The Roy Halladay and cash for 3 prospects deal between the Phillies and the  Toronto Blue Jays, and the Cliff Lee for 3 prospects deal between the Phils and the Seattle Mariners (with the Mariners flipping a prospect each with the Oakland A’s) was actually two trades but historically, the huge 4 team deal will be seen as one and will rank high in the MLB all-time trade records.

A lot of ink has been spilled as to why the Phils foiled all of our dreams by trading lefthander Lee.  Our dreams of a Halladay, Lee top of the rotation all went for naught over an alleged ceiling on the Phils payroll budget and perceived need to replenish a Minor League system depleted by last season’s trade for Lee and the deal for Halladay.

Lee, whose short stint surely will go down in MLB annals having won his first 5 starts, completing 2 of them, going eight innings in a 3rd and seven innings each in the 2 others.  He struggled a bit in September, but then went undefeated in 5 post-season starts winning 4 of them, including a sensational 6 hit, 10 strikeout World Series opening win over the Yankees in the Bronx.  I can’t recall a pitcher in my 50-some years of baseball consciousness who accomplished what Lee accomplished in a mere 2 months of regular season and in the post-season.

It would have been a sight to behold; Halladay, Lee, a hopefully rejuvenated  Cole Hamels with Joe Blanton and lefthander J.A. Happ providing the balance of the starting rotation.   The prospect of Halladay joining Lee at the top may well have eased the pressure on the bullpen immensely allowing for flexibility regarding the set-up and closer spots.  Both Halladay and Lee are capable of complete games with every start.  Halladay’s got 49 CG in his 12 season career, 25 of them in the past 3 seasons alone.  Lee notched 10 CGs over his last 3 seasons, 13 for his career.

In looking at the respective careers of Halladay and Lee, Halladay looks on paper to be the superior pitcher.  But the Philies fates in 2010 ride to a large extent on whether Hamels recovers his 2008 magic, whether Happ can at least equal his rookie year performance, whether Blanton can continue to pitch effectively, whether Brad Lidge’s efforts in 2010 more closely resemble 2008 than 2009 and whether the Phils can add some further depth and efficiency to the bullpen.  If Hamels falters, the second-guessers will have a field-day ripping Amaro Jr. for trading away Cliff Lee.

We eagerly anticipate spring training and the 2010 season.  It’s great to be a Phillies fan and know that we’re not hoping futile hopes and pipe-dreams.  Checkout this Phillies Nation piece on Phillies fans’ perspective on the coming 2010 season — makes for enjoyable reading.

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

After blogging straight through from the inception of this blog in April, 2006 through the end of the 2009 World Series, I decided to take some time off with the end of the Series on November 4.

While resting from blogging, I did try to keep on top of the Phillies’ frenetic off-season action leading up to the recent vintage “Mother of Blockbuster Deals” — where super-star pitcher Roy Halladay was acquired from the  Toronto Blue Jays for 3 top prospects while trading last year’s ace and post-season undefeated lefthander Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners for 3 Mariner top prospects.  Phillies fans, who had fond visions of a monster Halladay/Lee top of the rotation had those dreams dashed.  But more about the Halladay/Lee moves in a subsequent post.  But for now, here is a pretty comprehensive list of reports following the ebb and flow of the Halladay/Lee Deal:

• Phillies Get Halladay, Mariners Acquire Lee, by Gregg Bell  (AP Sports)
• Holding 2 Aces Never in Cards, by Andy Martino (Inquirer Staff Writer)
• Seven Prospects Involved in Blockbuster, By Jonathan Mayo and Lisa Winston  (MLB.com)
• Halladay an Important Upgrade for Phillies, by Mike Bauman   (MLB.com)
• Bill Conlin: Phillies GM Amaro is Master of the Shell Game, by Bill Conlin   (Daily News Sports Columnist)
• AP Source: Phils Have Tentative Deal for Halladay, by Rob Maaddi  (AP
  Sports Writer)
• Halladay to Phillies; Lee to Mariners, by Jeff Passan
• Halladay Deal Starts Taking Firmer Shape, 3 Phillies Prospects Said Coming Back    (The Canadian Press)

To begin, it appears that the Phils have parted ways with erstwhile starter/ reliever Brett Myers and let reliever Clay Condrey go to free agency. 

