The Phils cut loose from the throes of a 7 game losing streak, getting 2 first inning runs on a two-run homer from leftfielder David Dellucci (5 HRs, .311 BA) as starter Ryan Madison (8-5) breezed through 8 2/3 scoreless innings as the Phils shut out the Baltimore Orioles 4-0.

Madison was masterful in holding the Orioles to but 5 hits in what was easily his best performance of the season, perhaps of his career in scoring his 1st Major League shutout.   And Dellucci hit his 2nd homer in two games.

Losing pitcher Rodrigo Lopez (5-9) pitched well for 7 2/3 innings giving up the 2 runs in the 1st inning and the Phils late game insurance runs, 1 run in each of the 7th and 8th innings.  Tom Gordon (2-3, 1.93 ERA, S21) was credited with a save as he spelled Madison after the Orioles posed a threat after a walk and a base hit with 2 outs in the 9th.    

For the full recap, play-by-play and box scores on Thursday’s game, click here.

The Phils travel to Toronto to play 3 against the Blues today through Sunday.  New face, Adam Bernero starts for the Phils against Casey Janssen (5-6) for Toronto.

For the scores, recaps and box scores of all of today’s games, click here.

The Phillies and Baltimore Orioles played a Day/Dight Twin Bill in Baltimore on Wednesday, the first game being a makeup of Tuesday’s rain postponement.  The results were what has become predictable to the Phils of late, a doubleheader sweep — for the other team.

In game 1, Baltimore got off to a 7-0 lead touching up rookie lefthander  Cole Hamels (1-4) for all of their runs over 5 innings as Orioles lefthander  Erik Bedard (8-6) breezed through 7 shutout innings gaining credit for the win. 

Baltimore scored 1 run in the 2nd inning, 3 runs in the 3rd featuring a 2 run homer by catcher Ramon Hernandez (14 HRs, 56 RBIs, .287 BA), 2 runs in the 4th on a 2 run shot by 2nd baseman and leadoff hitter Brian Roberts (1 HR, .314 BA) and 1 run in the 5th off of losing pitcher Hamels. 

In the 8th inning, the Phils tried to rally scoring 4 runs on Pat Burrell’s (19 HRs, 54 RBIs) 2 run homer and Shane Victorino’s (4 HRs, .308 BA) 2 run shot off of Oriole reliever Kurt Birkins (2-0, 2.78 ERA), but it fell 3 runs short.  The homers were the first off of Birkins in 2006.  The Phils bullpen shut down the Orioles over the final 3 innings as the final score was 7-4 Orioles.

In the 2nd game, the Orioles jumped on the other Phils rookie starting and losing pitcher Scott Mathieson (0-3) for 5 runs in the first 2 2/3 innings of the game and another 4 runs featuring a 3 run homer in the 4th inning for Ramon Hernandez (15 HRs, 59 RBIs, .287 BA), his 2nd homer of the doubleheader and carried a 9-3 lead after 4 innings.  

The Phils opened by stringing 2 hits into a run in the 1st inning.  Baltimore countered with 1 in their half of the 1st.  Baltimore followed with 1 in the 2nd and 3 in the 3rd inning.  2nd baseman Chase Utley (15 HRs, 45 RBIs, .291 BA)  and 1st baseman Ryan Howard (27 HRs, 68 RBIs, .286 BA) solo homered in the 4th off of Oriole starter and winning pitcher Kris Benson (9-5).

In the 6th inning, leftfielder David Dellucci (4 HRs, .302 BA) solo homered off of Benson, but the Orioles came back in their 6th inning to score 3 to make the score 12-4.  The Phils bullpen came on to shut down the Orioles the rest of the way and Ryan Howard hit his 2nd homer of the game in the 8th inning ending the scoring in the 12-5 Orioles win.

For the full recap, play-by-play and box scores on both games, click here and here.

Today, Phils starter Ryan Madison (7-5) tries to end the losing streak when he goes against Rodrigo Lopez (5-8) for the Orioles in the rubber game of the series.

For the scores, recaps and box scores of all of today’s games in both leagues, click here.

In 1958 and 1959, the Phils and the Cincinnati Reds tangled in a couple of the wilder games in baseball history.  They were not slugfests like some of the  memorable Phils, Chicago Cubs high-scoring games and didn’t have the stakes involved as in the unforgettable Mitch Williams game with the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1993 World Series, but these two games with the Reds have stuck in mind for nearly 50 years.  In the 2 games, there were only 3 homeruns. 

 On June 1, 1958 in Philadelphia, Phillies rookie righthander Ray Semproch started against Brooks Lawrence for Cincinnati.

Some of the memorable names playing for both teams were: for Cincinnati; 2nd baseman Johnny Temple, shortstop Roy McMillan, Jerry Lynch, pitchers Don Newcombe and Joe Nuxhall who pitched in 3 decades and 3rd baseman  Don Hoak who would later play 3rd on the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates who beat the Yankees in dramatic style in the 7th game of the World Series on Bill Mazeroski’s leadoff, walk-off game winning homer.  Pete “Charlie Hustle” Rose’s career had not yet begun until 1963.

The Phils had their memorable names as well; all-time great centerfield er Ritchie Ashburn, 3rd baseman Willie “puddin’ head” Jones, Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts and more.

