Phillies Crushed In Colorado

GAME RECAP: Rockies Rock Phillies 11-2

National League Final Vote candidate Trevor Story launched his 20th and 21st home runs to tie the NL rookie record before the All-Star break, and his four RBIs led the Rockies to an 11-2 victory over the Phillies at Coors Field on Thursday night. Dave Kingman (1972) and Albert Pujols (2001) also hit 21 before the All-Star break as rookies. Story has three more games against the Phillies to eclipse that number. "It's good to see him swinging the bat," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "He really hit those two balls tonight. He had a great at-bat with the walk. He's done that a few times here recently. Unbelievable first half. What a way to start the career." The Rockies jumped on the board early, scoring in four of Phillies starter Adam Morgan's five frames. Nolan Arenado hit an RBI double in the first and Mark Reynolds homered to lead off the second before Story hit a three-run homer in the third and a solo shot in the fifth. Colorado added five more in the seventh off Edubray Ramos on singles by DJ LeMahieu and Brandon Barnes and a three-run double by Reynolds. Rockies starter Chad Bettis had his best start and second quality start since May 17. He held the Phillies to two runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings with five strikeouts and one walk. Ryan Howard homered off him to right-center in the second and drove in Maikel Franco two innings later on a single to left. "I think all-around it was a great team win," Bettis said. "Honestly, I think we got our offense back and for the most part did our job as a pitching staff. I think I could've been a little bit better in the sense of executing a couple pitches to Howard, but that's part of baseball."

PHILS PHACTS:

• Morgan hardly had an easy assignment, rejoining the rotation at Coors as the team skipped Aaron Nola's turn to give him a mental break. Morgan allowed nine hits, six runs and three homers in five innings. He has allowed 16 homers in 66 1/3 innings. His 2.17 home runs per nine inning rate is second in baseball among pitchers with at least 60 innings, behind only Kansas City's Chris Young (3.90 homers per nine innings). The Phillies optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after the game. "Lately, it hasn't been fun," Morgan said. "I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself. And this break coming up, I feel like will be good. And also going down there and being able to work on things and not feel so much pressure ... like I said, it can only go up from here."
• Howard had one of his finest moments at Coors, hitting a two-out double to score two runs in the ninth inning in Game 4 of the 2009 NL Division Series. The hit tied the game as the Phillies took the lead one batter later. Howard homered in the second inning Thursday for his 369th career homer, moving him into 78th place on the all-time list with Ralph Kiner and Todd Helton.
• The Phillies are expected to activate right-hander Andrew Bailey from the disabled list Friday. He has been on the 15-day disabled list since June 23 with a strained left hamstring.
• Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard homered Thursday. He entered the series hitting .306 (44-for-144) with nine doubles, one triple, nine home runs, 31 RBIs and a .936 OPS in 36 career games, including the postseason, at Coors.
• Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon entered Thursday hitting .318 since coming off the DL on April 29.

NEXT GAME:

Rockies shortstop Trevor Story will know if he has made the National League All-Star team as the winner of the Final Vote a few hours before Friday night's game against the Phillies at Coors Field. Story entered Friday narrowly in third place behind the Pirates' Starling Marte and the Giants' Brandon Belt in a close race. Either way, Story will face Phillies right-hander Vince Velasquez (7-2, 3.34 ERA). Velasquez missed much of June because of a strained right biceps, but he has more wins this season than any Phillies pitcher had in 2015. Velasquez duels Rockies right-hander Jon Gray (5-4, 4.81). He is 3-0 with a 5.05 ERA at home, and it's his first time facing the Phillies.

PHILS PHACTS:

