Phils Clean Sox's Clocks

GM Ruben Amaro Jr. smiled a mile wide as the Phillies completed a series win over the Boston Red Sox on National TV Wednesday night in Philadelphia. Billed as a preview of the World Series envisioned by the baseball world this preseason, the Phils commandingly showed that great pitching does beat great hitting. And they did it without ace of aces, Roy Halladay on the mound. He wasn't needed in the series to defeat what is widely regarded to be the Phillies greatest threat to a 2011 World Championship.

Instead, Wednesday, it was Vance Worley, a rookie and virtual unknown on a team of superstars and all-stars, marching his way through the awesome Red Sox lineup like he was Cliff Lee. Worley went 7 innings for the 1st time in his life and looked great, his only mistake an RBI double surrendered to opposing pitcher John Lackey. Raul Ibanez, riding a 1-22/5-44 slump, wishing every at-bat could be against Lackey, went 3-3 with the game winning HR, improving to .386 against him, lifetime.

On Tuesday, it was Cliff Lee, part man, part machine, like a summer blockbuster, dominating baseball's best hitters as he has for 2 straight postseasons. Lee's June (5-0, 0.21 ERA) is already legendary, history fresh from the oven. Concluding with 3 straight 9-inning shutouts, Lee drove in more runs at the plate (2) in June than he allowed (1 in 42 innings) from the mound.

Of course, none of these games were played at Fenway. Should these 2 teams meet in October, half the games will be. However, that can hardly dampen the success these Phillies just had over those Red Sox. The bragging rights, the confidence, the momentum is all ours now.

On Wednesday, when Cole Hamels (1.45 June ERA) took the mound for a broadly billed pitcher's duel with Jon Lester (10-4), it was more of the same hapless hurt put on the BoSox, who began scoreless.

Then, in the top of the 3rd inning, SS Marco Scutaro led off against Hamels and pounded the ball right back at him. Hamels reached out in self-defense and caught it for out #1. The replay showed Hamels breathing a big sigh of relief, having dodged a bullet and knowing it.

However, he was less lucky an inning later, when, with 1 out in the 4th, AL runaway MVP front-runner Adrian Gonzalez (.421 in June, but only 1-for-11 in the 3 games vs. Phils pitching) lined a ball right at Hamels, which struck him on the right hand for a contusion that sent him out of the game, but resulted in clean X-rays with Hamels expected to make his next start.

Boston couldn't have scripted it better. They were desperate, unable to muster anything against Phils' starting pitching. With Hamels' dramatic and sudden exit, they victimized an unsuspecting bullpen, whose cobwebs were beginning to form watching Lee and co. go 9 or nearly.

Hamels 4 shutout innings (yes, he even got them out to finish the inning with a swelling hand) were all that was needed to nail the coffin in the tomb of would-be contender, Boston, who capitalized on Hamels' departure by pummeling the injury-ravaged bullpen's last resorts David Herndon (the Phils worst pitcher) for 3 runs and Drew Carpenter (fresh from AAA) for 2 HRs.

Still, it was a series win for Philadelphia, whose 'question marks' remain:

Can they go indefinitely with closer by committee?
Can they really win a championship with this limp lineup?
What will become of ailing Roy Oswalt, the fallen Ace?
Can they win it all with only 1 reliable outfielder?
Will Polly (3B Placido Polanco: .231 since April) get his groove back?

There are 80 games left to play. With this series win against Boston, the Phils turned the corner of their season, brushed past the halfway point, began a long, slow descent-- or, they hope, ascent. This is baseball, a long haul, an epic. The Phils present 4 game lead on the NL can disappear in an instant. In '07 and '08, they were on the winning side of the late-season-surge equation. Still, Wednesday night, the swagger was all ours.

Boston came in 45-32, 1/2 game out of 1st, and left 46-34, 2 1/2 games out. They salvaged one today, but it was against the scrubs of the Phils' staff. Meanwhile, the Phils had held back Halladay, their best, while hammering Josh Beckett, Boston's brightest (and the league ERA leader coming in) for 5 runs in 6 innings, including 2 HRs.

That will hit home for every member of each club. Philly thumped Boston's best, but Boston couldn't touch even fill-in starter Vance Worley with Ace in the hole, Halladay, waiting in the wings, ready to fight another day.

The big, bad Red Sox, league leaders in runs, ave., HRs, etc., mustered merely 1 run in 20 innings against the Phillies elite starting pitching.

Ruben Amaro Jr. was smiling, as he should be.

Phils & Red Sox: Ready to Rumble

Lee (0.27 June ERA) & Ruiz brace for Beckett (right) & Boston impact














Game 1, tonight. 7:05 pm:

Boston: Beckett (6-2, 1.86 ERA)

at Philadelphia: Lee (8-5, 2.87 ERA)

Josh Beckett, the MLB ERA leader, missed his last start because of the flu. Cliff Lee is coming off back-to-back shutouts.

