Home Run or Foul?

Here is another piece of evidence that Greg Dobbs' home run should've ended the game and given the Phillies the win (photo courtesy of westbrook8 on the Phils message board):

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/1789/phillies.jpg

Looking On The Bright Side, This Happened...

Enjoy!

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=5026043

Phils Drop Opener

Jon Lester was dominant, Blanton contiuned his streak of excellent pitching, 34 strikeouts were recorded, and Greg Dobbs' hit sailed way over the top of the foul pole sparking a discussion on whether or not it should be reviewed. That was basically the story on a long Friday night game vs. Boston. In 13 innings, the Phillies only picked up 2 runs on 5 hits. Blanton went 7 innings giving up 2 runs on 5 hits. Lester shut down the Phillies through 7, giving up 1 run on 2 hits, with 11 strikeouts. Ryan Howard tied the game in the 9th vs. Ramon Ramirez (Papelbon was unavailable) with a towering shot to right. Kyle Kendrick ultimatley got the loss for the Phils, giving up 3 runs in the top of the 13th. Yeah this recap sucked by I don't really want to revisit last night and I'm getting ready to go tonight! Follow us on Twitter for in-park updates.

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-Positive of the Game: Joe Blanton. 7 innings, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 W, 7 K

-Negative of the Game: The Offense. A combination of swinging and bad pitches and facing Jon Lester doomed our offense who only got 2 runs on 5 hits.

-Player of the Game: Jon Lester. 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 W, 11 K

-Play of the Game: Ryan Howard's game tying home run in the bottom of the 9th, video.

-Up Next: Game 2 vs. Boston, Matsuzaka (1-4, 7.33) vs. Bastardo (2-0, 2.45), 7:05 PM

Breaking News: Eyre to DL, Kendrick Called Up

From Todd Zolecki (www.twitter.com/ToddZolecki):

"Scott Eyre has been placed on the 15 day DL with a strained left calf. Righthander Kyle Kendrick has been recalled from Triple-A."

Also tonight's lineup is in:

Rollins, SS

Utley, 2B

Werth, RF

Howard, 1B

Ibanez, LF

Victorino, CF

Feliz, 3B

Ruiz, C

Blanton, SP

Red Sox, June 12th-14th

American League rival and perennial power Boston Red Sox are coming into Philly for a weekend interleague series. Expect many members of Red Sox Nation to come with them. The Sox are coming in off a series with their hated rival as well, sweeping the Yankees in three games. Unlike the Mets, the Red Sox are healthy with the exception of their speedy CF Jacoby Ellsbury who is out with an injured shoulder (video)(UPDATE: Ellsbury may return to the lineup tonight). Sox all-star DH David Ortiz has struggled all year hitting only .203 with 4 home runs (3 of which have come in the past week). Considering the Sox have a pretty decent 1B in Kevin Youkilis (.350, 10 HR, 37 RBIs) don't expect to see much of Ortiz. Boston also features All-Stars Jason Bay (LF) and Dustin Pedroia (2B). J.D. Drew is their RF so get your batteries ready.

Unfortunately for the Fightins', the Sox are throwing their three best pitchers in this series starting off with one of the best in the game, Jon Lester. After surviving cancer, Lester has come back to pitch incredibly well for the Sox over the last two years. On May 19th of last year, Lester tossed a no-hitter at Fenway against Kansas City. Mitch Williams has said "I'm really not sure how anyone hits him." Lester is 5-5 on the season with a 5.09 ERA, but don't let numbers fool you. This guy can pitch. Saturday (I''ll be there!) sees Dice-K take the hill. Dice-K has been a disappointment for the most part since his arrival from Japan. This season he is only 1-4 with a 7.33 ERA. Sunday Josh Beckett will pitch for the Sox. Consistently one of the best pitchers in the game, he currently has a 7-2 record with a 3.77 ERA and 76 K's in 76.1 IP. Of course there is also that guy who closes games, Jonathan Papelbon who has 16 saves, tied for second best in MLB.

