GaryMrMets
06-28-2004, 02:52 PM
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/9029286.htm
Posted on Mon, Jun. 28, 2004
HOMESTAND SWEET HOMESTAND?
Reeling from 12-3 loss to Red Sox and poor road show, Phillies hope to get back on track in 14-game home stint
By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com
BOSTON - The Phillies just lost four of six on the road.
The injury excuses are mostly moot. They play 14 in a row at home.
Now is the time.
With a nod to their spring-training T-shirt message, the Phillies approach their 14-game homestand that begins tonight and leads them into the All-Star break. Coming off yesterday's 12-3, interleague loss against the Red Sox the Phils find themselves relatively healthy, and primed to test their mettle in the National League East.
"It's very big," Jim Thome said. "Any time you play that many home games, you can be at home before the break, that's big. In the clubhouse, we know how big it is."
And so...
"It'd be nice to run off seven, eight, nine wins in a row. Not get into a rut, you win one, lose one," Thome said, agreeing that this would be the perfect chance. "I think so."
Todd Pratt, a backup catcher but a front-row leader, in hushed tones at the postgame meal impressed this message upon his teammates: Get from three games over .500 to 10 games over .500 in the next 2 weeks and the National League East could be theirs.
"Then, you're in good shape. We're still the best team in the division," Pratt insisted.
They didn't look like it on the trip, dropping two games to both Montreal and Boston, and they know it.
"We have a lot of high expectations. You want to win two in Montreal," Thome said. "The one thing is to not always play catch-up. Let people play catch-up with us."
The Red Sox managed that, too.
Brett Myers, pitching against his idol, former Phillies ace Curt Schilling, got rocked for eight runs in 6 2/3 innings, the most damage done in any of his 14 starts. He blew a 3-0 lead earned by first-pitch, solo homers from Pat Burrell and David Bell in the second inning and Jimmy Rollins' double and run in the third - an inning Schilling escaped with just one run despite allowing four baserunners.
That escape and what the potent Red Sox bats did next fueled Schilling.
Myers walked the leadoff hitters in the first and second innings but the walking didn't hurt until the third, when he lost No. 9 hitter Kevin Youkalis with one out. Two singles loaded the bases and, after he masterfully struck out David Ortiz and jumped ahead of Manny Ramirez 0-2, Ramirez sliced a ground-rule double to rightfield. Nomar Garciaparra followed with another, 400 feet to center, to make it 4-3.
"I thought I made good pitches. The ball just carried," Myers said. "That's no excuse for all the runs."
It did, however, explain the surge in Schilling.
With Bobby Abreu on second, two out in the fifth and the Phillies trailing by a run, Schilling fanned Thome on a 95-mph fastball.
"He made some good pitches," allowed Thome, now 1-for-8 against Schilling. Between the breakout third and Thome's fifth-inning whiff, "That was a big lift for them. He goes from throwing 92 miles an hour to 97 by the end."
"I live for those kinds of things. That was a big situation," Schilling said.
So it was in the fifth for Myers against Ortiz. With a man on and one out Ortiz ripped the first pitch he saw just left of center, scattering TV camera jockeys atop their outfield platform for a 6-3 lead.
In contrast, Schilling then stranded runners at first and third in the sixth with a 97-mph strikeout of Jason Michaels and an earn-your-millions exhibition against Todd Pratt: 97 whiff, 97 whiff, 97 high ball, 89-mph evil split-finger on which Pratt couldn't fully check his swing, Schilling's last pitch of the game.
"I was in danger of turning that into a ballgame," Schilling said. "That's the first time all season I've been able to reach back."
"Whenever you give a guy like that a chance, he makes the most of it," Thome said.
Not so for the Phils, who left 12 runners on base and went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position, helping them fall to .231 with runners in scoring position, third worst in the league. Unlike Saturday, when the Phillies jumped on the Red Sox's four errors in a 9-2 win, they failed to capitalize on yesterday's walk and error in the seventh.
Coming into the series, the Phillies agonized over dropping two of three in Montreal, especially the Thursday loss that wasted a good start from Eric Milton.
They knew they would face Pedro Martinez, who wasted them Friday, and, yesterday, Schilling, who rallied. They knew they faced hitting stars Ramirez, who went 7-for-11 with nine RBI and five doubles in the series, and Ortiz, who was 5-for-12 with two homers, two doubles and four RBI.
The Expos, in for four games starting tonight, have no Pedro or Schill. The Orioles, in next for three games, have the worst starting pitching of any team that doesn't play in thin-aired Denver. This week, especially, matters most since the next week they face division rivals in the Mets, whose pitching has become splendid, and the Braves, who are slumping but seem always ready to equal whatever the Phillies present.
Especially when the Phils don't score runs, such as the three or fewer they scored in their four road losses. That's what eats at manager Larry Bowa.
"You've got to go out and score runs. Our offense has to be more consistent," Bowa said.
