6-9...but on the way to .500

I'm strangely okay after watching that 10-4 debacle last night. Ryan Madson pitched terribly, but young pitchers have nights like that. Madson should know that very well...he's had a night like that before (sorry, but you know it had to get at least a quick mention) - common link between Madson's two awful big league starts: David Bell hitting in the sixth spot in the lineup. Considering Bell being in the sixth spot in the lineup last night was at least a mild surprise, I think that this coincidence is at least a little freaky...meaningless, but freaky. As far as silver linings for the evening...well, there weren't all that many. Chase Utley continues to break out of his early season mini-slump with another multi-hit game and the bullpen looked decent as a whole even though Aaron Fultz did allow two more inherited runs to score (in his defense, it could have only been one run if Ryan Howard had caught that potential double play ball cleanly). It really was a tough night all around - Madson getting bombed, the offense only getting four hits, and the opportunity to sit Howard/Utley/Abreu against a lefty wasted.

The Phillies 6-9 record has a chance to even itself pretty quickly though with the Florida Marlins coming to town. The Phillies have the edge in all three pitching matchups as they bust out the big guns for the weekend series - Jon Lieber, Brett Myers, and Cory Lidle get to face off against Scott Olsen, Segio Mitre, and Brian Moehler respectively. By Sunday evening, this team will be at .500 on the season and preparing to extend the winning streak even further with the Rockies coming to town. It sure sounds good on paper...it'll be even better to see them go out and do it. On to the minors...

AAA Scranton-WB

• Carlos Ruiz: 2-5, HR, 2 RBI, R, K
• Chris Roberson: 2-5, 2B, R, 2 K
• Josh Kroeger: 0-4, K
• Danny Sandoval: DL
• Brennan King: 2-3, 2B, RBI, BB, K, E
  
• Angel Chavez: 1-5, 2 RBI
• Chris Coste: N/A
• Bobby Scales: 1-1, 2B, R
  
• Ryan Cameron (W, 2-0): 1 IP 0 H 0 ER 2 K

Because the Phillies were down 9-2 after an inning and a half, it was easy for me to follow a good portion of the Red Barons game featured on MiLB.TV last night without feeling any of the guilt on skipping out on a competitive major league game...Kroeger's K in the eight was ugly - he swung and missed on three fastballs right around the plate...King followed that at bat up by striking out on a breaking ball though the Barons announcer lauded him for two "sparkling" defensive plays at third base...apparently Ryan Cameron has some kind of "special grip" that makes his changeup so effective (it's his best pitch) - every time I see him pitch I've come away impressed, I'm firmly entrenched on the Ryan Cameron bandwagon...all the attentive readers out there surely recognized the new name added to the list of AAA players to watch - I think it is high time we give Bobby Scales the credit he deserves. The 28-year old utility guy had an opposite field, pinch double that got the ninth inning rally going for the Red Barons - he came into the at bat hitting a ridiculous .419/.469/.721. Obviously those numbers can not possibly be kept up, but it's a great start for Scales nonetheless...Roberson struck out chasing a high fastball in the ninth with the tying run on second...Chavez had the game tying RBI groundout to score Scales after the Roberson K in the ninth...DH Carlos Ruiz then came through with a line drive down the left field line to win the game...it was Scranton's three win over Columbus in a row...their record now stands at 9-6

Quick note about Carlos Ruiz (who continues to hit the heck out of the ball down in AAA)...my new, best possible scenario prognostication for him is...Paul Lo Duca...I think it's a pretty solid comparison...both players were late bloomers as pros, both with unconventional hitting styles for catchers, somewhat similar minor league stats, and, last but not least, extremely similar (in my mind anyway) batting stances and physiques...watching Ruiz at the plate reminds me so much of Lo Duca, it's scary...just a thought

AA Reading

• Michael Bourn: 1-4, 2 RBI, BB
• Tim Moss: 0-4, BB, 2 K
• Jason Jaramillo: 0-0, 2 RBI, PO
• Bryan Hansen: N/A

I'm still not sure how Jaramillo's 0-0 night resulted in 2 RBI's...it was a sacrifice fly, we know that much...but how did two runs score? Anybody out there with any insight on this? I was hoping it was a deep fly ball that Mike Bourn scored from second on, but unfortunately that wasn't the case (Bourn didn't score in the game thus ruining my fun)...

• Bobby Korecky (BS, 1) (L, 0-1): 1.2 IP 2 H 3 R 1 ER 2 BB 1 K

Korecky isn't a Phillie, but he was a former Phil - he was the player to be named in the Eric Milton deal (the Phillies sent Carlos Silva, Nick Punto, and eventually Korecky to Minnesota for the honor of seeing a red "P" get inked on Milton's body). I remember hearing that Korecky could be the guy the Phillies regret losing the most...I have absolutely no recollection of who exactly was saying this or why, but I do remember hearing it. Just goes to show how tricky this prospect business can be, right?

High A Clearwater

• Mike Costanzo: 1-4, K
• Brad Harman: 0-4, K

• Derek Griffith: 7 IP 6 H 2 ER 2 BB 5 K

The two most promising Threshers in the starting eight have really struggled of late...1-8 combined for Costanzo and Harman is not going to cut it...see, now that's the kind of insightful analysis you can only find at this here site...

Low A Lakewood

• Greg Golson: 1-4, K
  
• Tim Kennelly: N/A (sent down...)
  
• Welinson Baez: 0-3, RBI, 2 K
  
• Lou Marson: N/A

• Carlos Carrasco: 6 IP 4 H 2 R 1 ER 1 BB 5 K
• Andy Barb (W, 1-0): 2 IP 3 H 1 ER 2 BB 1 K

The Tim Kennelly situation is a weird one - I know he got sent down, but I'm not sure where exactly...seems to me he is in a kind of baseball purgatory for the time being...Batavia's season won't begin for a good bit, so I assume he is stuck in extended spring training or something...I'm honestly not sure. Time to get aggressive with Andy Barb - the Phils might need him to be Tom Gordon's primary setup man in another week or two...