Batting Leaders

Avg.: Kevin Youkilis, .350

HR: Jason Bay, 16

RBI: Jason Bay, 57
Hits: Jacoby Ellsbury, 71

Runs: Dustin Pedroia, 46

SB: Jacoby Ellsbury, 23

Pitching Leaders (Starters and Relievers)

W: Tim Wakefield, 8

ERA: Ramon Ramirez, 1.86

IP: Josh Beckett, 76.1...Tim Wakefield has 76.0

K: Jon Lester, 85

Saves: Jonathan Papelbon, 16

HR (given up): Jon Lester, 11

Rauuuuul Leads Phillies Past Mets

Raul Ibanez did it again. In the top of the 10th he hit a 2 out, 3 run home run deep into the foggy night of Citi Field breaking the 3-3 tie and giving the Phils a 6-3 lead. Moyer gave a typical Moyer start going 6 innings giving up 3 runs on 8 hits. Tim Redding looked great all night, going 7 innings giving up 3 runs on 6 hits. Carlos Beltran again lead the way for the Mets with 3 RBIs. Madson came in and got the job done again, earning the save. The Phils took two out of three from the Mets and begin a three game weekend series vs. Boston tonight at 7:05.

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-Positive of the Game: Bullpen. 4 IP, 0 runs, 1 hit.

-Negative of the Game: Ryan Howard & Jayson Werth. Howard: 0-4, 2 K, Werth: 0-5, 3 K

-Player of the Game: Raul Ibanez. 1 for 5, run, 3 RBIs, home run

-Play of the Game: Raul Ibanez's go head home run in the 10th, video.

-Up Next: Phils finally return home to take on the Red Sox at 7:05, Blanton (4-3, 5.46) vs. Lester (5-5, 5.09)

Phils Beat Mets

What a game! The Phillies beat the Mets 5-4 Wednesday night to extend their lead in the NL East back to 3 games. Cole Hamels struggled again going 5 innings, giving up 4 runs on 11 hits and having a high pitch count. However the Phils held the Mets scoreless through 6 innings. Chan Ho Park looked good again and picked up the win. Werth saved the game in the bottom of the 10th when he dove and caught a gapper by David Wright. Fernando Martinez was on first for the Mets and probably would've scored had the ball went by Jayson. Utley homered twice including an 11th inning homer to give the Phils the lead. Madson, filling in for Lidge, got the save. Mike Pelfrey of the Mets went 6 innings giving up 4 runs (2 earned) with 6 hits. He also struggled mentally all night, getting quite irritated when Chase Utley called timeout right before his pitch. Alex Cora had 2 RBIs for New York. Amazing win for the Fightins and they will go for the series win tomorrow.

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-Positive of the Game: Phillies bullpen. After Hamels struggled again the bullpen pitched 6 scoreless innings giving up only 5 hits. Chan Ho Park got the win.

-Negative of the Game: Hamels. Again, Cole struggled with a high pitch count and gave up 11 hits, 4 runs, over 5 innings.

-Player of the Game: Chase Utley. 3 for 5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs, 2 home runs

-Play of the Game: Jayson Werth's catch, video.

-Up Next: The rubber game of the 3 game set. Moyer (4-5, 6.27) vs. Redding (0-2, 6.97)

Breaking News: Jimmy Back in Leadoff Spot

Tonight's lineup is in:

Rollins
Victorino
Utley
Howard
Ibanez
Werth
Feliz
Ruiz
Hamels

Phillies Select CF Kelly Dugan

The Phils had to wait until the 75th pick to get involved in the 2009 MLB Draft. They decided to go with Kelly Dugan, a CF from Notre Dame High School in Encino, CA. After the draft is completely over, KeepinItCrispy will have a full draft report on the Phils. Stay tuned!

