Phillies Notes: Pedro Impresses, Moyer, and Cubs Fan

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Pedro Martinez made his debut with the Phillies on Wednesday night against the Chicago Cubs, and it was impressive.

In his first Major League game since last September, Martinez allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings against the Cubs.

Pedro also struck out five batters, and didn't walk a single batter until his final inning of work. The right-hander finished the game with 99 pitches.

This game had a lot of buzz around Philly prior to the game, and it created lot of excitement around the team--almost as much as Cliff Lee's debut with the team against the Giants.

As a fan of Pedro when he was with the Boston Red Sox, I was very excited when the Phils signed him. I knew that he wasn't close to the same pitcher, but it's still Pedro Martinez.

I read the recap on ESPN tonight, and in their "Why Pedro Martinez Won" table, they had an interesting statistic that I just absolutely love to see. Pedro threw 29 of 43 off-speed pitches for strikes, that's an astonishing 67 percent. Also in the table, it showed that the Cubs chased 42 percent of those.

The big question now is what will Martinez do in his second start, and his third start. If he pitches like he did against the Cubs, and can go six innings, the Phillies will get a pitcher who can help this team more than Jamie Moyer--and, his league-worse 5.47 ERA.

Speaking of Moyer, he said that he felt "misled" and "disheartened" about being moved to the 'pen. As much as I appreciate everything you have done for the Phillies, Moyer, you don't have anything left in the tank.

I always thought you were a team player, but this shows that you're not. What makes you so good that you're guaranteed a starting job no matter how bad you are? No one is guaranteed anything, deal with it, you're done, you're in the bullpen--for now, and be a good team player.

Haven't you made enough money as it is? Is it about the money? Is that the reason you're upset? Is it? You're 46-years-old, you don't need any more money as it is. You want to pitch so take your role as it is.

I'm sorry, Jamie, but shut up and do your job or walk away if you don't like it.

In the fifth inning of the Cubs game, a fan threw a beer at Shane Victorino on a sac-fly that plated the third run of the game for Chicago. The fan was ejected eventually, of course, the first fan that was thrown out wasn't the right one, but that was fixed.

But where is the "classless" discussions about Chicago? If this happened in Philadelphia, I'd have to hear about it for the next 20 years. This is pathetic, and on ESPN nonetheless. Please, ESPN, spend more than a few seconds on it, crucify the Cubs fans for having no class.

Is it only fair you do it to Philly, and not Chicago, or New York, or Los Angeles, or any other city?

Philadelphia Phillies Acquire Cy Young Winner Not Named Roy Halladay

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Philadelphia fans wanted Roy Halladay. I wanted Roy Halladay. Some have said they don't care what it took to get him. It had to be done. It became an obsession. It became so big that if it didn't happen, Ruben Amaro Jr would have a good deal of explaining to do.

It didn't happen, instead the Phils obtained the services of another Cy Young winner in Cliff Lee and a not too shabby right-handed hitting outfielder in Ben Francisco from Cleveland for Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, and Lou Marson. The reaction by the fans is somewhat unexpected--they approved.

At first glance, I had mixed emotions about the deal. To get a pitcher to Lee's caliber is out of this world, but in the same token, not getting Halladay stung. It took a little bit for the storm to settle, and the positives to outweigh the negatives.

Like many other Phillies fans, I was a little sour that they didn't get the guy we deemed to be the guy. Knowing the Phils passed up the best pitcher in baseball when they had the prospects to get a deal done angered me just a tad bit.

My feeling was that Amaro dropped the ball by not getting Doc Halladay. Then I let everything calm down, and really started to think about it. Philadelphia dropped the ball on Halladay, but picked it right back up by adding Lee.

The soon to be 31-year-old is quietly having another solid season for the Indians after winning the A.L. Cy Young last season with a 22-3 record and a 2.54 ERA.

Lee has a losing record for Cleveland but that has much to do with his lack of run support. With the Indians, Lee received on average 5.03 runs per game--which ranks ninth worst among pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched.

In 22 games with the Tribe this year, Lee is 7-9 while posting a 3.14 ERA. He leads all of baseball with 152 innings pitched so he's the work horse they've been seeking for some time now.

