Notes From The Phillies’ 9-3 Loss To Boston

The Philadelphia Phillies lost their second straight game on Monday night, falling 9-3 to the Boston Red Sox. Their record drops to 24-27.

• After enjoying a couple of successful outings, Tyler Cloyd got exposed against the powerful Boston lineup. Cloyd was lit up by the Red Sox for six runs on nine hits in just 2.1 innings.
• Cloyd’s ERA shot up from 2.70 to 5.74. He allowed two home runs and three doubles.
• Charlie Manuel reshuffled his lineup, batting Ben Revere back in the lead off position, Michael Young second, and Jimmy Rollins third.
• Michael Young had another terrible game, going 0-5 and grounding into yet another double-play. His average has dropped to .262, he’s not hitting with any power, he’s not driving in runs, he makes errors in the field, and he’s hitting into double-plays at the top of the order. This guy was supposed to be a noticeable upgrade at third base, but he’s made no impact.
• Domonic Brown hit his 10th homer of the season, a two-run shot off of Andrew Miller in the eighth inning.
• Erik Kratz hit a solo home run in the top of the third inning.
• Freddy Galvis lined out with the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
• Jimmy Rollins went 2-4 with a double.
• John Mayberry got the start in right field and went 2-3.
• Mike Stutes was the first reliever to take over for Cloyd. He tossed 2.1  innings, and allowed one earned run to score.
• Jeremy Horst, Antonio Bastardo tossed scoreless innings.
• Mike Adams pitched the eighth inning to get some work and allowed a run after giving up a walk with the bases loaded.

Final Thoughts

The Phillies never had a chance in this game.

Tyler Cloyd was completely overmatched by Boston’s lineup. Their hitters couldn’t wait to step up to the plate and fire away at the rookie. Cloyd is going to have his share of games like this. He just doesn’t have impressive stuff, and with poor velocity he’s going to have a hard time surviving in the major leagues. It was nice that he was able to give the Phillies a pair of quality starts, but I think we all knew it was just a matter of time before something like this happened.

We’ll see how Cloyd responds in his next start. The Phillies are going to have to stick with him for the time being. Carlos Zambrano still needs some time before he can join the big league roster, and the team just doesn’t have a better option to be their fifth starter at the moment. They have to hope that Cloyd will keep his head up, and give the team a chance to win his next time out.

On another note, I also want to revisit a major issue I had with yesterday’s game: Ryan Howard. The Phillies held their first baseman out of the starting lineup against the Nationals on Sunday in order to give his injured knee some rest. A day later in Boston, Howard was not only back in the lineup, but in the field manning first base.

Why isn’t Howard being used as the team’s DH while they’re playing in an American League park? If the Phillies want to be cautious with Howard’s knee, why not take advantage of the opportunity to avoid putting unnecessary strain on his knee? This just makes some absolutely baffling decisions sometimes.