Follow the draft live at: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2009/draftcaster.jsp

Phils Get to Johan, Still Lose

The Phils finally got to Johan Santana Tuesday night but still lost 6-5. J.A. Happ had would could probably be called the worst start of his career going 5.1 innings, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits. He consistently had trouble with the ball up in the zone. David Wright hit his 4th home run of the year in the second followed by a 2 run home run by Beltran in the 3rd. The Phils answered back in the 4th with back-to-back home runs from the Big Man and Raaauuul.

The score remained 3-2 Mets until the 6th when two struggling Phillies helped out the offense. Jayson Werth lead off with a base hit and three batters later Jimmy Rollins, yes JRoll, hit a two run bomb to left. Unfortunately the Phillies bullpen did not perform well last night. Happ gave up a lead off double in the 6th to Tatis. Ruiz tried to pick him off at second but it was a bad throw and Tatis went to third. Ryan Church grounded to first and Howard threw to the plate with Tatis coming down the line. Tatis got his leg under Ruiz and on the plate before the tag, but was called out. That was it for Happ and Condrey came in. He gave up a hit to Santos and then Johan Santana doubled to right, scoring Church. Cora singled to score Santos.

Ryan Church hit one into the apple in the 7th and Utley hit one out to right in the 8th. In the end KRod came in and shut down the Phillies. Something the Mets have been unable to do over the past two years. Tough loss considering we got to Johan but if we win the next two we are in excellent shape.

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-Positive of the Game: The Phillies bats got to Johan Santana for the first time since he has been a Met

-Negative of the Game: Pitching. Happ struggled for the first time in his career and Condrey and Durbin both gave up a run.

-Player of the Game: Jimmy Rollins. 3 for 4, run, 2 RBIs, home run

-Play of the Game: Johan Santana's double, video.

-Up Next: Game 2 in Flushing, Hamels (4-2, 4.40) vs. Pelfrey (4-2, 4.85)

Phillies in Flushing for Three

J.A. Happ takes the mound tonight vs. Johan as the Phils and Mets open up a three game series. The Phils come into the series three games up on the Mets in the NL East. The Mets come in banged up and with serious injury problems. 1B Carlos Delgado, SS Jose Reyes, and setup man JJ Putz headline a long list of players currently on the DL. Yet the Mets have battled through those injuries going 10-10 in their last 20 games and staying three games back of Philly. Against the Phillies this year the Mets are 3-1. With the injuries the Mets have right now, these are three very important games for the Phils to take a serious lead in the East.

All games at 7:10

Game 1, Tuesday: Happ (4-0, 2.48) vs. Santana (7-3, 2.00), MyPhl 17, 1210 AM

Game 2, Wednesday: Hamels (4-2, 4.40) vs. Pelfrey (4-2, 4.85), CSN, 1210 AM

Game 3, Thursday: Moyer (4-5, 6.27) vs. Redding (0-2, 6.97), CSN, 1210 AM

Breaking News: Lidge to DL

From David Murphy's Twitter:

"Lidge placed on DL with sprained right knee"

That's all the info. there is right now. Updates will come when available.

UPDATE: Team says Lidge will not be out long term. Catcher Paul Bako has been called up to take Lidge's roster spot.

Raaauuul, Chase, and Jimmy Lead Voting

Hard work by Phillies fans and hopefully fans of baseball in general has paid off. LF Raul Ibanez now leads the National League in votes for outfielders with 1,415,493. Utley continues to blow away the second base category, more than a million votes up on Dodgers 2B Orlando Hudson. Surprisingly, JRoll leads the shortstop category, about 65,000 votes up on Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins. Personally, I really hope Jimmy doesn't win the vote. He is a great guy and a leader of this team but he flat out just doesn't deserve it. Ruiz is fifth in catchers and Feliz is fourth in third basemen. Don't let up though. Keep voting!

