Back-to-back sweeps in Atlanta?  Doesn't happen very often but the opportunity is there.

Cole Hamels gets the nod tonight.  By pitching him tonight, he'll get two more starts before the All-Star break.

Four players had more than one hit last night, Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard went deep, Adam Eaton worked 5 productive innings and Brad Lidge struck out the side in the ninth. 

Yet, the top hero has to be Chad Durbin.  He came in with the sacks full and no out in the sixth, got a double play ball and a strikeout to kill a potential big Braves inning.  In some box scores, he gets credit for a "hold", an unofficial stat.  It was his fourth hold but that doesn't totally reflect the job Chad's done.

Some people think he should start in Brett Myers' place.  Folks, Chad's too valuable where he is.  Why weaken that area?

Myers Report
Every day we receive a complete report from the managers and pitching coach of every Phillies minor league team: box score, comments about the game and players, injuries, personnel arriving and personnel departing, etc.

Pitching coach Rod Nichols filed the following on Myers' outing last night in Lehigh Valley:
"Hopefully, Brett started to gain some of his confidence back.  Began with four shutout innings before giving up three runs in the fifth.  Fastball had some life and he didn't overthrow it as game progressed.  Pitched inside well at times.  Curve was his go-to pitch and used it often.  Cutter showed depth and seemed to depend on it too much.  Split wasn't close which made him rely on his curve more which hitters recognized.  Seemed to carry himself better as game progressed."

Mets Next
Back to Citizens Bank Park tomorrow night for the first of four games against the Mets, night, night, day, night.

Mets lead season series so far, 4-2, with 10 games left between the two clubs.

As you can imagine, all four games are sell outs which means 500 standing room tickets will go on sale prior to each game.  Matter of fact, sell outs are the norm for nine of the 10 games on the upcoming homestand.  Some tickets are still available for Tuesday night's against the Cardinals.

Players of Week, Month
LHP J. A. Happ has claimed the pitcher of the week for last week and the pitcher of the month for June. 

Hitting honors go to 1B Clay Harris (week) and 1B Andy Tracy (month).

Just link to the stories:
Players of Week: http://mlb.com/phi/downloads/y2008/070208.pdf

Players of Month: 
http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080703&content_id=3057353&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi

This Date
In Phillies history.......
1983 Reliever Willie Hernandez ties NL record with six consecutive strikeouts in beating New York Mets, 6-4, at the Vet.

Back in the NL and a win!  It isn't that easy but we certainly looked better last night.

Kyle Kendrick continues to step up.  He allows hits but then makes big pitches at the right time.  He certainly is a competitor. 

Hopefully, the 14 hits are the start of a stretch in which the offense is more consistent.  Getting the bats going right now is the perfect timing.

Hello R. J.
After last night's win, the Phillies purchased the contract of left-handed reliever R. J. Swindle from Lehigh Valley.  It was an early birthday present for R. J. who turns 25 on Monday.

He doesn't throw overly hard.  But, he is a strike-throwing machine.  Between Reading and Lehigh Valley this season, 6 walks, 48 strikeouts in 40 innings.  In his fifth pro season: 23 walks, 207 strikeouts in 181.1 innings.

Left-handed hitters in the International League are hitting .129 against him.

His last outing was Monday night at Rochester, 1 inning, 3 strikeouts on 18 pitches (13 strikes).  His fast ball is in the 81-82 mph range; slider, 73-74, but the pitch that does the most damage is a curve ball, 53-55.  Folks, that's slow.  The radar gun almost falls asleep.  The bottom line: R. J. gets hitters out.

How did he get here?

Mal Fichman is a Boise (ID)-based special assignment scout who specializes in the coverage of independent leagues.  He's been around the minor league world for years and has hundreds of contacts.  Andy McCauley, Swindle's manager with the Schaumburg (IL) independent league team (2006) first notified his old friend, Fichman, of the lefty reliever.

