GaryMrMets
05-31-2006, 12:47 PM
http://philadelphia.comcastsportsnet.com/view_content_1p_box.asp?ID=31398
Myers Pitches Phillies to Third Straight Win
by John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com
During his quick ascent through the minors after being selected with the 12th overall pick of the 1999 draft, the Phillies held firm to the idea that Brett Myers was going to be Cy Young Award-caliber ace of the staff. With a hard-riding fastball and a curve that buckled the knees of the opposition, Myers definitely had the stuff, it was just a matter of filling in the details.
Now, after his ninth straight quality start in a sometimes-dominating 4-2 victory over the Washington Nationals at the Bank on Tuesday night, it appears as if Myers is finally starting to put it together. So is it finally fair to say that Myers is the Phillies’ ace?
“I’d say right now he is, yes,” manager Charlie Manuel offered. “He’s the one guy one our on our staff who has big stuff.
”How about it Brett? Ready to be the ace?
“I always say that every five days the pitcher that goes out there is the ace,” Myers offered.
But Myers certainly had an ace-like outing on Tuesday night where he allowed just three hits with two walks and six strikeouts in eight innings. During one stretch, the big righthander retired 13 hitters in a row and 17 of 18 by using that heater and curve with his newly polished cutter. Manuel says Myers would have started the ninth if hadn’t allowed that two-run homer to former teammate Marlon Byrd with one out in the eighth.
Instead, after 116 pitches – in which 74 where thrown for strikes – Manuel turned things over to Tom Gordon, who faced four hitters in the ninth to notch his 15th save.
“I wanted him to finish that game. It would have been good for him,” Manuel mused afterwards. “He pitched good and I wanted him to get a win.”
Despite the strong outings victories have been tough to come by for Myers. At just 4-2, the four-year veteran has five no-decisions even though he averages nearly seven innings per start with a 2.80 ERA, which is just a tick behind future Hall-of-Famer Pedro Martinez for seventh best in league. But once Myers got a lead thanks to a nice play at the plate by Mike Lieberthal to cut down Nick Johnson trying to score from second base in the second, as well as a three-run home run with no outs in the fourth from Bobby Abreu, the Phils’ “ace” was determined to nail it down.
“I thought I pitched pretty good except for that at-bat with Byrd,” Myers explained. “After Bobby Abreu hit the home run I thought I had to go out and get as many zeroes as possible.
“I thought I had nine innings in me. That one mistake cost me a complete game.”
That certainly was the case though it did not mar a nice evening for the Phillies. With three straight wins in the bag after dropping a pair of heartbreakers to the Milwaukee Brewers to start the six-game homestand, as well as a stretch where they dropped nine of 11, the Phillies (27-24) crept to within four games of the front running New York Mets in the NL East.
Better yet, the Phillies can sew up a winning homestand by finishing the sweep over the Nationals on Wednesday afternoon before jetting off to Los Angeles to kick-off the longest road trip of the season – an 11-gamer that take the club through L.A., Arizona and Washington.
The 11-game trip will be difficult enough, but add in the fact that starters Cole Hamels and Jon Lieber are on the 15-day disabled list and might not take any trips to the mound during the west coast to D.C. swing and the Phillies really needed the effort from Myers. In a show of growth that wasn’t too evident in the past, Myers is beginning to realize how important he is to the club.
“He’s come a long way as far as composure goes over the past few years,” said Manuel, who also noted that the big righthander still gets “jawy” out on the mound when things don’t go his way. “He's matured, he has more self-confidence, [and] he's come a long ways.”
His teammates notice the personal growth, too. Lieberthal alludes that the maturity might come from the improved performances on the mound, something he credits to the pitcher’s better command of his pitches and improved pitching mechanics.
Manuel sees the same thing, too, yet in a act of subtle defiance, Myers disagrees. He says he is no more mature now than he ever was and that the same things that bothered him when he was coming up as a Major Leaguer still drive him nuts.
In fact, Myers says he’s still the same guy and he doesn’t expect to ever change.
“I was always told when coming up in the minors not to show emotion, but [things that go wrong] still [tick] me off,” Myers said. “If a guy hits a home run off me, I try to throw the next pitch 100 m.p.h.
“The difference between 91 m.p.h. and 94 is a pop up.”
Still, Myers contradicts himself when he tells reporters that he is a totally different pitcher this season than from the last two years because he has a better grasp of pitching mechanics. He also admits that he is more mentally tough and he no longer tries to overpower hitters when his best pitches have deserted him.
Other than that, he’s the same guy and it seems to be working out for the Phillies.
The Phillies finish the homestand on Wednesday afternoon when Cory Lidle (4-4, 4.92) squares up against Nationals’ workhorse Livan Hernandez (3-5, 5.35). Lidle heads into the matinee riding a stretch of three straight games of working at least six innings following his two-inning, 13-4 bashing against the Mets.