Phils Get The Split

After losing two games in a row to LA on walk-off hits off closer Brad Lidge, the Phillies offense came to life lead by catcher Carlos Ruiz. Feliz put the Phils up 1-0 in the second on a SAC fly scoring Ibanez. The Dodgers tied the game in the 4th on a single by CF Matt Kemp. The Phillies answered right back. In the top of the 5th, struggling Jimmy Rollins lead off with a base hit to left. Rollins, batting sixth, was followed by Feliz who drew the walk. With two on and no out, Ruiz singled to left scoring JRoll. Bastardo layed down a perfect sacrifice bunt and Victorino brought home Feliz on a line drive off of pitcher Randy Wolf's glove. LA got one back in the bottom of the 6th on a double play groundout.

The Phils put the game away in the top of the 7th. Ruiz hit a two run bomb to left followed two batters later by a Vic bomb to left. Howard added his 17th homer of the year in the 8th and the Phils went on to win 7-2.

Antonio Bastardo (2-0) had to make his second major league start on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball against the team with the best record in the NL on the road in one of the most historic stadiums in baseball. Once again, Bastardo came through pitching 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. Bastardo was replaced with Chan Ho Park with the score only 3-1 Phillies and Phils fans held their breath. Park ended up pitching 3 innings of 1 hit, 0 run baseball earning a hold and bringing his ERA down to 6.80. Madson finished off the game in the 9th. On the other side, the Phils finally hit Randy Wolf. Wolf went 6.1 innings but gave up 6 runs on 8 hits.

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-Positive of the Game: Once again, pitching. Bastardo continued to throw his fastball for strikes and mixed in his changeup and breaking ball. He kept his compusre throughout the entire game. Park pitched brilliantly through 3 innings only giving up one hit.

-Negative of the Game: Utley (0-4) continued to not hit Wolf and Werth (0-4) continued to just not hit at all.

-Player of the Game: Carlos Ruiz. 2 for 3, 1 run, 3 RBIs, home run

-Play of the Game: Carlos Ruiz's home run in the 7th, video.

-Next Up: Game one of a three game series in Flushing vs. the Mets. Happ (4-0) vs. Santana (7-3)

J.A. Happ/Antonio Bastardo Fan Group on Facebook

Join this group in support of our two young lefties! http://tinyurl.com/kuwetv

Some Pre-Game Reading

Great article by Jim Salisbury of the Inquirer. He talks about the Phils making a move and looks at what we have to offer teams. He separates prospects in our system into categories such as "the untouchables" or "you'd think about it." Read the full article here: http://tinyurl.com/m587xz

Get to Know...Antonio Bastardo

This is the first of what will be a weekly feature on this blog. Every Sunday a random Phillie will be picked and a short bio. will be put up. First up, tonight's starter, Antonio Bastardo.

Full Name: Antonio Francisco Bastardo

Born: September 21, 1985 in Hato Mayor, Dominican Republic

Position: Pitcher

Bats/Throws: Right/Left

Height: 5-11

Weight: 194

Major League Debut: June 2, 2009 vs. San Diego

How did he get here: signed as an amateur free agent on February 17, 2005

What has he done: Bastardo is a two time winner of both the Phillies Minor League pitcher of the week and Phillies Minor League pitcher of the month awards, he was a Florida State League All-Star in 2008, began the season at Reading (AA)...now pitching in the majors, struck out 39 in 34.2 innings pitched at Reading this season

Prospect Outlook: best pitch is his change up with good action and depth, sets it up with a 87-95 MPH fastball, breaking ball is in the mid 80's and he struggles to command it sometimes, with his small stature and injury history, durability is a concern, looks destined to be a middle reliever rather than a back of the rotation starter

Most impressive career stat: 365 strikeouts in 308.2 innings pitched

Anything else: came into 2009 ranked 11th on Scout.com's list of top 100 Phillies prospects

Twitter

Keepin' it Crispy now has a Twitter! Follow us at:

www.twitter.com/KeepinItCrispy

Phillies @ Dodgers, 8:05 PM

Ugh who isn't still sick about yesterday and Friday? The Phils have to shake it off and face former Phillie Randy Wolf on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. The Phillies won the first game of the four game set, 3-0, then proceeded to lose two games in walk-off fashion. Antonio Bastardo (1-0, 1.50) will make his second career MLB start after giving up only one run in six innings Tuesday in San Diego. Bastardo's fastball topped out at 94-95 MPH, well above the 90-91 on the scouting report. "He surprised me with his fastball," said Uncle Charlie. "I saw his slider and change up in Spring Training and hopefully we'll see them more next time out." For the Dodgers Randy Wolf (3-1, 3.21) will go against his former team. Wolf is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two starts against Philly (while pitching for LA). Gametime is set for 8:05, live coverage on ESPN and 1210 AM.

