Game Recap:
Cole Hamels pitched six no-hit innings, but allowed back to back home runs in the seventh, and that was enough for the Padres to split this four game series with the Phils.
What went right?
Shane Victorino was 2-4.
Placido Polanco went 2-4 with a run scored.
Ryan Howard was 1-3 with the only RBI for the Phillies.
Cole Hamels pitched eight solid innings, but got hit with the loss. He allowed two runs on three hits while walking two and striking out six.
What went wrong?
Chase Utley was 0-4.
Jayson Werth went 0-4 and grounded into a bases loaded double play in the first inning.
Carlos Ruiz went 0-3.
Danys Baez continued to exist and allowed Adrian Gonzalez's second home run of the game in the ninth inning.
Game Analysis:
Just went you think the Phillies are out of their offensive slump, they go and fall right back into their old habits. In their last 19 games, the Phils are 6-13, have been shutout six times and have scored one run or fewer ten times. This is not the same team that was taking apart the National League just a month ago, and it's really starting to wear on everybody at this point.
I don't know what's gotten into this offense, hell, I don't think that anyone does. However, no one is hitting when they have to, and when this team has been getting chances to jump on pitchers, they haven't done it. Last night, Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco led off the game with hits. After Ryan Howard walked, the Phils had the bases loaded with one out and Jayson Werth coming to the plate. At this point last month, Werth hits a bases clearing double to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead and rattles San Diego pitcher Wade LeBlanc. Last night, Werth grounded into an around the horn double play that finished the inning. LeBlanc would only allow two other baserunners after the first, and would retire the Phillies in order from the fourth inning through the seventh.
It sounds like a broken record now, but the Phillies wasted another great effort by one of their starting pitchers. Cole Hamels looked great last night, no-hitting San Diego through six innings before giving up back to back homeruns to start the seventh. Aside from those two at-bats, Hamels looked every bit like the pitcher he was back in 2008 and it does seem like he's starting to turn the corner back in that direction again. The only problem is that the offense doesn't want to help him out at all. He's lost his last three starts and the Phillies have scored four total runs in those games. You can't be wasting efforts by any pitcher, but especially a pitcher like Hamels, who has shown in the past that he can break down a little if he's not getting run support. All that this is going to do is make him put more pressure on himself, which is going to lead to more mistakes and then turn into last season for Hamels all over again. The Phillies can't let that happen, not when Hamels is actually pitching well again.
There's no quick answer for how to fix this problem. There's no way to just shuffle everyone out of the lineup for a day and see what happens, and the status quo right now isn't doing anything, either. Charlie Manuel has got to come up with some sort of plan to get this team scoring runs again, and fast. This slump is getting close to being a month long at this point, and even though the National League East is very tight right now, the Phils can't afford to fall too far back.
Tonight, the Florida Marlins come into town for the start of a three game series. Kyle Kendrick (3-2, 4.62 ERA) will go for the Phils, and Chris Volstad (3-6, 4.08 ERA) is on the mound for the Marlins.
No comments:
Post a Comment