Staff Blog
Morning Rounds, September 3rd
Last night Cole Hamels gave up no runs, five hits and three
walks while pitching into the 8th inning. He dominated start to finish and looked
poised doing so, but those three walks and five hits actually hurt his microscopic WHIP, that’s how
good his season’s been.
In fact, you could make the statistical argument that he has
been the National League’s most dominating pitcher this year. His 3.01 ERA is 6th in the league
(first, easily, in ballpark-adjusted
ERA), he’s top five in the league in Ks, K/BB, complete games, shutouts, and
first in BAA, WHIP and innings pitched. No pitcher has gone at least seven innings more often (23 in 29 starts) or done
so so well.
So, yeah. Sorry Cole, you gotta face the Mets.
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“That’s how you play the game,” said Charlie, on Chase
Utley’s catcher-breaking steal attempt, “unless you wanna put some rouge and
makeup and lipstick on.”
Three lines on their world:
- Everyone is looking beatable at the U.S. Open (thanks
Olympics!) - More Olympic athletes were found juicing
- USC jumped to the top spot in the college polls
Three lines on ours:
- The Phillies shut out the Nationals in D.C.
- but failed to gain ground in the East, as the Mets beat the Brewers in
11 - And Drew Rosenhaus, albeit nobody else, expects Lito to be
traded shortly
Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, Flyers and more Olympic hangover after
the jump
PHILLIES
The Game: The Phillies got the win despite not hitting a
single homerun, thanks to some timely two-out hitting and another dominating
performance from Hollywood. Inqy recap HERE, DN HERE, MLB’s HERE, D.C.’s is HERE, and the AP’s HERE, with video.
The Hero: The first hero is obvious; that’s Cole Hamels. He
threw 7.1 scoreless innings before handing it off to the bullpen; but the
second, Chase Utley, had what appeared to be a terrible game. Chase went 1-4, grounded into a double play
with two guys on and was caught stealing.
However, that CS was a CS at home where he saw a moment of opportunity,
rushed home and bowled over Jesus Flores trying to knock the ball
loose. He was out, but showed the type
of energy and leadership that coaches love and playoff teams need.
The Chase: Because the Mets took down the Brewers in extra
innings the Phillies gained a game in the wild card – they’re 4.5 back – but
remain two back in the East. They get a
shot at the Mets this weekend.
Other Notes …
- Nationals SS Cristian Guzman, the reigning NL Player of the
Week, was given the night off - Even with the expanded rosters the Phillies don’t have one
player hitting .300 or better this year - Even with Chase‘ CS the Phils SB% is at 84%, best in the
league - The Phils, as a team, have been intentionally walked more
than anyone in the league save St.
Louis, who they are tied with - To match his hit total from last year Jimmy Rollins would
need just under four a game, every game, from here on out. - Jayson Werth hit third in the lineup for the first time all
season. He went 1-3 with a walk and a steal.
Now, who said what …
The Reading Eagle
on the Phils callups from Double A.
SKIP
Rich Hofmann says that Chase Utley just might be the Rowand (he said ‘leader’, but you get the point) the Phillies have needed. I’d like to see him get a clutch hit or two before bestowing labels, but it was hard not to be impressed last night. READ
Murphy’s notes look at the possibility of four-out saves for Brad Lidge, a new batting order around Jayson Werth and more. READ
Zolecki’s check in on Kyle Kendrick’s face and Hamels‘ Sunday start, Shane’s production down in the lineup and more. READ
Sounds like Kyle Kendrick isn’t the only guy who might miss the weekend series. Pedro is hurting again and might be ruled out. SKIP
Randy Miller says that Kyle Kendrick knows he’s in a funk and knows he can bounce back. SKIP
EAGLES
John Smallwood is ruling out the Birds already. SKIP
Bob Brookover, already assuming that DeSean Jackson is a gamebreaker, is now looking at what that means to L.J. Smith. SKIP
NewGuy (John Gonzalez, who is going to lose his name for my nickname of him after this week), who is going to annoy me greatly with his writing style (no offense, NewGuy), makes a legit point about DeSean Jackson: he’s not modest, so he might as well embrace his charisma and give us something to talk about. READ
I love that this got printed. What NewGuy lacks in subtly he’s making up for in making-fun-of-Eskin-ness. READ
Les Bowen takes his blog to print, which is a trick I need to try. SKIP
Reuben Frank takes a look at Willie Reid, former up-and-comer and current newest member of the Birds’ practice squad. READ
SIXERS
Phil Jasner reports that the Donyell Marshall deal is official. SKIP
FLYERS
nothing out there
TODAY and MORE
By the time you read this it’ll probably be too late, but Bernard Hopkins is giving away free gas in South Philly. Like rightnow.
We’ll be back later with previews and roundups and everything happening in Philly, plus we’ll try to get out a few thoughts on the Mets and the (completed?) Sixers roster.
As always, feel free
to email
with any questions, suggestions, comments or complaints.
