smile. They are the future.

Oh.. and one more thing. Cue Dick Van Dyke and the dancing penguins, and get the bratty kids on the set... we've swept the Braves like an old chimney... "Chim chimery, chim chimery, chim chim cheroo..."

Can't wait for the next Hamels outing to be able to say these words again... Howard and Hamels.

Bring on the Diamondbacks...

PS - The real reason why Cole had a back injury is because he threw a ball so hard it went all the way around the world and hit him in the back. (http://www.colehamelsfacts.com/)

Cole Hamels is Human... and so is Aaron Rowand

Cole Hamels had good stuff. He struck out 8 batters in 6 innings. He entered the sixth inning leading 3-1, with no sign of slowing down.

Then Cole Hamels turned into Hole Camels (I'm not exactly sure what that means, but its funny...at least its funny to me). Hole Camels must by Cole's alter ego... every super hero needs one, right?

Cole Hamels is only human, he's allowed to have bad outings every so often. I'll take a 6 to 2, win to loss ratio, any day. But Cole's lack of prowess tonight was enhanced by what could be considered a miscue, from Aaron Rowand. Errors are like Kryptonite to King Cole.

Cole Hamels, started off the 6th by allowing a sharp double to left field. No problem, Dan Ugla doubled to start off the 3rd, and didn't advance. Then Miguel Cabrera hits a ball that appears like it should have been caught by Aaron Rowand... who appeared to have taken a bad angle on the ball. Then Chase Utley throws the relay throw into the stands to allow Cabrera to score... tie game.

These miscues, obviously play with the super intelligent mind of Cole Hamels, and he quickly transforms into Hole Camels, and another double was registered.

Then Cole Hamels again, as he fanned two in a row... and then bam... Hole Camels lets up another double. 5-3 Marlins...

I guess we can't blame Aaron Rowand for this ball... but the entire outcome may have been different... had Rowand caught that ball. They may have come out of the inning leading 3-2, instead of losing 5-3.

But, he's only human.

PS - By the way, check out this site about Cole Hamels... http://www.colehamelsfacts.com/ I wonder if Cole Hamels could beat up Chuck Norris?

PSS - Does anyone else wince at the thought that Sammy Sosa's name is soon to be used in the same sentence as Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays? It disgusts me... I'll even except Bonds because steroids or not... that guy can flat out hit.

Starting Pitching Heads Success

Fresh off a successful 7-3 homestand, we have a day to recuperate and reflect on our recent accomplishment. A few things come to mind. First, we don't have Ryan Howard in the line-up, who's about ready to return from the DL shortly.

Second, is that our regular performers, really haven't been our regular performers. According to We Should Be GMs,

"...the Phils lineup has been slumping lately, with Rowand (5-24), Victorino (5-24), Rollins (5-32), Utley (1-11), Burrell (4-19), Helms (2-14), and Ruiz (4-22). collectively that's 26-146 for a pitiful .178 batting average..."

It is pretty pitiful. These numbers were posted before Sunday's game.

So what then is the reason for our recent success? For starters, it's the starters.

Remember all the complaints from the beginning of the year about how our starters were good on paper, and how they weren't performing... well, I think this kind of talk will be muffled for a little while. Our starters are keeping us in ball games.

Despite the fact that we've been see-sawing back and forth the last few games, W-L-W-L-W, we have still put up an impressive 8-3 record in our last 11 games. (I'm including 11 games in our recent up-surge, instead of the 10 games of the homestand).

The biggest reason for this 8-3 record is our starters. Here are the numbers.

We have definitely been getting Quality starts (QS). According to baseball statisticians, a quality start is awarded to a starting pitcher who completes at least six innings and permits no more than three earned runs. Incidentally, the QS statistic was invented in 1985 by John Lowe, who was a sports writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Of the 11 games, we had 8 quality starts. (Garcia was very close to another with 5.2 inn, and 2 ER).

A few other things have skewed these statistics... for example, Lieber's 8 innings with 1 ER ended in a loss. Bad luck. And Eaton's 7.2 innings with 1 ER on the next night, was nullified by a blown save which the Phils eventually won, taking another win from the starters. So that 5-3 record, could very easily by 7-3.

Here the breakdown of wins for each starter in this stretch. (Phillies' record is in parentheses), and then there ERA's over these games.

Moyer 1-1 (2-1) 8.10 ERA
Hamels 2-0 (2-0) 2.40 ERA
Garcia 0-1 (1-1) 3.85 ERA
Lieber 1-1 (1-1) 2.40 ERA
Eaton 1-0 (2-0) 0.66 ERA
____________

Starters 5-3 (8-3) 2.63 ERA

PS - It appears as if Jaime Moyer is about to go into a slump. His last two starts, he's accumulated 9.2 innings and given up 12 ER.

No Hit Etiquette; To Bunt or Not to Bunt?

It was brought to my attention that Cole Hamels' perfect game was nearly compromised in the 5th inning, when the Brewers' outfielder Corey Hart attempted a bunt.