Lee has 107 strikeouts to just 33 walks, even more impressive, he hasn't walk a batter in 27 2/3 innings dating back to July 10th against the Detroit Tigers.

In his last four starts, Lee is 3-1 with a 1.97 ERA while striking out 22 batters in 32 innings. After a rough first two starts of the season, Lee has a 2.66 ERA in 20 of his 22 starts.

Philadelphia has a abundance of quality starting pitchers on their roster, even more so with Lee. The Phils now have Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton, Jamie Moyer, J.A. Happ, Rodrigo Lopez, Pedro Martinez, and now, Lee.

Not only did Amaro get Lee for relatively cheap, he managed to fill another need at the same time. Francisco, 27, is exactly what the Phils have been looking for since Amaro took over as GM: a right-handed bat.

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Francisco is hitting .250 with 10 homers and 33 RBI for the Indians as an everyday outfielder. Coming over to the Phils, he'll be the fourth outfielder, but in the same token, he'll be a very valuable piece.

Think about the job Amaro has done in this deal. He managed to get a Cy Young winner without giving up one of his top three prospects: Dominic Brown, Kyle Drabek, or Michael Taylor. And he didn't have to trade Happ either.

To acquire Halladay from the Blue Jays, it would have required Drabek and one of the other three along with one or two more prospects. There are a good amount of people that would be upset with that type of package, but the majority would be ecstatic.

This past weekend, we learned that the Blue Jays wanted Brown, Drabek, and Happ. To me, that's a fair offer. The Phils didn't want to trade Drabek, that's evident with the Lee acquisition. But to me, what has he proved? Nothing, exactly.

For all we know, Drabek could be another Carlton Loewer, Tyler Green, Gavin Floyd, Pat Combs or Adam Eaton. The list goes on for the Phillies with producing pitching prospects.

I understand why people didn't want to trade Drabek, but what gets me is the sudden love-fest with Happ. While he's having a great season, he's a middle of the rotation pitcher. He certainly isn't a deal breaker.

But at the end of the day, to acquire Lee without giving up those prospects was the best course of action, and for that, I have to give props to Amaro for surviving the pressure to get Halladay by acquiring the next best thing in Cliff Lee.

Who says they still can't get Halladay, they still have the assets to get Doc. Could it happen? Yes. Will it happen? No.

Could you imagine a rotation of: Halladay-Hamels-Lee?

I couldn't.

Oh My Goodness, I Love Paul Bako (And Ryan Howard)!

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I don't know whether to be more shocked at the fact that the Pirates blew a four-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning or that Paul Bako delivered the game-winning hit.

Either way, I'm excited.

This Philadelphia Phillies team for the last few years is the shining example that you never give up no matter how bad you are getting beaten because no lead is ever safe in professional sports.

Often times you see teams obviously not trying anymore just for the sake to get the night over with and move onto the next game. That's not what you are taught in little league, or at least, that's not what I was taught as a kid.

I was always told to play until the final whistle, the final out is recorded, etc. That's how to play sports. Give it your all or give it nothing.

That's how the Philadelphia Phillies play, it isn't over until it's over.

Matt Capps and the Pirates learned that last night the hard way.

Trailing by four runs to start the ninth inning, Matt Stairs led off the inning by sending his fourth pinch hit home run of the season into the right field stands to make it a 7-4 game in favor of the Pirates. The next batter, Jimmy Rollins, walked and then stole second base after the first out was recorded.

With one out, Chase Utley slapped a single to left field to advance Rollins to third and put runners on the corners for Ryan Howard.

Then came the big hit when Howard blasted his 22nd homer of the season into left-center to tie the game at 7-7. At that point, the excitement was through the roofs, or so I thought.

I was just excited about tying the game, and the potential of winning the game in extra innings. I settled for a tie game, when I shouldn't have.

Luckily the Phillies didn't settle for that either.

Raul Ibanez hit a ground-rule double to center field after Howard tied the game, Jayson Werth was walked and Pedro Feliz loaded the bases when he reached on an infield single.

Then came the big, big hit by an unlikely candidate, Paul Bako.

