Post#19 » by gooGD » Sun Apr 20, 2008 2:12 am
Some of my game thoughts...
-Ollie was great today. It is amazing how he was able to get guys to swing and miss when he wasn't locating well at all, a testament to his pure stuff. He got into some trouble here and there throughout the game, but Howard had crucial Ks to let Ollie off the hook.
-Duaner came in, and did exactly what we needed, a big out. Is he not the only guy in our pen who you have great faith in when it comes to BIG situations? That was a damn big AB there, especially with Rollins batting lefty and Duaner just coming back for us... He will be a FORCE for us down the stretch.
-Did anyone else notice that Feliciano shook off Schneider about 1000 times when he was pitching? It was interesting...
-I don't support Willie taking out Joe Smith at that juncture. You gotta let these kids one of these days work through their own mess that they made. This is how you build fortitude and mental strength. For me, it would have been OK if Burrell scored there, Smith needs this kind of experience if he ever wants to be the 7th, 8th inning guy.
-Wags has shown that he is still an elite pitcher. What is this? 4 straight appearances? He hasn't even broken a sweat in terms getting in trouble.. But this is pretty much the carbon copy of '06 and '07... great first halfs, shaky second halfs.
-David Wright is locked in.. need I say much?
-Castillo needs to stay batting 8th, he hits more groundballs than Reyes does.
-If anyone has been watching Beltran the last 6-8 games now knows for sure he is a top CFer. Now you guys know why he plays so deep? He plays a great CF, you cannot criticize his defense over the last 7 games. He has made difficult plays look routine, it is nuts how agile, smooth, and effortless he is running down flyballs.
-Heilman. He deserves a pass after tonight. Pagan ball was catchable, but Heilman did exactly what he is supposed to do... go after hitters by trying to strike them out. two HUGE Ks by Heilman... if you ever wondered about his damn guts, you certainly now have figured out this guy has guts.
Great win. Our pen is absolutely taxed. We need another strong outing from Pelfrey. Sosa likely first option out of pen. Not sure what happens in the 7th 8th 9th inning here. You might see a long dose of Jorge Sosa tomorrow regardless of the score.
edit:
Everything tomorrow is set up for the Phillies to win. They have come close to beating us, turning the tables, taking a game which the shouldnt win, out dueling us, etc. over the last two games. Tomorrow would be an absolute emotional heartbreaker if they lose. Utley and Howard, Pelfrey against Lefties, taxed bullpen, etc.. the table is set for them to steal a game and save some face.
A win tomorrow would be an enormous emotional beatdown on the Phillies. It would be absolutely epic if we could somehow manage to sneak another game out from under them. Although it is early in the season, tomorrow could be one of those "daggers" in the coffin so to speak. A loss tomorrow isn't the end of the world, but a win absolutely could break this team onto a major roll here.... I love it.