Phillies Get Hernandez’d

On a day when the Phillies immortalized a fat baseball player on their wall of fame, it seemed apt that a fat old man would shut them down.  Orlando’s brother Livan, threw six and 2/3  effective innings allowing only one unearned run in the process.  He also had two hits and drove in a pair of runs.  How the hell someone that looks like him actually be a good athlete?  Some mysteries will never be solved.

We have become accustomed to our new hero, Hunter Pence, performing at an unsustainably high level.  He had his first bad game at the plate.  0-3 with two strikeouts and he grounded into a double play.  Hernandez made the entire Phillies line-up look a little silly as Ryan Howard accounted for two of their six hits.  I usually like a Cuban defector more than the next guy, but I like them considerably less when they shut down the Phillies.

Cole Hamels did not have it today.  “It” in this circumstance is the ability to throw the ball over the plate at a high rate of speed.  Cole’s fastball struggled to reach 90 MPH and he walked four batters in his outing.  He also failed to go deep into the game, marking the second straight appearance by Kyle Kendrick.  As has been reported ad nasuem, it is not a good thing to see Kyle Kendrick in a game.

4-1 Nationals.  Tomorrow, the Phillies attempt to start a new winning streak against John Lannan.  Roy Oswalt attempts to overcome the awful left handed pitcher.