Chooch Ruiz sets tone for incredible bench

Carlos Ruiz had a career high five RBI in a 10-2 win over the Braves today.

Not bad for only playing three innings.

Ruiz came off the bench in the seventh inning and connected a grand slam.

The Phillies bench has been unbelievable this season.

Consider this for a minute - the Phillies have 10 pinch hits in eight games. It took them until June 6th to get 10 pinch hits last season.  That's almost two months less.

The Phillies are 10-for-16 (.625) off the bench.

That's incredible.

The Phils were terrible last season, hitting .188 (45 for 240), the worst in the National League.

Depth is a great thing to have, and the Phillies have it.

They have power (John Mayberry Jr), versatility (Michael Martinez), speed (Pete Orr), a quality backup catcher (Brian Schneider), and one of the better pinch hitters in the game (Ross Gload).

Oh yeah, that does not include Wilson Valdez, who is starting for the injured Chase Utley, and is hitting .375.

But the big story today was Ruiz, normally a starter.  His grand slam was his first ever grand slam and first ever pinch-hit home run.

That leaves me with just one thing to say - Choooooooooch!

Not a good night in Philly

The night could not have been much worse for the Phillies and Flyers.

With fate still in their own hands, the Flyers slept through yet another game, losing to the lowly Ottawa Senators.

The Flyers now trail the surging Washington Capitals by two points with two games remaining.  With another Penguins win, the Flyers division lead was trimmed to one point.

Fall behind Pittsburgh and the Flyers would drop to fourth in the conference and they would play the Tampa Bay Lighting in the first round of the playoffs.

That is not a good proposition.

Luckily for the Phillies, they still control their own fate with 157 games still remaining.

But, they did not fare any better than the Flyers, getting thumped by the New York Mets, 7-1.

Cole Hamels looked terrible.

He could not even get Mets pitcher Chris Young out, who had two hits himself in a six run third inning.

Yeah, he was not so much an ace tonight.

I'm not concerned about the Phillies.  It was one game, and there is a long way to go.

I am concerned about the Flyers.  They have lost four straight and have been losing to teams they should be beating.

This is not a good time to get cold, and the Flyers have been as cold as Hamels' arm when he ices it after a game.

Family guy takes to making fun of Mets

The New York Mets come to town for a three game series starting on Tuesday.

Luckily for them, they will only have to face two aces - Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay. Joe Blanton, the other guy, will pitch the middle game.

The past few years have provided many opportunities to make fun of the Mets.

I'm glad to report that Family Guy has taken to joining the party.

Phillies on an early roll

Well, that was a pretty exciting weekend of Phillies baseball.

An opening day thriller, the return of Cliff Lee, and another offensive outburst.

Yep, the weekend had it all.

Best of all, the Phillies are off to a 3-0 start.

Oh yeah, their ace takes the mound in Tuesday's series opener against the New York Mets.

Their fourth ace that is.

Through three games, Roy Halladay, Lee, and Roy Oswalt have thrown 19 innings, striking out 23 while walking only one. Their ERA is 2.37.

Now it is time for Cole Hamels to take the mound.

Welcome to Phillies baseball, where the starters are going to dominate.

But don't forget about the offense.

A day after scoring nine runs, Ryan Howard led the way with a first inning three-run shot and later connecting on an RBI double.

The Phillies took out the brooms today, completing a three game sweep of the Houston Astros.

Five of the Phillies eight regular players finished the series batting over .300.

Jimmy Rollins and Howard, arguably the most important parts of the lineup, are hitting .444 and .500, respectively.

Ben Francisco, who took over for the departed Jayson Werth, hit his first home run today, and is batting .375.

Bring on the Mets.

Cliff Lee: like he never left

He's baaaaaack!

Cliff Lee began his second stint with the Phillies tonight, dominating the Houston Astros on the way to a 9-4 win.

Lee, a fan favorite, was absolutely adored by Phillies fans during his few months here in 2009. Those same fans were extremely disappointed when he was traded away following that season.

Lee started the night by receiving a standing ovation from the Phillies faithful.

Then he went out and pitched just like Phillies fans remembered he could.

Lee was looking solid into the sixth, when he had only allowed one run. The Astros got two in the inning on a two run shot by Carlos Lee. He also had an RBI triple 4th inning.

Must be in the last name.

Lee ended up throwing seven innings, allowing only four hits and three runs, while striking out 11.

His night ended just like it started, with a standing ovation.

A night after Roy Halladay pitched well in the opener, Lee did not disappoint and was a great reminder to how good this Phillies rotation can be.

Most teams would be happy to have Lee be their number one.

The Phillies have him sloted as their number two, with Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels still yet to pitch.

During the Phillies telecast tonight, they put a graphic up that said, "Dear MLB: Good luck." It had some of the accomplishments of the Phillies four aces.

But for one night, it was all about the guy who "never wanted to leave Philadelphia in the first place."

Ah yes, Cliff Lee is back.

Timely hitting carries Phils to thrilling win

If we learned anything from the San Francisco Giants march to a World Championship last year, it is that solid pitching and key hits wins.

The Phillies lineup was quiet for much of the afternoon on opening day.  That is, until the ninth inning.

Trailing by two runs, the Phillies pieced together six singles and three runs in a thrilling ninth inning.

