Winning the Game is the First Priority

There were no focus issues for the Phillies Tuesday night, as they defeated the Brewers 11-4. Philadelphia jumped to a 4-1 lead after an inning, and maintained a WE of over 80% for the majority of the rout. The game was interrupted by a seventy-eight minute rain delay in the seventh, which destroyed Jamie Moyer's quest for a quality start.

The Phillies' bats did most of the damage in the win, as each spot in the batting order, with the exceptions of the fourth (Ryan Howard) and the ninth (Moyer/PH Dobbs), had at least a hit. The Phils scored four of their runs in the first inning, and five more in the fifth. Jayson Werth, Pedro Feliz, Shane Victorino, Chris Coste, and Jimmy Rollins all had multiple hits, as the Phillies' offense combined for a .494 WPA. Werth and Feliz each had team-leading WPAs of .140, with Feliz having the only Philly homer. Brewers starter Manny Parra and reliever Jorge Julio were responsible for ten of the eleven runs, and posted WPAs of -.317 and -.124, respectively. Former Phillie R.J. Swindle also appeared, throwing an 80 MPH fastball, and a mid-50s MPH pitch that not even Gameday Premium could identify. (Note: That's his curveball, Gameday!) Swindle can be a very effective LOOGY, but allowing him to face RH batters (EVER!) is a horrible mistake. Hopefully, he'll stick around with Milwaukee, because his delightful Pitch F/x data will be sorely missed, if he gets sent back down to AAA.

Jamie Moyer had a satisfactory performance, in picking up his two hundred and forty-eighth career victory, but was robbed of a quality start by Umpire Joe West. Despite the presence of a TYPHOON at CBP, West opted to start play in the top of the seventh. Moyer allowed two baserunners, Chad Durbin relieved him, West called for the tarp. When play resumed, Clay Condrey allowed the fourth Brewer run to score on an infield hit. Moyer's final line was six innings and four runs allowed. If West had called for the tarp to start the inning, Moyer would have had a six-inning, three-run quality start. But the real issue here is, "When will they rename and redefine (six innings/two runs, seven innings/three runs?) the quality start, and call it a "Hamels?" My guess is that it won't be until after Hamels retires. So, in about thirty years.

The Phillies will send Joe (The Lumber) Blanton to the mound against Milwaukee Wednesday night. Blanton has been referred to often as an "innings-eater" but he has been way too finicky to merit that appellation. He only survived seven innings in three (of thirteen) regular season starts with Philadelphia, and only pitched eight innings once (with Oakland) in 2008. He threw in excess of one-hundred pitches on a regular basis, but needs to stretch those pitches out over more than his typical "five-plus" innings. Milwaukee will counter with Braden Looper, and, hopefully, use R.J. Swindle later in the game. Preferably, against the Phils' right-handed bats.