Back Up, Back Down – Phillies left-hander Adam Morgan emerged from Pete Mackanin's office nearly 40 minutes after the final out of Thursday's 11-2 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field. Morgan had just been optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, but he also had a long talk with Mackanin and pitching coach Bob McClure about everything that has gone wrong this season and everything that needs to go right to have another opportunity to pitch with the Phillies. Morgan allowed nine hits, six runs and three home runs in five innings and fell to 1-7 with a 6.65 ERA. "It was the truth and I needed to hear it," Morgan said. "They shot me straight, which is all you can ask for as a player. My point of view right now is I can only go up from here." Morgan has allowed 16 home runs in 66 1/3 innings. His 2.17 home runs per nine innings average is second in baseball among pitchers with at least 60 innings, behind only Kansas City's Chris Young (3.90 homers per nine innings). It also is more than half a homer more than he averaged last season, when he went 5-7 with a more respectable 4.48 ERA in 16 starts. "I've been making a lot of mistakes," Morgan said. "I haven't been making any excuses, but I just need to get better." He also needs to clear his mind. "Lately, it hasn't been fun," Morgan said. "I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself. And this break coming up, I feel like will be good. And also going down there and being able to work on things and not feel so much pressure … like I said, it can only go up from here." Morgan's season has not gone according to plan. He pitched well in Spring Training, but narrowly lost the No. 5 starter's competition to Vince Velasquez, who is 7-2 with a 3.34 ERA. Morgan started the season in Triple-A, but joined the rotation in April when Charlie Morton suffered a season-ending hamstring injury. He struggled and got bumped to the bullpen late last month when Velasquez rejoined the rotation after spending some time on the disabled list. Morgan got the call to pitch in place of Aaron Nola, whose turn in the rotation got skipped Thursday in an effort to clear his mind after his own recent struggles. Morgan will join the IronPigs' rotation. He hopes to remain a starter, although he acknowledges he is open to anything if it means an opportunity in the big leagues. Morgan has some people rooting for him. In fact, Mackanin explained why he and McClure had such an unusually long postgame conversation with him. "Bob McClure and I really like this guy," Mackanin said. "We know he's a fighter. We know how much it means to him. He's sincere and dedicated and he's a very likable guy. We're trying to give him as much positive reinforcement, but at the same time let him know what he needs to do to become successful." Phillies right-hander Andrew Bailey is expected to be activated before Friday's game, taking Morgan's spot on the roster. He has been on the DL since late last month with a strained left hamstring.

Bullpen Boost – The Phillies have at least a couple of roster moves coming this weekend. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said before Thursday night's 11-2 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field that he expects right-hander Andrew Bailey to be activated from the 15-day disabled list before Friday night's game. Bailey has been on the DL since June 23 with a strained left hamstring. Left-hander Daniel Stumpf is expected to be activated Sunday. He is finishing an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug that first gained notoriety with East German athletes in the 1960s. "I don't think the players, I don't think they're going to be standoff-ish to him," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "He said he didn't know he was taking anything, so you've got to give him the benefit of the doubt. It's not like he knew that he was cheating on purpose. I don't see any issues there. Maybe I'm wrong." Asked if he feels for a player that will lose his job to Stumpf, knowing he tested positive for PEDs, Mackanin said, "Once again, I have to assume that he didn't know anything. If I knew for a fact that he consciously did that … I wouldn't be happy with it. But I give him the benefit of the doubt."

Where’s Kevin Millar? – Carlos Ruiz loves the cowboy lifestyle. He owns a ranch with horses and cattle back in his native Panama, and anybody that has seen his Instagram account (carlos_ruiz_rios) has seen his affinity for horses and cowboy attire. That passion prompted him to purchase cowboy hats for the Phillies to wear on their trip Wednesday from Philadelphia to Denver. Teammates posted numerous photos of their getups to social media. "It was a great day," Ruiz said before Thursday's 11-2 loss against the Rockies at Coors Field. "We played real good baseball [in a 4-3 victory over Atlanta]. It was a hell of a game. Then everybody was happy wearing the cowboy hats. It was something different. We try to get everybody to relax, you know? Everybody enjoyed it." Ruiz got a cowboy hat during the team's recent trip to Arizona, which triggered the idea to have everybody wear them. "Other guys were saying that they liked it," Ruiz said. Ruiz asked Phillies left-hander Adam Morgan if he should buy one for everybody. Morgan said yes. Ruiz later approached manager Pete Mackanin to see if he would wear one. "I don't like clown hats," Mackanin said. "I don't want that stuff." But cowboy hats are cool, so he agreed to wear one. Ruiz also asked Mackanin about relaxing the dress code for the flight. Team personnel have to wear dress shirts and dress pants when flying, but, hey, cowboys wear jeans, right? So Mackanin gave everybody the OK to wear jeans, tying the ensemble together nicely. Of course, it was just a normal outfit for Ruiz, who occasionally rides horses in the offseason. "When I retire, I'll have plenty of time to do that every day," Ruiz said.

Today In Phils History – In 1898, Red Donahue threw the 2^nd no hitter in franchise history. When Gavvy Cravath was named as, the recently fired, Jack Coombs replacement at the helm in 1919 the players staged a near mutiny. 5 year later, the Phillies split a 26 inning double header against Cincinnati without committing a single error. In 1934, Euel Moore became the only member of the Chickasaw Nation to appear in MLB pitching the Phillies to victory. Schoolboy Rowe, being the last player to enter the All Star game for the NL in 1947 became the first player to appear in the mid-summer classic for both leagues. 5 years later, Curt Simmons leads the NL to victory in the All Star game in front of his home crowd. In 1992, hits his 3^rd pinch hit homerun of the year tying the Phillies rookie record. During a rain delay in Colorado in 2007, the entire Phillies bench assisted the ground crew in covering the field during the windy storm the karma from which helped in their victory once the game resumed. 4 years later, Juan Perez struck out the side in the 10^th inning on 9 pitches becoming the first player to achieve the extra inning feat since 1923.  

