Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Trading places

Domonic Brown had half of the hits for the Philadelphia Phillies last night during his one-man show. How have the prior local fixtures done on the west coast?

TAL’S HANDY CAPS

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Check out: Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Lockdown credentials

CAP-SIZE HINDSIGHT: 3-2 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

Above Asterisk ( *) = Corresponding Plays & Events

Dom Brown Crosses The Plate In The 5th After His 1st HR

NITECAP INSIGHT

After The Deadline:

The red pinstripes could not stay near .500 until their 3 stars could return to mid-season form. That meant it was time for decisions that were geared toward 2013 and its financial commitments. Cole Hamels was the obvious choice to be re-signed, while Shane Victorino, Hunter Pence and Joe Blanton were not in the monetary framework. Kentucky Joe had a ready replacement in Kyle Kendrick at around half the cost. Hunter and Vic became expendable with their struggles and expensive price tags.

Joe, Vic & Hunter Were Wondering Who These Clowns Were At Batting Practice Yesterday

Usually when a regular goes from an also-ran to a contender, they react the way Pence did last season. However, these players did not want to be swapped, because they had a desirable comfort level. The numbers indicate that the 3 dealt veterans have experienced difficulty in their new homes, and the acquired MLB-level talent hasn’t blossomed here either. In fact, the 1 stick that has benefited the most is Brown, who is now featured daily on the lineup card. Also, he has 1 of the outfield jobs for next April already.

New Uniform Stats:

PLAYER	AVG.	HR	RBI	BB - IBB	SB - CS
Hunter Pence	.219	7	45	19 - 1	01 - 0
Shane Victorino	.245	2	15	18 - 0	15 - 2
Nate Schierholtz	.251	1	05	05 - 0	00 - 0
Dom Brown	.235	5	26	21 - 2	00 - 0

The Vanimal Deliberately Lets The Bunt Pop Drop In The 6th

Last night’s performance by Dom in right showed a powerful and accurate arm. Plus, he looked more comfortable in right after a handful of games there. Remember, he was almost exclusively in left at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. At the plate he wasn’t just smacking balls to the opposite field after making adjustments on inside pitches. Kendrick fills Blanton’s slot, while Brown replaces Pence in right field. That leaves third base and center without increasing payroll. The only untouchable prospect is starting to make a genius of Rube Amaro.

New Uniform Stats:

PITCHER	W - L	ERA	INN - H	R - ER	BB - IBB -S0
Joe Blanton	2 - 4	4.99	57.2 - 66	32 - 32	16 - 3 - 51
Josh Lindblom	1 - 3	4.63	23.1 - 19	15 - 12	17 - 2 - 27

King Cole Fires A Bullet On August 18 In Milwaukee

PRECAP PITCH

Cole Hamels:

He is 3-1 with a 1.38 August ERA for his last 4 outings, working at least 7 complete in every appearance. His line for those battles is: 32.2 innings, 27 hits, 6 runs (5 earned), 3 walks and 30 punch outs.

	STARTER	RECORD	TM	STARTER	RECORD	DAY & TIME
3	LHP Cliff Lee	06-08, 3.12 ERA	@ Nats	RHP Edwin Jackson	09-11, 4.13 ERA	Wednesday, Day

Johnny Cueto Delivers His Pitch At Home On August 18 Against The Cubs

Johnny Cueto:

He has toiled 6.1 frames or more in 18 of 25 showings with 3 clunkers. His 4-effort August mark is: 3-1, a 2.67 ERA, 30.1 innings, 20 hits, 9 all-earned runs, 3 BB and 29 K’s.

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

Starters’ photos, not described otherwise, are in the 1st inning.

Quality number of the pitcher: 1 – 5

Slot on his club: 1 – 5

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

*** = Approximately equal to after plus-and-minus computation

HURLER	Cole Hamels	Nate Eovaldi
NUMBER	A One	A Five
CLUB SLOT	Two	Four
FOR 2012	3-Quarter Sidearm	Short Arm
'12 RANKING	2nd of 5 Categories	4th of 5 Categories
LAST START	Knuckleball	Slider
LAST HIGH OR LOW	11th of 15 Categories	7th of 15 Categories

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

1 or 2 categories (This note will only appear when it’s relevant.)

* 1 Tick UP

	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

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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 my page.