Phillies Nation

33 Responses to “Playoff Baseball: Phils Take Series From Cards”

1. Tomato Says:
   August 3rd, 2008 at 11:41 pm

   The Phils have the second most road wins in baseball, awesome considering that everyone else seems to only win at home. If they could get better at home they would have the best record in the league.

2. Tim Malcolm Says:
   August 3rd, 2008 at 11:44 pm

   We could pull the Happ argument from today into all this. He wasn’t used again, and I’m starting to get miffed about the lack of his usage.

   Could Manuel have used Happ in the seventh and eighth in a relief ace role? Or was the game way too high-priority for him (also consider the day off tomorrow)?

3. Geoff Says:
   August 3rd, 2008 at 11:53 pm

   I think Charlie is afraid to use Happ in relief. I really do. Ill guess he thinks myers will implode soon so he wants happ as a starter. well, theyre going to have to use him soon otherwise itll be a mess.

4. Grrrumpy Miner Says:
   August 4th, 2008 at 12:00 am

   Uh playoff baseball Tim? I always thought the playoffs were in October….Pennant race sounds much better for August ; unless the Phillies actually make the playoffs.Don’t be afraid to be pedestrian and/or cautiously optimistic.Still more baseball to go.Sorry if I’m raining on the parade.

5. Phil Says:
   August 4th, 2008 at 12:05 am

   That was tied for the best game of the season. The other is the game against the Braves where Kelly Johnson blew the game on an error and Shane Victorino threw out the guy at home plate to save Lidge’s ass.

6. NEPA Says:
   August 4th, 2008 at 12:11 am

   Hey Grrrumpy Miner, calling it a playoff caliber win has nothing to do with optimism. I believe Tim was referring to the overall atmosphere and “feel” to the game. It turned out to be an extremely tense and exciting game, like in the playoffs.

7. Jamie Says:
   August 4th, 2008 at 12:12 am

   Tim, I am thinking the same thing as you are. We need to get him involved so he gains confidence and spells the end of our pen. On another note, it seemed Myers was a bit shaky the first couple of innings – he was missing a fair amount of spots and was a little wild. Albeit, he settled down nicely and was very efficient with only 64 pitches through 6. People are bashing the offense, but for those who actually watched the game you have to admit that they hit a lot of balls hard, just at people. That happens sometimes, and if they would have put them anywhere else we would have had several more hits. Even the best teams will have offensive slumps or low scoring games – just like football, the “any given Sunday” reference can be said about baseball as well.

8. Paul Says:
   August 4th, 2008 at 12:13 am

   What a great game!

   Kudos to Myers for pitching quite well, is he finally pitching the way a lot of us thought he could when he opened the season?

   And how about Vic?! That guy is one fire!

   Well done Phils!!!

9. KM Says:
   August 4th, 2008 at 12:14 am

   big win tonight, and a hard fought victory all around.

   myers looked okay, but i still would like to see him get him around less. i’d still prefer another starter in the rotation though. we needed someone with number one/two stuff, and all we got was joe blanton – ehh.

   romero needs some help in the form of another lefty, or reduced playing time, or his arm is going to fall off.

   victorino has been swinging a big bat lately. i’d like to see him not try to hit a homerun every time, but i can’t really complain about what he has been doing lately.

10. Chris L Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 12:20 am

    Just got back from the game and Myers looked confident and much more similar to how he was in the past – expecting himself to get people out and seeing the fire to excel.

    In the 8th, don’t overlook how Chase beating out the potential double play. It’s one of the reason why I will continue to want him on the Phillies even if he becomes a solid but unspectacular 2B rather than the MVP candidate he is. I still see a big hot streak coming up for him in the next few weeks.

    And Jamie’s right, in the early innings many of the Phillies were working the count, hitting the ball hard but the Cardinals made some good defensive plays.

    Great win to continue the push away from the fish and mets.

11. Fran Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 12:21 am

    I like the title. Tonights game is EXCATLY what its gonna be like in the playoffs. With the exception of Lidge’s 9th inning mistakes.

    Also, can somebody please find howard and new glove?

12. Tim Malcolm Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 12:24 am

    They did hit a few balls hard, but there was also a good share of quick at bats and standard grounders. Call it a cool performance.

    Yeah, the playoff baseball header means the game had a playoff feel.

13. Grrrumpy Miner Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 12:30 am

    Nepa:….When the Mets/Phils played each other the last 2 weeks that just passed….I considered it 2 great teams battling in a real good pennant chase.Mets fans as you all know as early as August basically crowned the 2007 Mets the NLEast champs and we all know what happened.Bottom line,trust experience…….unless you are the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California in the United States,on the Continent of North America of the Planet Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy “WHEW” October is not a sure thing.Should you be happy the Phols won tonight,yes you should,but don’t pop the champagne just yet

14. Brian Michael Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 12:36 am

    The Phils need to take it to the Marlins this week and create some distance in the standings.

15. NEPA Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 1:11 am

    Grrrumpy Miner – Can you read or are you just too lazy to do it? Nobody is crowning the Phils the NL East champion or “popping champagne” bottles just yet. We did all witness the collapse of the Mets last year so everyone knows that this season/pennant race is far from over, especially with how inconsistent each team is. All Tim was trying to say (and its literally the post above yours) is that it was a playoff atmosphere inside the ballpark tonight. Exciting, tense, electric – however you want to describe it – the game had a playoff feel to it. Again, it has nothing to do with the fact that the Phils won. Please read the posts, or have someone read them to you.