A year ago, R.J. started the season at Newark (NJ) in the Atlantic League, another independent league.  Wayne Krenchiki (manager) and Steve Foucault (pitching coach) both contacted Fichman.  Tommy John, who managed Bridgeport in the same league, also reached out to Fichman, "R. J. doesn't belong in this league."

Fichman notified Steve Noworyta, Director of Minor Leagues, and the Phillies purchased Swindle's contract from Newark for $3,000.  He was sent to Lakewood in the Class A South Atlantic League making $2,500 per month.  After 20 games there (2-1, 0.93) he moved up to Clearwater (0-1, 4.80).  Then, this year he started at Reading before moving to AAA in late May.

Since he was born in Vancouver, he has been selected to Team Canada for the Olympic trail games.

Odds of players from the independent leagues reaching the majors aren't great.  But, it can be done.  Just ask Chris Coste.

This Date
In Phillies history
1993 A game that is one of the classics at Veterans Stadium.  A 4:35 p.m. doubleheader with San Diego is delayed by rain and the night went on and on.  The sun was coming up when I pulled into my driveway after:
       **5 hours, 54 minutes of rain delays in game # 1, won by Padres, 5-2
       **2nd game starts at 1:28 a.m. and ends at 4:40 a.m. on Mitch Williams' game-winning single
       **DH, which was to start at 4:35 p.m., ends 12 hours, 5 minutes later. 

Kudos to Brett Myers for accepting an option to Lehigh Valley.  Because of his major league service time (5-plus seasons), he had the right to accept or reject the assignment.

Myers now will get a chance to work on getting himself straightened out.  It certainly is a lot easier to work on things in a minor league game.  The spotlight isn't as bright.

Other options were to continue in the rotation up here or move to the bullpen where getting a lot of work wasn't a given.

Many pitchers have gone back to the minors, including Jamie Moyer.

Congrats
Four Phillies minor leaguers, all on the Reading roster, have been chosen for the XM Future's Game on Sunday, July 13.

Getting chosen is one thing but getting to play in Yankee Stadium is another.  After this year there will be a new Yankee Stadium.  But, but there will always be only one place: the House that Babe Ruth built.

Shortstop Jason Donald, C Lou Marson and CF Greg Golson will play for the Team USA Olympic trial team that will compete against the World Team as part of Taco Bell All-Star Sunday.  Game time is 12:30 p.m.  ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise the game.

RHP Carlos Carrasco will pitch for the World Team.  Reading LHP Antonio Bastardo was also chosen for this team but he was scratched because he is on the DL.

The Phillies and the A's are the organizations with the most players, four each.

Phillies who have participated in the Futures Game include Pat Burrell (1999), Brett Myers (2001-02), Ryan Howard (2003) and Chase Utley (2001).  J. C. Romero (1999) pitched for the World Team

This Date
In Phillies history....
1931 RF Chuck Klein hits for the cycle and drives in 5 runs as Phillies win, 11-6, over the Cubs at Baker Bowl.
1993 For first time in Phillies history, they lead division on May 1, June 1 and July 1, in the same season.
2001 Phillies defeat Marlins, 8-1, for first 5-game sweep since June 25-27, 1982 vs. Mets.
2007 Phillies surpass 116 million in attendance since first game in 1883.

Good bye and good riddance.

No more interleague games against the American League for a year.  We're finished with different teams, different pitchers, different hitters, different  rules, different parks, different hotels, different time zones and different running water.

The numbers aren't pretty, 4-11 record, .220 batting average and 57 runs scored.  Only the Padres (3-15) had a poorer record.

Speaking of running water, the NL took a total bath: 102-149 (NL East 34-44, NL Central 41-51, NL West 27-54).  The AL held the upper hand all around: .275-.251 average, 1,247-1,010 runs, 276-251 home runs and 3.69-4.56 ERA.  For the record, there is one game left on the schedule, a June 26 rain out of the Yankees at Pittsburgh that is now set for July 10. 

Back to NL
So, so long to the AL and back to the NL. 19 of the next 25 games are within our division.  Three months remain in the 2008 marathon season and every game and series is big.