They signed free agent infielder Placido Polanco, who incidently preceded current incumbent Chase Utley at 2nd base.  Polanco  played some 3rd base during his stay with the Phillies and the consensus is that the Phils acquired an important cog here.  In my estimation, Polanco’s offensive stats reflect an offensive upgrade over Pedro Feliz at 3rd base.  Their respective 2009 offensive production in homers and RBIs are close to even, although career-wise Polanco averages more games played per season than Feliz while striking out less and drawing more walks.  Polanco’s career batting average is 50 points higher than Feliz and is  although, career-wise Feliz has 45 homers more than Polanco.  Defensively, they are both on a par.  I like the flexibility of Polanco in the lineup availing the Phillies consisted small-ball possibilities as well as the power of Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, Utley and Jayson Werth.

The Phils also signed utility players Ross Gload and Juan Castro as well as  Brian Schneider to spell 1st string starting catcher Carlos Ruiz.

The top 4 of Phillies starting rotation shapes up at this early point as Halladay as the ace with lefthander Cole Hamels followed by Joe Blanton or young 2009 Rookie of the Year contender lefthander J.A. Happ, depending on manager Charlie Manuel’s preference as to the #3 and #4 spots.  It appears that ageless lefthander Jamie Moyer, youngster Kyle Kendrick and possibly Chan Ho Park battling for the 5th spot.  Here’s hoping that Hamels is able to comeback to his 2008 form which won him MVP in both the NLCS and the World Series and that Halladay’s work ethic has a positive rub-off on the rest of the pitching staff.

Consensus has it that Moyer has the edge due to the size of his contract and so it may well be that Kendrick and Park may again join Ryan Madson, a hopefully healthy and straight J.C. Romero, Chad Durbin, closer Brad Lidge and some young hopefuls. 

The big challenge for the Phils will be ascertaining of Lidge is able to return to something approximating his 2008 form rather than his disastrous 2009 and making an insurance move to spell him should he again falter.  A steady, consistent bullpen, with Halladay completing games often enough to keep the ‘pen rested spells a 100 win season and a sure 4th straight trip to the post-season.  Go Phillies!

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

Phillies starters Kyle Kendrick, recently called up from the minors, and   Pedro Martinez both went deep in their games on Sunday in besting Mets starters John Maine and Tim Redding.  Both Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson registered saves as Kendrick and Martinez bring the Phillies a doubleheader sweep of the Mets by scores of 5-4 and 1-0.
 
With the twin wins, the Phils increased their lead in the NL East to 6 1/2 games over 2nd place Florida who lost to Washington and to 7 1/2 games over 3rd place Atlanta who pounded St. Louis.  The Phillies lead over the fourth place Mets reached 20 games as they took 3 of the 4 game series.

Here’s a huge breath of relief.  After Saturday’s disaster where the Mets fought back from 4 runs down and pummelled Madson in the ninth for a  10-9 comback win, a lesser team would still be reeling.  But the Phils came back determined despite a continuing sluggish offense.

The Phillies were very fortunate to get 2 excellent, deep 7 1/3 and 8 inning pitching performances by Kendrick and Martinez respectively and fortunate that Brad Lidge was able to survive a 2 run, 3 hit Mets ninth inning to save the first game win.  I say fortunate because in game 1 the Phils left 8 runners stranded, 6 of them in scoring position including bases jammed with 2 outs in the seventh and in game 2 displayed no offense at all. 

Kendrick opened game 1 in grand style striking out the side in the first inning.  He would not record another strikeout in the game, although he recorded 14 groundball outs.  Meanwhile, 1st baseman Ryan Howard doubled in the 1st Phils run in the first inning.  Rightfielder Ben Francisco, acquired with lefthander Cliff Lee and who subbed as Jayson Werth rested, solo homered to leftfield in the fourth inning and, the Flyin’ Hawaiian, centerfielder Shane Victorino clubbed a 2 run homer to centerfield in the seventh as Kendrick carried a 4-0 shutout into the eighth inning.

The Mets cut lead to 4-2 in the eighth as centerfielder Angel Pagan stroked a 1 out single to centerfield and 2nd baseman Anderson Hernandez followed with a 2 run bomb also to centerfield.  The Phils came back in the bottom of the eighth to add an insurance run as pinch hitter Matt Stairs doubled to left centerfield and pinch hitter Andy Tracy drove him in with a single to rightfield.  That run proved to be the game-winner as Lidge was rocked for 2 Mets runs in the ninth.