Now would be a good time.
Posted on Mon, Jun. 28, 2004
HOMESTAND SWEET HOMESTAND?
Reeling from 12-3 loss to Red Sox and poor road show, Phillies hope to get back on track in 14-game home stint
By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com
BOSTON - The Phillies just lost four of six on the road.
The injury excuses are mostly moot. They play 14 in a row at home.
Now is the time.
With a nod to their spring-training T-shirt message, the Phillies approach their 14-game homestand that begins tonight and leads them into the All-Star break. Coming off yesterday's 12-3, interleague loss against the Red Sox the Phils find themselves relatively healthy, and primed to test their mettle in the National League East.
"It's very big," Jim Thome said. "Any time you play that many home games, you can be at home before the break, that's big. In the clubhouse, we know how big it is."
And so...
"It'd be nice to run off seven, eight, nine wins in a row. Not get into a rut, you win one, lose one," Thome said, agreeing that this would be the perfect chance. "I think so."
Todd Pratt, a backup catcher but a front-row leader, in hushed tones at the postgame meal impressed this message upon his teammates: Get from three games over .500 to 10 games over .500 in the next 2 weeks and the National League East could be theirs.
"Then, you're in good shape. We're still the best team in the division," Pratt insisted.
They didn't look like it on the trip, dropping two games to both Montreal and Boston, and they know it.
"We have a lot of high expectations. You want to win two in Montreal," Thome said. "The one thing is to not always play catch-up. Let people play catch-up with us."
The Red Sox managed that, too.
Brett Myers, pitching against his idol, former Phillies ace Curt Schilling, got rocked for eight runs in 6 2/3 innings, the most damage done in any of his 14 starts. He blew a 3-0 lead earned by first-pitch, solo homers from Pat Burrell and David Bell in the second inning and Jimmy Rollins' double and run in the third - an inning Schilling escaped with just one run despite allowing four baserunners.
That escape and what the potent Red Sox bats did next fueled Schilling.
Myers walked the leadoff hitters in the first and second innings but the walking didn't hurt until the third, when he lost No. 9 hitter Kevin Youkalis with one out. Two singles loaded the bases and, after he masterfully struck out David Ortiz and jumped ahead of Manny Ramirez 0-2, Ramirez sliced a ground-rule double to rightfield. Nomar Garciaparra followed with another, 400 feet to center, to make it 4-3.
"I thought I made good pitches. The ball just carried," Myers said. "That's no excuse for all the runs."
It did, however, explain the surge in Schilling.
With Bobby Abreu on second, two out in the fifth and the Phillies trailing by a run, Schilling fanned Thome on a 95-mph fastball.
"He made some good pitches," allowed Thome, now 1-for-8 against Schilling. Between the breakout third and Thome's fifth-inning whiff, "That was a big lift for them. He goes from throwing 92 miles an hour to 97 by the end."
"I live for those kinds of things. That was a big situation," Schilling said.
So it was in the fifth for Myers against Ortiz. With a man on and one out Ortiz ripped the first pitch he saw just left of center, scattering TV camera jockeys atop their outfield platform for a 6-3 lead.
In contrast, Schilling then stranded runners at first and third in the sixth with a 97-mph strikeout of Jason Michaels and an earn-your-millions exhibition against Todd Pratt: 97 whiff, 97 whiff, 97 high ball, 89-mph evil split-finger on which Pratt couldn't fully check his swing, Schilling's last pitch of the game.
"I was in danger of turning that into a ballgame," Schilling said. "That's the first time all season I've been able to reach back."
"Whenever you give a guy like that a chance, he makes the most of it," Thome said.
Not so for the Phils, who left 12 runners on base and went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position, helping them fall to .231 with runners in scoring position, third worst in the league. Unlike Saturday, when the Phillies jumped on the Red Sox's four errors in a 9-2 win, they failed to capitalize on yesterday's walk and error in the seventh.
Coming into the series, the Phillies agonized over dropping two of three in Montreal, especially the Thursday loss that wasted a good start from Eric Milton.
They knew they would face Pedro Martinez, who wasted them Friday, and, yesterday, Schilling, who rallied. They knew they faced hitting stars Ramirez, who went 7-for-11 with nine RBI and five doubles in the series, and Ortiz, who was 5-for-12 with two homers, two doubles and four RBI.
The Expos, in for four games starting tonight, have no Pedro or Schill. The Orioles, in next for three games, have the worst starting pitching of any team that doesn't play in thin-aired Denver. This week, especially, matters most since the next week they face division rivals in the Mets, whose pitching has become splendid, and the Braves, who are slumping but seem always ready to equal whatever the Phillies present.
Especially when the Phils don't score runs, such as the three or fewer they scored in their four road losses. That's what eats at manager Larry Bowa.
"You've got to go out and score runs. Our offense has to be more consistent," Bowa said.
Now would be a good time.