Despite losing five straight series, we will still be in first place tomorrow morning. In case you are wondering, the Phillies have been leaders on July 1 in seven previous seasons: 1950, 1976, 1978, 1993, 1995, 2001 and 2004.

Last time we won a series was in Atlanta where we begin a three-game set tomorrow night.  We swept three from the Braves there during the first weekend of this month.  I'm sure the Braves haven't forgotten.

Comments Corner
Appreciate the postings following Saturday's Phillies Insider.   Jenn added a cool suggestion for what to do with the bats, peg-leg for pirates.

"Build a bandwagon that we'll soon be jumping off" was another posted comment.  Another clever idea but don't leap.

Did You Ever Wonder ?
When we do well, the media doesn't refer to us as the "phenomenal Phillies".  When we struggle, we are the "floundering Phillies."

This Date
In Phillies history....
1932 Chuck Klein hits 23rd and 24th homers in 9-3 win over Brooklyn at Baker Bowl, the most home runs at that time by the end of June by any National League player.
1938 New York Giants romp, 14-1, over the Phillies in final game at decaying Baker Bowl before 1,500 fans.  On July 4, the Phillies moved to Shibe Park, home of the Philadelphia A's. 
1967 Cookie Rojas pitches scoreless ninth inning in 12-3 loss to the Giants, 2nd game.  Rojas has now filled all nine positions since joining the Phillies in 1963, and played eight different positions this season.

In case you haven't noticed, we are scuffling.  The offense has gone south since the 20-run win in St. Louis on Friday the 13th. 

Perhaps it is time to do something drastic.  Offense starts with bats so let's do something with those pieces of wood:

**Burn them in a bonfire.

**Invite a colony of termites for a feast.

**Sell them to a toothpick factory.

**Dip them in The Bull's spicy barbeque sauce.

**Stick them in a freezer to make them harder.

**Drape them with flowers as a sign of affection.

**Send them back to the forest.

**Grind them into kitty litter.

**Flatten them into roars.

Other creative ideas?

Charlie Manuel was the pre-game story yesterday as he drastically changed the lineup on his V-8 Machine.  While the Phillies still struggled with runners on base, the slump, streak, nose-dive, decline--whatever you want to call it--came to an end.

The game story belonged to Kyle Kendrick and Chase Utley.  Kyle dominated the A's for eight innings, throwing 71 strikes out of 113 pitches.  He demonstrated what command can do, especially pitching inside to a lineup dominated by left-handed hitters.   Going into the game, LH hitters were batting .328 against him.

Utley broke out of his mixup with a four-hit game--single, double, triple, single in that order.  When asked how worried he was over Utley's recent struggles, Manuel said, with a grin, "I was scared to death," as Todd Zolecki reported in this morning's Inquirer.

Eric Bruntlett, Mr. Versatile, made his first start at first base last night.  He borrowed Rich Dubee's first baseman's mitt.  Frank Coppenbarger, he of equipment fame, needs to order Eric's own glove. 

So, winning two of three comes down to this afternoon's rubber game.  Next, three games in Texas (different time zone) and three games next week in Atlanta (another different time zone). 

Today's Lineup
Another new one:
Rollins ss; Utley, 2b; Burrell, lf; Howard, 1b; Dobbs, 3b; Victorino, cf; Werth, rf; Jenkins, dh; Ruiz, c.  Adam Eaton on the mount.

Minor League Notes
Lehigh Valley OF Chris Snelling has been placed on the DL (left knee inflammation) . . . Clearwater RHP Kris Benson has been promoted to LV . . . Clearwater RH reliever Brett Harker is moving up to Reading . . . Reading LH reliever Jason Kershner was released.

High School Honors
OF Zack Collier was named to the USA TODAY High School All-Star team . . . SS Anthony Hewitt was selected to the second team.  Hewitt and Collier were the first two players we selected in the draft earlier this month.

Comment Corner
In response to a comment yesterday, Doug Mansolino is wearing #53.

