Article:Belated Phils/Mets Recap

A belated rundown of the Phillies vist to Shea stadium this past week.

First: The good.

The Phillies went to NY and spoiled the Mets home opener with a 5-2 win, leaving 13 runners on base along the way. Despite the win, I still remain concerned about these high LOB numbers. However, that number is mitigated by pushing five runs across.

Jamie Moyer had a pretty good outing, going six innings and giving up two runs. Pitching like that can carry a team. Especially when the bullpen doesn't give up any further runs.

Next: The bad.

The Phillies were so wretched (4 errors) in their 8-2 loss to the Mets, the New York Times opined that the Phillies looked like the Mets in that game. The LOB was nine this time.

This number was overshadowed by Kyle Kendrick's troubling pitching line. Most notably: 2 1/3 IP, 7 Runs (1 earned!), 6 walks and 0 strikeouts. I like Kendrick and think he has the potential to be a good pitcher. But we need to see that now.

Game three ended in a 4-3 Phillies loss in 12 innings. Sucks to lose game like that, after so much time and so many innings invested. Back to hideous LOB numbers: 13 in this one. Maybe I'm making too much out of this, but it bugs me that the Phillies get baserunners and strand them.

Adam Eaton again turns in a workmanlike pitching performance, giving up 3 earned runs over 6 innings, walking 2 and striking out 5. Too bad he couldn't get a win for this performance. I feel a little better about Kendrick's struggles seeing these numbers.

So two losses to division rival Mets and 35 runners left on base. How quickly optimism is replaced by pessimism. But the season is young - I'll stick around and see how this thing turns out.

Originally Posted on  southjersey-stillers-phillies.blogspot.com on April 12th.