The Philly Phyles

[General]

Brett Myers shut out the Rockies at Coors Field for 7 2/3 innings on Sunday to earn his first win of the season.
Myers walked just one and struck out five while yielding seven hits. He departed with a runner on first and two outs in the eighth, but Arthur Rhodes retired Garrett Atkins to end the threat. Tom Gordon then came on the ninth to earn his fourth save of the season. Myers has a nice matchup against the Marlins next weekend.

[RockSports17]

Damn. Very nice pitching by Myers. How has his season gone so far? Haven't really been following.

[General]

Kyle Kendrick allowed two hits in eight scoreless innings and struck out 12 yesterday for low Single-A Lakewood.
Kendrick, a 2003 seventh-round pick out of high school, has a 1.93 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings. He may emerge as one of the Phillies' top pitching prospects this year.

As for Meyers, I believe he's off to another good start, like last year.

[General]

Ryan Howard delivered an RBI single off Nationals reliever Mike Stanton in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Phillies a 7-6 victory on Wednesday.
It was $1 hot dog night at the park, but Howard was able to ignore all of the distractions and come up with the big hit. He also hit a two-run homer off Nationals starter Livan Hernandez in the second inning. Just three of Howard's 16 hits on the season have gone for extra bases, but since all three were homers his owners aren't complaining.

[General]

Ryan Howard and David Bell have flip-flopped spots against lefty Billy Traber in Thurday night's lineup.
This even though Howard is 3-for-9 with two walks versus southpaws this season. Bell likely is the better hitter against left-handers, but if the Phillies are down by two with two men on and two out in the bottom of the ninth tonight and Bell is up against Chad Cordero because David Dellucci has already pinch-hit, the decision to hit Howard seventh is going to look pretty bad. Howard will surely continue to hit sixth versus righties.

[General]

Ryan Madson was torched for nine runs in one-plus innings by the Nationals on Thursday night.
Ouch. Tonight's showing brought back memories of his lone start prior to this season, a game in which he gave up six runs in two-thirds of an inning against the White Sox. Madson had a 2.77 ERA after his first two outings, so he's not going to be sent to the pen over this. Stick with him

[Fishercat]

Wow, that's a huge dose of suck. I mean, 9 runs in 1 inning is really bad, but by the NATIONALS? Egads

[General]

There's a reason why Manuel kept him in the pen last year.

[General]

Saturday night's game between the Marlins and Phillies has been postponed due to rain and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on July 30.
Tonight's scheduled starters, Sergio Mitre and Brett Myers, are now due to pitch Sunday's series finale.

[General]

Chase Utley was ejected from Sunday's game in the bottom of the first inning for arguing a call at first base.
Manager Charlie Manuel was also tossed. David Bell replaced Utley, with Abraham Nunez moving from third to second.

[General]

Ryan Howard homered twice, walked twice, and drove in three runs as the Phillies defeated the Marlins 4-2 on Sunday.
The homers were Howard's third and fourth blasts in the last six days. Overall, he's batting .345 with five homers and eight RBI on the season

[General]

Aaron Rowand has been dropped to the sixth spot in Philadelphia's lineup on Monday night. Chase Utley is batting second.
This is the arrangement manager Charlie Manuel should have used at the start of the season. With Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard comprising the middle of the order, the Phillies' best players will get more at-bats and the team will have someone better than David Bell batting behind Howard. Rowand did nothing to deserve the demotion and his value decreases for as long as he bats sixth, but it's the right move for the Phillies.

[General]

Cody Lidle struck out 10 while giving up four runs in 6 2/3 innings in a win over the Rockies on Monday night.
It's his second double-digit strikeout game since he joined the Phillies in the middle of 2004. Lidle has turned in just one quality start in four tries, but the 27/3 K/BB ratio in 24 2/3 innings sure is nice.

Cody? Its Cory. Nice job, Rotoworld.

[General]

Gavin Floyd was hit hard for seven runs -- six earned -- in 3 1/3 innings versus the Rockies on Tuesday.
Floyd had struggled with command in prior outings, and he walked two and hit a batter tonight. He did manage five strikeouts in the abbreviated outing, but the Rockies still collected six hits. Overall, Floyd's given up 21 runs in 18 innings of work. He can't be used in any format at the moment, and the Phillies could consider replacing him with Ryan Franklin in the rotation.

[General]

Phillies purchased the contract of RHP Clay Condrey from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
We'd rather have seen Yoel Hernandez or Brian Sanches called up, but all three were pitching about the same for the Red Barons. Condrey had given up three runs in 12 1/3 innings. He'll work in middle relief.