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Phils Shut Out As Padilla Falters In Second Start

Scorecard

Vicente Padilla had another rough outing as the Phils continued their ealry season slide. Lasting just three innings again, Padilla gave up four runs as he struggled to find the plate. He walked four and through 84 pitches in his short stint.

As bad as Padilla’s pitching was, the Phils bats remained silent in Hot ‘Lanta. A team cannot win if it does not score. Braves starter, John Thomson, was not impressive early on, challenging Padilla in the pitch count column. Nevertheless, the Phillies failed to score, therefore, Thomson was without pressure.

The fielding continues to hamper the Phillies. On this windy day, Bell was unable to catch a foul ball in the first which kept an inning going that would have ended differently had he made the play. A couple fouls down the right-hand side of the diamond also gave Braves batters extra opportunities. David Bell committed his fourth error today, game 19 of the season.

The Pros
Ryan Madson looked good in three innings of relief today. This solid outing is just what the struggling sophomore needed.

Rheal Cormier was strong in his one inning of relief.

The Cons
Padilla’s second outing was as bad as his first. While he didn’t give up the homers he did Tuesday against the Mets, he couldn’t find the plate today. He was wild and went to deep counts. The second inning was his only sub-24 pitch inning of his two starts, tossing only 15 pitches. It appears that Padilla is not ready for the big squad yet and I would like to see him demoted to get some work in prior to his next start with the big club. Madson might do well with a few starts in the rotation at this point.

The Phillies offense is offensive. Thome does not look comfortable at the plate. Burrell has cooled off. Bell and Lieberthal are holes in the line-up. Only Lofton and Abreu are hitting with any consistency.

Rollins trying to steal a base down by four runs is not smart baseball. With Lofton, our best hitter currently, at the plate, Rollins needs to stay put in this situation.

Wheels
Is totally unacceptable as an announcer. I have been picking up a trend of his which I will write about at some point. To that point, he does not understand that his job is to relate what is happening on the field to the audience. Frequently, he does not announce substitutions. That is disasterous to those of us who score at home. Today, Wheels took this to a new level. He didn’t miss the substitutions in the bottom of the fourth. He announced both Madson and Michaels entry into the game. But he announced it as a double switch and stated that Michaels was batter in the pitcher’s spot and that Madson would be batting fifth. This was not how the substitutions really occurred. Wheels did not correct that until the bottom of the fifth. When he corrected it, he stated that a double switch is what he would have done and hence, why he announced it.

Excuse me Mr. Wheeler! Your job is not to manage the game. If the Phillies thought you had those abilities, you would wear pinstripes at work. Instead, you are to inform the listeners as to what is going on. Your rambling interferes with that. You do not perform the duties of an announcer and you have ruined yet another scorecard. Your rate is more than 10% so far.