The Philadelphia Phillies snapped their four-game losing streak on Friday night, taking down the Miami Marlins 6-2. Their record improves to 4-6.
- A.J. Burnett lasted just 4.1 innings before leaving the game with groin soreness. Burnett allowed two runs on five hits, and walked six batters for the second time in as many starts.
- Burnett allowed both of his runs in the second inning.
- Jake Diekman took over for Burnett in the fifth, and recorded the final two outs of the inning.
- Mario Hollands pitched two scoreless frames after Diekman.
- Antonio Bastardo had another shaky performance in the eighth inning. Bastardo gave up a run on one hit and a walk. He’s now got five walks in five appearances.
- Tony Gwynn started in centerfield and batted in the lead-off spot. Gwynn went 0-2 with a walk, and scored a run.
- Jimmy Rollins went 2-3 with his first triple of the season.
- Marlon Byrd drove in two runs, going 2-4 with a double.
- Ryan Howard went 1-2 with two walks, and scored two runs.
- Domonic Brown went 2-4 with an RBI.
- Cody Asche turned in another 0-for, failing to pick up a hit in all four of his at-bats.
- Jonathan Papelbon recorded his second save of the season.
Final Thoughts
The Phillies snapped their four-game losing streak, but the victory may have come at a high price.
The extent of A.J. Burnett’s groin injury isn’t known, but if he’s out for any extended period of time it would be a devastating blow to the team’s chances to stay somewhat competitive during the first part of the season.
Burnett hasn’t looked right in his last two outings. He hasn’t been able to go deep into ball games, and he’s walked 12 men in just his last two games alone. The Phillies need to determine whether or not something is wrong, and then shut him down if necessary.
If Burnett is out, the Phillies could be looking at a rotation of Cliff Lee, Kyle Kendrick, Roberto Hernandez, Jeff Manship, and David Buchanon/Jonathan Pettibone for the foreseeable future. Yikes.
On the positive side, Marlon Byrd continues to be a productive member of this lineup. Byrd has hit two homers and driven in eight runs through the first 10 games of the year. He’s doing his part, he needs the guys around him to raise their games and match his production.
Nice win by Phillies but they need to seriously invest and steal the Marlins farm system director, Its amazing how over the last 20 years the Marlins can continue to pump out stud young players one after another. Jose Fernandez is just another example of a 21 year old stud Marlins player who didn’t have to wait until he was 28 years old to join the big league team. There farm system is unreal. If the Marlins had money and could keep all there home grown talent they would be winning multiple titles.
Absolutely.
When young players show skills and promise you don’t bury them, or hem and haw about ‘the right time’ to let them play: There should be a solid strategy in place for promoting younger players on a regular yearly basis.
OMG, I just turned on the Phillies – Marlins game Saturday night 7:00 pm and there is no one in the crowd.