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 40-47 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 44-51-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record.

The Wait Is Over For Billingsley

GAME RECAP: Phillies Dodge Dodgers 7-2

In a four-game series between the Dodgers and Phillies that doubles as a reunion tour, it was Chad Billingsley's turn to beat his old mates in a 7-2 win for Philadelphia at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night. One night after Jimmy Rollins knocked in the go-ahead RBIs against his old club, Billingsley, a Dodger for eight seasons, earned his first win since April 10, 2013. He threw six innings, allowing six hits and two runs, while striking out three. His lone mistake was serving up a two-run homer to All-Star catcher Yasmani Grandal in the sixth. "It's been a long road," Billingsley said. "I was pretty excited to be back out there today, being a familiar atmosphere. There were a lot of emotions." Brett Anderson had a three-start winning streak snapped in the loss for Los Angeles. He lasted five innings and tied a season-high by allowing four runs, three of which were earned. It was just the second time in his last 10 starts that Anderson did not last at least six innings. "I was OK with Brett," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "He ended up with a lot of pitches, but I didn't feel like he got knocked around. There were a couple dribblers. I would've sent him back out there [in the sixth] if we didn't get into that hole there."

OTHER NOTES FROM THE DAY:

• Billingsley had arguably his best start since recovering from a pair of right elbow surgeries the last two years, including Tommy John surgery in April 2013. The Phillies needed a quality start from him, too. It was just the sixth time in the last 21 games a Phillies starter pitched six or more innings, giving the bullpen a rare breather.
• The Phillies got on the board early without a hit leaving the infield. Ben Revere beat out a grounder up the middle and stole second base. After a flyout and a walk, Justin Turner threw away a potentially inning-ending out on a grounder to third, and another infield single up the middle allowed Revere to score. "Chopped infield hits and swinging bunts, I give up a lot of those," Anderson said. "It's frustrating but at least they mishit those balls instead of squaring them up like [Jeff] Francoeur did."
• Phillies outfielders entered the game with the second-lowest OPS (.568) in baseball, but they enjoyed a good night. Jeff Francoeur hit a two-run double in the third and homered in the seventh. Domonic Brown had two outfield assists in the first two innings. He also knocked in a run and scored a run. Revere singled and scored in the first and knocked in two runs in the sixth. "I tell you what set the tone for a good feeling were Brown's two assists," Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin said about the assists that came in the first two innings. "That was huge."
• In the fifth inning, the Dodgers challenged the ruling on the field that Rollins was out on a grounder to lead off the inning. Darin Ruf fielded the grounder and flipped to Billingsley, who reached the base an instant before Rollins. The call on the field was confirmed after a review.
• "Yeah, it was weird. When I was out at second base, I was talking to Jimmy, he was like, 'Man, it's weird seeing you in a Phillies uniform and vice versa.' I was like, 'Yeah, it's a little different.' But it's fun." -- Billingsley, on pitching against his former team, one night after Rollins beat his former team with a hit.
• Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez went 1-for-4 to extend his career-high hitting streak to 12 games. He is hitting .451 (23-for-51) with seven multi-hit games during the streak.

NEXT GAME:

The Phillies like what they have seen so far from left-hander Adam Morgan, who pitches Wednesday night at 10:10 p.m. ET against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. He allowed five hits and two runs last weekend in Atlanta, which was enough to give him a longer look in the Phillies' rotation. Clayton Kershaw takes the mound in his final start before the All-Star break. Kershaw is one of the five candidates for the 2015 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote in the National League. Kershaw has a 1.78 ERA in his last eight starts, but is 3-3 in that span.

PHILS PHACTS:

