The Philadelphia Phillies lost their fourth straight game on Tuesday night, falling 2-1 to the Twins. Their record drops to 31-34.
- Its back to status quo for Cole Hamels. He pitches a good (not great) game, gets no run support, and takes a loss or gets a no decision. Hamels pitched six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits.
- It was another night in which the Phillies’ hitters were just not interested in making the opposing pitcher work. P.J. Walters threw only 86 pitches to get through seven innings. They did manage to scrape a second run off of Walters in the eighth inning, but ultimately the lineup didn’t do enough tonight.
- Mike Adams ended up taking the loss. Adams came out to start the eighth inning, and allowed a walk and a hit to begin the frame. He recorded two outs before being pulled in favor of Antonio Bastardo, who allowed an inherited runner to score.
- Michael Young knocked in the team’s first run with an RBI single in the third inning. Young finished 1-4, batting lead-off once again.
- Ryan Howard went 2-4, and got the game-tying RBI single in the eighth inning.
- Domonic Brown went 0-4 and left four men on base.
- John Mayberry went 1-4 with his 11th double of the year and came around to score a run.
- Justin De Fratus pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
Final Thoughts
Just another painful loss for the Phillies.
Another underwhelming start from Cole Hamels. Another frustrating effort from the offense. Another late-inning failure from the bullpen. Let’s talk a little bit about all three of these issues.
Cole Hamels just hasn’t been able to pitch deep into games all season, and its really hurt the team. He’s only pitched seven or more innings in three of his 14 starts. That’s not good enough for a guy who’s supposed to be the team’s ace of aces. They need him to be great, not good.
The lineup just couldn’t get anything done tonight. P.J. Walters is having a good season, but the fact that he only needed 86 pitches to get through seven innings is an indication that a lot of the hitters just went up there and started hacking tonight. A lazy, uninspired approach like that is doomed to fail more often than not.
Finally, Mike Adams is really killing this team. He isn’t healthy right now, he’s trying to pitch through his discomfort and it just isn’t working. He’s allowed runs in six of his last eight appearances, and at the moment the team just can’t count on him to get them through a tight spot. If Adams can’t be relied on, it means that the eighth inning is going to be a nightmare for the Phillies.
The momentum that the Phillies gained through their five game winning streak a week ago is now but a distant memory, as the team’s record continues to sink further below .500.
Nothing is going to change, until the inept Architect, Ruin 2morrow is fired. He said there will be no blow up, so expect a 500 team, or below, put together with band-aids, re-treads, overpaid has-beens, for the foreseeable future. Wake up Middleton! Wake up Montgomery! Stop being so stupidly, blindly loyal, & get rid of this POS GM!
If you need to blame someone how about Charlie? He lets average hitters at best do what even the want at the plate. They are behind by a run in the 9th and everyone is swinging for a homerun on the first pitch. Has anyone ever heard of the take sign?
Please please please never put galvis in the starting lineup again. He is the Jeremy Horst of the infield
I think the Phils shot their wad for the 2013 Season with that tease of solid 2 week play and have reverted back to how they have played 90% of the Season which is Inconsistent, and lack Punch in the line-up, are poor defensively as a Team, and the Relief Pitching Questions for the 6th/7th/8th Innings..
They will have weeks where they go 4-2 , 3-3 , 2-4 but I don’t see where they are going to go on a Tear and win 12 of 15 Games to really contend for Divsion Crown and will have to do battle as a Wildcard in a Stronger & Deeper NL
imo if the phils were serious about winning they would inject some life into this team. Put Ruff in right, Asche at 3rd, Ceasar at 2nd. I dont love Ruff but think he would bring you some pop and life, Asche puts the ball in play and is better defensively then M Young, and Ceasar all day over Galvis – Freddy is awful. I would release, I would drop Galvis to AAA and when Chase returns I would release D. Young and put Ceasar back at AAA and bring Galvis back up for infield depth. THen at the deadline I move Utley for a bag of rocks and replace him full time with Ceasar…
This team has such a terrible approach at the plate and Charlie is to blame. Ryan Howard should at this point in his career be piling up walks and intentional walks the way that Barry Bonds did in his last 5-6 seasons, but Charlie didn’t encourage a patient approach. Jimmy has walked a lot in the last month, which shows he has the ability, but it was never encouraged or never enforced. Domonic Brown has a nice plate approach, but I could see his new found power negatively affecting his approach. I pray that the next manager of this team knows how to coach small ball.
