Ace lefthander Cole Hamels needed just 97 pitches on Thursday to make a 3 run lead stand up while retiring 12 of the last 13 Dodgers he faced. The  Phillies offense scored just enough runs as Hamels spread out 5 Dodger hits in completing a shut out of the Dodgers by a 3-0 score as the Phillies win streak reached 7 games.

With the win, the Phils lead over the 2nd place Mets in the NL East swelled to 4 full games as the Mets lost again Thursday, being swept decisively as  Pittsburgh pounded Mike Pelfrey and reliever J.J. Putz.

Cole Hamels, who won both of his starts against the Dodgers in last season’s NLCS including a 5-1 decision game 5 in L.A. which clinched the Phillies first NL Pennant since 1993, had easily his finest outing of 2009 and the finest of successive fine performances by Phils starters during their 7 game winning streak.  It was Hamels’ 3rd career shutout, his 5th career complete game and the first this season by a Phillies’ starter.

The AP recap for Yahoo sports caught Hamels’ thoughts on his outing Thursday against the Dodgers and notes some statistical and trivia info on Hamels:

For those wondering what the 25-year-old left-hander could possibly do for an encore this season, this was a good start.

“That’s always something that kind of gets in your mind,” said Hamels, 4-0 with a 2.84 ERA over his last seven outings. “I mean, you don’t have the type of time off to really gather your thoughts and get prepared for another season. I had a little bump in the road with the elbow soreness, and that kind of delayed some things. But I’m ready to go now.”

Hamels (4-2) threw 97 pitches, retiring 18 of his last 20 batters and allowing only two runners as far as second base—one of them on defensive indifference in the ninth.

“Sometimes I’ll have a lot of strikeouts and sometimes I won’t. But I don’t want to be the big strikeout guy because it’s hard on you and that really pushes up your pitch count,” Hamels said. “My past three or four games I’ve been going 110 pitches and only getting through the sixth. So pitch efficiency is something I’ve been trying to work on.”

In his May 14 start against the Dodgers at Philadelphia, Hamels gave up two runs in seven innings and settled for a no-decision in the Phillies’ 5-3 loss.

Hamels has not thrown a wild pitch in 344 2-3 innings since July 14, 2007, against St. Louis, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

For 3 innings, the game was a classic duel between two fine lefthanders, with Clayton Kershaw actually getting the better of the early going retiring the first 9 Phillies he faced before 2nd baseman Chase Utley led off the fourth inning lining a full-count pitch for a double to rightfield.  Center- fielder Jayson Werth then grounded out to shortstop moving Utley to 3rd base.  1st baseman Ryan Howard then sacrificed Utley in with the 1st Phillies run by lofting a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

In the sixth inning, leftfielder Raul Ibanez followed a single and a walk by lining a run-scoring double to left centerfield — 2-0 Phillies as Kershaw was replaced after 5 1/3 innings by the 1st of 4 Dodger relievers.  Kershaw threw 105 pitches in a quality outing while giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, walking 3 and striking out 5. It was his 5th loss vs 3 wins.  Jayson Werth added the 3rd Phillies run with a 2 out RBI single to centerfield in the seventh inning,

Regular starting centerfielder Shane Victorino remained out of the lineup with a strain of his left hip.  Therefore Jayson Werth moved over from rightfield to center and utilitiy man Eric Bruntlett took up Werth’s regular rightfield post.

MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki posted this report on the Flyin’ Hawaiian”:

Shane Victorino said he is fine, even though he isn’t completely fine.

He wasn’t in the lineup on Thursday against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium because he strained his left hip rounding first base in the first inning on Wednesday against the Padres at PETCO Park. Victorino took batting practice before the game and said he could pinch-hit if needed.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said Victorino is day-to-day, which is good, because they need bats on the bench. Because the Phillies are carrying 13 pitchers, they have just four players on the bench.

Victorino seems confident the injury will not linger.

“That’s why I did what I did,” he said of leaving the game in the sixth inning on Wednesday.

Victorino also said he has had soreness on the right side of his lower back for much of the season.