This Date
In Phillies history.......
1987 RHP Steve Bedrosian ties major league record (Sparky Lyle, Yankees, 1973) with his 11th saved in last 11 appearances, 5-2, over Mets.

When things are going good, you can feel it.  When things aren't going good, you can feel it.

A key base, a big pitch, a defensive play....all part of winning games.  Right now, it just isn't happening.  Every little thing is magnified.

When things aren't going good:

       *Pat Burrell's home run last night gave us a lead for the first time since the Monday game against Boston.  That's hard to believe.

       *Jamie Moyer was brilliant.  Yet, one pitch did him in.
 
       *Trailing, 3-2, in the 8th, J. C. Romero gave up a two-run, opposite-field home run to a left-handed batter who has been scuffling. It was the first homer by a lefty off J. C. since April 2006.

It is a case of hanging in there and battling until things get turned around.

Players of the Week
Reading shortstop Jason Donald and Williamsport right-hander Justin DeFratus are the Phillies minor league player and pitcher, respectively, for last week: http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/phi/downloads/y2008/062408.pdf

Minor League Note
RHP Kris Benson made his second rehab start for Clearwater last night against Vero Beach: 4.2 innings, 7 hits (6 singles), 1 run (top of 5th inning), 1 walk, 3 strikeouts.  "Command was better with all his pitches and he was down in the zone more often," reported Steve Schrenk, pitching coach.

Benson took the 2-1 loss.  Clearwater had trouble hitting with runners on base.  Three times with a man on third and one out, the next hitter struck out.  They must be watching the big club.

Former Roommates
Came across a great story on the Oakland A's website.  Ryan Howard and A's reliever Brad Ziegler were roommates in Clearwater four years ago.  Ziegler was originally drafted by the Phillies.

Check it out: http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080624&content_id=2994838&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak

This Date
In Phillies history
1986 Phillies release Steve Carlton.  In 15 years with the Phillies, he won 241 games, started 499 and struck out 3,031, all club records.  He won 10 or more games for 13 consecutive seasons, another Phillies record.

Still remember the night very well.  Went into Bill Giles' office well after the game was over.  Bill still had tears in his eyes because he had to deliver the news to Lefty.

When things are going good, you can feel it.  When things aren't going good, you can feel it.

A key base, a big pitch, a defensive play....all part of winning games.  Right now, it just isn't happening.  Every little thing is magnified.

When things aren't going good:

       *Pat Burrell's home run last night gave us a lead for the first time since the Monday game against Boston.  That's hard to believe.

       *Jamie Moyer was brilliant.  Yet, one pitch did him in.
 
       *Trailing, 3-2, in the 8th, J. C. Romero gave up a two-run, opposite-field home run to a left-handed batter who has been scuffling. It was the first homer by a lefty off J. C. since April 2006.

It is a case of hanging in there and battling until things get turned around.

Players of the Week
Reading shortstop Jason Donald and Williamsport right-hander Justin DeFratus are the Phillies minor league player and pitcher, respectively, for last week: http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/phi/downloads/y2008/062408.pdf

Minor League Note
RHP Kris Benson made his second rehab start for Clearwater last night against Vero Beach: 4.2 innings, 7 hits (6 singles), 1 run (top of 5th inning), 1 walk, 3 strikeouts.  "Command was better with all his pitches and he was down in the zone more often," reported Steve Schrenk, pitching coach.

Benson took the 2-1 loss.  Clearwater had trouble hitting with runners on base.  Three times with a man on third and one out, the next hitter struck out.  They must be watching the big club.

This Date
In Phillies history
1986 Phillies release Steve Carlton.  In 15 years with the Phillies, he won 241 games, started 499 and struck out 3,031, all club records.  He won 10 or more games for 13 consecutive seasons, another Phillies record.

Still remember the night very well.  Went into Bill Giles' office well after the game was over.  Bill still had tears in his eyes because he had to deliver the news to Lefty.

Three teams in the majors have a winning record on the road and the Phillies (20-17) are one of the trio.  The others: St. Louis (21-16) and Angels (24-12).