16. philsphan Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 1:18 am

    Myers only made 64 pitches so I wonder if he will be used out of the bullpen some time before his next start? I doubt it thought because Happ needs to pitch some innings and I wouldn’t mind giving Walrond a shot in some low pressure situations.

17. Phil Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 1:22 am

    philsphan…is that you suggesting Myers go back to the pen?

18. that guy Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 1:43 am

    J-Roll can’t get a hit to save his life. He looks like the 2006 version of Burrell. As far as the pitching goes it looks like Manuel is trying to create some competition with Myers, Blanton, Happ, Eaton, and Carrasco all fighting for two spots. Only problem is that this type of procedure is optimal in the month of March. Right now you’ve got guys pitching all over pa/nj. Some guys are pitching all the time and others are going a week without warming their arms. The extra motivation has payed off for Bretty Wacko and Fat Joe B. However, Happ is gearing up for Tommy John surgery, aka Scott Mathieson surgery, if he continues to rot in the pen. In addition, Eaton has no pride as its hard to be motivated when you are getting shelled by teenagers at single A ball for the price of 250,000 bucks a start

19. Phil Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 1:50 am

    It’s working though. Having Happ and Carrasco around is makign Blanton and Myers pitch better. I like that move. Light a fire under their asses. Myers has better stuff than Happ, so I want to see him stick around and work through his struggles.

20. Craig Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 6:29 am

    Why was Myers taken out of the game after only 60 something pitches?

21. Mark Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 6:33 am

    Way to go Phils! It wasn’t pretty, but it doesn’t have to be. These are the kind of games that winning teams win. And I guess Lidge was due for an adventure.

22. Chase Mutley Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 7:11 am

    He was taken out because it was the 7th inning, RISP and his spot in the order was up.

    That was a draining win last night.

23. VA Steve Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 7:19 am

    Sometimes the best trade is the one not made. If a deadline trade was made, most likely we would have given up Vic. To me, he is the energy of this team, much like Rowand was last season. We need a spark plug like Vic, in my opinion he means so much more than his bat, arm, etc. He pumps up this team, which needs it often! GO VIC. I think our pitching will be ok the next two months, at least enough to get us to October. The question than becomes, how deep can we go?

24. MA Phanatic Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 8:27 am

    Few observations from last night’s game:

    1. Myers was fantastic. He made 2 mistakes all game, and was unfortunate that those two mistakes were to arguably the hottest hitter in the league over that last week. His control was EXCELLENT, throwing 46 strikes and only 18 balls through 6 IP, and maybe it was ESPN trying to bolster ratings, but did I see him hit 93MPH on the gun once or twice?

    2. Someone needs to send a memo to Charlie Manuel that he his bullpen has other people besides JC Romero, Chad Durbin, and Ryan “Don’t hurt me Albert Pujols” Madson. I mean i’m glad that they are pitching well (Aside from Madson) but we are going to kill those two guys before the postseason ever gets here. He’s like Joe Torre 2.0 in the way he uses the bullpen. (please note that’s the only way he’s like Joe Torre).

    3. How hot is Shane Victorino? The guy is killing the ball lately, plain and simple. If only Jimmy Rollins could resemble half of what he was last year we’d be scoring way more runs….

25. Geoff Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 9:15 am

    this was myers’ biggest start of the year, charlie was going to make sure hed go 6 innings no matter how many pitches it took. they DEFINITELY need another arm in there to give some people a break. JC romero has been walking too many people and has been throwing hittable fumes lately. hes tired and misused. That was far too shaky for my liking. Still, somehow they got it done. Myers was ok. HE was effiecient and breezed through 6 innings for a quality start, and they wanted to get his confidence up so they pulled him early.

    only two or three guys in all of baseball can get out that situation like lidge did. (lidge, k-rod, probably mariano rivera still). that was crazy.

    I dont think the cardinals will make the playoffs, but this game carried that type of importance because you cant afford to give the mets and marlins a break at all. the mets needed to be punished for a disgraceful road trip, especially in houston, and they deserved to lose first place with their garbage bullpen throwing away leads all weekend.

26. Geoff Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 9:19 am

    ma phanatic: heres the problem, who else in your bullpen, aside from lidge, durbin, romero, happ, even madson sometimes, do you even feel comfortable using in a close game relief situation? really?

    oh..i noticed they dispatched one of their beat reporters today to start preparing people for the notion that they are not going to resign pat burrell and will thus get even thinner and have even less power in the outfield than before. if they dont replace burrells production they will finish 4th next year in the division..

27. scot Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 10:30 am

    Bringing in Madson was the right move, especially considering Pujols’ numbers against him. I certainly didn’t know those numbers before last night. But, was anyone sorta wishing for Happ in that situation, or would is the thought that just have been too much to throw him into.

28. MA Phanatic Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 11:52 am

    Geoff – good question. I’m not sure, but I’d rather use other arms now in the first week of August than burn out my consistent arms now, and have to experiment with those “other” guys in late August and September.

29. Geoff Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 11:53 am

    Yeah, I still think they need another consistent arm back there somewhere. im picking through but ill wait until theres a national league list and then try to find one. there arent many relief arms out there that arent total junk.

30. JIM Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 12:53 pm

    Why would you even consider bringing in happ, a left hander, to make his first relief appearance against pujols

31. Geoff Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pm

    i dont know where you got that from, but i didnt say that

32. JIM Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 1:42 pm

    Scott said it

33. scot Says:
    August 4th, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    I only said it cause it seems nobody trusts Madson, regardless of the matchups. Reading the game thread last night too it seemed nobody on the board wanted Madson in there.

Leave a Reply