Game Recap:
For the second day in a row, the Phillies were shutout by the Mets, despite seven hits.
What went right?
I'm getting tired of writing that nothing went right. Something had better go right tomorrow, dammit.
What went wrong?
Where should I start?
Ryan Howard was 0-4 with two strikeouts.
Jayson Werth was 0-4.
Brian Schneider went 0-3.
The Phillies left seven men on base tonight.
Joe Blanton picked up his third loss of the season, allowing five runs on six hits in 5.1 innings. He walked four and struck out two.
Game Analysis:
You know what? I'm running out of ways to say that the Phillies need to improve their offense right now, so I'm not going to say it anymore. This is the roughest stretch that the Phils have been in this season, and it's the first time that they've been shutout in back to back games since the 2008 season. Nothing is going right for this team right now. The Phils left seven more men on base tonight and didn't walk once against Hisanori Takahashi, who made his first major league start tonight. Not only that, but they got another poor effort out of a starting pitcher, as Joe Blanton didn't even reach Joe Blanton status out on the mound.
The whole team needs to sit down and figure out exactly what is going on right now. The offense isn't clicking, the pitching staff is struggling, the defense isn't all there, and they're not stealing bases when they do get on. Tonight, the Mets stole four bases, giving them seven in two games. The Phillies haven't stolen a base in the series, and have just 16 stolen bases on the season. The speed game that has been such a big part of the Phillies over the last three years isn't there so far this year. Part of that has to do with Jimmy Rollins being hurt for most of the season, but they still have Shane Victorino, Chase Utley and Jayson Werth, who are all capable of stealing bases when they have to. Right now, Victorino is the only Phillie with more than two stolen bases. That's not going to fly for the rest of the season.
There's really not much else to say tonight. There's only so much you can write about when the Phillies have scored three runs in four games. That's not going to win you any ballgames, and right now, this team has got to get back to the basics. Try scoring one run...I bet you'll like it.
Tomorrow, Cole Hamels (5-2, 3.92 ERA) tries to get his sixth win of the year and prevent the Mets from sweeping the Phillies. Mike Pelfrey (6-1, 2.86 ERA) goes for the Mets.
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