Kendrick, pitching in place of injured lefthander J.A. Happ, went 7 1/3 innings to record his 1st win of 2009. He threw 106 pitches giving up only the 2 eighth inning runs on 7 hits while walking 1 and getting the 3 first inning strikeouts and giving up Hernandez’s eighth inning homer.  John Maine threw 57 pitches in 3 innings while giving up 1 run and 2 hits, walking 1 and striking out 2.  Reliever Tobi Stoner gave up 3 runs on 3 hits in three innings and reliever Lance Broadway went the final 2 innings and gave up what turned out to be the winning run.

In game 2, the Phillies had zero offense outside of the first inning where a leadoff walk to shortstop Jimmy Rollins and 2 singles, including 2nd baseman Chase Utley’s  RBI single, providing the only run that Martinez needed to beat the Mets.  The Phils were fortunate that Pedro got through the first two innings unscathed.  He then retired 12 of the next 13 hitters before facing a 2 on, 2 out situation in the seventh from which he also escaped without damage.  Martinez then eased out of a 2 out eighth inning runner on 2nd base coaxing a fielder’s choice grounder to end the inning.  Then Madson came on in the ninth to give up a 1 out single but to end the game with a strikeout and a line-out to 3rd base. 

Martinez threw, get this, 130 pitches in his eight innings while shutting out the Mets to continue unbeaten with a 5-0 record.  He walked 1 and struck out 7.  Mets’ starter Redding threw six fine innings giving up only the single run and 3 hits.  He fell victim to lack of offensive support.  He threw 103 pitches while walking 2 and striking out 3.

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

The Phils have Monday off before entertaining the Washington Nationals for 3 games beginning with Tuesday’s opener as ace lefthander Cliff Lee opposes Garrett Mock in a re-match of last week’s game in D.C. 

For all of Monday’s and Tuesday’s games, click here and here.

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

The Washington Nationals didn’t quit the whole game on Wednesday while pecking away at ace lefthander Cliff Lee and rubbing out a 4-1 Phillies lead and nearly erasing a 6-4 deficit. The Phils scored 4 runs off of Nationals’ starter Garrett Mock.  But it was back-to-back eighth inning solo homers by rightfielder Jayson Werth and 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz providing the winning margin and a nifty line-drive double-play worked by 2nd baseman  Chase Utley and shortstop Jimmy Rollins on Nationals’ 1st baseman Adam Dunn where centerfielder Justin Maxwell was caught off of 2nd base which finally nailed down the game and Lee’s 6th win as the Phillies edged the Nationals by a 6-5 score on eighth inning back-to-back homers.

With the win, the Phillies maintained their 6 game lead in the NL East division over 2nd place Florida who again beat the Mets.  3rd place Atlanta dropped to 9 games back while losing to Houston.  The 4th place Mets dropped to 18 games back with their loss to the Marlins.

With the Phils up by 6-4 in the eighth, Lee was replaced by Chan Ho Park with runners on 1st and 3rd base with none out.  A walk, a fly ball and a sacrifice fly later the Nationals cut the lead to 6-5 as a ground out ended the inning.   Phillies Nation’s Amanda Orr describes the eighth and ninth innings:

Before the game, Charlie Manuel discussed [Brad] Lidge’s fate. Unsure if Lidge would pitch in the next save opportunity, Manuel said he would go with his gut feeling.

Trying to make his job easier, Manuel tried to stretch Lee through eight innings.  However, the first two batters reached base, forcing Manuel to go to Chan Ho Park.  Park allowed a walk, loading the bases with nobody out.  Pete Orr’s sacrifice fly put the Nationals within one.  That was all Park would give up, avoiding further damage.

Ryan Madson was called on to close.  Although he converted Tuesday’s save, Madson previously struggled as a closer.  Justin Maxwell greeted him with a single and stole a base.  Madson was firing 98 mph fastballs, and struck out  [Cristian] Guzman.  Maxwell was dancing off second when Dunn lined a shot to Utley.  Utley caught it, and flipped to Rollins covering second base.  Maxwell was doubled off, ending the game…. Manuel’s gut feeling worked.

Washington opened scoring in the first inning as shortstop Cristian Guzman doubled to left centerfield after Lee struck out leadoff hitter Justin Maxwell.   1st baseman Dunn followed with an RBI single to centerfield as the Nationals hit the scoreboard first.

The Phillies, for the first time in some time, strung together some hits in the second inning to score runs.  Leftfielder Raul Ibanez, who seems to catching fire again as earlier in the season before his injury, led off the inning with a double to centerfield and scored on Jayson Werth’s single to leftfield to knot the score at 1-1.   3rd baseman Feliz singled to left centerfield and Mock walked catcher Paul Bako to load the bases.  Mock then got behind 2-1 in the count to Lee, who has proven to be a good hitting pitcher.  Lee laced Mock’s next offering to leftfield for an RBI single as Werth scored.  Rollins then grounded out as Feliz scored putting the Phils up by 3-1.   Centerfielder Shane Victorino, as well as Ibanez, Werth and Feliz each garnered 2 hits in the game.  

