Last night, the Phillies bats were almost entirely silent against the great Roy Oswalt. Prior to the game, Oswalt had looked pretty terrible (0-3, 9.00 ERA), but we all knew he'd get on track. Lucky for us, he waited until he was facing the Phillies. Oswalt routinely has good numbers against the Phils, and last night's 2-1 loss was no different. The Phils just looked ice cold at the plate, a scene Charlie Manuel prophesied before the game:
"Any time we don't hit," Manuel said, "we don't look good. We look like we're really not into things, like we're dead."
Of course the first half of the quote comes from Charlie's Book of Obvious Genius, but the second half is a pretty stern commentary on the team's current resilience and character. When things aren't going well at the plate, the team loses interest?A wordsmith Charlie is not, so it's probably best not to think too
deeply on it, but hopefully he's throwing some cleats in the locker
room after the poor offensive showings to let the guys know that going
limp isn't an option.
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However, I'm not sure I totally agree with the
assessment, at least not entirely; the Phils have played a few possum games already this
season, doing little in the early innings just to come out and put up
crooked numbers against the middle relief. But with Adam Eaton doing
his part and Kyle Kendrick finally notching more Ks than are in his
name, the Phillies can't afford to squander what could be rare nights
of solid pitching from the bottom of the rotation.
Notes:
Jimmy Rollins, who picked up a pinch-hit single last night,
won't be back in the lineup until at least Saturday, with a family
funeral to attend... Former Phillie Michael Bourn was the game's
best offensive performer, cranking a homer and stealing a base while
going 2-4... Ryan Howard knocked in the Phils' only run, but his average
is still below the Mendoza line... Chase Utley looked unsettled when
throwing to first on a tough infield single, missing the bag by a good
8 feet... Pat Burrell continues to crank, going 2-4 at the plate to raise his season average to .362... With Rollins and Shane Victorino out, Charlie's had some interesting lineup combinations, including using Geoff Jenkins as a leadoff man on Tuesday and Pedro Feliz in the 2-hole last night. Feliz went 0-4, but has hit .429 in 28 career at bats against Oswalt. Brett Myers gets the one, the only, Mr. Brandon Backe this afternoon.