The box score for the June 1, 1958 game shows that the Reds jumped on Phils rookie starter Ray Semproch and ran out to 5-1 and 10-3 leads only to see the Phils catch up but eventually lose in the 10th inning by a 12-11 margin.  The box score can be found here.

The box score for the August 3, 1959 where the Phils clobbered Don Newcome and ran out to 8-0 and 11-3 leads only to see these leads evaporate as Cincinnati chipped away at the lead jumping on Phils starter lanky 6′ 8″ Gene Conley as well as the porous Philly bullpen and eventually defeated the Phils by a 15-13 score.  This box score can be found here.

The Phillies and Baltimore were rained out of Tuesday’s series opener and thus, will play a double header today.

In today’s opener game in Baltimore, Phils rookie lefthander Cole Hamels (1-3) once again tries for his 2nd win vs Orioles lefthander Erik Bedard (7-6).  Fellow rookie, righthander Scott Mathieson (0-1) goes for the Phils in the nightcap vs Kris Benson (8-5) for the Orioles.

For the scores, recaps and box scores of all of today’s games in both leagues, click here.

The Phils gather themselves up, after a demoralizing series sweep by the BoSox on another walk-off by David Ortiz, this time a game-winning base hit. The Phils now head for Baltimore a 3 game series with the AL East 5th place Orioles through Thursday.

In Monday’s game, it was Boston who blew a big lead, but the end result was the same — a Phillies loss, as Tim Wakefield (5-8) and Cory Lidle (4-6) carried on a scoreless pitching duel for 5 innings before the roof caved in on Lidle in the 6th and on Wakefield in the 7th.

The Sox went out to a 6-0 lead in the 6th inning as 6 Sox players drove in 1 run each only to see the Phils come back with 5 of their own in the top of the 7th featuring a bases-clearing 3 run triple by shortstop Jimmy Rollins (9 HRs, 29 RBIs) who had a 3 for 6, 4 RBI game.  In the top of the 9th, Chase Utley (14 HRs, 44 RBIs, .285 BA) solo homered to rightfield off of Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon (2-1, .46 ERA, S22) to tie the game at 7.  It was the first homer given up by Papelbon this season.

In the Phils 12th inning, Rollins put the Phils up 7-6 with an RBI double, but the lead was short-lived. In Boston’s 12th inning, 1st baseman Kevin Youkilis (9 HRs, 37 RBIs, .315 BA) singled to left scoring centerfielder Coco Crisp (3 HRs, .283 BA) on a close play at the plate with Youkilis advancing to second on throw.  This set the stage for David Ortiz’s (22 HRs, 68 RBIs) dramatic walk-off single to center scoring Youkilis.

In the end, Red Sox reliever Craig Hanson (1-0) was credited with the win while Clay Condrey (1-2, 3.20 ERA), who blew a save opportunity giving up the RBI singles to Youkilis and Ortiz, got nailed with the loss.

For the full recap, play-by-play and box score on Monday’s game, click here.

In today’s opener in Baltimore, Phils rookie lefthander Cole Hamels (1-3) once again tries for his 2nd win vs Orioles lefthander Erik Bedard (7-6).

For the scores, recaps and box scores of all of today’s games, click here.

On Sunday, rain washed out the Phillies, Boston game.  There is still a game to play in this series on Monday, weather permitting.

But, back in the old days, when a TV game was rained out, the slot was filled by “Rainout Theatre” where old movies were shown or a game from earlier in the season or from a previous year was rerun.  I remember once watching Rick Wise’s no-hitter on “Rainout Theatre.”

But today, we’ve got a pretty unique piece of baseball action to show from a recent game.  To view the footage, click here.

On Thursday, June 22, 2006 with the Florida Marlins and Baltimore Orioles tied up at 5 a piece and with Florida batting in the top of the 10th inning against  Todd Williams (2-3) with a runner on 2nd base and one out.  It was decided to intentionally walk 3rd baseman Miguel Cabrera (10 HRs, 47 RBIs, .340 BA).  However, Williams floated the pitch much closer to the plate than Cabrera expected, but he alertly laced the floater into centerfield for a base hit driving in shortstop Hanley Ramirez (3 HRs) with the go-ahead run.  Florida went on to win the game by an 8-5 score with Williams being nailed with the loss.

                                              Kevin Saucier

Got a laugh out of the Cabrera play.  It’s one of the few rare swings at an intentional walk pitch that I have seen since I saw an opponent (don’t remember who) do the same to pitcher Kevin Saucier sometime between 1978-80 when he played for the Phillies.   See, Saucier had this weird, unorthodox delivery which for the life of me I can’t describe.  And he had a real problem with intentional walks, often throwing wild pitches beyond the reach of the catcher or uncorking a big fat one right over the meat of the plate on an intentional walk pitch.  Saucier was one of the more colorful characters in red and white pinstripes in the pre-wild thing era.

 The pitchers have been announced for today’s Phillies, Red Sox game, weather-permitting.  The match-up between Cory Lidle (4-6) and Tim Wakefield (5-8) scheduled for Sunday night, will go today.

For the scores, recaps and box scores of all of today’s games in both leagues, click here.
Hat tip to Matt B.