Results tagged ‘ Tony Bastardo ’
GOODBY TONY B
GOODBY TONY B
by Max Blue
It’s sad to see the kid fail,
But he pitched like a dying quail.
He coughed up a four-run lead,
Then hurt his arm in the time of team need.
From Philly, a frantic fan wail.
Thursday, June 25, 2009. Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida.
Tampa Bay – 10, Philadelphia – 4.
WP – Sonnanstine (6-7), LP – Bastardo (2-3).
H – Balfour (10).
HR – Zobrist (16), 1st, 1 on; Aybar (6), 2nd.
PHILS PLAY LIKE PILLS
PHILS PLAY LIKE PILLS
by Max Blue
Tony B. hit a bump in the road,
and the Red Sox were quick to unload.
A first inning nightmare,
but wait, is it fair
to dismiss the kid as a toad?
Saturday, June 13, 2008. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Boston – 10, Philadelphia – 6.
WP – Okajima (3-0), LP – Bastardo (2-1).
HR – Bay (17), 1st, 1 on; Ellsbury (2), 9th.
Ibañez (22), 4th; Feliz (3), 4th, 1 on; Werth (9), 7th.
The Red Sox scored five first-inning runs in the ugliest inning the Phillies have played, maybe ever.
The Champs came into the game with only 19 errors in 59 games, by far the best fielding record in either major league. As a mid-June rain poured down in mind-numbing cascades, Bastardo’s pitches were off by just inches (no help from the home plate umpire this night), the defense collapsed (three errors), and the wet outfield kept Victorino from catching up with a sinking liner that would have ended the inning but instead bounced past him to the fence, for a base-clearing hit giving the Sox a five-run lead. It was ugly. You wanted to call for a mulligan.
After an hour-and-a-half rain delay, Chad Durbin pitched three scoreless innings, and the Champs began their comeback. This is what they do. They closed to 5-4 in the fourth on homeruns by Ibañez and Feliz. So. Here we are, five innings to play, down by one, and the Red Sox ready to send up their heavy right-hand-hitting artillery – Youkilis, Bay, and Lowell. Charlie looks at his options. He needs a right-handed pitcher. He has Condrey, Park, and Madson, his closer. From the left he has Taschner, Romero, and Escalona, called up before the game to replace Kendrick. Who can hold the fort? Not Taschner, the manager’s choice. The muscular Sox hammer the hapless lefty for three runs, and are denied three more when, with two out and the bases loaded, Victorino makes a spectacular back-to-the-plate, full extension grab just a few feet from where Aaron Rowand’s nose is forever embedded in the center field fence.
Francona has bullets in his bullpen and uses them to hold off the Champs for the final four innings. Red Sox fans, here by the thousands, celebrate, as they should. But here’s news, just in from Ipolipsis, the baseball god of superstition, hanging out on Mount Pocono in up-state Pennsylvania: “Relax, Phillies’ fans, you have the best team, in the end you will win, and Tony B. will win 10, maybe 12.”
TONY B
TONY B
by Max Blue
http://maxblue3.tripod.com
Anthony Bastardo, Tony B.
A Phillies delight, don’t you see?
Turned out tough Dodgers lights.
Look ahead to some great Philly nights,
when the kid entertains you and me.
Sunday, June 7, 2009. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California.
Philadelphia – 7, LA Dodgers – 2.
WP – Bastardo (2-0), LP – Wolf (3-2).
H – Park (1).
HR – Ruiz (3), 7th, 1 on; Victorino (5), 7th; Howard (17), 8th.
HAPP BLANKS PADRES FOR SWEEP
HAPP BLANKS PADRES FOR SWEEP
by Max Blue
The secret is out – it’s a trap.
Phils’ foes learn, his name’s Happ.
Seven innings of zeroes,
six straight wins by Champs’ heroes.
Philly fans smile, stand up, and clap.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009. PETCO Park. San Diego, California.
Philadelphia – 5, San Diego – 1.
WP – Happ (4-0), LP – Young (4-4).
HR – Howard (16), 1st, 1 on.
Time to talk about pitching. J.C. Romero is back. The high-strung lefty finished serving his 50-day suspension for taking banned performance-enhancing supplements and returned to the Phils’ bullpen. He relieved J. Happ in the 8th inning and gave up an unearned run on a walk, a passed ball, and a hit. Then he walked another batter with one out and got out of the inning when a screaming line-drive was snared by a diving J-roll and turned into an inning-ending double play. To say Romero was rusty would be to state the obvious.
Last night’s dominant debut performance by Antonio Bastardo was greeted by these comments from Charlie Manuel when asked if Bastardo is now in the rotation: “We need a starter. I’m not saying it’s him definitely, but I’d say it’s real close, unless something happens. I like the way he pitched. It wasn’t like his command was great. What happened was he had stuff. He was up and down, and he might just have been wild enough to be effective. He surprised me with his fastball. I didn’t realize he could throw that hard.”
Speaking of fast, today we learn that Kyle Drabek, the Phils’ number one pitching prospect (up to now that was Carlos Carrasco) pitched 7 shutout innings in his AA debut at Reading, hitting 99 mph on the gun. So what’s going on here? Phillies are cruising with a 3-game lead over the Mets in the NL East, riding a 6-game winning streak, 19-6 on the road, and showing signs of running away from the pack with overpowering performances from Raul Ibañez (19 HR, 51 RBI), and Ryan Howard (16 HR, 45 RBI) to say nothing of Chase Utley (12 HR, 36 RBI). And all the talk is that the team should go out and get another starting pitcher.
Philly media! Philly fans! Take a deep breath. Take two. Enjoy this team. Kick back and relax.
These guys are good. Better than anybody. They are the Champs. Max has been in touch with Ipolipsis, that baseball superstition god up on Mount Pocono. Here’s the word : “Enjoy these guys. They are playing baseball at the highest possible level. What can I tell you?”
BASTARDO STEPS UP
BASTARDO STEPS UP
by Max Blue
http://maxblue3.tripod.com
With Myers down, Phils call up hard-throwing southpaw.
If you stayed up late, here’s what you saw:
a young kid with serious heat,
to watch him, a south Philly treat.
Oh, and Raool hit two – yahoo and yeehaw!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009. PETCO Park, San Diego, Cailfornia.
Philadelphia – 10, San Diego – 5.
WP – Bastardo (1-0), LP – Peavy (5-6).
S – Madson (2).
HR – Gonzalez (22), 6th.
Ibañez -2 (18,19), 3rd, 1 on;7th, 1 on. Dobbs (2), 5th.
Brett Myers undergoes surgery to repair hip labrum.
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