Bako slapped a single through Jack Wilson and Andy LaRoche to plate Ibanez to win the game. This, one day after the Phillies released Chris Coste -- who signed with the Houston Astros -- and he was given the backup job to starting signal caller Carlos Ruiz.

Boy did that decision turn out to work very well, very quick.

Cole Hamels had a rough start against the Pirates, allowing five runs in the first two innings on three homers but settled down, not allowing another run in his outing.

His final line: 6 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 6 K.

Ibanez was 2-for-5 with one RBI, and two runs scored in his first game back from a groin injury. Howard had a monster game, going 3-for-3 with the homer and three RBI, including a pair of walks.

The key to the lineup continued to hit the ball well as Rollins went 2-for-3 with two walks. After breaking out of his 0-for-28 slump, J-Roll has been on fire lately. But that's old news by now.

A few things that I have seen from the Pirates team in the two games is that Andrew McCutchen is damn fast and Garrett Jones has some serious power. McCutchen cut down several plays in the outfield that I thought would have been doubles, if not triples, while Jones had two long homers against the Phils in the first two series.

On Friday night, Jones hit one into Howard' territory by sending a bomb into Asburn's Alley. Last night, he sent on into the concourse in right field. Nonetheless, he's impressive.

But it's still the Pirates!

I remember the last time the Phillies had a homestand, they went 1-8 on it. On their current homestand, they are 8-1.

How fast things change in baseball.

I have to voice my opinion about Pedro Martinez, who potentially could sign with the Phillies at any time now. At one point, Pedro was one of the best pitchers in the game. That was long ago, however he could be helpful to the team.

With that said, my stance is still sell the farm to get Roy Halladay. The guy is brilliant, and he's deserving of "mortgaging the future" to win another World Series now.

I don't know, maybe I'm greedy, but I want another God Damn World Series.

Deliver Doc To Philadelphia

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Roy Halladay is available, at least, according to Ken Rosenthal.

Rosenthal names the Phillies as a possible destination fr the right-handed pitcher.

He states that the Phils have been in contact with Toronto over the past two years, which isn't surprising because local radio host Howard Eskin reported last year that the Phils-Jays were talking trade about Halladay.

Here's a quote from the Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi : "We have to see what's out there," Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi says. "I'm not saying we're going to shop him. But if something makes sense, we at least have to listen. We're (leaning) more toward listening than we've ever been."

The price tag for the 32-year-old hurler will be one huge ginormous tag. Rosenthal wrote that they are looking for a deal similar to the Indians deal in 2002 that netted them Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, and Brandon Phillips.

The Phillies have what it takes to get a deal done for Doc, they do, the only roadblock is if they want to give up what it will take to get him. The Phillies have named Kyle Drabek, Dominic Brown, and Jason Knapp as untouchables. One of those three would have to be in a deal for him.

Then there is the other top prospects that could intrigue the Blue Jays. Players like Jason Donald, Lou Marson, Michael Taylor, and Carlos Carrasco.

Doc Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball in my opinion, he's a different animal than C.C. Sabathia last year. Sabathia was going to be an unrestricted free agent after last year, so it would have been a rental.

No. 32 of the Toronto Blue Jays is signed through 2010, yeah his contract is huge, but that should get in the way to add a pitcher to his caliber.

When you have a chance to get the best pitcher in the league for at least two seasons, and give up a few good prospects that could potentially turn into something special.

Philadelphia needs to get the trade done, as long as it doesn't take away from the current roster. I would be willing to give up J.A. Happ to get Halladay, but that would take away one o the other prospects.

What I'm trying to say is: I don't care what it takes, deliver Doc to Philly, Ruben Amaro Jr!

Tropicana sweetness

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Sweet, sweet victory.

That was the case for the Phillies on Tuesday night in Tampa Bay in the first game since beating those same Rays in five games to win the World Series in October.

Chase Utley was 3-for-5 with a two-run home run, a two-run double and four RBI. John Mayberry had a 3-run homer in the six-run first, in all, the Phils collected 10 hits and scored 10 runs. Blew out the Rays, 10-1.

Jamie Moyer was brilliant, Tyler Walker has been a savor (two more scoreless innings for him) and Sergio Escalona was good. The pitching there, the offense was there, and the fielding was there.

