NEWS
May 23, 2012 | By Marc Narducci, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Cole Hamels proved to be the streak stopper the Phillies needed. Hamels, whose no-hit bid was broken up with one out in the sixth inning, allowed four hits through eight innings in Wednesday's 4-1 win over the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. Hamels struck out eight and walked three while throwing 114 pitches. Jonathan Papelbon allowed a solo home run to Adam LaRoche in pitching the ninth. Hamels (7-1) ended the Phillies four-game losing streak. Their previous win was Hamels' 6-4 triumph on Friday against the Boston Red Sox. The Phillies (22-23)
SPORTS
May 23, 2012 | David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
It is the type of game the Phillies need to win, not because the opponent was the Nationals, but because the game was eminently winnable. All spring training, we heard about the nuances of the game and how a makeshift lineup would have to compensate for the absences of its two stars with some flawless play. Yet there they were, in the bottom of the third inning Monday night, with the bases loaded and their cleanup hitter at the plate, a single away from tying it up or taking the lead.
SPORTS
May 22, 2012 | By Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
The mist turned into rain, but that was not reason enough for a mass exodus Monday night from Citizens Bank Park. No, not yet. Then John Mayberry Jr. flied weakly to right, ending the sixth inning and the Phillies' failed rally in a 2-1 loss to the Washington Nationals. "Let's get out of here," one fan said to another in the ballpark's club seats. And so they left, as did many others. This brand of Phillies baseball is no more frustrating than when runners reach base and are primed to score.
SPORTS
May 21, 2012 | By Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
When Mike Aviles smacked the third pitch Cliff Lee threw Sunday, he had done something no Red Sox hitter had accomplished in 99 years. Aviles had bashed leadoff home runs on two consecutive days to ignite Boston's offensive explosions. In 1913, a man named Harry Hooper did the same thing. Upon his retirement from baseball, he campaigned for Franklin D. Roosevelt and was named postmaster of Capitola, Calif. No, it has not been that long since Lee has won a game, but it's beginning to feel like it. After a 5-1 drubbing by the Red Sox, Lee is winless through his first six starts of a season for the first time in his career.
NEWS
May 20, 2012 | By Marc Narducci, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Cole Hamels has pitched at such a high level that on a night when he allowed three earned runs, it appeared to be a subpar effort. Only by the lefthander's exceedingly high standards. Despite allowing two home runs after surrendering just three in his previous seven starts, Hamels had more than enough to keep both his and the Phillies' winning ways intact. He struck out nine and walked one as the Phillies defeated the Boston Red Sox, 6-4, Friday night at Citizens Bank Park in the beginning of interleague play.
NEWS
May 15, 2012 | By Bob Brookover, Inquirer Staff Writer
The deficit is not at all intimidating. Five and half games in the middle of May is nothing for a team that believes it is capable of an extended streak of good baseball and the Phillies, as bad as things have been, still believe they have that ability. Why shouldn't they? The core, albeit not entirely healthy, remains from the team that overcame a seven-game deficit to the New York Mets with 17 to play in 2007. Three years later, the Phillies were seven games behind the Atlanta Braves on July 22, 2010, and won the division going away.
SPORTS
May 12, 2012 | By Marc Narducci, Inquirer Staff Writer
Before Friday's opening of a three-game series with the San Diego Padres, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was asked what it would take for Carlos Ruiz to become an all-star. "If Chooch keeps hitting the way he is and catching the way he is, I think he stands a good chance of the all-star game," Manuel said. Good observation. In a season sapped by a struggling offense, Ruiz has been one of the bright spots, and he showed why once again. Ruiz went 3 for 3 with a home run and three RBIs as the Phillies defeated the Padres, 7-3, at Citizens Bank Park.
NEWS
May 12, 2012 | By Marc Narducci, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Before Friday's opening of a three-game series with the San Diego Padres, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was asked what it would take for Carlos Ruiz to become an all-star. "If Chooch keeps hitting the way he is and catching the way he is, I think he stands a good chance of the all-star game," Manuel said. Good observation. In a season sapped by a struggling offense, Ruiz has been one of the bright spots and he showed why once again. Ruiz went 3 for 3 with a home run and three RBIs as the Phillies defeated the Padres, 7-3, at Citizens Bank Park.
SPORTS
May 8, 2012 | By David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
WASHINGTON - Once upon a time, the Phillies were the team that dressed in red and white and energized its fan base by going first to third and stealing home. Sunday night, they were the team that pegged the hottest prospect in the game in the small of the back and then watched him work his way around the bases to the delight of the crowd. Even if you are not a fan of symbolism, you have to admit that the run that Bryce Harper manufactured run in the first inning of Sunday night's 9-3 win over the Nationals was a tidy summation of the budding power shift in the National League East.