Since 2004, only the Angels (202) and Yankees (194) have more wins on enemy turf or sod than us (192).

When Jamie Moyer starts, we're 10-5.

Hopefully, these numbers bode well to end the gloomy five-game spiral.

Interleague numbers
Against the A's, we're 3-3, winning two of three at home in 2003 and losing two of three in the McAfee Coliseum in 2005.

Career numbers against A's:
Burrell, .150-HR-3 RBI
Dobbs, .302-0-14
Feliz, .186-6-18
Jenkins, .364-2-3
Rollins, .385-1-4
Taguchi, .429-0-4
Utley, .182-0-1

The rest of the Phillies hitters have never faced the A's.

Moyer, 17-15, 4.46 ERA for 43 starts
Kendrick, first appearance tomorrow night
Eaton, 1-1, 4.91 for 4 games

Designated Hitter
Charlie Manuel can use the DH tonight and for the next five days.  The A's are starting a RHP, LHP and RHP these three games. 

Most likely options: Burrell, Dobbs, Victorino, Werth, Bruntlett, Jenkins.  Sorry, catching instructor Mick Billmeyer.  We're not activating a .247 minor league hitter who hasn't batted in 15 years!

Career DH numbers:
Burrell, .153 (13-85), 1HR-7 RBI
Dobbs, .273 (27-99),1-14
Feliz, .000 (0-1)
Howard, .500 (2-4), 1-1
Jenkins, .636 (7-11), 0-3
Taguchi, 1.000 (2-2), 0-1
Utley, .500 (2-4), 1-1
Werth, .500 (1-2), 0-2

This Date
In Phillies history
1994 Phillies sign two free agents, LHP Fernando Valenzuela and INF Randy Ready. Sorry, Fernando and Randy, but history is kind of bleak for this date.  Perhaps something historic will occur tonight.  Ending a five-game losing streak isn't historic, but at this point, we'll take it!

Two weeks ago we swept the Braves in Atlanta.  What a high. 

Now, we've dropped five in a row.  What a low. 

Someone once told me: "Don't get too low when the going is bad and don't get to high when the going is good." That someone? The late Gene Mauch.

Manuel's V-8 Machine has been misfiring.  But, it will get going again.  This is too good an offensive club to keep sputtering.  Hitting is contagious which, I suppose, means non-hitting is the same.

Bottom line: we're in first place as we head for a tough nine-game road trip through Oakland, Arlington and Atlanta.

Interleague Play
In looking over various message boards, some fans are for it and others oppose it. 

One concern is quality of opponent.  In our case, we have a very difficult interleague schedule.  But, that's the way it goes.  "There's no crying in baseball," Tom Hanks, as manager, said in the movie, League Of Their Own. 

Still like seeing other players from teams in the other league, although Vladimir Guerrero can stay in California next time.

Your thoughts?

Fan Support
Phenomenal!

During the month of June, the Phillies averaged more than 44,500 in their 11 home dates.  The total attendance was 489,879.

Ten of the games were sold out, including the last nine.

Comments Corner
Appreciate the most recent comments. 

Will get to searching for pitching in a later Phillies Insider.  Just keep in mind discussing certain enemy pitchers is tampering and baseball has a huge fine for tampering.

This Date
In Phillies history
1971 RHP Rick Wise becomes first pitcher in major league history to hit two home runs while pitching a no-hitter, 4-0, in Cincinnati.  Wise is currently the pitching coach for the Lancaster (PA) Barnstormers in the Atlantic League.  Von Hayes is the manager.
1973 Ken Brett sets a major league record for pitchers by hitting a home run in his fourth straight game, a 7-2 win in Montreal.
1978 Phillies beat Cubs twice by 6-1 scores at Veterans Stadium to take over the NL East lead, a lead they held for the rest of the season.
1986 Phillies bomb Cubs, 19-1, at the Vet, setting modern NL record with 15 extra-base hits and a new club record with 11 doubles.  HRs by Juan Samuel (2), Mike Schmidt and Milt Thompson.