The score remained 3-1 as Lee retired 9 of the next 11 hitters he faced through the bottom of the fourth.

The Phils upped their lead to 4-1 as Mock walked 1st baseman Ryan Howard with 2 outs.  Ibanez followed with his 2nd double of the game, this one also to centerfield, driving in Howard.

The Nationals came to life in the fifth inning to cut the score to 4-3.  After 2nd baseman Alberto Gonzalez led off the fifth with a double to left centerfield, 1 of his 3 hits — all doubles for the game, Maxwell singled to leftfield putting runners at the corners with 1 out.  Gonzalez scored as Guzman grounded out to the pitcher with Maxwell advancing to 2nd base.  Dunn followed with a single to rightfield to score Maxwell.

Lee then went clean on Washington in the sixth before a another Gonzalez double and a bunt single to the pitcher by pinch hitter Jorge Padilla put runners again at the corners to open the seventh inning.  Lee struck out Maxwell and got Guzman to ground into a fielder’s choice with Padilla out at 2nd base.  But the tying run scored on the play.

Meanwhile, Mock left after five innings and reliever Jason Bergmann went clean on the Phils in the sixth before Rollins opened the seventh with a single to leftfield.  After Victorino flied out, Bergmann was replaced by lefthanded reliever Sean Burnett.  Rollins stole 2nd base on a 2-2 pitch to Utley who grounded out 2 pitches later with Rollins taking 3rd base. Howard was walked intentionally putting Phillies at the corners.  Rollins and Howard were stranded as Burnett struck out Ibanez to end the inning.

With the score tied 4-4, reliever Tyler Clippard came on to pitch the eighth and was greeted with Werth’s 33rd homer, to centerfield, after falling behind 3-1 in the count.  2 pitches later, Feliz planted one in the leftfield stands and the Phils had a 6-4 lead. 

But Washington wouldn’t say die.  After an error and a double by leftfielder Josh Willingham put runners at 2nd and 3rd base to open the eighth, Lee was pulled for Chan Ho Park.  Park walked rightfielder Elijah Dukes to load the bases.  After a fly out, pinch hitter Pete Orr’s sacrifice fly to leftfield cut the margin to 6-5, the run being charged to Lee.   Park got the next hitter on a grounder for the final out of the eighth.

After the Phils offense provided no cushion despite scoring opportunities in the ninth, Madson replaced Park and Maxwell greeted him with a single to centerfield and a steal of 2nd base.  But Madson struck out Guzman on heavy heat and got Adam Dunn to line to 2nd baseman Utley who fired to Rollins to catch Maxwell off o 2nd base for the game ending doubleplay.

Winning pitcher Lee threw 109 pitches in going into the eighth inning giving up 5 runs on 10 hits.  He walked none, struck out 4 and kept the ball in the park.

Mock went five innings throwing 107 pitches and giving up 4 runs on 6 hits while walking 3 and striking out 4.  Clippard, who gave up the eighth inning back-to-back homers, was charged with the loss.  Madson, who threw 10 pitches to end the game, was credited with his 6th save having saved both games in the series thus far.

In related news:

The… Phillies sent reliever Scott Eyre back to Philadelphia on Wednesday to have his ailing left elbow examined.

Eyre is 2-1 with a 1.61 ERA in 39 games.

The Phillies promoted left-hander Sergio Escalona and first baseman Andy Tracy from the minors, and they joined the team for Wednesday night’s game at Washington.

Escalona was recalled from Double-A Reading for his sixth stint with Philadelphia. In six games, he is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA. He was 2-3 with a 3.13 ERA and 14 saves in 47 games with Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

The Phillies purchased Tracy’s contract from Lehigh Valley, where he hit .254 with 26 home runs and 96 RBIs.

To make room for Tracy on the 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher Rodrigo Lopez was released.

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

The Phils look to take a hard-fought sweep out of Washington as Thursday’s series final features Joe Blanton opposing Livan Hernandez. 

The Phils return home on Friday for a 6 game homestand; first a 3 game weekend series with the Mets followed by 3 games with these same  Washington Nationals.

Lefthander Cole Hamels is slated to pitch Friday’s opener vs Nelson Figueroa for the Mets.

