5/1/13
Welcome back to interleague baseball. The Phillies get to
travel to the city that’s known for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The
Phillies swept a series against the New York Mets this past weekend. The
Indians have not been a good baseball team since 2007. As of now, they STILL
are a bad baseball team. However, they have a more potent lineup than in years
past. Asdrubal Cabrera is a talented shortstop, but is having a slow start to
the season. Carlos Santana (not the singer) is having a red hot April leading
the team with a .386 batting average. Mark Reynolds is having a productive
April as he leads the Indians with seven homeruns and 20 RBI’s. Jason Kipnis is
a part of the Indians young core that is off to a slow start to the season. For
the Phillies, Michael Young is off to a fantastic start leading the Phillies
with a .352 batting average. Chase Utley is having a great April as he leads
the Phillies with four homeruns and 18 RBI’s. Ryan Howard is also off to a good
start hitting .286 with three homeruns and 16 RBI’s. This offseason, The
Indians traded Shin Soo Choo to the Cincinnati Reds for Drew Stubbs. That trade
was a change of scenery trade since the Indians couldn’t afford to keep Choo
beyond this season and Stubbs just needs a change. Another addition this
offseason was the hiring of Terry Francona as manager of the Indians. He
replaced Manny Acta. The three players that used to be on the Phillies, Brett
Myers, Lou Marson, and Michael Bourn will not play in this series because they
are on the 15-Day disabled list. The Phillies activated Delmon Young off the
15-Day disabled list and will bat fifth in the lineup as the team’s designated
hitter. Nick Swisher will not play for the Indians due to a sore left shoulder.
Jason Giambi will start as the Indians’ designated hitter while Mark Reynolds
replaces Swisher at first base. Roy Halladay will start for the Phillies as he
continues to look like the Halladay of old, but with a reinvented look. Halladay
has lost speed on all of his pitches, especially his fastball and cutter, and now
has to rely on location to have successful outings. Zach McAllister will start
for the Indians. Will Halladay continue to pitch well against a patient hitting
Indians? Will the Phillies be patient at the plate since McAllister is known
for having control problems?
Halladay just flat out stunk last night. No it was not his
velocity as was the case early in April, but it was the command of his pitches.
The Indians hit five two-run homeruns and two solo homeruns. Santana, Reynolds,
Lonnie Chisenhall, and Michael Brantley hit two-run homeruns. Ryan Raburn had
two homeruns in the game. One was a two-run homerun and the other was a solo
homerun. Stubbs hit the final homerun in the game. Cabrera hit a two-run RBI
single and that’s how the Indians got their 14 runs.
The Phillies also scored all of their runs by the long ball.
Delmon Young in his first at bat with the Phillies hit a homerun, and Utley hit
a solo homerun. That was the only runs they scored last night.
McAllister pitched surprisingly well. He pitched seven solid
innings, allowed five hits, two runs, one walk, and struck out four batters. Matt
Albers and Nick Hagadone pitched the final two innings. Hagadone allowed two
walks.
Overall, this was a game to forget for Halladay. His pitches
were up in the strike zone and the Indians feasted off of Halladay’s cutter.
His cutter was thrown right down the middle of the plate to the Indians’ hitters
like it was batting practice. The bullpen didn’t help either as Chad Durbin,
and Raul Valdes stunk up the joint. Both of them allowed a combined six runs.
The only reliever for the Phillies that was unscathed was Phillippe Aumont. Maybe
next game, the Phillies can play homerun derby in Cleveland.
Was this game a blip
in the radar for the Phillies? Sound off and stay tuned for the next game as
Cliff Lee takes the mound for the Phillies and Trevor Bauer starts for the
Indians.
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