Phils' Offense Hits New Low

The Phillies bested the Mets 2 out of 3 in their weekend series amidst the bigger accomplishment of achieving a franchise best-ever 18 April wins. They managed this despite failing to score more than 4 runs in a game between April 9th and April 26th.

However, in Philadelphia on Sunday Night Baseball, in spectacular nationally televised fashion, the Phils floundered by managing only a single run over 14 grueling innings of non-offense.

The N.Y. Mets' pitching staff came to town ranked 29th in baseball with only 10 Quality Starts, ranked 25th in ERA at 4.58 and 28th in Batting Average Against: .272. Yet, the team that entered Sunday with baseball's best record, the Phils (now 18-9), mustered a mere 1 run in 14 innings against this group of downtrodden throwers.

The Phils thumped the Mets in game 1 of the series Friday behind 6 RBIs, including a Grand Slam by MLB RBI leader Ryan Howard (28 RBIs). The game featured an injury fill-in start by 23 year-old Vance Worley, who escaped the 4 walks in 6 innings he allowed en route to an impressive 6 innings of shutout work. Worley picked up where he left off last October, when he threw a 5 inning, 1 hit shutout against Atlanta.

Next, Roy Halladay threw 18 straight strikes to open game 2 of the series Saturday, an eventual 9-inning gem 2-1 victory that improved the defending Cy Young to 4-1. He is now 6-0 with a 1.89 ERA vs. the Mets. Saturday, Halladay became the 1st pitcher to throw 18 consecutive strikes to begin a game since the Mets' Sid Fernandez on 8/16/91. At the conclusion of the game, he embraced his catcher, Dane Sardinha and asked the question on everyone's mind: "Who are you and how did you get on the field?" Followed by, "Can you pronounce your name?!"

Finally, it was up to Cliff Lee, the man the Phils wrapped a good portion of their cash-flow around for the next 5 years. Lee, a local hero, has been underwhelming thus-far in '11 at 2-2 with a 3.66 ERA. On Sunday, though, he gave one of his better performances of late, surrendering just 1 run on 8 scattered hits over 7 innings. It was hardly domination, but it was good enough. Or was it?

Somehow, when you hold the league's best record, are the popular choice to compete in the World Series and your pitching staff holds the opposition to 1 lonely run over the 1st 13 frames, you ought to muster a 'W'. That sort of expectation goes with the territory. Not so for the Phils Sunday night, before a nation of eyes confused and suspicious.

Millions must have wondered, as they squinted at their TV sets to see if they were mistaken in what they saw, why the batters the Phils trotted out in the bottom of the 14th were the ones this Championship team was placing their hopes in:

Bottom of 14th, Phils trailing 2-1:

1) 2B Pete Orr [Photo, left: looking as bewildered as anyone that he's a Phillies' starter-- where's Joe Millette when you need him?]

2) PH Cole Hamels [Remember when his offensive strengths for a pitcher were a nice bonus rather than the Phils' best hope for a game-winning hit?]

3) OF John Mayberry Jr. [The Phils prematurely gave up on him last year, before the Werth departure, the Brown debacle and the Player Formerly Known As Ibanez.]

Perhaps, the mind of the average non-Philly viewer went something like this:

'Their 2B is due up in the bottom of the 14th. That'll be Chase Utley. I voted for him the last 5 All-Star Games. No, wait a minute, he's out with an injury-- indefinitely. So, it's that guy... Valdez. Or is it the one they got from NY?'

Strike one looking to Orr.

'Pete Orr. Who's that?!'

Pop-out to shortstop. 1 down.

Next:

'Alright, who's on-deck, that folk hero of theirs, Matt Stairs? Or is it Carlos Ruiz, I haven't seen him in this game. They always have some good bench hitter [ala Dobbs in '08]... Cole Hamels?! Wait a minute, do I need a new prescription?'

Strike swinging, strike looking, 0-2 hole...

'Hamels pinch-hitting? That's the best the Phils got right now?'

Ground out to second. 2 away.

Finally:

'Now, the Phils are down to their last out, against an 11-16, last-place team, one of baseball's worst. Who are they gonna bring in to be their hero? Their right fielder! Who is it... Werth? Oh, no, he's gone. It's... May-berry. Well, that fits, 'cause it's May 1st today.'

Three pitches: Strike, strike, strike. Game over.

18 April wins is nothing to shake a stick at, especially for the only professional sports team to have amassed 10,000 losses. At this clip, Raul Ibanez's incredibly shrinking average (last seen plummeting to.154 and sinking fast in an 0-for-34 slump) will pass the Phils' win total quicker than you can say, "Mid-season waivers."

Still, it was best of 3, and the Phils-- who sit atop ESPN's Baseball Rankings-- bested the once-proud New Yorkers twice.

ESPN.com's lead clip Sunday night was Phils-Mets commentators sitting at their microphones at Citizens Bank Park after the game, reflecting on how powerfully affecting and uniting it was when 45,000 Philly fans cheered and chanted "U.S.A." when they saw the news flash on the big screen that Osama Bin Laden had been killed.

Now, maybe they'll stop remembering us as the fans who booed Santa Claus in 1968. "Some of these people would boo the crack in the Liberty Bell," baseball legend Pete Rose once said of us.

If it was wearing a Mets' uniform, it would have deserved it.

Cole Hamels was asked earlier this month if boos show that a fan cares. “Yeah, they do,” Hamels replied. “That’s the way I see it. Mike Schmidt told me that when I was younger in the minors. Shoot, he’s probably been the most-booed person in Philly, and he’s the best player.”