Pat Burrell had hit 251 home runs up to this year, and obviously hadn't hit any against a team with "Philadelphia" tagged in front of its team name, since drafted 1st overall by the team in 1998. Up until now.
Burrell blasted a 2-run homer in the 2nd inning of the Phillies-Rays World Series rematch from last year, at Tropicana Field, scoring Carlos Pena and giving the Rays (not to be confused with the "Devil Rays" of extinction, formerly) an early lead that would bulster. The wheels came off in the bottom of the 8th when middle reliever JC Romero gave up 4 hits, a walk & a hit batter in his outing.
Jimmy Rollins continued to struggle with the bat. He went 0-4 tonight, lowering his average, to .211- barely over the mendoza line. He'll look for another chance to pick his game up, tomorrow night vs. Andy Sonnanstine.
INJURY UPDATE: (All Caps are necessary) Brad Lidge will return tomorrow and is expected to be called up. Is John Mayberry back down or do you think they will keep him on the ballclub, even with Lidge back and Rollins struggling? Lidge has been on the 15-day disabled list, as of June 7th.
On another note, Scott Eyre will be expected to return in 7-10 days, after being sidelined since June 12th with a strained left calf. Lidge is and Eyre is 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA in 25 appearences this year with the Phillies.
Tough Cookie- Joe Blanton came through with a tremendous outing tonight- going 7 innings, giving up 2 ERs & punching out 10 batters, getting little run support from his offense and going deep, despite getting the loss. Previously, in 4 starts this month, Blanton posted a 1-0 record with a 3.58 ERA in that time span.
Phillies will look to take 2 out of 3 in this series, with rookie young gun Antonio Bastardo on the mound, vs. Andy Sonnanstine for Tampa Bay. First pitch is 7:08 pm ET Here are the splits & stats for both starters tomorrow night.
W-L ERA IP K BB WHIP
Bastardo 2-2 5.21 19 15 5 1.26
Sonnanstine 5-7 6.60 97 43 21 1.55
Key- W-L (Wins, Losses), ERA (Earned Run Average), IP (Innings Pitched), K (Strikeouts), BB (Walks)
WHIP (Walks + Hits/Innings Pitched)
Hopefully the Phightins can channel some of their hitting against Sonnanstine's inbalanced numbers & mechanics, from so far this season.
FLASHBACK
...I'd like to try something new with this blog, even if it's only two entries in, separated by a month and a half....I'll post a flashback statistic related to or about the Phillies, past, present or future, or will post media of the team for your viewing pleasure, as best as I can....
-This Weeks Clips
Phillies phans (that are older then myself), remember this? NLCS Coverage, 1983 on WPHL- Harry & Whitey, Take it Away! But will we FINALLY win one this year? (the 1980 mindset......should be like that every year for each Phils team)..
Harry Calls It, But Can They Do It Again???
More to come......
My Sources: Youtube & WPHL Previous Recordings
-Today In Phillies History:
1986- Steve Carlton is released by the Phillies, eventually retiring and going into the HOF as a Phillie
-Happy Birthday
-Happy Birthday OF George Vukovich- Turns 53 today
Question For The Fans:
How many Phillies players will make it to the 80th annual MLB All-Star Game in St. Louis this year (including the one vote Charlie, the manager of the team gets0?
Cheers, and "I'm Outta Here"
Kyle- SportsPhanatic
Keywords: Philies 80th MLB All Star Game Joe Blanton 1980 Mike Schmidt
