Sunday, June 27, 2010

Phillies Recap: Blue Jays-5, Phillies-1

Game Recap:
Cole Hamels had one of his roughest outings of the season, and the Phils could only manage five hits and a run off of Shaun Marcum as their four game winning streak came to an end.

What went right?

Chase Utley was 2-4.

Ryan Howard had the only RBI of the game for the Phils with a solo home run in the sixth inning.

What went wrong?

Aside from Utley and Howard, the Phillies had only two other hits. Only Jimmy Rollins and Ross Gload reached base.

Jayson Werth had a rough day, going 0-4 with three strikeouts.

Cole Hamels had one of his worst starts of the season, going just four innings and allowing five runs on seven hits. He walked three and struck out three.

Game Analysis:

Sometimes, a loss is just a loss. That's what yesterday's game for the Phillies was: just a loss. There's nothing particularly bad that happened during the game, but no one was at their best yesterday afternoon. Cole Hamels looked off, and the offense couldn't generate anything to help back him up, which resulted in a 5-1 loss.

After reaching the seventh inning or later in his last three starts, Hamels couldn't get out of the fifth inning against Toronto, giving up three home runs and five runs overall. He also didn't have his best stuff on the mound, and looked wild out there in the heat. His three walks allowed yesterday were the most he'd given up in a game since May 16, so it doesn't seem like there's much to worry about. The Blue Jays are a power hitting team, and playing in this heat, in that stadium, there are going to be some pitches that leave the yard. That's just how these things work. Hamels wasn't horrible yesterday, but he just couldn't get outs when he needed to, and that's what cost him.

Of course, the offense didn't help him much, either. Shaun Marcum shut the Phillies down yesterday, and it didn't look like there was much the Phils could do about it. Ryan Howard provided the only run for the Phils with his sixth inning home run, but other than that, the Phillies had just four hits and one walk. The team has been hitting much, much better since their slump came to an end, so this too just seems like a little bump in the road compared to everything that's gone on this season. It's nothing to really worry about, not yet anyway.

Overall, the Phillies just had a bad day yesterday. Nothing went right for them, and they were up against a good pitcher who had his stuff working for him. It wasn't pretty to watch, but hopefully they can get back on track today.

Jamie Moyer (8-6, 4.43 ERA) goes for his ninth win of the season against Brett Cecil (7-4, 4.06 ERA).

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