Phillies in need of a comeback against Fins

The Phils are currently down 5-1 in the sixth thanks to a Dan Uggla solo blast, a Chris Coglan double, and Cody Ross jack. Carlos Ruiz also had a solo dinger of his own, his second of the year. Brett Myers went 5 and 2/3 giving up 7 hits and 5 earned runs with 3 strikouts. Myers, until this point, was having a respectable May after a shaky start to the season in April. More info and anaylsis to come!

On the Farm Scoreboard:

The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs currently lead the Buffalo Bisons 5-1, thanks to homers by Paul Hoover and Jeremy Slayden. Kyle Kendrick is pitching well.

New Phillies Scoreboard!

I have added a new tool to the blog! It is a Phillies scoreboard! So now while you get live updates from the blog you can also always know the score as soon as it changes! Pretty neat right? Well it will come into use tonight as the Phils wrap up their series against the Fins! Come back for live updates and feel free to leave comments!

Blanton shuts out Marlins in victory

Well, even though I just wrote my previous article just a couple of hours ago it is already outdated. It's a good read and you won't understand what I am talking about now until you read it. Joe Blanton, who has struggled all season, lowered his ERA a whole number while shutting out the Marlins. He rung up 11 Florida hitters on strikes in the win. He is now 3-3 with a 6.14 ERA. The Phillies won the game 5-3. Chad Durbin got into some trouble walking two hitters which loaded the bases with 1 out in the top of ninth. Two runs scored on an throwing error by Ryan Howard, making the score 5-2. Brad Lidge came on and saved the game although he did surrender a walk. He now has 9 saves. Shane Victorio had the big stick going 4 for 5 with two doubles and an RBI. The Phillies play the Marlins again tomorrow at 6:05 central time. For the Marlins it will be Burke Badenhop, who is 2-2 with a 5.75 ERA. The Phils will start Brett Myers, who is 4-2 with a 4.34 ERA.

Minor League Notes:
The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs defeated the Buffalo Bisons 2-1 behind a gem from Andrew Carpenter, who made a start for the Phillies earlier this season. Carpenter pitched 7 innings giving up 6 hits and giving up one lone earned run which was on a pinch-hit home run by Buffalo's Michel Abreu. Carpenter had 4 K's. Miguel Cairo, who was designated for assignment last week by the Phillies, went 2 for 4. If Jamie Moyer or any other of the Phillies starters get injured or struggle Andrew Carpenter would be a good choice to replace them. He received the win for the Phils when he pitched although he did give up several runs.

Phillies starting rotation woes possibly coming to a slow and steady end(well, sort of)

No I'm not an idiot. In fact, I am/was an honor roll student. Although the headline might be hard to understand, there may actually be an end in the near future to some of the Phils starting hurler's(who sometimes make me want to hurl, in the other way) problems. After a strong start by J.A. Happ against the Yanks, and as it appears Cole Hamels's SI cover jinx has worn off, we may start to see more solid starts in the near future. Brett Myers has been more consistent than all of them, being, until last week, the only Phils starter who had an ERA under 5. Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer,however, continue to get roughed up, with Blanton going tonight against former North Carolina pitcher Andrew Miller and the Marlins. While Blanton is known to have a high ERA for a starter, he usually gets the job done until this year, with a shaky record and ERA, 2-3 and 7.11 respectivly. While I am still a firm beleiver that Blanton will come around, if he keeps going like this, he may find himself much like Brett Myers last year heading to Lehigh Valley to play for the Pigs for a while. Jaime Moyer is someone to worry about. Until this point, Moyer has turned out to be a great find. Although aged, Moyer joined the Phils rotation a little bit past the midway point in 2006, and has proved to be a reliable pitcher, playing a huge role in helping the Phillies win the 2008 World Series. At 46, if he doesn't start producing soon, he will find he baseball career come to a sreeching halt. When and if that happens it will be a sad day for me, being a fan and admirer of Moyer. But that doesn't take away from his off the field image, which is a very great guy, and a terrific role model. In a perfect world Blanton and Moyer wille come around. But unfortuatley we don't live in a world like that. Being realistic, maybe one of them will go back to their previous form, but probably not both. Hey maybe they will prove me wrong( I secretly hope so!). But just so you are prepared, options to replace them are: Vance Worley(3-2, 3.22), Kyle Kendrick(3-3, 4.21), and Andrew Carpenter(1-0, 4.02). If you haven't being following Lehigh Valley this year, then I will tell you why Carlos Carrasco isn't listed. He is currently 0-6 with a 5.81 ERA. Hopefully he will come around too!! Bottom line is the Phillies top part of the rotation is coming back into their former form, while the bottom part still has some issues to work out.

Changes coming in the Everything Phillies Blog!!

After a long layoff that we here at the Everything Phillies studio(if you will), we have been discussing a new approach to our blog. Rather than just telling you the straightforward info that this blog has previously informed such as results, injuries, and game stories that you can get anywhere else, we have decided to give more in-depth analysis and opinions. Hopefully you like the new idea, becasue we do, and we will be posting analysis and opinion stories soon!