There's probably more randomness in baseball than in any other sport, and you hear that a lot to explain why teams like the Marlins or Astros win games they shouldn't. But Miami is now 4-4 against the Phillies and 9-28 against everyone else, which is a disgrace for the Phillies and something they need to take pride in correcting immediately. Avoiding an ugly series loss tonight will be tough, as the Phils go up against Jose Fernandez. Fernandez has a... Continue reading

With two swings on Sunday, the Phillies earned a thrilling win reminiscent of the 2008-11 period and some positive momentum heading into an eight-game road trip. Aroldis Chapman was the fourth closer the Phillies have tied the game against or beaten in the ninth inning this season. It was the third time in two weeks (Sergio Romo, Heath Bell). A win brought them to within two games of .500, and they have a chance to go over .500 for the... Continue reading

The Phillies can win a series and make it a successful week against the two Ohio teams if they’re victorious Sunday. They’ll need to quickly put Saturday’s 10-0 embarrassment out of their minds. It was the sixth time they’ve been shut out this season, which is the most shutouts of the Phillies through their first 43 games since 1985, according to CSN’s Reuben Frank. The Phils were lifeless and again failed to hit junkballer Bronson Arroyo. On Sunday, they’ll face... Continue reading

The Phillies are back at it Friday night as they open a three-game weekend series with the Reds, who have won six straight, as well as six in a row on the road. Cincinnati (25-16) began the season 3-10 away from Great American Ballpark but has swept back-to-back road series in Chicago and Miami. Tonight's matchup is Cliff Lee (4-2, 2.86) against rookie left-hander Tony Cingrani (2-0, 2.89). The Phillies don't hit pitchers they've never seen and they are one... Continue reading

The Phillies are 19-22, in third place in the NL East with a -27 run differential. Nationally, .500 was right around where most analysts had them. Locally, we mostly bought in to the improvements upon last year's 81-81 team and saw one that could win at least a half-dozen more games with healthy stars and a legitimate setup man. Some things have gone as planned, but many haven't through 41 games. Let's take a look at three positives and three... Continue reading

In a game that looked a lot like the ones out in Cleveland, the Phillies were pounded by the Indians, 10-4, to end their brief two-game series. Cole Hamels is having a very strange season. He had 24 pitches in the first inning, 51 through two and 77 through three. He walked two more batters and now leads the NL with 24 walks in 56.2 innings. One of those walks came after he started Asdrubal Cabrera 0-2. Hamels had pitched... Continue reading

The Phillies on Wednesday added some starting pitching depth by agreeing to a minor-league deal with veteran righty Carlos Zambrano. Hard to dislike the move because there is little risk. The 31-year-old Zambrano will report to extended spring training later in the week. The Phils needed starting pitching depth with Roy Halladay and John Lannan on the DL. Charlie Manuel said Tuesday that Lannan being ready by the end of May would be "a stretch." He said the Phillies would... Continue reading

John Mayberry rewarded Charlie Manuel’s hunch Tuesday night by going 3-for-4 out of the eight-hole with a two-run double, an RBI single and a two-out single that turned the lineup over. Manuel rewarded Mayberry with another day in center field. Mayberry is back in the same spot for today’s 1:05 p.m. series finale with the Indians. Ben Revere is on the bench again. It makes sense to give Mayberry the opportunity at the bottom of the order, because previous Phillies... Continue reading

A scheduling quirk has the Phillies off Monday and Thursday this week, with a two-game series against the Cleveland Indians coming Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a three-game weekend series with the Cincinnati Reds. The Phils were 0-5 against those teams in Ohio. The Indians are still rolling. They've won 12 of 14, and lead the majors in slugging percentage and OPS. They might not be as potent as they were in Cleveland, but they will have Michael Bourn and... Continue reading

This was a very strange trip out west, but the Phillies not only salvaged it Sunday but will have something to build on coming back home. Four runs in the ninth and 10th innings gave them a 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks and a 4-3 record in San Francisco and Arizona. What was an abysmal offensive showing for eight innings completely turned around once Kirk Gibson inexplicably took starter Brandon McCarthy out of the game. McCarthy entered with a 6.75... Continue reading

The Phillies have dropped three straight to turn a promising road trip into yet another disappointing week. At 16-21, they've matched their worst record of the season -- they were also five games under .500 at 9-14. Cliff Lee takes the mound hoping to stop the skid and enable the Phils to actually make this a winning week. With Lee going Saturday and Kyle Kendrick taking on NL hits-leader Brandon McCarthy (6.75 ERA, 1.68 WHIP) Sunday, it is possible the... Continue reading

The Phillies are looking to put last night's debacle behind them and even their four-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday behind the right arm of Tyler Cloyd. Cloyd makes his season debut after going 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in six starts at Triple-A. He had 10 strikeouts and no walks in his start last Friday for Lehigh Valley. He credited the boost to the reemergence of his cutter. Cloyd struggled to keep the ball in the park... Continue reading