“A little sore, but nothing that I really have to worry about,” he said. “I had a problem on the right side. Now all of a sudden my left side.”

For all of the scores of Thursday’s games, click here.

On Friday, another couple of lefthanders oppose each other as 46 year old veteran Jamie Moyer hopes to duplicate his previoous fine outing while facing Eric Milton.

On Saturday, Joe Blanton is opposed by Hiroki Kuroda.

For all of Friday’s and Saturday’s games, click here and here.

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The Phillies offense put just enough runs on the board against  Washington’s lefthander John Lannon to win as veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer put up unquestionably his best outing of the season.  Moyer led the Phillies to a series final 4-2 victory and series sweep over the Nationals on Sunday despite 2 solo shots by Nationals leftfielder Josh Willingham.

With the win, the Phillies maintained their 1/2 game lead in the NL East over the Mets who won their series final over Florida.

Moyer began the game by retiring 6 of the first 7 Nationals hitters and finished by retiring the last 6 batters he faced.  And in between, he was in control throughout in winning his 4th game against 5 losses and his 250th career win. He threw 102 pitches in six innings giving up only 3 hits, walking none and striking out 4 after having been pounded in 4 of his last 5 starts and losing 4 games in a row.  The only run Moyer allowed was in the fourth inning on the 1st of 2 Josh Willingham solo homers.

Meanwhile, the Phils scored single runs off of Lannon in the first, second and fourth innings as 2nd baseman Chase Utley doubled in a run in the second, catcher Chris Coste solo homered in the third and a run scored in the fourth on 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz’s fielder’s choice grounder after leftfielder Raul Ibanez tripled to centerfield and rightfielder Jayson Werth walked.

Lannon pitched a fine ballgame as well in a losing cause, but got no offensive support as Moyer and the Phils bullpen stifled Washington throughout the game.  The young lefthander threw 106 pitches in five innings giving up 3 runs on 4 hits while walking 4 and striking out 7 and giving up Coste’s solo homer.

Reliever Clay Condrey gave up Willingham’s 2nd solo homer, a 2 ball pitch leadoff homer in the seventh inning.  Condrey then retired the next 3 hitters to end the inning.

Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge came on to set down the Nationals in the eighth and ninth innings with Lidge throwing a clean ninth to notch his 12th save of the season.

The Phillies managed an insurance run in the eighth inning off of reliever Joe Beimel as Chase Utley drew a 2 out walk and 1st baseman Ryan Howard slammed a 2 ball pitch for an RBI triple to centerfield.

For all of the scores of Sunday’s games, click here.

The Phillies leave after Sunday’s game for a West Coast swing which begins with 3 games in San Diego beginning on Monday.  Joe Blanton goes for the Phils in the opener against Kevin Correia, who replaces originally scheduled Mike Adams, for the Padres.

For all of Monday’s games, click here.

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Phillies starter Chan Ho Park has apparently held on to his spot in the rotation by virtue of his finest peformance since May 5, 2006.  Park held the Mets to 1 hit through six innings in an old-fashioned pitchers duel with ace lefthander Johan Santana.  But the Mets capitalized on a fielding error in the seventh inning to scratch out a run with the pitcher of record still  Santana, and the bullpen made it stand up in a Mets 1-0 shutout of the Phillies on Wednesday.

Park was dominant through six innings holding the Mets to 1 hit while walking 2, striking out 5 and making a lot of Met hitters look foolish.  

MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes of Park’s performance:

Chan Ho Park might have saved his job in the Phillies’ rotation Wednesday night at Citi Field.

He also might have proved to himself that aggressiveness and confidence go a long way.

“He pitched a heck of a game,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of Park. “He was aggressive. He threw strikes. When he got behind, he came back and went right at the hitters. He had a good tempo and rhythm going. Santana was definitely just as good. He did a tremendous job.”

He [Park] sure looked like a different pitcher Wednesday.

“That’s what I’m supposed to do, right?” he said.

Park had a no-hitter going with two outs in the fifth inning when Daniel Murphy hit a double into left-center field.