Game 2, Wednesday, 7:05 pm:

BOS: Lackey (5-6, 7.36 ERA)

at PHI: Worley (2-1, 2.83 ERA)

The biggest game of rookie Vance Worley's career will be seen by millions as ESPN Game-of-the-Week.

Game 3, Thursday, 1:05 pm:

BOS: Lester (9-4, 3.66 ERA)

at PHI: Hamels (9-4, 2.49 ERA)

The Phils bumped Cole Hamels (3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in 3 career starts against the Red Sox) up for Thursday's start, which shows how much this mid-season series means to them.

Before the season, a vast majority of experts said the Phils and Red Sox would meet in the 2011 World Series. So far, they appear to be right, with each team emerging as their respective league's leader.

"I think we measure up good if our pitchers pitch like hell. If we're seeing a better offense, that's where our pitching would have to shine," Charlie Manuel said of a potential World Series vs. Boston.

"Right now, you just look at it as another series but in the back of your head you're like, 'I might be facing these guys in the playoffs'," Red Sox slugger David Ortiz said.

ESPN is advertising Wednesday's game as "The Best team in baseball," the Phils, taking on "Big Papi and the Red Sox." David "Big Papi" Ortiz (.311, 17 HR, 48 RBI) is enjoying his best year since winning the World Series in '07. It was revealed in '09 that he and former teammate Manny Ramirez tested positive for steroid use. Now, the Red Sox seek a return to the Series behind Ortiz and '11 acquisition Adrian Gonzalez: .361 Ave., 16 HR, 71 RBI, .611 SLG %, 1.026 OPS.

Boston's all-star outfielders Carl Crawford and J.D. Drew are both injured and may miss the series. Meanwhile, David Ortiz, a Designated Hitter, will be relegated to pinch-hit opportunities due to the lack of DH in the NL/this series.

That won't slow the Red Sox offensive onslaught, however. The Red Sox lead MLB in runs (409), batting average (.277), Total Bases and OPS, among other categories.

Meanwhile, defending Cy Young Roy Halladay, who leads the Phils in wins (10), ERA (2.40) and S.O. (123) will not appear in this series, but would be the obvious starting pitcher in game 1 in October if these 2 teams meet again, this year.

The Phillies enter the series leading the National League in wins (49), and their pitching staff has allowed the fewest runs (257), posted the lowest earned run average (3.05) and most quality starts (53).

"A lot of times good pitching beats good hitting," said Ryan Howard. "I guess it all depends on what day."

They also posses baseball's best record since the 1st 12 games of the season. The Red Sox started 2-10, but have gone 43-22 since for an MLB-best .662 Win %. However, the Phils have baseball's best overall record at 49-30 and the most wins at home, where they are 30-13.

"Anytime the Red Sox come in, it's big for us," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "It's big for our fans. I think we've had a hard time beating them in the past, the last five or six years I've been here. It would be nice to win a series. We need to come out Tuesday and make sure we play good against them. It's good for us to play Boston. I think we're going to get a good look at some good pitching and also a good team, a very good hitting team. That's good for us. That's a good test for us."

It's an important opportunity for the Phillies right now, who appear to be gliding, which, at mid-season, can lull a team into a false sense of security. They have averaged a 5-game lead on the entire NL over the past couple weeks and won 7-straight from June 10th-16th.

Still, the Phils have failed to put together any kind of offensive consistency or presence. Raul Ibanez is hitting .240 (.200 in June), Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are batting .261, which has to improve, while Placido Polanco is hitting just .197 in June.

On June 8th, Manuel said, "I look at our offense right now, and we don't hit the ball hard enough to score runs... We don't hit a lot of homers, and at times we definitely don't have the speed to play little ball. I'm not going to sit here and knock no player, but watch the games. I think if we want to go to the World Series and stay the course of our goal, I think there has to be a cut-off somewhere. I think there has to be a time where we say we better be getting better."

The Phillies have scored 3 runs or fewer in the majority of their games, which is incredible considering they have the best record in baseball.

When the Phillies score 4 or more runs, they’re nearly unbeatable: 33-3.

“We haven’t hit – at all,” said Shane Victorino, whose .291 Ave. and .359 OBP lead the team. “There were glimpses of it early on, but there's nothing of late. No one in this room is panicking. We understand we have to keep working. Guys are trying hard. It’s not like guys aren’t trying. It’s just something that’s happening right now. You look around the whole world of baseball and the runs are down.”

Tell that to the MLB best hitting Red Sox, who haven't had trouble scoring runs. Better yet, the Phils hope Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels will do the talking-- from the mound.

