Hitting And Pitching

An article in today's Inquirer indicates the Phils' believe Cole Hamels "arm angle" was off during that fateful inning two nights ago when he surrendered three home runs. Prior to that obtuse angle Hamels had retired nine of the first ten batters he faced. OK, Rich Dubee, if you say so, but let me ask you this: Do pitchers like Cliff Lee go through innings during which their arm angle is suddenly and inexplicably off after the angle has been A OK for three innings not to mention after they've been in the major leagues for three years or more? Inquiring minds want to know.

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Jayson Werth single handedly beat Arizona last night, homering twice and providing a few fine plays in the outfield including making a fine running catch in foul territory and firing a strike to double up the runner who tried to advance to second.

Raul Ibanez also homered as the Phils won 3-2. That's it folks. Other than those guys, no one is hitting a lick and, frankly, Ibanez hadn't been all that productive either prior to last night. Shane Victorino, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard have been struggling mightily. Victorino, in particular, seems totally uncomfortable batting lead off. Placido Polanco missed Friday's game with a sore elbow and didn't look comfortable last night.

The vaunted offense hasn't been so vaunted since a week ago Friday when they beat Florida.

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Nelson Figueroa must have used a few of his nine lives last night as he stepped in as an emergency starter and pitched pretty decently with a little help from his friend in right field. Figueroa has bounced around including two stops with the Phils. Pitching in front of a host of his family and friends, he pitched five innings in homer friendly Chase Field, yielding two earned runs. The bullpen, which has been very good most of this season to date, added four scoreless innings.