Newish Format/Phillies vs. Twins, Phillies vs. Indians, Phillies @BlueJays

I'm no longer going to do recaps of every game of every series. It'll be more of a general recap of the entire series. Most of us have probably watched the games and know what happened. The Phils have played three series since the Yankees, so I'll do quick recaps of those now. I'll of course still do the Golden Girls thing.

Phillies vs. Twins: The series started out so promising. They won the first game pretty convincingly. They jumped out to an 8-0 lead that ended in a 9-5 game. The next game was all similar. After Cole Hamels gave up 3 runs in the 1st the offense got it all back in the bottom half of the inning. They scored 5 more in the second inning. The score going into the 9th inning was 9-4. It seems like something the bullpen would be able to handle. The bullpen imploded in the 9th and then in extra innings. No need to relive it. I just hate Danys Baez. YUCK! Roy Halladay was pitching the series finale against Carl Pavano, who by the way is rocking a serious molestache. Roy went 8 innings and gave up 4 runs (3 earned) but the offense could do nothing other than a Wilson Valdez solo homerun. It looked like a series they were going to sweep after 2 games with Halladay pitching the finale, and they ended up losing 2 of 3. Awful, really just awful. To add insult to injury, Chooch left the first game to end the 8th after getting hit in the head with the barrel of a broken bat.

Phillies vs. Indians: This series had a little bit of everything for the Phillies and featured the return of Jimmy Rollins, but Chooch going on the DL. They won the first game in a close affair. Jamie Moyer once again pitched fabulously. Always seems to amaze. The Phils lead 2-1 going into the 9th, Charlie Manuel had gotten ejected earlier in the game but was still calling the shots. He had JC start the inning. He got the first out and then allowed an infield hit followed by a walk. Brad Lidge came in and closed the game out by striking out the 2 batters he faced. The second game was back and forth all night and Jimmy Rollins had the final say. Trailing 6-5, with 1 guy on and 1 out, Jimmy Rollins who up to that point had been 0-4, belted a 1-1 pitch from Kerry Wood for his first ever walk-off homerun. I can't say it enough, but Jimmy Rollins just makes everything feel better, and right. As with the trend this year, with the good comes the bad. Chad Durbin had some kind of hamstring pull and was placed on the 15-day DL. The 3rd game was easy and breezy. They scored 5 in the 2nd and 5 in the 6th. Joe Blanton pitched well with a lead and swept the Indians. I think it was their first sweep since I think the Brewers way back when.

Phillies@BlueJays (but not really): Went to game 1 and it was awesome and really hot when I got there. It was the series that was relocated to Philadelphia, but Toronto would be the home team by wearing the home whites and batting in the bottom half of all the innings. As luck would have it, Roy Halladay pitched the first night against his former team and he was incredible. He went 7 innings, didn't allow any runs, struck out 4 and walked only 1. He got all the support he needed from the offense, which featured the dreadful DH. Ross Gload started at 1st and Ryan Howard DHed. It was a 9-0 beating. The 2nd game came and went. It goes along the lines of, the BlueJays hit a lot of homeruns. Cole Hamels gives up a lot of homeruns. Every now and then, the offense gets shutdown. Seriously, this game felt like it almost didn't happen. The series finale had Jamie Moyer once again unbelievable. He went 7 innings, allowed 2 ER, struck out 7, and walked none. The offense scored 11 off of good at-bats and slob kabob BlueJays defense. They committed 4 errors and allowed 6 UNearned runs. Jamie Moyer also reached two milestones. He allowed his 506th homerun to Vernon Wells to make number one on that list and he became the 40th pitcher to pitch 4,000 innings--12,000 outs.

The Phillies have won 3 out of the last 4 series and the offense has seemingly gotten back on track while the pitching has held up. Parts of the Twins series being the exception. The Phils are off to Cincinnati for 3 games and then Pittsburgh for 4. I forgot to mention how Roy Halladay was basically letting his boner for Chase Utley show when doing a media session on Saturday. He called him "the Derek Jeter of the National League." He said more, so I'll just quote him directly:

Chase is obviously the driving force behind this team. He'll never admit it, but his preparation and desire is second to none. You combine that with other guys who have it and a lot of that starts rubbing off. He's a special player. I don't know how you'd ever teach that or if it's just something you're just born with. You get one guy like that, a couple guys that are pretty good around him, and a lot of that carries over.

Golden Girls Quote of the Day:
Merrill: I want Blanche.
Sophia: Break out the finger sandwiches Mr. Astaire looks hungry.
Merrill: [To Dorothy] Are you Blanche?
Dorothy: No!
Merrill: [To Sophia] How about you cutie?
Sophia: Boy this guys done hard time.