Previewing & Looking Past Marlins

Game 1, tonight, 7:05pm EST:

FLA: Volstad (2-6, 5.51 ERA)

@PHI: Hamels (8-2, 2.58 ERA)

The pitching match-up and respective stats sort of says it all. 1 team poised for glory, the other... not so much. It's difficult to recall, now, why the May 9th-11th series between the Phils and Marlins in Florida felt so relevant at the time. Perhaps it was because the then 20-13 Marlins were only 2 games behind the 22-11 Phils. The 2 teams would even their records at 29-19 the last week of May, but then definitively part ways.

The Marlins have lost 3-straight and 11 of their last 12 games. They are now a towering 7 1/2 games out of 1st place, after knotting the Phils just a couple weeks ago. That's gotta hurt. It's a long way up after a free-fall, especially when you're looking at Phils' starting pitching for 4 straight days.

Working to their advantage (although any advantage for the Marlins in this series is a stretch) is the improbable and unflattering fact that they are 17-11 on the road, the best in all of baseball, while a shocking 15-22 at home. Consequently, Florida's infamous lack of attendance and fan support (the diametric opposite of the Phils' record streak of sellout crowds) can literally be blamed for the team's downfall.

To make matters worse, Florida ace Anibal Sanchez (6-1, 3.06 ERA) is 1-5 in his career at Citizens Bank Park with an ERA of 7.85.

Forfeit, anyone?

Game 2, Wednesday, 1:05 PM EST, 1st game of Double-Header:

FLA: ?

@PHI: Kendrick (3-4, 3.47 ERA)

The Marlins don't have a pitcher listed yet for tomorrow's afternoon game. Who can blame them?

Game 3, Wednesday, 7:05 PM EST, 2nd game of Double-Header:

FLA: Sanchez (6-1, 3.06 ERA, but 1-5, 7.85 ERA in Philly)

@PHI: Halladay (9-3, 2.39 ERA)

Game 4, Thursday, 1:05 PM EST:

FLA: Vazquez (3-6, 7.09 ERA)

@PHI: Lee (6-5, 3.41 ERA)

So, in a day and a half span, from Tuesday night until Thursday afternoon, the Phils and Marlins will wrestle over 4 contests. It's definitely not what the doctor ordered for the Marlins, who've dropped 13-of-15, including 7 games by only 1 run. OUCH!

The Phils come in at 40-26 (24-12 at home), baseball's best record. It has been a quiet best MLB record, though, without the fanfare of, say, Boston, who are riding a 9-game winning streak and topped both ESPN and John Kruk's Rankings yesterday. If it is to be a Phillies-Red Sox World Series, as was predicted by nearly all experts during the 2011 preseason, it would seem to be a battle of great hitting against great pitching. However, a closer look reveals a slightly different picture.

The Phils presently boast baseball's 3rd best ERA (3.15) and WHIP (1.22), while they're only 17th in runs scored (4.04 per game; a recent, big improvement, actually), 21st in Ave. (.247) and 23rd in SLG % (.371).

Meanwhile, Boston, who mauled their opponents 41-11 in 3 recent contests and 30-5 in their last 2, is a wrecking crew reminiscent of the younger, more powerful Phils, circa 2007-2008, who regularly scored in double digits.

The Red Sox's offensive numbers are staggering. They lead baseball in every major category: Runs (5.38 per game), Ave. (.276), On Base % (.349) and SLG % (.450).

Furthermore, while Sox starters (33 Quality Starts) haven't been as reliable as the Phils' (MLB best 44), the Sox's pitchers actually have a better Batting Ave. Against than the Phils': .242 (5th) vs. .248 (11th).

Since their 2-10 start, the Red Sox have gone a remarkable 37-16 for baseball's best .698 winning %. The Phils won 5-straight games back in April, but haven't put together anything like this sustained run the Red Sox are enjoying, which merely seems playing to their potential and the experts' expectations entering the season.

If the Phils and Sox played in the World Series tonight (and maybe the Marlins wish they were), the pitching match-ups might look like this:

Game 1: Roy Halladay (9-3, 2.39 ERA) vs. Josh Beckett (5-2, 2.06 ERA)

Game 2: Cliff Lee (6-5, 3.41 ERA) vs. Clay Buchholz (5-3, 3.59 ERA)

Game 3: Cole Hamels (8-2, 2.58 ERA) vs. Jon Lester (9-2, 3.73 ERA)

Sure, the Phillies starters are better and have more Cy Young Awards, but are they more capable of winning games than the Red Sox's when you consider the astronomical differences in the respective teams' offenses?

The Phillies and Red Sox will play 3 games in exactly 2 weeks, Tuesday-Thursday, June 28th-30th in Philadelphia. That mid-week series will be a monumental showdown. This mid-week stack of games with the Marlins? Not so much.

