Game Recap:
Roy Halladay was pounded for six runs in six innings, as the Cubs beat the Phillies for the third time in four games.
What went right?
Placido Polanco was 2-4 with an RBI.
Ryan Howard went 1-4 with a home run and two RBI.
Ben Francisco went 2-5 with a solo home run.
What went wrong?
Jayson Werth was 0-3 with two strikeouts.
Roy Halladay had one of his worst games as a Phillie, allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits in six innings of work. He didn't walk a batter and struck out three.
The bullpen didn't fare much better, allowing five runs in just two innings. J.C. Romero gave up two runs without recording an out, and David Hearndon allowed three more.
Game Analysis:
This was the type of game the Phillies got Roy Halladay for. After dropping the first two games of their series against the Cubs, the Phils managed to steal one on Saturday, setting up a great chance to split the series with Chicago and salvage their start to the second half of the season. Instead, what they got was a poor pitching performance from Halladay, as the Cubs took their third win of the series and pushed the Phillies back to 5.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves.
It certainly wasn't Halladay's night out there last night. The Cubs jumped on him early and often, as they scored four times in the second inning to put the Phillies in a hole early. Alfonso Soriano's two run home run in the sixth inning did Halladay in, and then the bullpen did even worse. J.C. Romero and David Hearndon allowed five runs in the seventh inning to put the game out of reach. It was a bad night for the pitching staff in general, and it seemed like a fitting end to a terrible series for the Phillies.
For the fourth straight game, the offense got very little going until it was too late. By the time the Phillies hit three home runs in two innings, they were down 11-4, and it was way too late to be attempting a comeback. Ryan Howard hit his fourth home run of the series, showing that he's just getting hotter as the season goes on, but that doesn't matter much right now when hardly anyone else on the team is doing anything at the plate. When you have to bring out Wilson Valdez every single day to start at second base, that is something that is going to take the sting out of your offense right there. However, the Phillies still have Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez. The only problem is that only Howard is hitting worth a damn right now. It's been said several times during this series, but if this team can't get their act together at the plate, it doesn't matter how well anyone is pitching for them. They'll still lose the game.
Right now, things are not going well for the Phils, and that's putting it nicely. Their best pitcher, who was brought in to avoid losing stretches like this one got tagged last night, their bullpen was even worse and their offense can't seem to get anything going until the late innings right now. That's a mixture that's only going to lead to more losses and a very angry fan base. The Phillie fans have gotten spoiled over the last three years. They want to keep winning now, and with this team playing the way that they are, things could get ugly once the Phils get back to Citizens Bank Park.
Tonight, Kyle Kendrick (5-3, 4.44 ERA) starts for the Phillies against the St. Louis Cardinals, who are starting Blake Hawksworth (3-5, 4.73 ERA).
No comments:
Post a Comment