Phillies, --
NY Mets, 3 GB

Lidge Blows Another One, Phils Fall in Extras

*Click on picture for larger view of today's score card*

For the second game in a row, closer Brad Lidge came into the game with a chance to lock down a win against the Dodgers. Lidge got Mark Loretta to ground out to short before Rafael Furcal pinch hit for Juan Castro...and hit is exactly what he did. With a 2-2 count, Brad threw Furcal a slider that dropped right over the middle of the plate and six seconds later went just over Jayson Werth's glove and landed behind the right field wall of Dodger Stadium. Needless to say Lidge (coming off a perfect season in 2008) looked stunned after blowing his sixth save of 2009. Lidge struck out pinch hitter Casey Blake and got Pierre to ground out to second to send the game to extras.

The game looked destined to be a pitcher's duel even after Andre Ethier's 4th inning home run off Joe Blanton. Both starters pitched very well in this game, both going six innings and both striking out five. The Phillies bats were quiet all day until the 7th when Mr. Dodger Stadium, Matt Stairs, singled to right off of LA reliever Ronald Belisario scoring Ibanez and Feliz to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead. Clay Condrey, JC Romero, and Ryan Madson combined for two scoreless innings successfully building the "Bridge to Lidge." The 9th inning saw Jimmy Rollins pinch hit after being taken out of the starting lineup due to his continued struggles at the plate. He continued his struggles when he popped out to second to end the top of the 9th. The bottom of the 9th, well we already discussed that...

The Phils continued not to hit, going 1-2-3 in each of the three extra innings. Scott Eyre and Chad Durbin held the Dodgers scoreless until the 12th when Durbin gave up a walk-off home run to Andre Ethier, his second walk-off hit in as many nights. Overall a tough loss for the Phillies but they still have a chance for the split and they can gain ground on the Mets next week in Flushing.

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-Positive of the Game: Pitching. Blanton continued the stretch of excellent pitching from the rotation. Despite two hits, Condrey continued his solid season, Romero continued his return to form, and Madson was dominant. Eyre and Durbin kept the team in it in extra innings, despite the eventual walk-off given up by Chad. Brad is the obvious exception from tonight's "positive of the game."

-Negative of the Game: Hitting. The top five of the order went 3 for 22 with 0 RBIs. Jimmy continued his struggles.

-Player of the Game: Andre Ethier. 3 for 5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs, walk-off home run

-Play of the Game: A tie! Furcal's game tying home run in the 9th, video. Ethier's walk-off home run, video.

-Next Up: Sunday Night Baseball against the Dodgers. Bastardo (1-0, 1.50) vs. Wolf (3-1, 3.21)

First Post

I signed up for blogspot Thursday night and registered the domain name and designed the site. The only question I had was when to start it? Monday, since it is the beginning of the week? Tuesday because it was the start of a 3 game series with the hated New York Mets? Saturday because I am heading down to see the Phils take on the Red Sox? After watching the game this afternoon (that eventually extended beyond dinner), I realized tonight was the proper time. What better time than after a classic Phillies loss? I'm not in any sort of panic seeing as the entire WFC team is back with the addition of possible MVP Raaauuul Ibanez but these types of loses hurt. Closer Brad Lidge blew his second save in two nights and those annoying LA Dodgers got another win over us. Those kind of loses bring back memories of Wayne Gomes or Jose Mesa giving the greater Philadelphia area heart attacks on a nightly basis. As we Philly fans are so used to saying, "we'll get 'em tomorrow!"