Hamels is King of 4 Aces' Hill

In the Phils' Season of the Pitcher, a familiar face and lifelong Phillie has stolen the show. His teammates call him, "Hollywood" and his box office numbers, this year, are 2nd to none-- even on his star-studded team. That's saying a lot when you consider the facts that defending Cy Young Roy Halladay pitches ahead of him and that Hamels, once the team Ace, pitches from the 4-slot in the rotation.

That Hamels is the #4 pitcher for the Phils, of course, speaks more about the quality of talent on the staff than it does about his potential, value or respect around the league.

"We knew he was good, but I didn’t know he was that good," All-Star Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays said about Hamels when the Rays were handcuffed by him in a 3-2 loss in game 1 of the '08 World Series.

Hamels would go on to become World Series MVP after winning NLCS MVP, making him only the 5th player to win 2 postseason MVP awards in the same year. He pitched 5 postseason games that year, going 4–0 with a 1.80 ERA and was regarded as having baseball's best change-up.

"Cole’s pretty good, man. I’m glad he’s pitching for us," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel then. "When I send Cole Hamels to the mound I expect to look good."

The '08 offseason brought a heavy schedule of TV appearances and celebrity engagements, including with model and wife Heidi Strobel and Hamels, the star, was launched.

The following season, '09, brought soaring expectations for Hamels. He was a CY Young favorite by many and was drawing widespread comparison to Steve Carlton both in and out of Philadelphia, which didn't sit well with me at all.

It was true that Hamels had shined in the postseason like few pitchers before. However, his regular season record was 14-10 for a 91-71 championship team, compared with Carlton's 27 wins, 1.97 ERA and 30 complete games for a last-place Phils club that went 59-97 in '72. Frankly, comparisons to Carlton seemed most unfair to Hamels himself. That was Carlton's 6th full-year in the Majors, this was Hamels' 3rd. Carlton was a Hall-of-Famer, Hamels' potential was, as yet, unfulfilled and perhaps still unknown.

Where would he go from here? The sky seemed the limit. However, expectations were sky high.

Time would show that Hamels of '09 didn't resemble the player who had dominated the '08 postseason at all.

4.10.09 Hamels debuted for the season against the Rockies. He was pounded that night for 7 runs on 11 hits in just 3 2/3 innings. "I'm concerned about him," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said then. "He had a hard time locating pitches. He had a problem with his command, locating the ball where he wanted it."

On 6.4.09, I watched Hamels pitch at Dodger Stadium. He was brilliant. It was his best outing that year. In 9 innings, he shutout the Dodgers on 97 pitches. He struck out 5 and walked nobody. It was dominance, the kind he had made routine the previous Fall.

By August, however, he was reeling. He recorded no wins that month and in one 2-game span went a combined 10 1/3 innings, allowing 15 hits, 11 runs & 6 BB.

Yet, unflappably loyal manager Charlie Manuel continued to rely on Hamels in the playoffs, even after Hamels' dismal season: 10-11 for a 93-69, NL Champion team that was, literally, better without him.

Hamels lost game 2 of the NLDS vs. Colorado, allowing 4 runs in 5 innings, causing the team their only loss of the series. However, defying logic, Manuel stuck with him.

Then, on 10.31.09, Hamels lost game 3 of the World Series to the Yankees, giving up 5 runs in just 4 1/3 innings. Hamels told reporters in the Phillies' clubhouse: "I can't wait for [the season] to end. It's been mentally draining. It's one of those things where, a year in, you just can't wait for a fresh start."

Since the Phillies were relying on him to pitch 1 more game of the World Series they still hoped to win, that comment stung, led to a physical confrontation with then teammate Brett Myers and caused a major backlash against Hamels for a large segment of the Phillies' fan-base. Hamels had gone too far, twisting the knife of a horrid postseason: 1-2 in 4 starts with a 7.58 ERA, the mirror opposite of his electrifying 2008 playoffs.

However, his manager understood with poise and patience:

"This is all part of the process," Manuel said. "This is the first time that things have not gone his way, and he's [struggling with it]. He's never been through this before, and it's something that he will get through and probably be even better."

Hamels' disappointing '09 season would serve as personal motivation for a renewed effort and work ethic to reclaim his competitive edge.

“As competitive as he is and as much as he wants to succeed, the answer is yes,” Jimmy Rollins said when asked if he thought Hamels was using '09 to push him to new levels of success in '10. “It’s about how badly he wants to be great. And he understands that in order to be great you have to make sure those things don’t happen again. You have to take away from it 'what not to do' and store it in the back of your mind.”

2.23.10, I wrote:

"Hamels has new pitches, but does he have a new work ethic? ... He has risen and fallen. This juncture is where the great ones separate themselves with big-time performance. This pivotal crossroads is the crucial year in Hamels' career."