But as well as Park pitched, Manuel pinch-hit for him in the seventh with a runner on second and two outs. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7166 Eric Bruntlett struck out swinging. Manuel said with Santana pitching so well, he felt he needed to go for the victory.

As great a performance as Park put on, Santana bettered him going seven innings allowing 2 Phillies hits while walking 3 and striking out 10 on 101 pitches through seven innings.   Santana struck out the side in the second and fourth innings, although the 3rd strike on leftfielder Raul Ibanez in the fourth, which would have retired the side, eluded catcher Omir Santos allowing Ibanez to reach 1st base safely.  Santana dominated the meat of the Phillies batting order fanning 1st baseman Ryan Howard and
rightfielder Jayson Werth 3 times each and got Ibanez on strikes twice.  When the Phillies did connect off of Santana, other than shortstop Jimmy Rollins’ third inning single and Ibanez’s lead-off seventh inning ground rule double, 6 outs were on the ground while 6 were by fly ball. 

Park’s ratio was nearly as good getting 5 groundouts and 7 fly outs.  He threw 91 pitches through six innings.  In the fifth innning, after hitting 1st baseman Carlos Delgado, Park got 3rd baseman David Wright to ground into an around-the-horn double play before Murphy finally reached him for a double — the first Mets hit of the game.

The Phillies made 2 errors in the sixth inning with 2 out; a fielding error by Park enabling shortstop Jose Reyes to reach 1st base safely.  The Reyes stole 2nd base and took 3rd on catcher Carlos Ruiz’s errant throw.  Fortunately the 2 errors were inconsequential as Park got centerfielder  Carlos Beltran to fly out to end the inning.  However, the Phils were not so lucky in the seventh.

Manager Charlie Manuel sent lefthanded reliever Scott Eyre in to pitch the seventh inning.   Eyre issued a lead-off walk to Delgado before getting Wright and Murphy to fly out.  When righthanded hitting pinch hitter  Fernando Tatis stepped up, Manuel went to Chad Durbin to close out the inning.   It was not to be.

Tatis singled to 3rd base with Pedro Feliz making an off-balance play and resultant errant throw which rolled into rightfield.   AP Baseball writer Mike Fitzpatrick describes the play in the Yahoo sports recap:

Delgado chugged home from first base on a bad hip when Feliz threw away pinch-hitter Fernando Tatis’ infield single to third with two outs in the seventh. Right fielder Jayson Werth retrieved the ball but double-clutched before a late throw to the plate, and Delgado scored with a feet-first slide.

After that, relievers Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez closed down the Phils in the eighth and ninth inning.  Rodriguez recorded his 8th save of the season.

The Phils had 2 opportunities to reach Santana and put runs on the board.   The lefthander isssued a 1 out walk to hi opponent Park in the third.  Shortstop Jimmy Rollins followed with a single to centerfield putting runners at 1st and 2nd base.  But Santana got both centerfielder Shane Victorino and 2nd baseman Chase Utley to ground out to end the inning.

In the seventh inning, after Ibznez opened with a ground rule double to right centerfield, Feliz popped out and Santana got catcher Ruiz to ground out.  Manuel opted to pinch hit Eric Bruntlett for Park and Bruntlett struck out swinging to end the inning.

Eyre was charged with his 1st loss of the season as Delgado, the hit batsman, crossed with the only run of the game on Feliz’s error.  Santana recorded his 4th win and lowered his ERA to an unworldly .91 for the season.

For all of the results of Wednesday’s games, click here.

The Phils hope to salvage a in to conclude the short 2 game series against the New York Mets on Thursday before heading home to entertain  Atlanta in a 3 game weekend series to conclude this week’s weird scheduling.

On Thursday, veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer faces Mets’ Mike Pelfrey who struggled in  winning last Friday’s game by a 7-4 score.  Pelfrey pitched 5 1/3 innings giving up 3 runs on 7 hits while walking 4 and striking out none.
 
For all of Thursday’s games, click here.

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Taking great pleasure when the team everyone loves to hate gets their come-up’ens, this is one game which I just couldn’t pass up posting on.

