Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Weird to bizarre?

1 year after, this season just became more peculiar for the Philadelphia Phillies and Antonio Bastardo. Will he be dominate for the rest of this tour? Can he have 1 super month after 5 bad ones, which is the opposite of 2011? Remember, the poll for Masked September is here, if you haven’t voted yet.

TAL’S HANDY CAPS

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Check out: Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Coin-loaded GM’s

CAP-SIZE HINDSIGHT: 3-2 Triumph

TYPE	PLAYER	REASON
The Crystal Champagne Toast	Chooch Ruiz	Five-Star Performance
The Penthouse	Chase Utley Chooch Ruiz Nate Schierholtz Cole Hamels	* Hit A Sac-Fly RBI For A 1-0 Advantage In The 1st * Smacked An RBI Double To Take A 1st-Inning Lead Of 2-0 During His 3 For 4 Day * Produced An RBI Single, Increasing The 1st-Inning Score To 3-0 During His 2 For 4 Afternoon Escaped Runner-At-3rd 1-Out Jams In The 5th & The 6th Fired 7 Solid 5-Hit Innings
The Fun House Of Mirrors	Juan Pierre Chooch Ruiz	* Avoided A Hand Tag At 2nd In The 1st * Escaped A Line-Drive DP During The 1st
Rally Tal & Cap	5 Players & 3 Runs	* A BB (J-Roll), A Single (Pierre), A Sac-Fly RBI (Utley), An RBI Double (Chooch) & An RBI Hit (Schierholtz) In The 1st
The Workhouse	Home SP	* A 37-Pitch 1st Inning
The Animal House	Cole Hamels	Punched Out The 1st 3 Batters In The 1st
The Leather Warehouse	2 Starters	A Runner Gunned Down At Home By Brown (Throw) & Chooch (Plate Dive & Tag) In The 4th
The Kangaroo Court House	Cole Hamels	Had Throwing Errors In The 4th & The 6th
The Outhouse	3B Ump	Missed The Tag On The Over-Slide SB In The 6th

Above Asterisk ( *) = Corresponding Play And/Or Event

Nate Schierholtz Smacks A Walk-Off Single In The 9th

NITECAP INSIGHT

A Twilight Zone:

In 2011, Bastardo was a revelation for the first 5 months. He was compared by Fox Sports (TV) to a young Mariano Rivera. But he stumbled to mediocrity after August, which totally obliterated his confidence. His mental approach remained the same for almost an entire year. That stated, he now appears to have reversed his direction for this campaign. He had struggled until now to overcome the adversity that has plagued him through the first 125 games.

Magic Juan Steals His Way Past Maury Wills In The 3rd

The brain trust is using a two-pronged challenge to help Antonio achieve his potential. The first part is the competition factor. Jeremy Horst has been a very effective southpaw for the relief corps, and Phillippe Aumont has the best stuff. He has a 96-mph heater with movement, but his control of secondary pitches is questionable. Josh Lindblom, Mchael Schwimer, Justin De Fratus, Mike Stutes and David Herndon have shown they could earn a spot in the ‘pen. That means Bastardo could work his way out of a job.

The second method is that he has to fight his way for more mound time. In other words, he needs to show the dugout bosses he can get more than one out or face left-handed bats only. Last September, he started his downward spiral on the 3rd. He now has 7 consecutive decent outings, which started on August 24. That’s 10 days short of a year. This may be the most unusual happening for the summer, but I believe there is more strangeness ahead during the final 24 battles.

King Cole Reaches Back For A Circle Change During The 2nd On September 2 In Atlanta

PRECAP PITCH

Cole Hamels:

He is 6-3 with a 2.87 home ERA, which is 0.32 lower at the Bank. Against the Rox at both parks (1 each), his line is: 2-0, a 1.69 ERA, 16 complete, 12 hits, 3 all-earned runs, 3 walks and 14 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

Tyler Chatwood Loads Up A 4-Seam Fastball On September 3 In Atlanta

Tyler Chatwood:

He has worked 6 innings in 1 of 7 attempts with 2 clunkers. The rotation in Colorado is limited to 75 pitches per outing.

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 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

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

MASKED SEPTEMBER NUMBERS:
GB 2nd WC: 7
2ND WC Pos: 6
Elimination No: 18

NOTE: This poll will appear in every September article for you to check the current results, if it is still worthwhile.

The Original Article: Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Masked September

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