Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Dead heat?

Carlos Ruiz has stepped up for the Philadelphia Phillies in the pennant race of 2012. The club is competitive this campaign without 3 of its mega stars, and some hiccups during the first third. That said, this version of the red pinstripes has an advantage for the stretch drive.

TAL'S HANDY CAPS

CAP-SIZE HINDSIGHT

Penthouse Occupancy for the 5-4 outcome: 3

In The 3rd Hunter Shoots A Souvenir Into The Right-Field Crowd

The Chrystal Champagne Toast is a salute to Hunter Pence.

He went 1 for 2 with a walk, a tater and 2 steaks. He was joined on the top floor by Juan Pierre and Jimmy Rollins.

J-Roll had his 3rd multi-knock production over the last 4 contests with his 2 for 4 afternoon. Magic Juan enjoyed a 2 for 3 day with a BB and he pilfered 2 pillows.

Greenhouse Cholley smiled in the 1st with a double steal initiated by Pierre, Pence took 2nd, and Ruiz produced an RBI groundout. In the 8th Rollins tripled, Pierre accepted a free pass before swiping 2nd, and Pence sent a sac fly to right.

The Cathouse & Mousetrap of Cole Hamels’ predictability confused Jose Reyes, preventing a theft and almost picking him off first.

The Movie House reviewed a homerun in the 4th that was a too-close-to-overturn call.

Freddy Galvis Is Ruled Out Of The Baseline In The 9th

The Outhouse was occupied in the 9th by 1B ump Doug Eddings with a questionable decision on Freddy Galvis. He claimed Galvis was out of the baseline and the blue refused a second opinion.

WELCOME, NEWCOMERS:

I will publish after every battle that is not washed out. The Phillies finished last summer 42 games over .500, which equaled a year of many positives. I will have many season-long highlights of puzzle pieces, especially important after drubbings and defeats.

Check out Philadelphia Phillies storyline: The southpaw rattler

SPECIAL REQUEST:

If you were directed here by a feed and this review does not mention yesterday’s contest, please go to my author archives or Phillies page for my most recent coverage. (Early morning readers may arrive before the latest post.) Scroll down to Tal’s Handy Links at the bottom. Thank you.

Vic Slides Head First To Avoid The Tag For A 6th-Inning Infield Single

NITECAP INSIGHT

Photo Finish:

The locals are in the cellar, trailing by 3.5 games. Other than the AL East with a spread of 3 from top to bottom, the NL East is the tightest. Also, both divisions have every franchise above .500. The Reds (3.5 games) and the Dodgers (4) have similar leads over 2nd place. Detroit is 5 back in 3rd, while Texas is ahead by 3.5. The races are on the east coast.

Magic Juan Pilfers 3rd In The 1st

The chart below reveals the strength ranking of each divisional foe in the MLB. Washington has excellent arms and adequate gloves, but runs are scarce. The Braves can put something on the scoreboard, are average in the field, but their wings are clipped this year. Miami is basically in the middle of the pack across the board, while the Mets are playing above their heads. Their ‘pen is shaky, they have a porous defense, and they have hitters who are sticks only.

TEAM	TOT ERA	SP ERA	RP ERA	AVG	RUNS	DEF	E'S
Phillies	12	06	29	05	12	05	05
Braves	20	25	16	13	06	15	14
Fish	11	08	18	19	21	16	19
Nats	01	01	09	22	26	12	11
Mets	25	11	30	11	11	26	25

J-Roll Scores In The 8th

The Nats will not have their ace in September, and probably not for most of August. Atlanta won’t be able to survive with 2 dead rotation slots, and the Fish cannot win without excelling on the bump or in the batter’s box. Even if the Phils only have their other main attractions for the final 2 months, Doc Halladay, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley will be fresh from August through October. This will be a hat-band tight scramble until Doc, Ryno and Chase experience the adrenalin rush from sprinting onto the diamond to initiate the battle.

Kentucky Joe Labors During The 2nd On May 29 In New York

PRECAP PITCH

Joe Blanton:

He has been god awful in his last 3 outings after he was excellent during April. Without the relief offering, he is 4-4 with a 4.96 ERA. His line at the Bank against Miami was: 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 run (earned), 1 base on balls, 3 K’s and 85 fired bullets. He desperately needs a solid showing, because he doesn’t want Vance Worley to go tomorrow night after 2 straight losses.