Jimmy Rollins made a great defensive grab off the joke of a catwalk at Tropicana.

Here's a stat to look at:  Four runners left on base, .500 average with runners in scoring position.

When the Phils put that many guys on base, and only left four of them on, that's a great sign. They were 5-10 with runners 180 feet or close from home plate.

That's a great thing to see from a team that has been struggling at the dish.

May I just add, Mayberry has been looking pretty good. His homer was a shot off the bat. This guy is making a good first impression on the Phils and the fans.

This was exactly what the Phils needed and more importantly, exactly what the Phils' fans needed (myself included).

The fans are sick of how the team is playing at home this season; I'm sure you'll hear it when they return home. But the road has been a different story for the Phightens this year.

24-9 is their record away from the Bank, that's the best road record in the league. They are far and beyond the best road team in the league; the lowest amount of losses by a team on the road his season other than the Phils are the Dodgers (22-14).

Not only is have the Phils haven't lost 10 games this year on the road, they are remarkably a better offensive team and the pitching is a lot better. That's surprising because usually the road is where the hard times come. That's not the case for the Phils.

A contender needs to win its home games, every team needs to win their home games, the Phils haven't done that often. Their home record is 13-22, I won't bore you with more complaining how bad the Phillies suck at home this season. I'll wait until 10 games from now.

Pat the bat.jpgIn other news about the game, it was the first time the Phillies played against Pat Burrell in a regular season game.

It was great to see him play again, even if he's only a DH. He was a very underrated defender because he couldn't get to a lot of balls, but he wasn't a bad fielder. He was always in the right position and made the catch and he has a decent arm.

Its sad so see Pat in a Rays' uni and not the Phillies anymore, and it was great to see him up for the first time.

In his first game against his former team, Pat the Bat was 0-for-3 with a strikeout. As you can tell by the photo, that's his reaction after Moyer got him to strikeout. I wonder what was going through his head.

David Price was awful for the Rays, but the defense didn't back him up. Tampa committed three errors, but Price was just pitiful. He lasted just 4 1/3 innings, allowing five earned runs - 10 runs in all - on seven hits. He threw more than 35 pitches in the first inning.

Can I just add that Tropicana Field is pathetic. The stadium is a joke, it's just a horrible place to play. No fans are there, and the ones that are have cow bells. Come on Tampa, cow bells? They are the worst thing since sliced bread (see how I turned that!).

I need to extend a personal thanks to Joel Pineiro and the St. Louis Cardinals. Pineiro tossed a complete game shutout against the New York Mets, helping the Phils.

As I was watching the Phils game, during the around the scoreboard, the broadcasters showed the Toronto-Cincinnati game and that Scott Rolen hit his fifth homer of the year. Rolen has always been one of my favorite players in the game, and always will be.

To see him have success again is just great for me. He's been my favorite player when he was with the Phils, and even after he left. He's hitting .332 with five homers and 25 RBIs. Yeah, the power numbers aren't the same, but the average is there.

And he still plays one hell of a third base.

When it rains, it pours

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I guess the cliche "When it rains, it pours" is true. At least it is for the Phillies.

Right-handed pitcher Clay Condrey will be placed on the 15-day disabled list tomorrow with a strained left oblique.

That's four pitchers that will be on the disabled list. The Phils are without Brett Myers likely for the rest of the season, Scott Eyre and Brad Lidge are currently on the DL, but Lidge could return this week.

Clay is an important part of the bullpen in my opinion because of what he does. He's the long-reliever, but this season, he was more than just your average long man.

In his first 31 appearances, Condrey was 4-1 with a very respectable 2.14 ERA. He was kind of a hero for the Phils, last season he was the mop up guy and this year he was helping setup games and used in important games.

But he hit speed bump during the road, a pretty big one. In his last two games, he has allowed six runs in just 1/3 inning, if you do the math, that's a 162.00 ERA and he's 0-1.

I believe that a long-man is very important to a bullpen because there will always be games during the marathon of a season that your starter, no matter who he is, will get hit hard and last only two-three innings and you need someone to pick up some innings. In those games, you don't want to burn through your pen just to get the game over, you'd like to have one guy to just mop up and give you three-four-five innings if needed.

