Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Fightin' Phils Take Round One

Knowing they had to win at least once in Florida in order to win the whole thing, the Philadelphia Phillies are up one game to nothing after a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays last night at Tropicana Field.

Former Jay Jayson Werth drew a one-out walk to set the stage for a Chase Utley two-run homer in the first and two singles and two groundouts led to the eventual winning run for the Phils in the fourth. Carl Crawford poked a solo shot in the fourth to put Tampa on the board and Akinora Iwamura delivered a two-out double to score Jason Bartlett, who started the two-out rally with a walk before stealing second base to account for the game's final run.

B.J. Upton should maybe change his initials to D.P. after hitting into a pair of double plays in his first two at-bats. Upton's first twin killing came in the first to erase a gift infield hit by Iwamura when the lumbering Ryan Howard was unable to get to the bag. Upton then hit into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the third. Bossman Junior had another chance to redeem himself in the fifth but fouled out to strand Iwamura's RBI double.

Cole Hamels continues to be nails in the post-season with seven strong innings while Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge shut the door in the last two innings. Scott Kazmir gutted his way through six innings before four relievers pitched three goose egg innings to give the Rays a chance.

In the "Former Jays" update, Jayson Werth was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk and a run scored and lefty reliever Trever Miller punched out Ryan Howard in the eighth to help short circuit a rally in the eighth. Howard continues to do his Pedro Cerrano impersonation in the post-season. The straight ball he hits very much, everything else not so much. He went 0-for-4 with a hat trick and a walk.

One random observation, don't you think Werth looks a bit like this guy? Compare and contrast, if you will.

Game 2 goes tonight with "Big Game" James Shields on the bump for Tampa. Brett Myers starts for Philly in an 8:35 start at the Trop.

Posted by #2JBrumfield on Thursday, October 23 2008 @ 11:32 AM EDT.

Fightin' Phils Take Round One | 13 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Mike Green - Thursday, October 23 2008 @ 12:43 PM EDT (#193524) #

Shouldn't it be "Phightin' Phillies" in the title, #2JB? Never mind.

Chuck - Thursday, October 23 2008 @ 01:03 PM EDT (#193525) #

I asked this in another thread: why didn't Maddon pinch-hit for Bartlett in the 8th? Down 3-2, concerns about defense have to be trumped by concerns about offense. Sending Bartlett to the plate with his sub-600 OPS vs. RHP seemed silly with Floyd and Gross sitting on the bench.

#2JBrumfield - Thursday, October 23 2008 @ 01:05 PM EDT (#193526) #

Just reading the Sporting News daily online today, one key moment was the Rays fans inability to prevent Ryan Howard from catching the foul ball off the bat of Melvin Upton in the fifth with the tying run at second. The Sporting News column said you can bet Yankees or Red Sox fans would've done almost anything to make Howard at least earn it.

Chuck - Thursday, October 23 2008 @ 01:20 PM EDT (#193527) #

Re Howard's catch, I was thinking the same thing when it happened. What kind of clueless, wimpy fans were they to just let Howard lean in and make the play? TB's newbie status was definitely there on display for all to see.

AWeb - Thursday, October 23 2008 @ 02:41 PM EDT (#193528) #

Meanwhile, over at Yahoo sports (which I usually like reasonably well), Tim Brown is arguing that, somehow, the Phillies won because of their stolen bases, despite the fact that none of the stolen bases factored into any inning where scoring took place, and all of their runs were scored in some of the least "hustle-y" ways possible (walk/HR, single/single/grounder/grounder). Tough loss for the Rays, and the Phillies are slight favourites now, but I'm still hoping for 6 more games.

Mike Green - Thursday, October 23 2008 @ 03:54 PM EDT (#193529) #

Chuck, I thought that it was odd that Zobrist got the start over Baldelli in right-field. My inference was that Baldelli was not well yesterday. The logic then might have been that Maddon didn't want to pinch-hit Floyd or Gross for Bartlett because he didn't have a good response to a Romero for Madson switch. That said, Floyd hits lefties much better than Bartlett hits righties, and in particular, Floyd is much, much more likely to hit a home run, and in that situation, the value of a homer is greater than in others.

92-93 - Thursday, October 23 2008 @ 04:40 PM EDT (#193530) #

Mike, Rocco Baldelli not playing yesterday was a calculated decision. Maddon has said that he can't be used two days in a row, so it was a choice between last night or tonight. Myers and Hamels both have reverse-splits and are more effective against the opposite side, so it makes sense to use Baldelli against the RHP rather than the LHP.

Mike Green - Thursday, October 23 2008 @ 05:03 PM EDT (#193531) #

Thanks, 92-93.

Glevin - Thursday, October 23 2008 @ 05:29 PM EDT (#193532) #

"Meanwhile, over at Yahoo sports (which I usually like reasonably well), Tim Brown is arguing that, somehow, the Phillies won because of their stolen bases, despite the fact that none of the stolen bases factored into any inning where scoring took place, and all of their runs were scored in some of the least "hustle-y" ways possible (walk/HR, single/single/grounder/grounder)"

Typical liberal media! So much of the MSM's basebal coverage is absurd. The Phillies had 14 baserunners and the Rays had 7 which is why they won (and could easily have won by more). I am really hoping for a 7th game as well.

rpriske - Friday, October 24 2008 @ 08:28 AM EDT (#193539) #

Wow, do I ever disagree with people's take on the Howard foul ball catch.

When I saw it, my first thought, was 'well done, Rays fans. Way to let the players decide the game'.

If all fans acted like that, the game woudl be better off.

Clifford - Friday, October 24 2008 @ 10:44 AM EDT (#193541) #

Watching Phillies' inability to hit with RISP is giving me flashbacks to the Jays under Gibby this past season. Chills.

I've lost track. Can somebody tell me how many bad calls the umpires have made so far? Both behind the plate and on the basepaths. In just two games. Maybe that's why Charlie Manuel watches with a counter in his hand. Question: was that Tim Donaghy behind the plate last night? And who crazy-glued the managers to the bench when they really should go out and (ahem) encourage the umps to get in the game? Were they warned by the estimable Commish to play nice in the sandbox? Or did they just nod off during the twenty commercials in the between inning breaks? Hello! This is the World Series! Just because it's in St. Pete doesn't mean it's S.T. A little passion, please!

Chuck - Friday, October 24 2008 @ 11:36 AM EDT (#193542) #

In the two WS games, the Phillies were 1 for 30 with runners in scoring position. Chills indeed.

For what is to be the umpiring cream of the crop, I too have been surprised both at the number of mistakes and the lack of outrage those mistakes have precipitated.

Anyone else find Maddon's decision to leave Price in to face Werth in the 9th surprising? I figured Balfour for Werth and then Howell for Utley and Howard. McCain and Palin may reckon themselves mavericks, but they've got nothing on Maddon. I'm thinking that Maddon is trying to ramp up Price's confidence and experience to make him a go-to guy in the bullpen for the balance of the series. Or maybe he's spooked by Balfour's troubles against Boston and doesn't have a 2nd RH reliever he can trust at the moment. Even Wheeler seems to be on thin ice with Maddon, having plummeted from closer to situational righty.

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