Sunday, May 29, 2011
Posted: 4:12 p.m.Updated: 5:45 p.m.
By John R. Finger
CSNPhilly.com
BOX SCORE
NEW YORKThings had been going the Phillies way a lot lately. Starting with the 19-inning victory over the Reds last week, followed by a game where pitcher Cliff Lee was the hitting star, as well as the back-to-back comeback wins over the Mets, the Phillies could not lose.
So with four wins in a row and five out of the last six, manager Charlie Manuel decided to mix it up a little on Sunday afternoon. He gave Ryan Howard and Chase Utley the day off against lefty starter Jon Niese and posted a lineup on the dry-erase board in the visitors clubhouse at CitiField that featured five players that were not on an Opening Day roster in 2010.
John Mayberry got his first big league start at first base, Raul Ibanez batted cleanup and Rule 5-guy Michael Martinez started in center field. With Vance Worley on the mound, the line about Manuels lineup was that he was skippering the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Sunday afternoon.
Perhaps after the 9-5 loss to the struggling Mets, there was something to that idea.
MLB
The Mets scored four in the first inning and four more in the second to dispel any notion of a third straight late-inning rally and salvage a win in the three-game series.
The object is to win the series, so in that regard it was successful, said Jimmy Rollins after the defeat sent the Phillies record to 33-20. Heading into Sunday, the Phillies led the Florida Marlins by two games in the NL East.
Meanwhile, the Mets had their way with the rookie Worley. Seven of the eight runs against the righthander came with two outs, while three more came in the first after a rare error by Rollins. It was after that error that Worley seemed to come unhinged.
He was up, manager Charlie Manuel said of his young pitcher. It looked like he had a hard time getting going. He didnt have a good command of the strike zone and was leaving them out in what I like to call the big part of the plate and he got hurt.
Certainly Worley is still finding his way as a big league pitcher. In his last three starts, including one for Triple A Lehigh Valley, Worley has completed just 11 innings. After his last start, a five-inning stint in the 6-3 defeat to the Reds, the 23 year old complained of some tiredness. It seemed as if bouncing from the rotation, to a bullpen role and then back to the rotation over the span of 10 days tuckered the young man out.
Worley had hoped two bullpen sessions between his starts would help regain some of the missing stamina. However, the three-inning, 71-pitch outing likely did not help Worley build his strength. Worse, he became just the second Phillies pitcher in the past 75 years to allow 12 hits in just three innings or fewer. Mike Mimbs was the other in 1996.
I felt good, Worley said. The last couple of bullpens went well and everything was working the way I wanted it to in the bullpen. When I got out there it wasnt there.
Interestingly, of Worleys 71 pitches, the Mets swung and missed only three pitches.
Still, even when they were down by a lot of runs early, there was a sense that the Phillies were far from out of it. After all, they have been very creative in rallying to win game this season and even an eight-run deficit didnt seem too foreboding.
We understood that its a long way to go and if we chip away here and there and get some runs, a good team is going to go on a run, Rollins said. We were able to put up some runs late, but I spotted them three extra runs.
Up next
The Phillies head toWashington for a three-game set with the last-place Nationals beginningMonday afternoon. Roy Halladay (6-3, 2.35) is slated to pitch theopener against Nats ace Livan Hernandez (3-6, 3.71). Halladay hasdefeated the Nationals twice already this season and is 10-1 with a2.01 ERA in 14 career appearances against them.
Cliff Lee (4-4,3.50) is set to face Jason Marquis (5-2, 4.26) on Tuesday night withRoy Oswalt (3-2, 2.60) on the schedule to face lefty John Lannan (2-5,4.40) in Wednesdays series finale.
After Thursdays off datethe Phillies first since May 12the club heads to Pittsburgh for three games.E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com