...Three to go.
The Phillies didn't play their best baseball tonight. There were some fielding miscues and questionable at-bats and a lot of runners left on base, but by the same token, the Rays looked like they were off of their usual game a bit too. Fortunately, a two-run home run by Chase Utley and few double plays behind Cole Hamels made all the difference.
A follow up to the scouting report on Scott Kazmir: I wondered earlier today how Kazmir would approach Ryan Howard, whether he would go with his usual steady diet of fastballs or throw breaking pitches the way every other pitcher has approached Howard. As it turns out, he mixed in more breaking balls than he did with other hitters, but still, he predominantly stuck with fastballs and had success.
Not to take anything away from Kazmir or the Rays bullpen, but Howard is lost right now. He's swinging at breaking balls low and away, but laying off of fastballs.
Perhaps the worst play of the night however was by whoever is running Comcast in Delaware. My brother tells me that in the final at-bat of the game, the screen went blank and there was a very important announcement: "This is a test of the emergency broadcast system..."
Finally, in a post-game interview, Cole Hamels was asked by Comcast's Leslie Gudel where he gets his composure, particularly at such a young age. Hamels gave a lot of credit to Jamie Moyer's tutelege. Quite a statement.
More tomorrow.
Three to go, three to go.
