GaryMrMets
06-06-2004, 01:15 AM
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/8835070.htm
Posted on Fri, Jun. 04, 2004
Braves' Franco slams door shut early on Phils
By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com
ATLANTA - The losing continues. The offense lags still.
And still, somehow, it continues to not matter much.
The Phillies, lately offensively toothless and strapped for pitching, lost, 8-4, to the Braves and dropped their seventh of 10 and fourth in a row.
The Marlins still lead the National League East, but they lost last night. They are two games ahead of the Phillies and 2 ½ ahead of the Braves and Mets, who swept the Phils and beat the Fish last night to win their fourth straight.
"That doesn't surprise me," said Phillies manager Larry Bowa, bumming as his team's chances to catch and pass the Marlins go wasted. Last night's loss, the first game of a 10-game, 11-day road trip, was almost a gift, wrapped and distinctively signed.
The Phillies' starter lasted only two innings but by the time he was, mercifully, pinch-hit for, he had his, er, Josh Hancock all over this one.
Hancock, in his third big-league start, was called up from Triple A to start for Vicente Padilla, who is on the disabled list with tendinitis in his right biceps.
Padilla bludgeons Braves with their own silly hatchets: He is 5-5 with a 2.78 earned run average, his second best ERA against any National League opponent he's faced more than once.
The Phillies bullpen also was flagging with the extended absence of closer Billy Wagner.
"As long as you have pitching out," Bowa said, "you're going to have problems."
Hancock served up some hitters' Viagra: a first-inning grandpa grand slam to 45-year-old Julio Franco, now the oldest slammer ever by 2 years and 2 days over Carlton Fisk.
Franco's last slam came in 1996, when Hancock, like 10 other Phillies on last night's roster, still were playing amateur ball. Heck, Phillies rookie pitcher Elizardo Ramirez, 24 years Franco's junior, still was playing pickup ball on dirt lots with cardboard gloves in the Dominican Republic the last time Franco was hale enough to clear the bags.
Franco's slam made it 5-0 in the first inning, and Hancock allowed another in the second before he was finished.
"I wanted to get ahead of him," Hancock said of Franco.
The Mississippi native had 25 friends and family in the stands. They saw what he saw: "Bad start."
That doesn't mean Hancock won't start again in 6 days, with Padilla still on the DL. While Ramirez's youth and lack of experience past Class A counts against him, Bowa wouldn't discount his candidacy.
John Thomson, meanwhile, continued to baffle the Phillies. He followed last week's seven-inning, one-earned-run win with another, this run coming off Jim Thome's 13th homer of the season.
The Phillies continued flailing at the plate. They scored fewer than five runs for the ninth time in 10 games, in part because they went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position, the one hit Pat Burrell's RBI single off Chris Reitsma in the eighth.
That preceded Chase Utley's two-run homer, his fifth of the season, which ended a 1-for-22 slump. A harbinger for Utley?
"Hopefully," Utley said. "It's a day-to-day thing."
They have been long days for many Phils recently. Mike Lieberthal, hitless in 11 at-bats over his previous four games, also had two hits last night, and Marlon Byrd ended an 0-for-20 skid with a seventh-inning single.
Still, only Burrell's came with runners in scoring position, dropping them to 9-for-82 (.110) during the slide, .214 for the season, ahead of only the hapless Expos in the majors.
But, hey, at least they scored a little.
"Maybe it means we're due for a big explosion night offensively," Thome said.
Tonight's starter, Eric Milton, would just love that.
Hancock sure could have used it.
Posted on Fri, Jun. 04, 2004
Braves' Franco slams door shut early on Phils
By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com
ATLANTA - The losing continues. The offense lags still.
And still, somehow, it continues to not matter much.
The Phillies, lately offensively toothless and strapped for pitching, lost, 8-4, to the Braves and dropped their seventh of 10 and fourth in a row.
The Marlins still lead the National League East, but they lost last night. They are two games ahead of the Phillies and 2 ½ ahead of the Braves and Mets, who swept the Phils and beat the Fish last night to win their fourth straight.
"That doesn't surprise me," said Phillies manager Larry Bowa, bumming as his team's chances to catch and pass the Marlins go wasted. Last night's loss, the first game of a 10-game, 11-day road trip, was almost a gift, wrapped and distinctively signed.
The Phillies' starter lasted only two innings but by the time he was, mercifully, pinch-hit for, he had his, er, Josh Hancock all over this one.
Hancock, in his third big-league start, was called up from Triple A to start for Vicente Padilla, who is on the disabled list with tendinitis in his right biceps.
Padilla bludgeons Braves with their own silly hatchets: He is 5-5 with a 2.78 earned run average, his second best ERA against any National League opponent he's faced more than once.
The Phillies bullpen also was flagging with the extended absence of closer Billy Wagner.
"As long as you have pitching out," Bowa said, "you're going to have problems."
Hancock served up some hitters' Viagra: a first-inning grandpa grand slam to 45-year-old Julio Franco, now the oldest slammer ever by 2 years and 2 days over Carlton Fisk.
Franco's last slam came in 1996, when Hancock, like 10 other Phillies on last night's roster, still were playing amateur ball. Heck, Phillies rookie pitcher Elizardo Ramirez, 24 years Franco's junior, still was playing pickup ball on dirt lots with cardboard gloves in the Dominican Republic the last time Franco was hale enough to clear the bags.
Franco's slam made it 5-0 in the first inning, and Hancock allowed another in the second before he was finished.
"I wanted to get ahead of him," Hancock said of Franco.
The Mississippi native had 25 friends and family in the stands. They saw what he saw: "Bad start."
That doesn't mean Hancock won't start again in 6 days, with Padilla still on the DL. While Ramirez's youth and lack of experience past Class A counts against him, Bowa wouldn't discount his candidacy.
John Thomson, meanwhile, continued to baffle the Phillies. He followed last week's seven-inning, one-earned-run win with another, this run coming off Jim Thome's 13th homer of the season.
The Phillies continued flailing at the plate. They scored fewer than five runs for the ninth time in 10 games, in part because they went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position, the one hit Pat Burrell's RBI single off Chris Reitsma in the eighth.
That preceded Chase Utley's two-run homer, his fifth of the season, which ended a 1-for-22 slump. A harbinger for Utley?
"Hopefully," Utley said. "It's a day-to-day thing."
They have been long days for many Phils recently. Mike Lieberthal, hitless in 11 at-bats over his previous four games, also had two hits last night, and Marlon Byrd ended an 0-for-20 skid with a seventh-inning single.
Still, only Burrell's came with runners in scoring position, dropping them to 9-for-82 (.110) during the slide, .214 for the season, ahead of only the hapless Expos in the majors.
But, hey, at least they scored a little.
"Maybe it means we're due for a big explosion night offensively," Thome said.
Tonight's starter, Eric Milton, would just love that.
Hancock sure could have used it.