Philadelphia Phillies storyline: The deadline

An array of decisions face Cliff Lee and the regulars for the Philadelphia Phillies during these first 6 games. Will they get a second line in the sand after them?

TAL’S HANDY CAPS

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Check out: Philadelphia Phillies storyline: What is the cure?

CAP-SIZE HINDSIGHT: 6-2 Outcome

TYPE	PLAYER	REASON
The Crystal Champagne Toast	Chase Utley	Four-Star Performance
The Penthouse	Pete Orr Chase Utley Dom Brown Chooch Ruiz	* Smoked A 2-RBI Gap Double To Close Within 1 Run In The 2nd During His 1 For 2 Game Stroked A 2-Run Single To Tie It Up At 4 In The 5th During His 2 For 4 Night With A SB, A BB & 3 RBI A 2-Out RBI Triple To Take A 5-4 Advantage In The 5th Smacked A 2-Run Double To Open A 7-4 Lead In The 7th During His 2 For 5 Evening
The Workhouse	Home SP	* A 39-Pitch 2nd Inning
The Leather Warehouse	1B Darin Ruf	Made A Spectacular Over-The-Shoulder Catch Of A Foul In The 5th
The Fun House Of Mirrors	Home RF The Defense	Takes 1st On A SO WP & 2nd After A Throw (E2) To The Bag In The 8th A SO WP With The Bags Full & A DP Tag At The Plate To End The 8th
House Call	Ryan Howard Tyler Cloyd	Season-Ending Big Toe Injury Shut Down With A Dead Arm

J-Roll Doubles In A 3rd-Inning Run

NITECAP INSIGHT

This Is It:

With the exception of 3 stars, the other main cogs have had a soul-searching vacation. The time to re-energize their heart and drive for a refocused 2.5 months has ended. 2012 boils down to these first 2 series after the break. If the downward trend continues, tomorrow is 2013. The course has to be reversed without a single delay.

Cinco Ocho & Chooch Close Out The All-Star Game On July 10 In Kansas City

The latest odyssey from Lee went completely unnoticed. The team has only 1 win in their last 12 and that belongs to Cliff on Independence Day, which was certainly a freeing experience for him. In this summer of the absurd, he was only victorious when everybody else lost. The 1st battle has been completed, and the Phils have been setback for a continuation of their misery.

The red pinstripes have a daunting task, which would be the highest mountain Cholley Manuel has encountered. There are 5 clubs within 2.5 games of each other for the 2 wild cards, while the locals are 11 out to play serious October baseball. They have to reel off 14 consecutive victories for .500 or 14 more than any defeats before reappraising their chances. Naturally, the 2nd half began on Friday the 13th. And, again, the organizations they face have struggled recently, like they have. In their last 20 decisions before last night, the Phils (6-14), the Rox (8-12) and the Dodgers (5-15) haven’t wowed anyone.

Chooch At His 1st All-Star Game On July 10 In Kansas City

The hometown 9 find themselves in Denver, where Colorado is 18 games under the brake-even mark. The Rockies have the best pitching in the MLB to hit against. In the majors they rank at or near the bottom. Their entire staff (30th), starters (30th) and relief corps (21st) should be a cure for the offense to overcome any ‘pen shortcomings. Vance Worley, Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon should be able to limit their sticks. The only area the Rox excel in is hitting (6th), which means the 8th inning is key to every outcome.

These next 5 contests will determine what the Front Office does or does not do. The hours to reflect on their year were during the 4-day hiatus. With Doc Halladay’s return to the rotation, Kyle Kendrick will find himself in a late-frame role, which is a plugging-a-hole situation. After Kendrick backs up Doc’s first 1 or 2 outings, he will audition for the 8th-inning position. I am nervously curious to see when Antonio Bastardo toes the rubber. Will they begin retooling? Will they wait out a third series? Will they scout out potential relievers on the market?

The Vanimal Fires A First-Inning Bullet At The Bank On July 8 Against The Braves

PRECAP PITCH

Vance Worley:

He is splitting up the southpaw aces to reset the 5-man unit. And he begins the 2nd half after working 7 frames in 4 of 14 efforts, including 3 clunkers. Against Colorado at the Bank in late June, his ledger read: 7 complete, 4 hits, 2 both-earned runs, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts on 108 darts.

	STARTER	RECORD	TM	STARTER	RECORD	DAY & TIME
1	LHP Cliff Lee	1-6, 3.72 ERA	@ Nats	RHP Stephen Strasburg	11-4, 2.76 ERA	Tuesday, Night
2	RHP Vance Worley	5-6, 3.88 ERA	@ Nats	RHP Edwin Jackson	6-6, 3.52 ERA	Wednesday, Night
3	LHP Cole Hamels	11-5, 3.31 ERA	@ Nats	LHP Ross Detwiler	5-4, 3.24 ERA	Thursday, Night

Jeremy Guthrie Loads Up On July 8 In Washington

Jeremy Guthrie:

He has gone from the opening-day assignment to the bullpen long arm, and now he is one of their starters. He has lasted 7 innings in 4 of 13 attempts with 6 monstrosities. He has fired 84 and 83 bullets respectively in his 2 July appearances of 6 frames each, which must mean he could go a full 6, depending on his pitch count after 5 total.

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	B.J. Rosenberg	Gio Gonzalez
NUMBER	A Five	A Two
CLUB SLOT	Five	One
FOR 2012	1st Start	Over The Top
'12 RANKING	-- of 5 Categories	1st of 5 Categories
LAST START	1st Start	Changeup
LAST HIGH OR LOW	-- of 15 Categories	8th of 15 Categories

	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

STATS APOCALYPTIC HORSEMEN CLIFF LEE
CLIFF'S LINE: 6 INN, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K & 109 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

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