During his career against the Nationals/Expos, Lidle is 6-1 with a 2.97 ERA in 11 games.
Hernandez heads into the series finale riding a two-game winning streak after dropping four straight decisions. In 11 career starts in Philadelphia, Hernandez is 3-3 with a 4.05 ERA and has been roughed up for five homers in 26 innings at the Bank.
Notes
Jimmy Rollins went 1-for-4 and is 6-for-14 since moving back into the leadoff spot three games ago. … Ryan Howard’s RBI streak was snapped at nine games, while Abreu’s walk streak was broken up at 12 games. … Reliever Brian Sanches joined the team after being called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when Lieber went on the disabled list Monday night. Still, the Phillies will make another roster move before Saturday’s game when Eude Brito is called up to start the game against the Dodgers.
After missing the last 22 games with a small fracture of a bone near his knee, catcher Mike Lieberthal returned to action on Tuesday night and faced a test almost immediately. With one out in the second inning, Nats’ first baseman Nick Johnson tried to score from first on a single to right by Marlon Anderson. Thanks to a solid, one-hop throw from Bobby Abreu, Lieberthal was able block the plate from Johnson, whose hook slide caused him to miss the plate before Lieberthal slapped the tag on him.
“I saw Nick Johnson coming around second and I thought it was going to be a close play. I wanted to stay back and then hold my ground,” Lieberthal explained. “I missed the tag and then tried to sell it. The ump didn’t call anything so I knew he missed the plate.”In three plate appearances, Lieberthal went 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch – that’s what caused his injury in the first place. However, things went much smoother behind the plate where Lieberthal had an easy time flashing signs and catching for Brett Myers in the 4-2 victory over the Nationals.
“He had great command and a great curveball,” Lieberthal said about Myers. “It’s nice to catch that in my first game back.”
With Wednesday’s game set for 1:05 p.m., Lieberthal will likely take another day off, but he is expected to be behind the dish on Thursday night in his hometown of Los Angeles, where the two-time All-Star has always played well. In 35 games at Dodger Stadium, Lieberthal has eight homers, 19 extra-base hits and a .348 batting average. Three of those homers came in one game during the 2002 season.
-- John R. Finger
http://philadelphia.comcastsportsnet.com/images/content/phillies/053006-myers.jpg
Brett Myers tossed his ninth straight quality start and picked up his fourth win on Tuesday night. (AP)
Myers Pitches Phillies to Third Straight Win
by John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com
During his quick ascent through the minors after being selected with the 12th overall pick of the 1999 draft, the Phillies held firm to the idea that Brett Myers was going to be Cy Young Award-caliber ace of the staff. With a hard-riding fastball and a curve that buckled the knees of the opposition, Myers definitely had the stuff, it was just a matter of filling in the details.
Now, after his ninth straight quality start in a sometimes-dominating 4-2 victory over the Washington Nationals at the Bank on Tuesday night, it appears as if Myers is finally starting to put it together. So is it finally fair to say that Myers is the Phillies’ ace?
“I’d say right now he is, yes,” manager Charlie Manuel offered. “He’s the one guy one our on our staff who has big stuff.
”How about it Brett? Ready to be the ace?
“I always say that every five days the pitcher that goes out there is the ace,” Myers offered.
But Myers certainly had an ace-like outing on Tuesday night where he allowed just three hits with two walks and six strikeouts in eight innings. During one stretch, the big righthander retired 13 hitters in a row and 17 of 18 by using that heater and curve with his newly polished cutter. Manuel says Myers would have started the ninth if hadn’t allowed that two-run homer to former teammate Marlon Byrd with one out in the eighth.
Instead, after 116 pitches – in which 74 where thrown for strikes – Manuel turned things over to Tom Gordon, who faced four hitters in the ninth to notch his 15th save.
“I wanted him to finish that game. It would have been good for him,” Manuel mused afterwards. “He pitched good and I wanted him to get a win.”
Despite the strong outings victories have been tough to come by for Myers. At just 4-2, the four-year veteran has five no-decisions even though he averages nearly seven innings per start with a 2.80 ERA, which is just a tick behind future Hall-of-Famer Pedro Martinez for seventh best in league. But once Myers got a lead thanks to a nice play at the plate by Mike Lieberthal to cut down Nick Johnson trying to score from second base in the second, as well as a three-run home run with no outs in the fourth from Bobby Abreu, the Phils’ “ace” was determined to nail it down.
“I thought I pitched pretty good except for that at-bat with Byrd,” Myers explained. “After Bobby Abreu hit the home run I thought I had to go out and get as many zeroes as possible.
“I thought I had nine innings in me. That one mistake cost me a complete game.”