Getting Back On Track – Chad Billingsley needed this maybe more than the Phillies needed this. Then again, maybe not. Billingsley enjoyed arguably his best start since recovering from a pair of right elbow surgeries in Tuesday night's 7-2 victory over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Billingsley, who spent the first eight years of his career with the Dodgers, allowed six hits, two runs, one walk and struck out three in six innings against his former team to pick up his first win since April 10, 2013. "It's been a long road," Billingsley said. "I was pretty excited to be back out there today, being a familiar atmosphere. There were a lot of emotions." His efforts gave the Phillies' bullpen a rare break. It was just the sixth time in the past 21 games a Phillies starter pitched six innings. But it also gave Billingsley some positive results following Tommy John surgery in April 2013 and flexor tendon surgery in June 2014, which limited him to just 12 innings the previous two seasons. Billingsley went 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in his first three starts this season before he landed on the disabled list with a strained right shoulder. He returned Thursday against Milwaukee, but allowed 10 hits and seven runs in five innings. "It's been a long journey and hopefully I've got more to come," Billingsley said about earning the win. "There were times where you're like, 'I don't know if I'm going to ever pitch again.' And like, 'I don't know how my arm's going to feel once I get back to throwing.' I just concentrated on doing my rehab and getting my work in and strengthening up the shoulder and my elbow and here I am today." The Phillies are desperate for quality starting pitching, so Billingsley pitched well at the right time. He got some help. Phillies right fielder Domonic Brown doubled up Justin Turner at first base for an inning-ending double play in the first. Brown then threw out Yasmani Grandal at third for the first out in the second. The only mistake Billingsley made came in the sixth when he allowed a two-run homer to Grandal to the cut the lead to 6-2. "I was so pumped for Chad," said Jeff Francoeur, who went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and three RBIs. "I know how it is, when I went back to Atlanta the first few times and how nervous I was. To think that his whole career was here, so for him to come out and do the things he did tonight was huge." Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin agreed. "That was the kind of performance we were hoping to get out of Billingsley," he said. "And it's only his second start since the rehab [assignment], so we're really happy with that. He probably could have gone back out there, but I didn't want anything to spoil a positive outing for him."

Tick Tock – The clock is ticking on the Phillies with the July 31 Trade Deadline just around the corner. But Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Tuesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium that the organization is not feeling pressured to trade anybody. Of course, that might be posturing on his part, but he said the Phillies will not be forced into a trade. "If it's going to do something to help our club long-term, yes," Amaro said. "But do we need to do something? I don't think so." Amaro paused for a moment. "I would like to do something," he said. Of course, he would. The Phillies are on pace to lose 109 games and trading Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon and other veterans could kick the organization's rebuilding efforts into a different gear. But depending on who is talking, either the Phillies are making unreasonable demands for their players, or contending teams are offering mid-range prospects for one of the top starting pitchers and top closers in baseball. "We've debated here internally about when is the greatest value of some of these players, a number of them," said Amaro, indicating the Phillies could wait to trade until the offseason. "When does that player become the most valuable asset? Again, a lot of it depends on who's going to step up, and who's going to satisfy some of the things that we're trying to do in a trade. If someone does, and we feel like it's the right thing to do, we'll do it. If not then we won't." So are they being lowballed? "They have their evaluations on our players," Amaro said. "I don't think it's an issue of lowballing. I think it's an issue of, like when we were in a buyers mode, trying to figure out what's best for the organization. What's best for each one of those organizations. They have to value what they want and how they want to proceed. That's really up to them."

Getting Closer – The Phillies named Triple-A right-hander David Buchanan their Saturday starter vs. the Giants. They said they never considered Triple-A right-hander Aaron Nola, who is the organization's top pitching prospect. But it sure sounds as if Nola will be in the big leagues before the end of the month. "He's getting closer," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Tuesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. "At some point after the All-Star break, yeah." Of course, that could mean anytime between July 17 and the end of the regular season, but Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin said he expects more changes to the rotation following the All-Star break. That could mean injured right-handers Jerome Williams and Aaron Harang rejoin the team, but with Cole Hamels expected to be traded before the July 31 Trade Deadline it almost certainly means Nola, too. "We have a plan in place, and we'll execute it," Amaro said. "We have a good thought about when he's going to be pitching for us." The Phillies outrighted right-hander Sean O'Sullivan following Monday's 10-7 loss to the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. They recalled right-hander Hector Neris to take his place on the roster. Neris will help in the bullpen until Saturday, when Buchanan will be added. The Phillies also designated right-hander Kevin Correia for assignment. Rookie right-hander Severino Gonzalez will pitch in his place Thursday. Of course, Gonzalez has not exactly pitched well. He is 3-2 with an 8.28 ERA in six starts. He has not pitched more than 5 1/3 innings in any of those starts. The inability to pitch six or more innings has been a big problem for the rotation. "I would rather give the young man an opportunity," Amaro said, explaining the difference between Correia and Gonzalez. "He's throwing better. His stuff's better. I'd rather give the young man an opportunity to do it at this stage of the game and see how he fares." "It's time to do something. It's past [time]," Mackanin said. "We're happy about getting something changed, I am at least. We got a fresh arm in the bullpen, which is huge. I don't like to keep starters on the field longer than they should, but we've been forced to do that. So we'll see. Hopefully we'll get Williams healthy and Harang healthy. Now Seve. There probably will be more changes down the road. So down the road, just get through the All-Star break and regroup, start over." The Phillies also promoted Double-A Reading left-hander Jesse Biddle to Triple-A. He will pitch Wednesday night.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are starting the season as expected and are now at the bottom of the NL east at 29-57. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and performance so far this season, this could end up being the worst team in franchise history! All time, the Phillies are 44-51-0 on this day.