John Mayberry Jr. won it for the Phils on a line drive hit to center field, which scored Ben Francisco and sent home another sold out crowd ecstatic.

Before the ninth, Astros starter Brett Myers had half as many hits (two) as the entire Phillies lineup had (four).

Phillies ace Roy Halladay pitched a strong game, striking out five of the first eight batters he faced, and only allowing one run. 

Yet he was outpitching by Myers, a former Phillie, who threw seven innings while giving up only three hits.

The Phillies scored two runs in the seventh on productlive outs to cut the lead in half, 4-2.

Then the bats came to life in the ninth.

Who needs home runs when you can single a team to death in one inning?

Small ball - no problem.

As long as the Phillies get good pitching and key hits, they'll win plenty of games.

Phils season lost after one day

It's over.  The Phillies season is lost.

One day of the season has passed and the Phillies are already a game behind the Braves.

Why bother playing the rest of the season?  There's no point.

Of course, I am kidding.

However, the so called baseball experts are not kidding when the consensus is now that the Braves are the team to beat in the NL East.

Just a few months ago - shoot, just a month ago - the Phillies were prohibitive favorties to win the World Series.

A Chase Utley and Brad Lidge injury later, and now many cannot even see them winning the division.

Yes, having Utley out for an extended period of time hurts.  It hurts a lot. 

But, did the experts forget that the Phillies still have a dominating pitching staff?

Did they forget that the Phillies suffered a ton of injuries last season?  Utley missed much of the summer with a broken finger, Ryan Howard missed August, Placido Polanco played with an injured elbow, and Jimmy Rollins only played 88 games.

Oh yeah, the led the majors with 97 wins.

Of 45 experts on espn.com, 16 picked the Braves to win the division.

That's 35%, but likely 35% higher than just a month ago.

And the World Series - forget it - 33 have the Red Sox winning.  The Phillies got 7 votes, the Braves 2, and the White Sox, Rockies, and Giants all got one.

The Phillies will be fine.  Pitching will carry them.

Phils roster set

The roster is set and the start of the regular season is almost here.

The Phillies announced their final opening day roster for the 2011 season today.

No major surprises.  Here is the breakdown:

Starters: Carlos Ruiz, Ryan Howard, Wilson Valdez, Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino, Ben Francisco.

Bench: Brian Schneider, Michael Martinez, Pete Orr, Ross Gload, John Mayberry Jr.

Starting pitchers: Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton.

Relievers: Jose Contreras, Danys Baez, David Herndon, Kyle Kendrick, Ryan Madson, Antonio Bastardo, J.C. Romero.

The starting lineup is missing two key players from last years lineup - Chase Utley, who will begin the season on the DL and Jayson Werth, who signed with the Washington Nationals.

Wilson Valdez will see the bulk of the time at second base.  He did an admirable job filling in for Jimmy Rollins last year.

The Phillies lineup will look much different and certainly be a lot less intimidating. 

Rollins will be the key.  If he can get on and wreak havoc, the Phils will be ok.

Ben Francisco won the rightfield job with a good spring.  Domonic Brown was in the mix before a hand inury ended his spring.

Surprisingly, the talk about the Phillies has not centered around their starting pitching staff.  This is mainly due to injuries, none of which are to their starters - thank goodness.

On paper, the Phillies staff rivals some of the best staffs all time.  It's a good thing because they are going to have to carry this team.  The Phillies will be in a lot of close games and will need their starters to go 7-8 innings on a consistent basis, especially while the await the return of Utley.

The bench looks solid.  John Mayberry Jr. had a nice spring and will provide pop off the bench as a right handed batter.  Ross Gload is an excellent pinch hitter.  Michael Martinez and Pete Orr were not expected to make the team, but both had good springs and add nice depth to the Phillies infield.

Brad Lidge is missing from the bullpen, as he is out 3-6 weeks.  Jose Contreras will take over as the closer, but don't be surprised if Ryan Madson gets a few opportunities.

Kyle Kendrick moves from a starting role to a long man out of the pen and David Herndon had a good spring.

Surprisingly, Mike Stutes, who was outstanding, did not make the team.  He will see time with the big league club at some point this season.

We are only two games away from games counting.

The roster is set and the hopes are high.

Phillies jersey's tops in sales

The Phillies did not win the World Series in 2010.

However, last year saw them win off the field.

Major League baseball and the Major League Baseball Players association announced its 20 most popular jersey sales in 2010.

The Phillies had three players in the top five - Roy Halladay ranked third, Chase Utley fourth, and Cliff Lee fifth.

That is pretty impressive.

Rounding out the top 20, in which the Phillies had the most of any team, Ryan Howard ranked 18th.

MLB also announced sales of its licensed merchandise - the Phillies ranked fourth, behind the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers.

Maybe Philadelphia really is becoming a Phillies town.

Roller coaster Flyers game

Frustrating. Exciting. Disappointing.

That about sums up the night of this Flyers fan.

After falling behind 3-0 early in the second period and changing goalies, the Flyers came roaring back, tying the game midway through the third period and taking the lead with a little over five minutes remaining in the game.

The Flyers were in complete control. That is, until Washington tied it with less than four minutes remaining.

The Flyers eventually lost in the shootout.

Washington is now one point behind the Flyers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

After a thrilling comeback, what a deflating loss.