A busy day in a dreadful Phillies season finds them shipping Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence out of town. Both moves were very necessary and look for more in the next month as the waiver trade deadline approaches. My brief editorial is the return for Victorino and Pence is worthy of them. I was among the few that felt the haul to land Pence in the first place was ridiculous and today kind of proves that. At the end of the day, he was not worth the prospects and certainly not worth the dollars.
It's important to take time and remember the good times with Shane Victorino. I was ready to move on from him but he had a fantastic run in Philly. From Rule 5 bust to Gold Glover, All Star, and World Series Champion. His slam of Sabathia in the '08 NLDS is one of my favorite Phillies moments. His work in the community with the Boys and Girls Club was amazing and while he got under my skin a bit this season, when all is said and done, the beer is on me if I run into him at a local watering hole.
But enough of my editorial. There's a game to be played.
The struggling Cliff Lee takes the mound against the not struggling Stephen Strasburg who's getting ever so close to the dreaded 160 innings cap. My guess is, they're a little more liberal with that down the stretch but that's for another time.
Kevin Frandsen is awarded another start at third coming off his 2/3 Sunday. John Mayberry and Jayson Nix find themselves on the ground where Victorino and Pence once stood. A flight delay scratched Domonic Brown for tonight. It's yet to be seen if he shows up in time for the game to grab a seat on the bench. Catcher Brian Schneider was also activated today.
It's been a day for the Phillies. One we haven't seen for a while. It lets a bit of air out of the tires of a match up that should be awesome between two of the best pitchers in baseball. Yet at the end of all this excitement, we still get to kick back and watch nine innings and that's never a bad thing.
Line up: Rollins 6, Pierre 7, Utley 4, Howard 3, Ruiz 2, Nix 9, Mayberry 8, Frandsen 5, Lee 1