Being that I didn't see the game, I had no idea this had occured until tonight when I saw this comment, by meech.one on "We Should Be GMs"...

"You forgot the BMOTW (Bitch Move Of The Week) when Corey Hart tried to break up the perfect game in the 5th inning with a 2-out, nobody on bunt attempt. That's grounds for a bean ball if you axe me. "

I totally disagree with this being called a 'bitch move'. This same thing happened to Curt Schilling a few years back, when Ben Davis broke up a Schilling no-hit bid in the 8th inning with bunt single. I think I remember Curt Schilling applauding Davis for doing it. Schilling probably would have done the same thing. Schilling says he can't get pissed about it. .

Here was the situation... The two teams were tied for first place about a third of the way through the season. The D-backs were up 2-0. Davis' bunt allowed the tying run to come to the plate. Schilling walked that guy and later gave up two more hits anyway. The game ended 3-1. Here is a box score of the game. (our beloved Adam Eaton was on the losing side of the game... he too pitched a complete game... tough luck.)

Now, I don't know about you, but if I was tied for first place I play to win. I don't abide by some stupid rule about "earning" your way on base after the 6th in a no-hit bid... Bullshit. Get on base any way you can. A bunt is not an easy thing to do. If it were, don't you think you'd see more of them? Lean into one. Crowd the plate.

I'm a gamer. I played baseball in college where I was hit by 19 pitches in 28 games as a junior. And yes, some of them may have been in the strike zone.. but I got on base... a lot and scored a lot of runs....and played to win the game. Period.

Bob Brenly and the Arizona ballclub were complaining about `unwritten rules' and `codes,' but what about the Golden Rule of baseball--play to win?

Enough Said...

I applaud Corey Hart, for going against the grain,...wearing his sunglasses at night, attempting the bunt and playing the game to win.

PS - Cole Hamels will have other opportunities to create history. I have no doubt. And it isn't it nice to see Curt Schilling. That guy's a gamer. I'm still hoping he decides to end his career in Philadelphia and helps us win a World Series.

No Cigar... for Cole Hamels

Cole Hamels continued to impress... this time taking a perfect game into the 7th inning. I'm jealous of the Phillies fans who got to experience the excitement of this outing. Cole Hamels is the kind of pitcher who is going to do this for us consistently. It would have been nice to make history and pitch a no-no... That's two almost no-no's for the Phils so far in the early season. Not too shabby.

I was at the game when Kevin Millwood pitched a no-hitter. It was pretty electifying. It was one of the best baseball moments I've experienced.

It was up there with the game at Camden yards where I thought it was going to be Cal Ripken's last game and he got a standing ovation before every at bat.. that was cool. But it turned out not to be his last game... my prediction was ill conceived. So I predicted retirement again the next season and bought tickets to the last game of the season in New York, where the O's would take on the Yanks. This time, Cal did announce his retirement and was prepared to hang up his cleats for the last time at Yankee Stadium...but... the Taliban decided to ruin that by flying some planes into our World Trade Center delaying a few weeks worth of games and forcing the rescheduling of the games after the original last date... so my "Cal Ripken's Last Game" excitement... was in reality... "Cal Ripken's Last Game at Yankee Stadium"... f#@kin' taliban!!!

Back to the topic at hand...

Hamels improves his record to 6-1 with a 3.30 ERA. Cole's 11 Ks brings his season total to 70, which is currently Tops in the Majors. Cole Hamels is legitimate... he was worth the wait...

PS - His wife is pretty hot...

Good Home Cookin'... Something's Brewin'

Two dramatic victories in a row in front of the home crowd, and notching wins in 5 of the last 6 contests, the Phils just might be ready to go on one of those winning streaks which usually doesn't happen until August.

Congratulations to Carlos Ruiz for the first, of what we hope will be many, walk off home runs... and thank you to Eaton for a solid outing. Adam, we know you're a battler, but let's see this more consistently...

The first of the two vs. the Brewers was a dramatic, improbable, come-from-behind victory Monday night. The next, a walk off homer by Carlos Ruiz and combined with a gem from Adam Eaton.

WIN 1 - We started things off with a come from behind victory over the Diamondbacks, scoring 4 runs in the 7th to take the lead 4-3 and then continuing the barrage through the 8th and 9th... giving support to another strong outing by Moyer.

WIN 2 - This was followed by a relatively easy victory over the Cubs behind a solid outing by King Cole Hamels, and two homers by Burrell. Phils win 7-2.

WIN 3 - was an event where we outslugged the Cubs winning 11-7, where the bottom of our lineup, (spots 7, 8 and 9) Dobbs, Ruiz and Nunez were a combined 9 for 11, 6 runs and 8 RBIs, a double, a triple and a homer.

WIN 4 - was the aforementioned come from behind victory over the Brew Crew.

and finally, WIN 5 was last nights Eaton/Ruiz combination.

There are some new names surfacing as far as heroes... Notice I didn't mention Rowand, Utley or Rollins until now... this is a very democratic game... this is what makes it great.