For all of Thursday’s games, click here.

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

Newly acquired ace Phillies lefthander Cliff Lee was once again awesome carrying a no-hit bid into the sixth inning.  And the numbers 2 through 6 of the Phillies lineup brought out their heavy lumber peppering Diamondbacks’ starter Dan Haren for 3 homers and reliever Juan Gutierrez for another.  Rightfielder Jayson Werth had a multi-homer game, his fifth inning shot to centerfield followed back-to-back behind 1st baseman Ryan Howard’s 3 run shot to left centerfield, his 5th dinger in 6 games as Lee and 4 Homers led the Phillies past Arizona by an 8-1 score in game 2 of their 3 game series.

With the win, the Phils upped their lead in the NL East division race over 2nd place Florida, who lost, to 5 1/2 games.  The Atlanta Braves remained 6 1/2 games back in 3rd place after pounding New York.  The Mets dropped to 13 1/2 games back in 4th place.

Phillies Nation’s Amanda Orr recaps another sterling performance by Cliff Lee and a Phillies offensive outburst:

All 45,356 rose to their feet anticipating the final out of Cliff Lee’s complete game. With the Phillies 8-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, Lee has won seven consecutive games.

With Lee and Dan Haren on the mound, the game was expected to be a pitchers’ duel. Lee did his part, but the Phillies rocked Haren. Normally, the Diamondbacks play shaky defense, but all six runs that Haren allowed were earned.

After a couple missed opportunities in the first two innings, the Phillies got on the board in the third on Chase Utley’s two-run home run. With the homer, the Phillies now have four players with at least 25 home runs: Howard (31), Werth (27), [Raul] Ibanez (27), and Utley (25).

In the fourth inning, the Diamondbacks manufactured a run without a hit.  Ryan Roberts grounded to Pedro Feliz, but the ball went under his glove for a two-base error. Roberts moved to third on a grounder to the right side of the infield, and Stephen Drew’s sacrifice fly put the D-backs on the board. The perfect game and shutout ended, but Lee still had the no-hitter working.

For the second time in four starts, Lee took a no-hitter into the sixth inning.  Chad Tracy broke up the no-hit bid on a line drive up the middle.

The Indians did not provide Lee with much run support, but he received plenty tonight. Ryan Howard’s opposite field, three-run homer gave the Phillies a 5-1 lead. Before the Liberty Bell could stop ringing and the fans could sit down, Jayson Werth took the first pitch deep off the ivy in center field. Werth homered again in the seventh inning.

As he stepped into the batter’s box in the eighth, fans knew that Lee would be attempting the complete game. After a big hack on the first pitch, Lee dribbled a hit down the third base line. Mark Reynolds hoped it would roll foul, but Lee hustled out the single. It was his second hit of the night; the same amount of hits he allowed.

Lee struck out 11 batters, tying a career high. He improved to 4-0 and lowered his ERA to 0.82 with the Phillies. His complete game is his second with the Phillies, and fifth of the season. The only run he allowed was unearned, and he did not walk a batter. Lee has gone at least seven innings in each… of his starts with the Phillies.

Lee’s line for the game was 106 pitches, 1 run, 2 hits, no walks and 11 strikeouts. His era is 0.82 with the Phillies and 2.86 overall.  And get this stat; Phillies pitchers have not walked a batter in eighteen innings and have not allowed a homer in 17 innings.

Haren went five innings throwing 90 pitches and allowing 6 runs on 9 hits while walking 1 and striking out 6.  The Arizona bullpen gave up 2 runs on 4 hits over the final three innings.

AP Sports Writer Rob Maaddi reports for Yahoo sports:

Werth has seven career multihomer games, including two this season. 

The only negatives on this game; Howard struck out 2 more times, as his strikeout count continues to rise, and Raul Ibanez struck out 3 times, he’s struck out 15 in his last 9 games.

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

The Phils go after a sweep of Arizona in Thursday’s series final as Joe Blanton is opposed by lefthander Doug Davis for the D-backs.

After the Phils close out their brief homestand with the final against Arizona, they head to New York for a 4 game series on Friday through Monday with the Mets who could wash away their season totally by falling further behind the Phillies.

For all of Thursday’s games, click here.

