Thursday, May 19, 2011
Posted: 10:05 p.m.Updated: May 20, 12:32 a.m.
By Jim Salisbury
CSNPhilly.com
BOX SCORE
It was almost like turn-the-clock-back night at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday night. Kyle Kendrick was back in the Phillies rotation and Jason Giambi swung the bat like the juiced-up behemoth he used to be.
Kendrick, relegated to the bullpen after the Phillies signed Cliff Lee and were unable to trade Joe Blanton in the off-season, found out he would be replacing the injured Blanton about 25 minutes before game time.
He got in some quick warmups then found himself on the receiving end of a couple of mammoth home runs by Giambi, the former American League MVP who admitted to using steroids in his prime.
Giambi actually hit three home runs and drove in all of Colorados runs in a 7-1 shellacking of the Phillies. Now a part-time player, Giambi, 40, became the fourth player in big-league history to homer three times in a game in his 40s. The others: Babe Ruth, Stan Musial and Reggie Jackson.
MLB
Any time you can put yourself in that category with those names, its pretty special, said Giambi, who was riding an 0-for-18 skid and hadnt had a hit since April 10 before belting a three-run homer off Kendrick in the first.
Its exciting. Something you dream about.
Giambi entered the game with one homer and four RBIs on the season.
The Phillies offense has been comatose for more than a week, so Giambis three-run shot figured to be enough as soon as it landed in the second deck above rightfield. Just for good measure, he hit two-run shots off Kendrick and Danys Baez in the third and fifth innings, respectively.
The Phils were held to one run in seven innings by Colorado starter Jhoulys Chacin. They have scored three or fewer runs in six straight games and two or fewer in five straight.
Manager Charlie Manuel conceded that the offense was embarrassing, but he was quick to point out that, because of injury, the Phils are playing as many as four reserves a night. In this game, rookie Michael Martinez and usual pinch-hitter Ross Gload got starts in the outfield and Pete Orr started at second. The Phils health didnt get any better after the game when it was announced that Blanton and Shane Victorino would likely be placed on the DL today.
At times recently, the Phils lineup has resembled Ryan and The Reserves. But even Ryan Howard hasnt done much lately. He is mired in an 0-for-20 slump.
In their last six games, the Phils hits totals read like this: 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6.
That stinks.
Offense is definitely hurting us right now, Manuel said. Weve got to hit and score more runs and play the game better. We dont have balance in our lineup. Were not hitting balls good enough or hard enough. Were kind of searching.
Searching for bats.
Chase Utley should provide one when hes back, likely next week. Domonic Brown could arrive a little further down the road.
Chase is going to help, but I dont know how much, Manuel said.
In other words, the Phillies might need more than one bat.
Were losing people every day from our roster, said Manuel, alluding to the injuries. Its got to stop somewhere.
Jimmy Rollins shook his head about all the injuries and said, Its not fun.
Rollins added that the teams offensive struggles are kind of weighing on everyone. He urged his teammates to look at the bright side.
Weve got to remember were in first place and not feel like were in last place, he said. Its kind of like that around here. Everybody knows whats going on. Were struggling to score runs. Were not getting a lot of hits. Its kind of weighing on everybody. But were still in first place and thats the mentality you have to have.
I dont think anyone is trying to do too much. Were just trying to do something. Maybe we should try to do too much and get something in the middle.
E-mail Jim Salisbury at jsalisbury@comcastsportsnet.com
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