Just remember a Manager cannot make a player do something at the plate… I know Charlie is the popular scape goat here but I dont think he has necessarily been provided with a full deck (ie an aging utley who hasnt performed at a high level in 5 years, an 80 yr old retread 3rd baseman, a declining and aging ss, 1b, and catcher, no cf, no rf…)
just saying
Always love it when Charlie is blamed for players not producing. Is he the sole reason for when Howard was MVP or JRoll? He can share part of the blame but the players have to actually hit. He has been given drek by Ruben so what do you want him to do? It may be time for him to go but I don’t know many managers who could win with this team. The best players are past their prime and the others are back ups.
Exactly bugs. Charlie, ain’t the brightest bulb in the batch, but he now needs to go also. He is a lame duck coach, that has been given nothing but septic swimmers, the last 2 years. A staff of Tony La Russa, Joe Torre & Leo Mazzone, couldn’t win, with the overpaid has-beens, band-aids, stiffs & invisible BP, that Charlie has been given. He is a coach, that thrives with teams with alot of power & strong BP’s, with solid starters. This team, has zero power, a nucleus 2 years past its expiration date, no discipline, no position prospects, that are givens, to be worthy of the next nucleus, & a inept, useless, failed GM, who needs to be treated like a lame horse, & sent to the glue factory
I’m not blaming Charlie for the performance, but I will place the blame squarely at his feet for his team’s approach at the plate. There are times to swing freely and there are times to be patient. The Phillies have gotten worse and worse at hitting bad pitchers and young pitchers. The Phillies used to blow up soft-tossers like Bronson Arroyo, now he owns them.
I won’t blame Charlie for this crappy outfield or lousy relief pitching. I won’t blame him for Cole Hamels under-performing or Roy Halliday getting hurt. But when it comes to batting approach, he’s culpable.
I think but could be wrong that that would fall on the hitting coach and I think but could be wrong that last week Charlie when talking about Browns approach was quoted as saying something along the lines of its nice to see someone finally listening to our hitting coaches.
It’s pretty easy. The batter looks down to the third base coach and the coach gives the take sign. It’s one thing to let a superstar get a free pass in swinging the way he wants but the Phillies don’t have many of those left . This isn’t the same team as 2008-2010.
take sign ? this isnt little league. 3rd base coaches in the pros give that sign on 3-0 and 3-1 counts and thats about it
E, is it Charlie’s fault, that his so-called leaders, are selfish, stubborn, out of shape, set in their way, has-beens, who lie about their injuries, who feel as though, they have nothing else left to prove, because of their past success, overpaid contract status, & them being in the late twilights, of their careers? Is it his fault, that his GM, is a f^#@ing stupid, over-matched, idiot? I agree, Charlie isn’t a Rocket Scientist, & is the game day equivalent of Andy Reid, but he has been given a losing battle, since the end of the embarrassing, failed 2011 season!
The Core of this Phillie Team lost it’s Passion after Winning the World Series in 2008 and after the Core Players all received long-term, big Contracts.. This decline has been occuring for a couple of years now as players like Utley,Rollins,Howard, all have made their Millions and Won their WS Ring, so it’s just a job for them anymore and are going thru the motions..
What happened to J-Ro being the leader, getting on Players,getting on himself, firing up the Dugout, the Fans and even calling out other Teams from time to time.. Where’s his Passion for the Game gone.. Now he’s just “Mr Cool,, “Hey I am just doing my Job”.. This kind of cavalier Attitude makes me sick, and the fact that this Core Group only Won 1 WS with all the Talent,Promise,Excitement, Big Salaries and good Players around them is a major dissapointment in my Opinion.. Coulda,Woulda,Shoulda.. ..
They lost their passion, when the failure, idiot, inept, useless, GM, failed to adequately replace our entire WS winning outfield. They lost their attitude, balls, energy & fun loving attitudes, when Burrell, Werth, & Victorino, left. Not to mention, all 3 were solid-good OF’s, with cannon arms.
When you replace those guys, with abortions like Nix, Francisco, Wiggigton, KBerry, Shierholtz, Young, Revere, Martinez, an overhyped, unproven Brown, & has-beens, like Ibanez, Pierre, you get what we have now! TOILET DWELLERS!
I agree that the Phils OF which was a Strength has become a 2nd Tier MLB OF
, but the Phils success or recent Failures I believe are at the feet of the Big 3 or should I refer to them as the “Small 3” which is Rollins,Utley & Howard.. .
As they go, the PHils go, and the last 3 Years has been a steady decline and everyone from GM Amaro,Manager Manuel to the Media and Fans are too chicken shit to call them out of going thru the emotions..