Clay was that guy, but if you take his last two games out, he was more than just a long man. He was a very good pitcher who was finding success that he never had before.

He isn't one to care about stats, if he were, he would have quit a long time ago. He never had a great ERA, but he played an important part.

That's the funny thing about middle relievers, they will have a few bad seasons but they make their mark with a great year. Clay was establishing himself as a quality middle reliever instead of a long man this year instead of just a mop up guy.

Hopefully his stay will just be the 15 days that he'll be on the down low because I think he's an important part of the pen.

Sergio Escalona will likely take his place, he is 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA in four games this year.

There will always be this...



One of the best things about winning the World Series that I have found out is that you can always watch the final out, the final call, etc when times are low during the next season. For the most part, this year hasn't been the best of years and I say this with the Phils up two games on the Mets.

But when times are like they are now, you know, going 1-8 on a homestand and getting swept back-to-back series by the Blue Jays (OK, they are very good) and the Orioles (not so much), you need some kind of relief.

Mine just happens to be the final call of the World Series by the late-great Harry Kalas. I have memorized this entire call, it's my ringtone, it's pretty much what I live by now.

What makes this call great, at least the video part of it, is Chris Wheeler's dance. OK, Wheels isn't the best color guy or whatever he does, but he's OK and since Mr. Kalas has passed away, I've grown to love Wheels instead of wish he wasn't announcing anymore.

But I have to admit, he was perfect. He let Harry make his call without disturbing him and at the same time, did the best celebration dance of all time.

You gotta love Wheels!

Home, not so sweet home

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1-8.

That was the Phillies record on their 9-game homestand that ended after the Orioles completed the sweep of the Phils as they beat them 2-1.

That's two straight series where the Phils have been swept and third straight series loss.

But this loss stung a little extra, it did at least for me.

Cole Hamels was exceptional in his 13th start of the season, going 8 strong innings against Baltimore. It was only the third time he went 7 innings this season (May 14 vs LAD, June 4 @ LAD).

Does he love the Dodgers this season...16 innings, 1 earned run, 14 strikeouts in two starts against Los Angeles this season.

Hamels scattered just 2 runs on 9 hits and struck out 10 batters, all of which came in the first six frames.

Nonetheless, Hamels went deep into the game and that was something he was very furious about in his last start. I expected him to go at least 7 innings against the O's today, an did that and one-up it as well.

But Hamels didn't do enough apparently since the offense has failed to produce anything once again. The bats have gone silent over the homestand, other than a few high-scoring games, the offense hasn't been good.

Granted, Jeremy Guthrie was just as good as Cole, but that's not an excuse to only get 3 hits off hi and score only 1 run. It was a terrific pitching duel.

The only run the pitiful Phils could get today was a 2nd inning solo shot by Greg Dobbs, who started at first base for the second straight game for the sick Ryan Howard. The only good thing you could take away from today's game is that the Phils cut down on the swing and misses as they only struck out 4 times.

Really, that's sad if you think about it. Against the Baltimore Orioles, the only good thing was that you only struck out 4 times? That's how bad its been for the Phightins.

In the series with the O's, the Phils had only 18 hits in 28 innings and were outscored 15-8, although the starting pitching hasn't been all that bad. In the series, the starter's threw 21 innings and had an ERA of 3.43. That's not bad numbers and all three starter's kept the team in the game.

The starter's put the burden on the batter's, and they failed utterly. They scored more than 3 runs once in the three games, and scored 2 runs twice. And even when they scored 5 runs in their 6-5 loss to the O's on Saturday, they still didn't have a good night at the dish.

The Phillies had just 3 hits before the 7th inning of the second game before they exploded for 5 runs. If it wasn't for that, they wouldn't have even scored more than 1 run.

Here's some stats from the series with Baltimore:
  • They were 18-for-98 (.184 average) in three games.
  • They struck out 15 times compared to just 4 walks
  • Chase Utley was 1-for-12 with 3 strikeouts
  • Jimmy Rollins was 0-for-10
  • The bullpen had a 10.50 ERA
The average isn't going to get it done, the strikeout to walk ratio is horrible, Utley and Rollins struggled against the O's and the bullpen numbers wasn't very good...when it matter most.

