Results tagged ‘ Howard ’
MORE OF THAT RELAXING
MORE OF THAT RELAXING
by Max Blue
Champs gearing up for post season,
Still, to lose to the Fish is not pleasin’.
R. How and J. Werth went long,
But C. Ham a three inning wrong song.
The good news: B. Lid a clean inning teasin’.
Saturday, October 3, 2009. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Florida – 4, Philadelphia – 3.
WP – A. Sanchez (4-8), LP – Hamels (10-11).
H – Meyer (20), Sanches (10).
S – Nuñez (26).
HR – Howard (45), 2nd; Werth (36), 8th, 1 on.
The Division Championship Series are in place after St. Louis lost and LA beat Colorado. Phillies play a five-game series against Colorado beginning Wednesday, October 7 at Citizens Bank Park. C-Man has not announced who will start Game 1. The choices seem to be either Cliff Lee, or Cole Hamels. Neither has pitched that well in recent starts.
The main worries are these:
1. No Champs’ pitcher has sparkled in the last week or so.
2. Was today’s Brad Lidge’s 1-2-3 ninth indeed a tease? Mad Dog gave up an 8th inning run that proved a game-winner.
3. Chase Utley looks completely lost – his batting average has slipped to around .280 with feeble, and last second cuts at pitches he famously used to drill to vacant spots in the gaps, down the lines, and over the walls. He almost certainly is once again playing with a sore hip as he did a year ago. We can only hope he has the fortitude to rise above the pain in the playoffs as he did last year.
The good news is that Ryan Howard has been seeing the ball well and is launching it to far places against all kinds of pitching. His batting average has nudged toward .280, closing in on Chase Utley. He seems poised for a titanic post-season run. The Champs will go as far as R-How carries them. So says the fearless Max.
STUCK ON FOUR
STUCK ON FOUR
by Max Blue
Did I speak too soon?
Don’t worry, it’s not a full moon.
Still, we have to win four
To march through the door
Where they play the Champion’s tune.
Saturday, September 26, 2009. Miller Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Milwaukee – 7, Philadelphia – 5.
WP – Hoffman ( 2-2 ), LP – Tyler Walker (2-1).
HR – Braun (30), 9th, 1 on (walkoff).
Howard (43), 6th.
Moyer relieved Kendrick in the fifth with one out and a 4-3 Phillies lead. After R-How extended it to 5-3 off Braden Looper, one of his career patsies, with his 43rd homer in the 6th, the Brew Crew tied it at five with an excrutiatingly hard-to-watch 6th inning. Moyer was cruising when he walked a man with two out, and saw his lead disappear when two easy flyballs were mishandled by his normally solid rightfielder and shortstop. Werth stopped two feet short of a ball that should have been an easy catch for the third out, and Rollins muffed a basket catch in short centerfield as the tieing run scored.
I got a brain line from Prolipsis, the Pennsylvania bb god, telling me that she has no jurisdiction in Wisconsin, and the Champion Phillies are on their own in cheese country.
We can do this.
FISH TANK LIDGE
FISH TANK LIDGE
by Max Blue
One pitch away from a save,
our man Lidge showed again he can cave.
A walk and two hits
left team in the pits,
and the magic number lacking a shave.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009. Land Shark Stadium, Miami, Florida.
Florida – 7, Philadelphia – 6.
WP – Dan Meyer (3-1), LP – Lidge (0-8).
H – Madson (26). BS – Lidge (11).
HR – Cody Ross (24), 5th; Gaby Sanchez (2), 7th.
Ibañez (33), 6th, Howard (42), 7th, 1 on.
Magic number stays at five for Braves and four for Marlins.
MADSON BLOWS SAVE, HOWARD STILL BRAVE
MADSON BLOWS SAVE, HOWARD STILL BRAVE
by Max Blue
http://maxblue3.tripod.com
Hamels blanked Pirates through eight.
Champs up 1-0 on Utley’s big tate.
But Dog let it slip
on a game-tying rip,
and H-bomb again saved Phils’ fate.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009. PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia – 4, Pittsburgh – 1 (10 innings)
WP – Madson (5-4), LP – S. Jackson (2-3)
BS – Madson (5).
HR – Moss (6), 9th.
Utley (27), 1st; Howard (35), 10th, 2 on.
METS KICK KING
METS KICK KING
by Max Blue
http://maxblue3.tripod.com
King Cole’s body language all wrong,
a sour-note, season-long song.
When his head’s in a whirl
how can he hurl
as we’ve seen for so well and so long?
Friday, August 21, 2009. Citi Field, New York, New York.
New York Mets – 4, Philadelphia – 2.
WP – Pelfrey (9-8), LP – Hamels (7-8).
H – Feliciano (21), Stokes (7). S – F. Rodriguez (27)
HR – Francouer (11).
It didn’t help that the Phillies left 11 on base and that both Utley and Howard struck out lunging at changeups out of the strike zone with tying runs on base in the 9th inning.
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