The Phillies are intimidated by the Red Sox. I don't know why, but they play some of their worst ball against the Sox. Of course the Vaunteds have been playing some fairly mediocre baseball ever since they returned from their road trip a week ago but they saved some of their "best" ineptitude for the weekend series just ended, losing two out of three to Boston in convincing manner.
Maybe Beantown was due against a team from Philadelphia, but the Vaunteds sure didn't help themselves getting one hit Saturday and three runs Sunday, all of them after starter Tim Wakefield had departed late in the game.
The loss on Sunday was pinned on Roy Halladay, his second in as many starts, and was sure to start tongues wagging again about pitch counts. Truth be told, he hasn't looked sharp lately, struggling with command. For the record, he had faced Boston many times in the past, carrying a 14-14 lifetime record against them prior to today's defeat.
No one is swinging the bat well. Carlos Ruiz crashed and burned during this home stand, going 1 for 17. Jayson Werth, who carried the club for over a month, had a few good at bats sandwiched by a lot of wild swinging with one knee to the ground flailings. Pick your batter, they all looked lost or over matched. Those guys from Beantown left town wondering with justification what all the fuss was about.
Come to think of it, the Phillies vaunted offense can be a lot like Ryan Howard. He can have six rbi's in a blowout game and the season totals look pretty good. But in between those outbursts he is leaving a lot of ducks on the pond. The Phils can score big in a few games then go stone cold. In the home stand just concluded they scored 12, 1, 1, 5, 5, 0, and 3 runs respectively. That twelve certainly inflated the totals and the three at the end came in garbage time. The net result was a 3-4 home stand. That won't cut it going forward.
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