The Phils home record is just absolutely sickening.13-22 at home isn't going to get it done over the full season. They need to start winning games at home.

Sometimes over the past 9 games, I thought that I was watching the Nationals. For the first time this season, the fielding became a problem quite a few times over the stand. The bullpen was overtaxed and didn't fare too good, and the starting pitching was just OK.

There isn't much passion from the guys playing the game, it's getting too much. They have to right the ship now, it's only June, but they look like they go out there and expect to win at home.

Maybe its the fans fault, we haven't booed much. I pose a challenge to every Phillies fan out there, take the key out of your mouth and start booing them when they stink they like have, not just after they lose a game.

The good news is that the Phillies start a 9-game road trip and ends interleague play after this week. Hopefully the trend continues on the road, as the Phils are the far and beyond the best road team in the league with a 23-9 record.

Hopefully that continues when they open a three game set with the Rays for the Wold Series rematch.

Boo!

Pathetic

It's the bottom of the 6th inning with no outs and the Phillies just got their second hit of the game when Paul Bako got his first hit of the season.

Pathetic.

2 hits against a rookie pitcher from the Orioles? No disrespect to the O's, they have a lot of good young talent and they will be a very good team in the upcoming years, but they are not there yet. This Phillies team is supposed to be a good offensive team and they can manage only two hits against a rookie?

That's pathetic.

J.A. Happ allowed two runs in six innings of work, he wasn't great but he kept the team in the game. He did allow 10 hits, and the Phils are being outhit 10-2 through six innings.

Pathetic, I tell you.

UPDATE (9:03 PM)

It's the seventh inning and back-to-back doubles have the team on the board, its 3-1 with two men on with no outs.

Here we go!

UPDATE (9:15 pm)

Well the bats came alive in the seventh as the Phils scored five runs to take the lead thanks to Howard. Howard's consecutive streak is still intact (344 games) when he entered as a pinch hitter and hit a 3-run BOMB! The last time he was sick was in 2006 when he had a PH homer and the GW homer against the Reds.

Maybe Ryno should be sick more often!

Howard out, new look lineup

Ryno.jpgAfter losing to the O's last night 7-2, the Phils look to snap their current four game losing skid. Losers of six of their last seven, the Phillies are without power hitter Ryan Howard as he will miss tonight's game with the flu.

Maybe that's a good thing.

Howard is struggling big time on the homestand. He is 8-for-31 (.258 average) on the homestand thus far with 2 home runs and 8 RBIs, but he has 15 strikeouts

Those are horrible numbers except for the strikeouts, but the last four games have been bad, real bad.

In his last four games, Ryan his 3-for-14 (.214 average) with 8 strikeouts. He has walked just three times in the past four contests.

Howard's last four games:
  • vs. Toronto - 1-for-5, 3 Ks
  • vs. Toronto - 1-for-2, 1 K
  • vs. Toronto - 1-for-5, 3 Ks
  • vs. Baltimore - 0-for-3, 1 K
He's just part of a Phillies team that has 75 strikeouts on their homestand as a team.

The Phillies are not playing great baseball and that needs to change. It's unacceptable how they are playing and even though I accepted last night's loss because the Phils desperately needed to give the bullpen some rest, and they did with Antonio Bastardo going 7 innings.

But tonight, its on the offense.

Its on the new lineup to produce some runs and the game's about to start. Of course, J.A. Happ has to give the team some innings but its not on him. The offense has to score some runs and have to cut down to the K's.

So here's the lineup for both teams:

Orioles:

  1. Roberts
  2. Markakis
  3. Jones
  4. Huff
  5. Wigginton
  6. Scott
  7. Zaun
  8. Andino
  9. Bergesen
Phillies:

  1. Rollins
  2. Victorino
  3. Utley
  4. Stairs
  5. Werth
  6. Dobbs
  7. Feliz
  8. Bako
  9. Happ
Matt Stairs will play LF, Greg Dobbs takes over at 1B, and Paul Bako gets the start at catcher.
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