Morning Phil Up – 4/15/2014 – Bullpen implosion wastes comeback by the Philadelphia Phillies

Apr 14, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Atlanta Braves second baseman Dan Uggla (26) celebrates his grand slam home run with center fielder B.J. Upton (2) and outfielder Justin Upton (8) in the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Braves defeated the Phillies, 9-6. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday’s Game

Braves defeat Phillies 9-6

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Emotional reaction immediately after the game

Damn it, Diekman!

Less emotional, more optimistic reaction after thinking about it a bit

That was still a heck of a comeback effort by the Phillies in the 8th inning.

Hero

Yesterday, I said that Phillies fans should hate the Braves because of how much Dan Uggla sucks. After his ninth inning grand slam (his second homer of the night), Phillies fans have a whole new reason to hate Uggla.

I’m going to give a shout out to Dom Brown. Even though it was ultimately meaningless, his eighth inning home run that gave the Phillies the lead looked huge at the tiem.

Goat

Jake Diekman was filling in at closer with Jonathan Papelbon unavailable. He did not do especially well. The grand slam was bad, but Diekman got himself into trouble well before that, and it all started when he walked the leadoff hitter.

Special mention should go to B.J. Rosenberg who faced three batters and gave up three home runs. Apparently this is the first time this has ever happened. Way to make history, B.J.!

Link of Interest

If you’d like to see Phillies fans having their hearts broken, Deadspin has just the video for you!

 http://deadspin.com/phillies-fans-reactions-to-dan-ugglas-grand-slam-are-am-1563288296

Today’s Game

Atlanta Braves (9-4) at Philadelphia Phillies (6-7)

Game time: 7:05 PM

TV: CSN

Starting pitchers: David Hale (0-0) vs. Cliff Lee (2-1)

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The Phillies will look to quickly put yesterday’s heartbreaking loss behind them. The good news is, they have a clear advantage in the pitching matchup. David Hale will be making only the fifth start of his career, and he hasn’t made it past the fifth inning in either of his previous starts in 2014. That means that the Phillies will likely be facing some of the Braves’ relievers. The bad news is, unlike the Phillies, the Braves actually count their relief corps as a strength.

The Phillies’ bats continued to look lively on Monday. They had some early difficulties with Braves’ starter Ervin Santana, but quickly tied the game with patience at the plate and some timely hits. Chase Utley had two more hits last night, which amazingly dropped his batting average to .489.

Link of Interest

Phillies Team Site – Despite hernia, Burnett plans to keep pitching

A.J. Burnett decided not to retire this past offseason. So he isn’t about to let a minor thing like a hernia slow him down. Burnett suffered an inguinal hernia that will eventually require surgery, but he hopes that can continue to pitch despite the injury. Phillies fans hope that he can have similar results to Cole Hamels who pitched with a hernia in 2011.

Tweet of Importance

Perhaps the real problem with the Phillies’ bullpen is that they’re being used way too much.