The Philadelphia Phillies snapped their two-game losing streak on Wednesday night, taking down the Boston Red Sox 3-1. Their record improves to 25-27.
- Following his shutout of the Marlins, Cliff Lee put on another spectacular performance, with an eight-inning, one-run effort against the powerful Boston lineup. Lee allowed a first-inning run, but was in complete control of the game after that, finishing the game with just one earned run on four hits with no walks and eight strikeouts.
- Michael Young’s bat finally showed a little life, breaking an 0-21 streak with a solo home run in the first inning. It’s just the second homer that Young has hit and it’s also just his 11th RBI of the year.
- The Phillies took the lead in the seventh inning on an RBI single from Erik Kratz. Kratz finished the game 2-3 with a walk. He’s played very well in place of Carlos Ruiz, hitting in eight of the last 10 games.
- Domonic Brown, the reigning National League player of the week, hit his 11th home run of the season, a solo shot in the top of the ninth.
- Ben Revere got another start, and went 2-5 with a couple of singles. He also stole his ninth base of the year.
- Once again, the Phillies passed up an opportunity to use Ryan Howard as the DH and instead chose to play him in the field. And once again, I’m scratching my head. I don’t understand why they wouldn’t give the guy’s knees a break. Sure, he may feel good enough to play the field right now…but the extra rest can only help. It’s going to look even more ridiculous if they have to give him another day off at some point this week because of further knee troubles.
- Freddy Galvis and Jimmy Rollins were the only two starters that failed to pick up a base hit.
- Jonathan Papelbon finished off his former team in the ninth inning for his 10th save of the season.
Final Thoughts
After getting smacked around by the Red Sox on Monday, the Phillies really needed a great game from their ace and Cliff Lee answered the call.
Lee was in vintage form tonight. He dominated the opposing lineup, worked quickly, and was ultimately responsible for ending the team’s losing streak. The lefty is now 6-2 with a 2.34 ERA, and he’s performed at the All-Star level that the team expects of him.
Lee’s effort also gave the bullpen (which had to pitch 5.2 innings yesterday) a valuable night off.
It’s been very frustrating to watch this team struggle with their inconsistencies, but Lee has been one of the bright spots of the season, and he’s been shining very brightly.
I’d say Dom Brown has shown nicely for himself so far as well and he still has plenty of room to grow. It’s a shame the organization yo-yo’d him between AAA and the bigs for the past two years, which crushed his confidence. He’d have gone through his growing pains by now with 1&1/2 full seasons under his belt. This team babies their prospects to much in my opinion. Bring a kid up and see if he can play. Infuse some youth.
It’s amazing that Lee & Hamels, have reversed roles from last year. This team is bi-polar. It’s really hard to watch, the undisciplined play, stupid at bats, & inconsistencies.
Phils OF D Brown Wins Player of the Week award for the NL
GM Amaro rewards him with a 6 Year $125 Million Guaranteed Contract..
Phils are going All-In..
Best trade for the Phillies. Offer up Cliff Lee to the Yankees at the deadline with the caveat that they must take Howard. The Phils get prospects in return. They lose Utley and Howard contracts at the end of the year and rebuild with Sanberg as manager. You may sign Chase back up for a deal befitting a .260 hitter. Sanberg will put Utley and Rollins in the back end of the order where they belong. Yanks probably win another WS as Howard can hit .280 with 32 homers as a DH in that ballpark with those hitters around him.
Next year you have Utley at first with Galvis at second. Thank Doc for the memories and say goodbye. Accept winning 70 games while you rebuild around Hammels, Brown, Galvis, Ruff, and Asche.
utley at first lmfao. i cant wait for utley to just leave, his time has come and gone and his mystery ailments are annoying as shit.
howard isnt going anywhere.
galvis isnt a player to build around nor is asche. but i do want asche to be your every day 3rd baseman.
next years starting infield
catcher – no clue
1b – howard
2b – ceasar hernandez
ss – jimmy rollins
3b – asche
lf – dom brown
cf – vladimir guerroro (paulmans top choice)
rf – barry bonds
I have no problem with Utley leaving. I was just suggesting dangling Lee out there with Howard attached. We would be giving up our best pitcher but he probably doesn’t have a lot of great years left. And Howard is the biggest road block to signing any marquise FAs. Plus he absolutely sucks. He isn’t even average anymore and gets worse every year. But as I said, he may be much better with more protection around him from a potent line up and free of the responsibility to field maybe he actually tries to work on his hitting a breaking ball or at least not swinging.
There’s no rebuilding with the third highest payroll, it’s more fine tuning, reloading
The best way to do this is as jbird suggest, “dangle” lee out there for one, two alrady bonafide or can’t miss players, plus an additonal prospect or Biddle is almost ready to make the jump as a power lefty
Lee’strade value will never be higher
Phillies recalled INF Cesar Hernandez from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Hernandez, 23, was batting .308/.383/.432 with two home runs, 18 RBI, 15 stolen bases and an .815 OPS through 48 games this season in Triple-A. The Phillies could plug him in at second base and use Freddy Galvis in place of Michael Young at third base. With his speed, Hernandez is worth a short-term look in NL-only formats.
May 29 – 1:25 PM
Michael Young – 3B – Phillies
Phillies placed 3B Michael Young on the bereavement list.
Young is permitted to stay on the bereavement list for a minimum of three days and a maximum of seven. Cesar Hernandez will take his place on the active roster.
May 29 – 1:18 PM
jake i disagree. when you have no catcher, no 3rd baseman, no cf, & no rf and no viable free agents replacements at those positions and trade chips for replacements you have no choice but to rebuild
Gotta love it. Phillies call up one of their top prospects, Ceasar Hernandez, to replace Mike Young and promptly put him on the bench in favor of Frandsen. Completely idiotic, let the kid play or keep him down and bring up Pete Orr if you just want a warm body.