The Yankees, those over-spending, over-rated Bronx boys who lately miss the playoffs habitually, got man-handled, bombed and pillaged for a 14 run marathon second inning, which included a 3 run homer, a grand slam and a solo shot enroute to a 22-4 humbling Saturday by the Cleveland Indians.

Chien-Ming Wang seemed to have little trouble putting down the Indians in the first inning as Yanks 1st baseman Mark Teixeira clubbed a 1 out, 2 run first inning homer off of Fausto Carmona to stake the Yanks to an early 2-0 lead.

But Yankee prosperity disappeared in the blink of an eye amidst the Indian’s 14 run second inning onslaught against Wang, who managed 1 out while being pummelled for 8 runs, and Anthony Claggett who got the side out in the second while being rocked for the other 6 runs plus single runs in the third and fourth innings.

Cleveland lambasted Yankees pitching for 4 more runs in the fifth and a run each in the eighth and ninth innings and a total of 6 home runs for the game including a grand slam and 2 sets of back-to-back homers.
 
AP sports writer Jay Cohen makes these points on the rout for Yahoo sports:

Cleveland’s 14-run second—the biggest inning ever against New York… set the bar for Yankee Stadium’s new record book.

The 14 runs were the most scored in the second inning of a major league game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

It was the most runs for the Indians since they beat New York 22-0 on Aug. 31, 2004, at the old Yankee Stadium. The 22 runs also tied the Yankees’ record for most allowed in a home game.

Carmona (1-2) was the beneficiary of the Indians’ big day at the plate, working six innings in his first victory of the season.

With the score at 20-2 in the Yankees fifth inning, leftfielder Melky Cabrera belted a meaningless 2 run homer off of Carmona, but the Indians onslaught was by then too much for the Yankees to overcome.

Unlike last season’s 30-3 Texas Ranger rout of Baltimore, neither Indian reliever pitched 3 innings and thus, there was no save recorded here.

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Happy New Year Baseball fans, particularly World Champion Phillies fans.

I’ve had a bit of a break from blogging baseball.  There’s been a lot of other stuff going on here in Israel, particularly the War in Gaza over the past almost 2 weeks.   And I’ve been doing double-duty handling two blogs dealing with the war. The war action’s been hot and heavy and you can check out it out here and here.  

But now, back to baseball.

Five major free agent deals have come to fruition over the past few weeks,  Four of them will be dealt with in this post.  The fifth one, since it relates to former Phillie outfielder Pat Burrell’s acquisition by the Tampa Bay Rays, will be discussed in a separate post.

First on the docket is 1st baseman Mark Teixeira’s 8 year, $180 million deal with the Yankees.

Teixeira, whose name congures up taste-buds longing for Tex-Mex cuisine is a 6 year veteran who has consistently been above 30 homers and 100 RBIS and lifetime .290 BA and who has struck out over 100 times in 5 of 6 seasons.

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum notes for Yahoo sports that Teixeira and his wife discussed the deal prospects for weeks before the deal was struck.

Blum writes;

“I’d been asking her for weeks and weeks, Where do you want to go? Where do you want me to play?” he related. “And she said, `I want you to be happy. I just want you to be happy.’ And finally, she said, `I want you to be a Yankee.’ So that’s when it was done. And once we got the contract figured out, it was a no-brainer.”

“The Yankees hadn’t made their decision yet, but that’s when we made our decision,” he said with a laugh.

“He was pushing me for an answer. I gave it,” Leigh said, giggling. “I always loved New York, and I thought it would be really special for him to be a Yankee.”

But is Mark Teixeira worth A-Rod rarified air money, $22 million plus per season?  It will be interesting to watch and judge in 2009.
45-year-old veteran lefthander Randy ‘Big Unit’ Johnson, having recovered and been rehabbed after two recent back surgeries, agreed to an $8 million, one-year contract with the San Francisco Giants just before New Years.

Johnson, a veteran of 20 seasons, is a 3 time 20 game winner, 5 wins shy of 300 career wins and is high-up on the list for career strikeouts.  He sports a career 3.26 ERA.