That certainly was the case though it did not mar a nice evening for the Phillies. With three straight wins in the bag after dropping a pair of heartbreakers to the Milwaukee Brewers to start the six-game homestand, as well as a stretch where they dropped nine of 11, the Phillies (27-24) crept to within four games of the front running New York Mets in the NL East.
Better yet, the Phillies can sew up a winning homestand by finishing the sweep over the Nationals on Wednesday afternoon before jetting off to Los Angeles to kick-off the longest road trip of the season – an 11-gamer that take the club through L.A., Arizona and Washington.
The 11-game trip will be difficult enough, but add in the fact that starters Cole Hamels and Jon Lieber are on the 15-day disabled list and might not take any trips to the mound during the west coast to D.C. swing and the Phillies really needed the effort from Myers. In a show of growth that wasn’t too evident in the past, Myers is beginning to realize how important he is to the club.
“He’s come a long way as far as composure goes over the past few years,” said Manuel, who also noted that the big righthander still gets “jawy” out on the mound when things don’t go his way. “He's matured, he has more self-confidence, [and] he's come a long ways.”
His teammates notice the personal growth, too. Lieberthal alludes that the maturity might come from the improved performances on the mound, something he credits to the pitcher’s better command of his pitches and improved pitching mechanics.
Manuel sees the same thing, too, yet in a act of subtle defiance, Myers disagrees. He says he is no more mature now than he ever was and that the same things that bothered him when he was coming up as a Major Leaguer still drive him nuts.
In fact, Myers says he’s still the same guy and he doesn’t expect to ever change.
“I was always told when coming up in the minors not to show emotion, but [things that go wrong] still [tick] me off,” Myers said. “If a guy hits a home run off me, I try to throw the next pitch 100 m.p.h.
“The difference between 91 m.p.h. and 94 is a pop up.”
Still, Myers contradicts himself when he tells reporters that he is a totally different pitcher this season than from the last two years because he has a better grasp of pitching mechanics. He also admits that he is more mentally tough and he no longer tries to overpower hitters when his best pitches have deserted him.
Other than that, he’s the same guy and it seems to be working out for the Phillies.
The Phillies finish the homestand on Wednesday afternoon when Cory Lidle (4-4, 4.92) squares up against Nationals’ workhorse Livan Hernandez (3-5, 5.35). Lidle heads into the matinee riding a stretch of three straight games of working at least six innings following his two-inning, 13-4 bashing against the Mets.
During his career against the Nationals/Expos, Lidle is 6-1 with a 2.97 ERA in 11 games.
Hernandez heads into the series finale riding a two-game winning streak after dropping four straight decisions. In 11 career starts in Philadelphia, Hernandez is 3-3 with a 4.05 ERA and has been roughed up for five homers in 26 innings at the Bank.
Notes
Jimmy Rollins went 1-for-4 and is 6-for-14 since moving back into the leadoff spot three games ago. … Ryan Howard’s RBI streak was snapped at nine games, while Abreu’s walk streak was broken up at 12 games. … Reliever Brian Sanches joined the team after being called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when Lieber went on the disabled list Monday night. Still, the Phillies will make another roster move before Saturday’s game when Eude Brito is called up to start the game against the Dodgers.
After missing the last 22 games with a small fracture of a bone near his knee, catcher Mike Lieberthal returned to action on Tuesday night and faced a test almost immediately. With one out in the second inning, Nats’ first baseman Nick Johnson tried to score from first on a single to right by Marlon Anderson. Thanks to a solid, one-hop throw from Bobby Abreu, Lieberthal was able block the plate from Johnson, whose hook slide caused him to miss the plate before Lieberthal slapped the tag on him.
“I saw Nick Johnson coming around second and I thought it was going to be a close play. I wanted to stay back and then hold my ground,” Lieberthal explained. “I missed the tag and then tried to sell it. The ump didn’t call anything so I knew he missed the plate.”In three plate appearances, Lieberthal went 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch – that’s what caused his injury in the first place. However, things went much smoother behind the plate where Lieberthal had an easy time flashing signs and catching for Brett Myers in the 4-2 victory over the Nationals.
“He had great command and a great curveball,” Lieberthal said about Myers. “It’s nice to catch that in my first game back.”
With Wednesday’s game set for 1:05 p.m., Lieberthal will likely take another day off, but he is expected to be behind the dish on Thursday night in his hometown of Los Angeles, where the two-time All-Star has always played well. In 35 games at Dodger Stadium, Lieberthal has eight homers, 19 extra-base hits and a .348 batting average. Three of those homers came in one game during the 2002 season.
-- John R. Finger
http://philadelphia.comcastsportsnet.com/images/content/phillies/053006-myers.jpg
Brett Myers tossed his ninth straight quality start and picked up his fourth win on Tuesday night. (AP)