.500

After losing the first in Colorado, we won the series by winning 2 in a row and improving to 3-3 on the season. Matt Stairs came through in the clutch with a pinch hit 2 run home run in the top of the 9th to give us a 2 run lead and set the stage for Lidge to get his 46th straight save. Once again, bullpens were no match for the Phillies on both nights. Saturday night I watched at the Werkheiser residence with my younger siblings Brady Haley and Ben. Today I listened to most of the game on the radio with Aaron on our way back to Penn State.

I love how well Utley and Werth have been hitting the ball. Usually, Jimmy Rollins is what makes our offense go. Despite how horrible he has been at the plate this season, we are still managing to score some runs. It's nice to see Pedro Feliz picking up some of that slack. I love his glove at third, and I honestly don't expect more than about a .260 average out of him and 15-20 home runs this season, but in the meantime it is nice to have him hitting .368 to start the season - especially coming off an injury.

As much as I love Carlos Ruiz, I am actually excited to see him on the 15-day DL. I am eager to see what Lou Marson has to offer. He is only 22 years old, so no matter how well or not so well he does, it will be good for him to get a little big league experience in the next 2 weeks.

Listening to games on the radio is one of my favorite things to do. I don't think there is a station here at Penn State that actually has games, which sucks big time. There is something about listening to Scott Franzke and Larry Anderson. It has a much looser feel to it. They seem like really good friends that are constantly joking around with one another while a baseball game happens to be going on. And they know what they're talking about.

Chan Ho Park failed horribly in his first start as a Phillie. 96 pitches in 3 1/3 is not coming anywhere close to getting the job done. It would've been fun, funny, and cruel to see JA Happ come on in relief and put the Rockies away for a few innings. Hopefully he steps his game up in his next start. Coors Field can be tough obviously, but I'm pretty sure that thin air shouldn't have an effect on the ball while it's getting to home plate. No matter where you're pitching, you should be able to get some pitches over the plate.

Here's something interesting I found on SI.com thanks to a friend of mine. Raul Ibanez has been an every day player for the past 7 seasons (42 months). In that time, he has hit less than .250 in only 8 of those months. Pat Burrell his less than .250 in 22 months over the past 9 seasons. I'm not trying to knock on Pat, but a big problem for the Phillies over the years has been consistency, and it looks like Ibanez doesn't really struggle in that area. (That being said, Pat Burrell is Philadelphia, and I would take him over Ibanez any day. But this is part of the silver lining)

It's nice to see the offense producing not just from home runs. That has been a big "problem" for the Phillies over the years as well. Most of our runs this season have been manufactured rather than a bunch of solo shots. I never really cared about all that because runs are runs, but it is nice to score and still have more people in scoring position.

In our 3 wins, we've scored 27 runs. In our 3 losses, we've scored 4. I realize we will score more runs in wins than losses, but that disparity is a little much. Our pitchers haven't been spectacular or anything, but we could give them a little more run support than that.

Traveling to Washington tomorrow for an afternoon game. The Nationals are 0-6, so expect us to lose at least one of these games because that's just how baseball works. They got swept by the Marlins and Braves so far.

Speaking of the NL East, I hope it isn't too late to give some predictions. The Marlins and Braves are both 5-1, Phils and Mets are 3-3, and the Nats are 0-6. I would've said this preseason, but I'm an idiot and didn't get it in writing: I think the Marlins are our biggest threat this season. The Nationals are the Nationals, and the Mets are the Mets, so those teams are not worth discussing. The Braves still have bullpen issues and, frankly, they just don't impress me all that much right now. I'm sure the Marlins have holes, but I don't know enough about their team to tell you what they are. I just know their starting pitching tore us up last season even more so than other teams, and Hanley Ramirez is the best all around player in baseball with the possible exception of Chase Utley, and that's most likely just my bias speaking. I think Jeremy Hermida will be an All Star sooner rather than later. All of those starting pitchers are 26 or younger, which doesn't necessarily say much about this season, but they all got experience last year and can be dangerous. Cameron Maybin should be in the running for Rookie of the Year, plus he has a nasty name. And the more they can keep Wes Helms off the field, the better off they'll be. Every year they hang around for no reason at all with barely any good players, but this year it looks like they actually have a legitimate team. Which obviously means all of those players will be gone next year.
And for those who like completely meaningless trends, check out every 6 years for the Marlins:
1991: Inaugural season
1997: World Series title
2003: World Series title
2009: ???

If, by some freak accident, the Phillies don't repeat, and, by some even bigger freak accident, the Phillies don't win the NL again, the Marlins are my pick.
These picks have nothing to do with them taking 2 out of 3 from the Mets this weekend. Seriously.

Okay that was a little long probably, but it's all for today. Happy Easter. What up Jesus