Phillies Week in Review: Same Old Same Old
A 3-3 week wouldn’t be all that bad for most clubs, but for a Phillies team looking to crawl back to .500 it doesn’t cut it. The good news is they certainly know that. Or at least Charlie does. If you haven’t read it by now you can catch Charlie vs. Eskin here.
“This S%$t is getting rediculous” Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Manuel’s post game tirade was the highlight of the week, which says it all about the state of the team. Yes, the Phillies managed to start the week off well with two wins against the Nationals, but ended the week 1-3 with a demoralizing 8-0 loss to the Mets. After a loss like that it’s hard to recall anything good going right for the Phillies, but I promise it did.
Game of the Week:
As bad as Sunday’s loss was, Saturday night’s win had every fan’s adrenaline pumping. To recap, some stuff happened in the first eight innings with the Phillies leading 7-5. Enter Jonathan Papelbon.
Maybe running his mouth to the media stirred some karmic backlash, because he hasn’t been the same since he ranted to the media. Paps followed up a blown save against the Nats with another against the lowly Mets. Papebon surrendered a home run to Jordany Valdespin, and then the Phils defense decided to call it quits early. An error and a bobble and the win seemed to slip out of the Phillies reach yet again.
A tie game in the ninth was not where the Phillies saw themselves when they held a 7-2 lead, but none of that mattered to Kevin Frandsen. Manuel put a bat in his hand and Frandsen put the ball over the fence. Crowd roared, the players jumped for joy, and the team was saved from utter misery for a day.
“We ain’t done yet” Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Player of the Week:
How a bout the big fella Ryan Howard? As much maligned as he’s been this year Howard turned in a stellar week. The big piece went 10-21, with three long balls and seven runs batted in. One week doesn’t erase a down season from Howard, but he raised his average to .282. Could it be that Howard is finally back after his Achilles injury?
No, no, I’m getting ahead of myself. Howard had a good week but the Phillies are still 4 games back of .500 and a long way from contending.
State of the team:
The heat is on, and the Phillies are beginning a 9-game road trip. If Charlie can’t do anything to fix this team as he claims then it’s up to the players to turn it around. They won’t have Mike Adams or Michael Stutes with them (on the DL), but Chase Utely is back from his oblique injury so there’s that. Anything short of 7-2 road trip and the Vultures will be swarming in full force. Let the trade rumors commence!