	STARTER	RECORD	TM	STARTER	RECORD	DAY & TIME
1	RHP Vance Worley	4-4, 2.92 ERA	@ Mets	LHP Jon Niese	6-3, 3.55 ERA	Tuesday, Night
2	LHP Cliff Lee	0-5, 4.13 ERA	@ Mets	RHP Chris Young	2-1, 3.30 ERA	Wednesday, Day
3	LHP Cole Hamels	10-4, 3.08 ERA	@ Mets	RHP R.A. Dickey	12-1, 2.15 ERA	Thursday, Night

Big Z Works At Home On May 28 Against Washington

Carlos Zambrano:

His act in Florida has been a rebirth but it’s a long 162 for a hot-tempered amigo. He is 2-1 with a 1.75 ERA for his 5 road efforts. He has lasted 7 total or more in 5 of 10 attempts with 1 clunker.

DELIVERY = PITCHER’S 2012	DEFINITION OF SEASON
Over The Top	Excellent
3-Quarter Sidearm	Good
Sidearm	Above Average
Short Arm	Approximately Average
Submarine	Below Average

Quality number of the pitcher: 1 – 5

Slot on his club: 1 – 5

Ranking is 1 to 5 & 15 for the less adventurous.

HURLER	Joe Blanton	Ian Kennedy
NUMBER	A Four	A Three
CLUB SLOT	Five	One
FOR 2012	Short Arm	Short Arm
'12 RANKING	4th of 5 Categories	4th of 5 Categories
LAST START	Split Finger	Sinker
LAST HIGH OR LOW	4th of 15 Categories	6th of 15 Categories

DISPLAY NOTE: Non-listed results can go up or down by

* 1 notch & ** 2 clicks (This note will only appear when it’s relevant.)

* 1 Tick DOWN

	PITCH	INN	ER - R- H		PITCH	INN	ER
1	Gyroball	9 (CG)	0 - 0 - 3	10	Screwball	6	4
2	Fastball	9 (CG)	0 - 0	11	Knuckleball	5	3
3	Cutter	9 (CG)	3	12	Forkball	0 - 4.2	Monstrosity
4	Split Finger	7	2	13	Eephus Pitch	0 - 2.2	Disaster
5	Curveball	7	3	14	*Palm Ball	Ejected
6	Sinker	6.1	3	15	*Spit Ball	**Ejected+
7	Slider	6	2		*Breaking Ball	Injured
8	Changeup	6	3		*Fosh	Rain Interrupted
9	Slurve	5	2		*Knuckle Curve	Pitch Count
	** = Suspended				* = A 2nd Pitch Also

TAL'S HANDY SERIES

The Core : Check it out.

Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Trade chips (Friday)

Philadelp hia Phillies storyline: The other Phillies (Thursday)

Philadelphia Phillies storyline: core value (Wednesday)

Philadelphia Phillies storyline: tomorrow’s guarantee (Tuesday)

(May 14 -18)

STATS APOCALYPTIC HORSEMEN COLE HAMELS
COLE'S LINE: 7 INN, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K & 99 DARTS

ACE	W - L	ERA	INN+	CONV	CG - SO	BAD	INN	ER	BB - IBB	SO
Total	34 - 23	3.48	6.1	59 of 86	2 - 2	12	582.2	225	114 -2	557
Hamels	17 - 06	3.05	6.2	21 of 31	2 - 2	03	215.1	073	050 - 2	218
Lee	06 - 09	3.16	6.1	23 of 30	0 - 0	02	211.0	074	028 - 0	207
Halladay	11 - 08	4.49	7.0	15 of 25	0 - 0	07	156.1	078	036- 0	132

MAC:

The program acronym is for Methodical Algorithmic Computerization or Mac. That is the feed system from Fox Sports that had dogged me for 2 months. I probed for a compatible solution, and found that I had possibilities 90% of the time. The rest is luck, which means that you know about half of my articles. In other words, if a Fox affiliate publishes, that trumps everything else. The balance is a flip of the coin. The breakdown at 20 submissions minus 2 unacceptable was 11 of 18 or 11 to 9 total. Some of those other 7 drew positive responses from other outlets.

TAL'S HANDY SCOREBOARD

COMPUTER ALGORITHM VS. TAL:

TAL 15 – MAC 7 (& 2)

Philadelphia Phillies storyline: The other Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies storyline: tomorrow’s guarantee

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Check out my previous publication (The Cannot-Miss Three) and the 61 storylines–so far–for 2012 on the Phillies page or my author archives, where there is an excerpt photo.

Tal’s Handy Stats is daily coverage. I am alternating the 2012 ERA For The NL East and the 2012 ERA For The MLB 5. Thank you, to all who bookmarked the Phillies page.