All but one of these wins has been in the friendly confines of the Cit. The Phillies are beginning to excite the crowds.. the crowds will motivate the players, the players will win games, and build confidence and before you know it.. we've won the World Series... it's a simply equation.

Support the Phillies... cheer them on... and we'll win.

I'll be home soon enough to do just that. We close on the house June 4th... In the mean time we're preparing another outing her in Atlanta to cheer for the pinstripes... May 25-27... look for me on TBS, I'll be wearing a Lenny Dykstra T-shirt.

PS - These wins are even better because a colleague of mine is from Milwaukee and I bet him that the Phillies will win more games than the Brewers. I gave him 6 games too... he won't make that same bet with the Packers.. i was even willing to give him 3 games. So these wins are satisfying.

You are the Weakest Link... Goodbye!

It appears as if our reigning National League MVP is our weakest player. Our $900,000 baby is not holding up his end of the bargain. The new face of Major League Baseball is getting a lot of time to watch his friends run around the bases...

To date, Ryan Howard is the weakest of our eight everyday position player starters. His .213 average is nearly 70 points lower than our next worst starter.

Howard has to uncross his bats, to take off the hex... but I'm sure he knows that.

All in all, that's pretty impressive.

Granted, Chase Utley's 5 for 5 game tonight raised his average nearly 50 points, but it is still encouraging to look at our 7 starters without an MVP trophy and smile at their current averages.

Rollins - .295

Victorino - .282

Utley - .296

Burrell - .344

Helms - .290

Rowand - .365

Ruiz - .296

That kind of production is going to score some runs. It doesn't matter if we're hitting singles, doubles or homeruns, this offense is going to score runs.

This offense has finally woken up and is no longer relying on Jimmy Rollins to provide the pop. Burrell is still hitting. Rowand has a 13 game hitting streak. Utley has finally woken up, and Helms, Victorino and Ruiz are doing there jobs very well.

Now if we can just wake up our sleeping giant, Ryan Howard, we'll be in good shape and we'll be tough to beat. At this point though Ryan Howard is the least of our worries. He seems to be hitting a homerun now and then (he hit his 3rd tonight), he's still getting on base via the walk and is still finding ways to drive in runs... he's got 12 to date.

On another note....

Another strong outing by a Phillies starter. Lieber pitched well tonight. 6 innings (that's half a dozen, Jon), 2ER, 5Ks, 0 BBs and a victory.

Tomorrow night is Cole Hamels. This guy is a stud. Hamels is coming off a 15K performance and has pitched solid in every outing. His opponent, Shawn Hill has not let up more than 2 earned runs in any of his 4 previous starts. It should be a great game tomorrow. Two young arms. I'm looking forward to a pitcher's duel.

Skeeter at Driven to Center believes we'll continue our winning ways and end April at 13-12... it is definitely doable.

That's More Like it...

I think we can all release a sigh of relief. The Phillies know how to win. They've proven they can win two in a row. In fact, in their last 10 games the Phillies are starting to be respectable...

5-5 in their last 10... 3-1 in their last 4.... and 2-0 in their last two... they've finally won 2 in a row.

Tucked within the nuances of these latest games, the Phillies have begun to show signs of life...

Cole Hamels has proven that he's a stud... 15 Ks is impressive...at any time. (He leads the Majors in Strikeouts)

Garcia got one of those things we've been waiting for him to get... a win.

Ryan Howard is finally starting to produce... he had 3 RBIs today. And Utley appears to have found his stroke, as his average is slowly rising... and he has quietly produced 10 doubles.

We're not that bad after all...

Cole Hamels: The Real Deal?

He looks like a pitcher. Tall, lanky, broad shoulders, long legs.

He has the name of a good pitcher. You know what I mean, right? A guy with the name Cole Hamels has a shot at doing something. Where if he were named Larry Murphy, well, that just doesn't cut it. (no offense to anyone named Larry Murphy)

He has the making of a good nickname. "King Cole".

He appears to have the head of a good pitcher. To quote General Manager Pat Gillick: "Other than the physical and natural ability, you look for presence and composure. We don't have any reservation that he'll be able to deal with a crucial part of the game."

He has the mechanics of a good pitcher. I think his high leg kick will be mimicked by kids in the school yards for years to come. I'm looking forward to that being his trademark. (see picture)

He put up decent numbers as a rookie. His K/inning ration is impressive. (145 Ks in 132 innings). He was second in the National League with 101 strikeouts after the all-star break and went 6-3 with a 2.60 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 691/3 innings over his final 11 starts. Not too shabby.

He seems to learn quickly. Check out these charts below from last year, notice the first versus second half.

And now he appears to have the work ethic of a good pitcher. His body fat 6%. (I wonder what Lieber's is?)

And what bodes best for Cole Hamels is that he is not our ace. This is good because he will have no pressure to perform. The weight is off his shoulders. With Myers, Garcia, Eaton and Moyer around him, he's in great company to learn and to grow. That said, I expect him to do well. Very well. And half of this is due to the fact that he can relax and simply go out there and pitch.

Young King Cole, your future awaits.

Charts courtesy of FanGraphs.com