Johnson, a 5 time Cy Young award winner, joins a Giants pitching staff, one of the deepest staffs in baseball — boasting 3 Cy Young winners, including last season’s winner, 2nd year star Tim Lincecum. 

AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley reports;

“I’m well ahead of schedule than I was the last two offseasons,” Johnson said Saturday during a conference call, noting he plans to be on the 2009 opening day roster. “It will be really nice to be in that position this year. … To some degree I have silenced the critics and shown that I’m healthy.”

The Giants are counting on that.

Giants general manager Brian Sabean believes his club could become a contender again in the NL West with the addition of Johnson. San Francisco expressed an interest in him from the start of free agency and had several productive conversations with his representatives to make it happen.

“I’m excited to come back to where I started my baseball career,” said Johnson, who still has a brother and a sister in the area. “As a visiting player with the Diamondbacks, a couple of the reporters would ask me, ‘Toward the end of your career, do you see yourself playing in the Bay Area?’ It’s always nice to come back and play there.”

He has 4,789 strikeouts, second on the career list to Nolan Ryan (5,714). The 6-foot-10 lefty made $16 million last season, when he struck out 173 and walked 44 after beginning the season on the disabled list.
Johnson, who can earn an additional $5 million in performance bonuses, went 11-10 with a 3.91 ERA in 30 starts last season.

In another pre-New Years deal, 9 year veteran Brad Penny, off of 2 brilliant 16 win seasons with the LA Dodgers followed by a 2008 season plagued by right shoulder soreness where he slumped to 6-9 and a 6.24 ERA in 94 2/3 innings, has agreed to a 1 year $5 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. 
 
Sporting News’ Ryan Fagan writes of Penny and his deal with the Sox for Yahoo sports;

Like Johnson, Penny seems like a perfect fit in his new home. Well, at least he’s a high-reward, low-risk option for his new team. Penny was injured for much of the season and largely ineffective when he was on the mound, to which his 6-9 record, 6.27 ERA and 1.63 WHIP attest. But, he’ll only be 30 this spring, and won 16 games in back-to-back seasons before his clunker in 2008.

If he has a huge bounce-back season, he stands to earn a hearty multiyear deal next offseason, which won’t have any  Sabathias or Burnetts in the mix. And it’s not like the Red Sox are counting on big things from Penny. Their rotation, with or without him, is one of the best in the bigs, and his contract is only $5 million. If he’s a bust, the team will be just fine.

The Yahoo report on the Penny deal notes;

According to the reports, Penny could earn an additional $3 million in performance bonuses with the Red Sox. He is 94-75 with a 4.06 ERA in nine big league seasons.

Finally, having lost MLB record-setting 62 save closer Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez to the Mets, the Los Angeles Angels inked a 2 year, $17.5 million deal with free-agent reliever Brian Fuentes.

The Angels are hoping that they don’t skip a beat in the closer’s spot with the acquisition of Fuentes.

AP sports writer John Nadel reports on the deal for Yahoo sports;

Fuentes gets $8.5 million next season and $9 million in 2010. There’s a club option for $9 million in 2011.

“He should solidify the back part of our bullpen,” Angels general manager Tony Reagins said on a conference call. “We pitched well last year, we expect to pitch well again.”

Fuentes, a 33-year-old lefty, was a three-time NL All-Star who went 1-5 with 30 saves in 34 chances and a 2.73 ERA for Colorado this season. He had a 1.75 ERA after the All-Star break, when he saved 16 games in as many chances.

“I’m definitely happy to have the opportunity to play for a team that I’ve watched for a long time,” said Fuentes, who grew up in Merced, Calif., and still lives there. “My 2-year-old’s excited. He can’t wait to go to Disneyland.”

Regarding Angels manager Mike Scioscia, Fuentes said: “From what I hear from other guys, he’s a player’s manager.”

Reagins said plans call for Fuentes to close, with Scot Shields or Jose Arredondo serving as the Angels’ setup man. The Angels have several other experienced relievers including  Darren Oliver and Justin Speier, who were both teammates of Fuentes in Colorado.

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