25 numbers to ponder as Phillies start second half

July 14, 2011|by Bob Vetrone Jr
  • In five June starts, Cliff Lee pitched a perfect 5-0 with a major league-best 0.21 earned run average. (Ron Cortes/Staff Photographer)

Baseball and numbers go together like baseball and hot dogs or baseball and beer ... So, while we step out for lunch and a libation, you can feast upon these 25 numbers that represent what we have seen - and may see - from the 2011 Phillies:

0: Games played against the defending National League champion San Francisco Giants, the only team on their 2011 slate the Phils' have yet to face. They will finally do so on July 26, which will be exactly 1,000 days since they won the 2008 World Series.

0.21: Cliff Lee's ERA during the month of June.

Story continues below.

1: Number of hits Antonio Bastardo has allowed to the last 53 batters he has faced (6 BB, 1 sacrifice, 46 AB, .022).

1: Ryan Howard's rank (tied with Milwaukee's Prince Fielder) among all National League players in runs batted in (72) this season.

2-1: Phillies' record in each of their last six series. All told, they have won two out of three in 14 different series all season.

3: Home runs needed by Ryan Howard to reach 274 ... and be exactly halfway to Mike Schmidt's career club record of 548.

4: Games over .500 the Phillies are on the road (23-19), which could be significant since they play 39 of their final 71 games on the road, including 20 of the 30 contests they have scheduled after Aug. 28.

5: Number of different positions (SS, CF, 2B, LF, 3B) that Michael Martinez has started games at since May 26. Fitting since he came to the Phils as a Rule 5 selection.

9: Number of pitches Juan Perez threw from the pitcher's mound to strike out the side in the 10th inning against the Braves on July 8.

10: Number of pitches Cliff Lee saw in the batter's box in his third-inning at-bat the next day, launching the 10th into the stands into centerfield for his first career home run.

10: Consecutive wins by the Phillies in games Roy Halladay starts.

14: Different pitchers that have been a part of at least one of the 13 shutouts registered by the staff.

34: Number of games started by pitchers not named Halladay, Lee or Hamels. Phillies are 17-17 in those games.

45: Number of wins Charlie Manuel (601-462) needs to pass Gene Mauch (645-684) to become the club's winningest manager. (He needs 223 losses to pass Mauch to become the club's losingest manager.)

45-24: Phillies record needed in final 71 games to set the club mark for wins in a season (102) and push Manuel past Mauch (on the same day!).

46: Games played by the Phillies before Chase Utley made an appearance after injuring his knee early in spring training.

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