The Phillies are 29th in baseball in fastball velocity from their relievers, and 13th in the National League in bullpen K/BB ratio. Jeremy Horst, Chad Durbin, Raul Valdes ... come on down and claim your prize. Phillippe Aumont has been wilder than any of them, but he at least has a plus fastball that he can throw by hitters. It's the only way to explain Aumont's 2.45 ERA despite his 10 walks in 11 innings. Fun Aumont stat: He's thrown... Continue reading

Two steps back for every step forward with this team. The Phillies lost, 2-1, in Thursday's series opener in Arizona. Cole Hamels pitched well enough to win, again. He lost, again. Hamels walked three men over his final two innings and allowed single runs in each. His final read: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 3 K. He has a 2.44 ERA in his last six starts. He's 1-5 on the season. The Phillies didn't hit well, they... Continue reading

The Phillies rallied in the ninth against Sergio Romo, scoring two runs and tying the Giants, 3-3. But an Andres Torres walk-off single in the 10th prevented the Phillies' first sweep in San Francisco since 1984. Seeing the Phils hit Romo was a great sign. One thing they've really struggled to do the last two seasons is make up multi-run deficits, and they did exactly that against one of the game's best closers. It was only the fourth time in... Continue reading

The Phillies have won just 4 of 14 series at AT&T Park since it opened in 2000, but they can make it five tonight if the bats stay alive against Tim Lincecum. Getting to Lincecum early is the key. From 2007-11 -- when he was really good -- Lincecum had a first-inning ERA of 2.38. Since the start of 2012 -- when he became wild and ineffective -- his first-inning ERA is 7.38. Lincecum is prone to one awful inning... Continue reading

The Phillies never do much offensively in San Francisco and they aren't hitting to begin with. The Giants' three best offensive players are all hot. It all adds up to this being a pretty bad time to head to AT&T Park. San Fran has won six straight. Over their last eight games, Pablo Sandoval is 18-for-34; Buster Posey is hitting .333 with three doubles, two homers, eight RBI and 10 walks; and Hunter Pence has six extra-base hits. The Giants'... Continue reading

We all know by now that Roy Halladay is DL-bound with shoulder soreness. He'll see Dr. Lewis Yocum out in California this week and it's A) Likely he misses time, and B) Likely he gives the Phillies very little the rest of 2013. Even if the recovery is a short one, Halladay has proven time and again this season he's not only not the Doc of old, he's not even a serviceable major-league starter anymore. Halladay allowed nine runs in... Continue reading

Right-handed hitters are batting 102 points lower than lefties this season against Ricky Nolasco, and had an OPS 83 points lower than lefties from 2010-12. Delmon Young has a .702 OPS against right-handers since 2010. And yet, Young is in the lineup, batting fifth Friday night instead of Laynce Nix. Nix hasn't seen Nolasco a whole lot, but he has reached base in 7 of 16 plate appearances against him, adding more mystery to Charlie Manuel's decision to go with... Continue reading

One thing I've learned as I've grown up in this business is: When Jim Salisbury speaks, people listen. The man is more plugged into the Phillies' intentions than anyone in the city, so when he writes that Giancarlo Stanton remains an organizational target, it's safe to believe that is the case, no matter how unrealistic a deal may seem. It would take a metric ton to acquire Stanton in an intra-division trade. He's 23, hasn't gotten expensive yet, is built... Continue reading

It's pretty difficult to do what the Phillies did last night: Walk seven times but not hit or score. They had seven walks, three hits and no runs. - They're the first team since the Padres in September 2010 to walk at least seven times while mustering three or fewer hits and no runs. - They went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Domonic Brown was responsible for two of the three hits and Ben Revere had the other. Revere... Continue reading

Delmon Young isn't in the field after all. He'll DH again as the Phillies look for a series split in Cleveland. Young reached base the first three times he came to the plate Tuesday night. He'll try to do some more damage Wednesday against a wild righty in Trevor Bauer. Bauer walked seven batters in his only start this season and has 20 walks in 21.1 innings at the major-league level. Laynce Nix is in right field. Nix is 5-for-32... Continue reading

It wasn't overuse of the cutter. It wasn't an inability to crack 90 on the radar gun. It was as simple as really, really bad location on Tuesday from Roy Halladay. We like to look for tell-tale signs of why a pitcher is in decline, why he goes from one-hitting a team on Wednesday to allowing 1,200 feet of home runs the following Tuesday. Some of Tuesday night's narratives were: - It's the first time the new Halladay pitched to... Continue reading

Delmon Young has been activated by the Phillies, who designated Ezequiel Carrera for assignment to make room on the 25-man roster. It's a logical time to add Young to the mix, seeing as the Phillies will need a DH for the next two days. Young rehabbed for a little over a week. He went 11-for-30 (.367) with two doubles, seven strikeouts and, of course, no walks for Clearwater and Lehigh Valley. The Phillies have gotten very little out of their... Continue reading

After winning three straight road games in New York the Phillies find themselves in Cleveland for a rare two-game interleague series with the Indians. Roy Halladay looks to remain unhittable for a fourth straight start. Since starting the season with a 14.73 ERA through two starts, Halladay has a 1.71 ERA and .114 opponents' batting average his last three times out. He's coming off a one-hit performance against the Pirates in which he again turned to his curveball to do... Continue reading