After another loss last night, the Phillies' season is mortally wounded as they are tied with the Mets at 14.5 games back of the division. A few more losses, they could find themselves in fourth place and I'm not sure I'd be shocked if the Marlins caught them eventually either. If one thing can be said for last night's game, I thought they played a decent ballgame and while he got blasted in the 5th inning, I thought Ethan Martin showed a lot of promise. Yet if there is a way to lose lately, the Phillies will find it.
John Lannan takes the mound on three days rest coming off a strong outing against the Giants on Tuesday going seven strong innings. He's been a reliable pitcher overall since coming off the DL and a bit of an unsung hero during this rather miserable stretch. He starts in place of Jonathan Pettibone who is batting arm fatigue and on the DL.
Facing him is Brandon Beachy who is making his second start since coming back from Tommy John Surgery. Don't let that 17.18 ERA fool you. He's a very good pitcher and help bolster a rotation for a hot team right now. Could be another long day for the Phillies.
Alumni weekend continues and I believe the 1983 squad gets the honors today. Injecting Gary Matthews, John Denny, and a few leftovers from the Big Red Machine who were finishing their careers, that team made a really nice run. The '83 team doesn't get spoken of too often for most of the guys on that squad we consider legends were on the '80 team. Steve Carlton won his 300th game that season as well. They were one and done in the World Series against Baltimore but a great squad worth remembering 30 years later.
Some links:
1983 Phillies Spring Training Footage
Al Holland closes out the Dodgers to clinch the '83 NLCS
Entire Game 5 of the '83 World Series (Orioles @ Phillies)
LINE UPS:
PHILLIES
Rollins 6
M. Young 3
Utley 4
D. Young 9
Ruf 3
Asche 5
Mayberry 8
Ruiz 2
Lannan 1
BRAVES
Simmons 6
J. Upton 9
Freeman 3
Gattis 2
C. Johnson 5
Uggla 4
B. Upton 8
Terdoslavish 7
Beachy 1