Hamels' '10, was everything his manager had forecast. While his win-loss was only 12-11, making him an underwhelming 60-45 for his career, his ERA ranked 12th in the NL at 3.06 and he finished 6th in S.O. at 211, a career high. He had clearly learned from his mistakes and turned a corner-- the right one.

He punctuated his transformation with a knockout '10 postseason debut, 2-0 win vs. the Reds. Hamels allowed 5 hits in 9-innings, S.O. 9 and walked none against the league's #1 offense.

Hamels began 2011 with a regressive '09-like loss, allowing 6 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in just 2 2/3 innings against the lowly Mets. Would Hamels be taking a giant step back? The Phils had buffered the rotation and slipped Hamels, their once-Ace, all the way down to #4. He was no longer required to dominate or be the stopper, but his success was crucial to enabling a smooth ride to the once-hitting, now reshaped pitching team's greatest potential.

It proved a mere stumble. Since his opener, Hamels has gone 7-1, including a gem against the Mets in his most recent outing on Saturday, 5/28, when he went 7 innings, allowed 2 runs, S.O. 10 and walked none. Vintage Hamels, dazzling in the present, emerging from the shadow of an awe-inspiring, albeit briefly, past and growing into a future that still holds his potential like a butterfly whose one wing majestically emerges before the other, its body still cocooned, giving glimpse of all its potential glory, before its total beauty is visible in full.

Hamels is 7-2 overall in '11 with a 3.01 ERA. If you deduct that 1st game outlier, his ERA falls to 2.38. He has 78 S.O. (5th in the NL) and just 15 BB. His WHIP is a career-best 1.02, 3rd in the NL. Nobody in the NL has won more games than him.

You can't say he has pitched better than teammate Halladay, but he does have a better WHIP (-.02) and K/9 ratio (+.22) and has allowed fewer hits (-14 in only 9 fewer innings).

Hamels was asked, earlier this month, if boos show that a fan cares. “Yeah, they do,” he 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 [history], and he’s the best player.”

That appreciation and understanding of Philly fans was a far-cry from Hamels' former claim that Philly fans were, "40% Passionate die-hards, 60% crazy lunatics and fair-weather fans."

But, then, this Hamels, version '11, is a far-cry from Hamels, version '09. If he continues on the path he's currently carving, he may find All-Star Games and more playoff glory ahead. For now, he seems appropriately focused on winning baseball games, one pitch at a time:

"I go for it every game," Hamels said. "I have high expectations of myself. I feel comfortable. I feel I’m meant to be out there."

"I was fortunate enough for the Phillies to draft me, knowing that they were trying to put together a really good team, and now being a member of what they were able to establish is something I can't thank them for enough.”

Note:

Rookie RF Dominic Brown, in his last 11 at-bats, is 7-for-11 with 2 doubles, 2 RBI and 4 runs scored.

Valdez Pitching, Lee at Plate Power Phils' 2 Wins

Valdez on Mound, Lee at Plate Power Phils to 2 wins in 28 innings in 16 hours

Wed. : Phils Win 19-inning Marathon

The Phillies pitcher electrified the crowd, sparked a late rally and led the team to victory. Only it wasn't defending Cy Young Roy Halladay, who started the game, but lasted only one-third of it. The hero on the mound, who enabled the Phils to maintain 1st place over the Florida Marlins (who were chomping at their heels and would've overtaken them), was 2nd Baseman-pitcher Wilson Valdez.

He had never pitched professional baseball before being asked to beat the team the Phils started the 2010 playoffs against. The 1st batter Valdez faced was defending NL MVP, Joey Votto. Valdez had never pitched in the minor or major leagues. It was such a bizarre and implausible confrontation that it lit a fire in the home crowd, many of whom were sleeping at the time-- literally.

“Let’s go, Wilson!” chanted the remaining fans, nearly 6 hours into the contest.

"I put him right down the heart of the order to see what he's got," manager Charlie Manuel would say later. "He passed the test."

Valdez threw 88 mph fastballs and 84-87 mph change-ups. At one point, he shook off the sign from catcher Dane Sardinha, which led to Ryan Howard laughing convulsively into his mit, while trying to play professional baseball, if that's what it was still being called after 2+ games of innings and no dinner.

"I was like, ‘What is he going to throw? What does he have?’" Howard said, after the game. " It was funny, but he got it done.”

What he had was a 90 mph fastball, which got Votto to fly out to center. Why did he challenge Votto, he was asked after the game. “If he hits a home run, they’re not going to say anything to me,” said Valdez, laughing.

Then, although by mistake, he gifted the home crowd by hitting Scott Rolen with a pitch. With that crowd-pleasing inadvertent beaning, it looked like the game might get away from him.