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |

Newly acquired Phillies  lefthander Cliff Lee provided another ace-worthy performance on Thursday and 1st baseman Ryan Howard broke a career-worst 14 game homer-less string with a none out, 3 run fourth inning leftfield homer off of Chicago starter Ryan Dempster.  3rd baseman Pedro Feliz added a solo shot to left in the fourth to stake Lee to a 4-0 lead.  Lee got into a little trouble in the fifth as the Cubs scored their only run and his pitch count mounted.  But from there, Lee breezed through the next three innings. The Phils added single runs in the sixth and seventh innings and reliever Ryan Madson shut the lights on the Cubs in the ninth.  Lee was again masterful as Howard and Feliz homered and the Phillies swept the Cubs winning by a 6-1 score.

With the sweep win, the Phils’ NL East division lead over Florida is back up to 4 1/2 games with the Marlin’s win on Thursday over Houston.  The  Atlanta Braves, who have the day off, remain in 3rd place 5 games back while the Mets, also off on Thursday, dropped to 12 games back in 4th place.

Lee, who won his 3rd straight game as a Phillie, again gave up a single run as the Phils swept the Cubs in Wrigley Field for the 1st time since 1984.  Lee threw a lot of pitches; 122 to be exact.  Here’s another important stat on Lee; 3 games, 24 innings, no homeruns.  And he’s helped out with the stick as well getting a couple of hits since coming to the Phils.  Today, he led off the fifth inning with a double but was stranded as Dempster retired shortstop Jimmy Rollins, centerfielder Shane Victorino and 2nd baseman  Chase Utley to retire the side.

Phillies Nations’ Ben Seal provided the recap on this one:

For a few brief moments it appeared that Cliff Lee’s stretch of brilliant pitching with the Phillies might be in jeopardy. His pitch count was rising in the bottom of the fifth inning as  Ryan Theriot knocked a run-scoring single, and Lee looked like he might not be able to last much longer.

Those moments faded quickly, though, as Lee kept his composure to finish the inning, then breezed through three more frames on his way to another sterling effort. Lee allowed just the one run and struck out eight batters over 8 innings…

With each start Lee continues to settle into his new role as ace of a World Series contender, showing that last year’s Cy Young campaign was no fluke. His effort today, lasting deep into the game to preserve a tired bullpen, moves his record to 3-0 with a miniscule 1.13 ERA in three starts with the Phillies.

Lee and Cubs’ starter Ryan Dempster traded zeros for three innings, but the Phils got to the righty in the fourth. Shane Victorino led off with a single and Chase Utley drew a walk to bring up the big guy. He didn’t disappoint. Howard poked a lazy changeup deep to the opposite field, breaking a career-long streak of 14 games without a long ball and giving the Phils a 3-0 lead. Three batters later Pedro Feliz turned on an inside pitch and sent a line drive over the ivy in left to tack on a run. On a windy day with the flags whipping around the outfield, it took two very hard-hit balls to clear the fence.

Just as he did in his first two starts in a new uniform, Lee baffled another batch of National League hitters once he had a lead. His control wasn’t flawless, as he allowed three walks to go with six hits, but he had no trouble retiring batters with runners on base. Even the wandering strike zone of umpire Mark Carlson – who seemed to move the zone with each new batter – couldn’t stand in the way of Lee’s sharp fastball-changeup combination.

The Phillies added insurance runs in the sixth and seventh to guarantee the sweep. Howard walked, then stole second cleanly and scored on Feliz’s grounder through the infield in the sixth. An inning later Utley singled home Victorino after the centerfielder reached on a bloop double, making the score 6-1.

Ryan Madson entered to pitch the ninth and struck out two batters to secure the win for Lee. After another 8 innings of one-run ball, it was a well-deserved win for the Phillies new ace.

The Phillies keep platooning outfielders Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez and and Ben Francisco.  This time it was Ibanez’s turn to sit Francisco started in leftfield.  This is an option which manager Charley Manuel didn’t have 2 weeks ago,

The Phillies last sweep at Wrigley Field was between June 14-17, 1984, when they won four straight.  The Cubs of 1984 went on to win the NL East before losing the NLCS to the San Diego Padres.  Interesting to note: In Lee’s 24 homer-less innings as a Phil, Paul Bako appears to be his designated catcher ala “Lefty” Steve Carlton in his early years with the Phillies when Tim McCarver served in that role.

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

The Phillies next head to Altanta for a 3 game weekend series.  In Friday’s opener, Joe Blanton, who has strung together a number of fine performances although he has not always been blessed with offensive support, takes the mound opposed by Jair Jurrjens.

In Saturday’s game 2, lefthander Cole Hamels is opposed by 34 year old rookie Japanese starter Kenshin Kawakami.

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

Add to:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. | del.icio.us | digg | Furl | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |