Morning Phil Up – 4/17/2014 – Cliff Lee and Philadelphia Phillies lose pitchers’ duel to Julio Teheran and Atlanta Braves
By Mike Lacy
Apr 16, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher
Julio Teheranpitches in the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Yesterday’s Game
Braves defeat Phillies 1-0.
Tweetcap
Phillies Tweetcap 4/16: Braves defeat Phillies 1-0 as Teheran outduels Lee in a pitchers' duel. Gattis supplies only offense with solo HR.
— PHILLIES TBOH (@FS_TBOH) April 17, 2014
Emotional reaction immediately after the game
Three hits? Three lousy hits? And one of those was an infield single by Ryan Howard!
Less emotional, more optimistic reaction after thinking about it a bit
Cliff Lee was pretty darned awesome, and the Phillies will win most of the time if they get a performance like that.
Hero
Julio Teheran was fantastic. The Phillies had the best on-base percentage in the National League coming into the game, but Teheran limited the Phillies to three hits and zero walks.
Goat
No one player stood out as being worse than the others. The ineptitude was pretty consistent throughout the Phillies lineup.
Today’s Game
Atlanta Braves (10-4) at Philadelphia Phillies (6-8)
Game time: 1:05 PM
TV: CSN
Starting pitchers: Alex Wood (2-1) vs. A.J. Burnett (0-1)
Preview
After being shut out in last night’s game, the Phillies will attempt to get their offense going in the series finale against the Braves. They’ll be facing second year man Alex Wood who has been excellent so far in 2014, recording a 1.87 ERA.
A.J. Burnett will make the start for the Phillies, and it will bear watching to see how he performs now that he has been diagnosed with a hernia. Burnett is optimistic that he can manage the injury, but this control has been lacking thus far this season.
Link of Interest
The Good Phight – Phillies set to lose $24 million in 2014
If you’ve watched a Phillies home game on television this season, you’ll notice that there have been a lot of empty seats. The Phillies have been drawing considerably fewer fans to the ballpark, and as a result, they’re likely to lose a decent amount of money this season. It’s possible that this may result in major changes being made to the team.
Tweet of Importance
Cliff Lee has nine 12+ strikeout games with Phillies since 2011. He drops to 2-5 with a 2.16 ERA in those starts. Four shutout losses.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) April 17, 2014
It’s obvious what the problem is. Forget what I wrote earlier, Cliff Lee is evidently the real goat of the game.