However, he calmly checked the sign and got the next 2 men out, routinely, for a 10-pitch 19th inning, which the Phils would make good on in the bottom half, enabling them to secure 1st place for one more day and giving Valdez (1-0) the win. He became the 1st position player to win a MLB game since 8/'00.

"He's such a great athlete," Raul Ibanez, who had the game-winning sac fly, said after the game.

Before he took the mound as the Phils' 9th pitcher in the game, Valdez made the most of each at-bat and eventually finished the game a team-best 3-for-6. He seemed locked-in, prompting ESPN color commentator and former infielder Nomar Garciaparra to say, earlier in extra innings, "Valdez has been my MVP of the game today. He's hit every ball hard." Little did he know, the best Valdez had was yet to come.

The Phillies collected only 13 hits over 19 innings, while Halladay allowed 11 hits in 7 innings, a far cry from the postseason no-hitter he had recorded against the Reds in October.

They played a full game, then another, then played some more. By the 19th, it felt like the 1st 3 games of a series-- all at once. The game lasted 6 hours and 11 minutes. It was the Phils longest contest since a 21-inning game in 1918. It was played during the Phils longest stretch of the year without a day off (20 games in 20 days) and the 2 teams had to return to the ballpark for a Thursday day game a few hours after completing their 19-inning extravaganza early Thursday A.M.

"What were you thinking with Valdez on the mound?" a reporter asked Ibanez.

"Right now, I can't remember much of anything," Ibanez said. "I'm hungry. I'm sure you are, too."

At one point, late into the night, Garciaparra said to the National TV audience after a commercial break: "If you're just joining us, where have you been?! We were worried sick!"

Charlie Manuel was asked why he chose Valdez, when he has said in the past he's against using position players to pitch. "It's the 1st time I ever did that," he said, bluntly. "I hate doing that."

Jimmy Rollins put on a highlight show in extra-innings, making one improbable play after another at Shortstop. It was further reminder that whatever Rollins is hitting, or not hitting, he belongs in the lineup for his fielding majesty. Rollins has a career .983 fielding %, and he, fittingly, had the winning run in the 19th inning Thursday morning.

It was a complete mystery what manager Charlie Manuel was thinking in the bottom of the 18th, when he pinch-hit for pitcher Danys Baez with nobody warming up in the bullpen. The best the ESPN commentators could come up with was the assumption that pinch-hitter Dane Sardinha was going to pitch. They hoped however, along with every Philly fan watching, that Manuel was finally removing Ruiz for pinch-hitting catcher Sardinha, especially since Ruiz had caught every Phillies pitch of the 18 innings, despite having just arrived from the DL for back pain.

Turned out Sardinha did stay in, but not to pitch. That would be ridiculous. Can you imagine a catcher pitching? Absurd. Manuel kept Sardinha in the game to catch the 19th. And, yes, Ruiz was finally going to go upright and salvage whatever was left of his knees and back. Manuel moved him to 3rd base. (You read correctly.) Meanwhile, 3B Polanco moved to 2B, a position, after all, he does have a .993 fielding % in over 1,000 games and 2 Gold Gloves playing. A position he played for the Phils, before (in '05) they traded him to make room for a young, charismatic 2B named "Chase Utley."

Ruiz took his assignment seriously. In his 2nd-ever game playing 3B, Ruiz chased a foul ball so far that he ended up spread like butter on toast across the dugout along the 3rd base line. It was comical, although cringe-worthy in context of his recent physical ailments. You had to respect the guy. Chooch being Chooch, giving everything he's got.

The Reds sensational 24 year-old RF Jay Bruce (wouldn't he look good in a Phillies' uniform right now?) nearly ended the game prematurely. Hours later, after the game, he would lament:

“It’s definitely the strangest game I’ve ever been a part of,” Bruce said. “All that effort and time-- and you lose. It’s tough.”

In the top of the 10th, the game appeared decided when the Reds took a 4-3 lead on Bruce's league-leading 13th HR to off Antonio Bastardo. Bastardo had been unhittable by left-handers until that point this season. Lefties were just 2-for-22 against him and his overall ERA was 1.04. Bruce tagged him and the game appeared decided. However, Ryan Howard changed all that in the bottom half of the inning with a monster HR that was replayed every couple innings for the next 9. It was a 434 foot HR to straight-away center that meant business and provoked many more hours of baseball.

Lucky Wilson Valdez. For him, it must have been some surreal dream-come-true. Can you pitch in the big leagues? 'Yeah, I think I can. Too bad we'll never know.' Well, Charlie Manuel changed all that with one flick of the wrist Thursday after midnight. Wilson Valdez can not only pitch in the big leagues, but he has. And he retired the side-- in order. And it's an order that leads the league in runs for the 2nd-straight year. And he started off big, as big as it gets: with defending MVP Votto. He got HR leader Bruce to fly out on 2 pitches.

"You'd like to get something going against him, but we didn't," Bruce said. "He actually had okay stuff."

"I told myself I had to go to the mound and throw strikes. I guess those guys were just too excited. I just moved the ball outside and they were chasing it," said Valdez. "It's something I'm never going to forget."

Valdez is 1-0 as a major-league pitcher. Maybe, if Utley really is back to stay, Valdez will get more work as a reliever for the Phils. Or, more likely, he'll retire knowing that he can and did, and that his pitching record is, literally, immaculate.

Thur. : Utley Homers, Lee Drives in 3

The Phils got as many hits Thursday in 8-innings as they did in 19-innings of their previous game against the Reds, a few hours earlier. Cliff Lee led the way with 2 hits and 3 RBI. Why not? If the hitter, Valdez, can pitch scoreless baseball and pick up the win, the least pitcher Lee could do was reciprocate at the plate. Lee pitched to his 4th win, allowing 4 runs in 8 innings. He's now 4-4 with a 3.50 ERA, noticeably just OK. His season is a blank slate, as yet undefined. Of course, he was re-acquired for October, and that's a long way off. If the Phils played every game like Wednesday's, October would be 2,128 innings away.

As stands, the Phils have completed 50 games this year. They lead the NL with 31 wins and the division by 1 game; the Marlins just swept a 3-game series in S.F. (WOW!), where the Giants were 13-5 coming in.

In the 8th inning Thursday, with the Phils leading 9-4, Utley hit his 1st HR in his 14th '11 at-bat on the 2nd pitch of the night from Reds' reliever Jose Arredondo.

Every time Utley steps up to the plate, the Phils' swagger multiples, pertinently. You can feel the potential in the lineup, the championship dream is within touch. After all, Utley inaugurated the '08 title season with 5 HRs in 5 straight games in April that year. Then, in the '09 World Series he hit 5 HRs in 6 games, tying an all-time World Series HR record (with Reggie Jackson, Yankees, 1977).

In '09, amidst Utley's incredible World Series HR barrage, Sports Illustrated wrote: "That swing is so quick. It's rattlesnake quick. Shell game quick. That swing is so quick, it should make a cracking sound, like the tip of a whip. That Chase Utley swing."

The Phils won 3 of 4 against the Reds this week and are on-pace to win 100 games. The 1976 and 1977 Phils won 101. If the '11 Phils want to top that, they'll need a healthy Utley much of the rest of the way. If they want title glory, his October contribution may be necessary.

Meanwhile, it was a crazy Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon. It was wild, wacky and victorious. It wasn't lost on Charlie Manuel, who responded enthusiastically when asked where Wednesday's 19-inning win ranked in his managing career:

"To win it, like we did... probably one of the better ones," he said.

Punchless Phils Losing Lead in East

'So, the Phils have lost 3-straight, so what?' sports fans from another town might think. Perhaps a disconnected Florida fan, who barely notices when its baseball team wins a title. Or a city where winning is the comfort zone. However, as Phillies fans, we're always looking over our shoulder for the cloud we know must be looming and, if we can't see it, we wonder where it's hiding.

Well, this season is unique, in part because this team is unlike any we've ever seen. For starters (and there are 4 worth mentioning), they're expected to win-- and win big.

The old Phillies, the 'old new Phillies' that is, the variety that began a slow climb toward respectability in '06 behind the charge of NL MVP Ryan Howard, was a slugging team opposing pitchers feared as 'Murderer's Row'.

That team dumped Bobby Abreu, among others, in a mid-season salary-slimming that braced for rebuilding years, then went on to surprise everyone with young homegrown players who loved to play hard and believed they could win, ascending mightily, posting baseball's best 2nd-half record, only to miss the playoffs on the season's final day.

Those Phils culminated 2 years later in a raucous celebration on Broad Street in '08 when they hit their stride in October, going 11-3 and, unforgettably, winning it all. Then, in '09, they were back for more, an unprecedented Phillies return trip to the World Series, losing there to the Yankees.

The '09 team hit 25 postseason HRs, a power display worthy of a champion. This '11 Phillies team? Not so much. Ryan Howard projects to 36 HRs at his present pace, Shane Victorino to 25. The power stops there.

This is a pitching team. We knew that coming in. What we didn't know is just how hitless this team would prove to be. The question remains: can they win a 7-game series with their present offense?

3-straight losses for the 1st time this year have many people wondering. Foremost, manager Charlie Manuel:

"We need for our lineup to get [physically] better, but we also need our lineup to hit better. We need some guys to have the kind of years they are capable of having." --5.11.11

Disturbingly, Manuel said virtually the same thing at the end of last season:

"I know Utley's capable of doing better, I know Howard's capable of doing better, and I know Victorino can do better. And I know Jimmy Rollins has to do better for us."

Furthermore, early during the 2010 season, former GM and team advisor Pat Gillick said, "Usually when a team gets into a slump, you see 1 or 2 players who are still hitting. But we've had a number of players who really haven't hit up to what they're capable of."

So, for more than a season, the Phillies philosophy on their offensive decline has been, 'Guys are capable of more and will eventually show it.' However, guys have gotten older and the numbers don't lie:

From '07 to '10, the Phils runs-per-game dipped from 5.51 to 4.77. Their HR production plummeted from 224 in '09 to 166 in '10. At present pace, they project to only 129 in '11. They scored 892 runs in '07 compared with only 772 in '10 and are paced to score only 676 in '11. Their slugging % was .447 in '09, compared with .413 in '10 and .387 thus far in '11.

In their 1st 40 games of '11, the Phils have posted 3 or fewer runs 21 times. Scoring 3 runs or less the majority of the time will not win this team a championship, especially not with Roy Oswalt on the DL and Cliff Lee at 2-4 with a 3.84 ERA.

Will Chase Utley change all that with one mighty swing of the bat? Or are the Phillies pinning too much hope on even his capable shoulders? Can he single-handedly bring back the productivity to this slumbering offense? He wasn't the answer last year, which isn't to say he wouldn't be now. Anything is possible.

Still, some troubling facts remain.

In a playoff series come October, the Phils better not score like they have against Atlanta. Remember, playoff pitching looks like Atlanta's, and the Phils are averaging just 3.11 runs per-game against the Braves this year. Startlingly, if you remove the outlier 10-2 Phils win against them on April 9th, Braves pitchers have held Phils hitters to 18 earned runs in the remaining 8 games played for a 2.25 ERA.

And it isn't only the elite staffs handcuffing the Phils. Monday night, it was the Cardinals' Jake Westbrook holding the Phils to 1 run over 7 innings. Westbrook's previous outing lasted 2 innings, wherein he was tagged for 5 runs. His ERA entering Monday's game was 6.92 with a whopping WHIP of 1.70.

However, 109 pitches later, he handed the Phils their 3rd-straight defeat. The Phils mustered a meager 6 runs in those 3 losses and have posted only 28 runs in their last 10; that's 2.8 runs per game.

That won't win you a playoff series against the Toledo Mudhens.

Defending Cy Young Roy Halladay has lost 2-consecutive complete games thanks to poor run support.

"We're gonna find some hitting. We'll get somebody," Charlie Manuel promised a few days ago. "We'll find people. We'll gawdamn look until we find somebody. Seriously. That's how I look at it. We'll keep experimenting until we get people."

Isn't that the familiar refrain? When will it end in moves or answers on the field?

Do they have answers other than a hopefully healthy enough Utley?

"We want him back as soon as possible," Manuel told reporters a couple days ago. "One person can mean a lot, especially the caliber of player Chase is. We're going to get better when Chase gets back."

One would hope. The Phils revolving door at 2nd Base is now affecting on-field wind conditions.

Meanwhile, the fish are hungry and waiting. I'm talking about those pariahs in a Marlins uniform. They're-- don't look now-- a single game behind and chomping at our feet. And don't count the Braves out. Dropping 4 of 6 to them has given them reason to hope for a return to NL East title grandeur:

“In a 7-game series against them in October, I’ll take my guys over their guys," Chipper Jones said. “I have no doubt in my mind, we’re as good a ball club as the Phillies.”

Cleveland now holds baseball's best record (25-13), followed by the Phils (25-15) and Marlins (24-16).

Halladay Looks to Win Series

Today: 135 pm EST

PHI: Halladay (5-2, 2.05 ERA, 66 S.O., 9 BB)

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ATL: Hudson (4-3, 3.09 ERA, 0.64 WHIP in May)

The Phils enter Sunday with baseball's best record (25-13), but only a 2-game division lead over Florida. Today's game will determine who wins their 3-game weekend series with division rival Atlanta, currently split at a win apiece.

Shane Victorino (sore right hamstring) is the latest casualty in a season already rife with injury. He will not play today.

"We've got guys falling like flies," manager Charlie Manuel said. Carlos Ruiz, Chase Utley, Brad Lidge and Roy Oswalt are all out with injuries.

Saturday, Jair Jurrjens (5-0, 1.66 ERA) overwhelmed the Phils, who managed just 3 hits in the loss.

Ryan Howard, baseball's RBI leader with 35, is batting just .158 this season at Turner Field, despite his 2-for-4, 3-run HR night Friday. Hudson is a happy sight for Howard, who has feasted off the right-hander in his career with a .318 average, 6 HR, 13 RBI, 9 BB, 6 S.O. and a .750 SLG % in 44 ABs.

However, Rollins and Polanco will have to get on base for Howard to drive them in. Rollins is .211, while Polanco is just .111 vs. Hudson, lifetime.