phillies bullpen early in the week....
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The Montreal Expos return to Veterans Stadium two more times this season after today.
The Phillies have six starting pitchers now.
The latter situation outweighed the former when the Phillies made the decision to make up last night's postponed game against the Expos as part of a doubleheader today at Veterans Stadium. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1:05 p.m.
After playing two today, the Phillies will play a Memorial Day matinee at 1:10 p.m. tomorrow at Shea Stadium. That's three games in 28 hours. That's a lot of baseball in a short amount of time and a potential minefield for the bullpen.
"I wanted the doubleheader," manager Larry Bowa said after last night's game was postponed at 3:40 p.m. "I wanted to get it out of the way."
Ed Wade agreed with that decision.
"We thought if the forecast was good enough, we should go ahead and play the doubleheader [today]," the Phillies' general manager said.
No one admitted it, but the overriding factor in the Phillies' decision to play two was the fact that they have six starting pitchers in the fold right now. That number will be reduced by one after today's doubleheader and, barring some unforeseen development, the odd-man out is going to start one of the games this afternoon against the Expos.
Paul Byrd, on the comeback trail after last August's shoulder surgery, had been scheduled to make his major-league seasonal debut last night, and Bruce Chen, a struggling lefthander with a 7.03 ERA in his last four starts, was the scheduled starter today. Bowa flip-flopped his starters, an appropriate move since flip-flops are the giveaway item to all women 15 and over today at the Vet.
Chen will pitch the first game against Montreal's Britt Reames and Byrd will face Tony Armas in the nightcap. Both pitchers have had a considerable amount of rest. Chen hasn't pitched since a May 16 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, and Byrd hasn't pitched since a May 18 outing for triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
"It's tough being rained out your first day," Byrd said. "Mentally, I'm ready to go. As a pitcher you usually don't want too many days of rest. Generally I'm a little wild after a lot of rest. But with my new [surgically repaired] arm I feel like I'll be OK. I've had good control all year."
Chen, meanwhile, has struggled with his location and been victimized by the long ball in recent outings. He has allowed seven home runs in his last four starts, and he has won just once overall in eight starts this season.
Pressed on the importance of today's outing, Chen did not bite.
"I can't do anything more than I'm capable of doing," he said. "I can't go out there and try to strike everybody out. You're trying to make it sound like it's a pressure situation. The way I look at it is as a challenge. I'm looking forward to the challenge. It's fun to face a challenge."
No interest in Wells. Reports in several New York newspapers yesterday said the Mets were making a push to acquire the imminently available David Wells from the Chicago White Sox. The New York Post said that the Phillies also had an interest in Wells but probably were not in contention because they wanted the White Sox to pick up some of Wells' salary.
Indications yesterday were that the Phillies never expressed any interest in Wells.
All choked up. Yes, Phillies third baseman Scott Rolen did choke up on his bat with two strikes Friday night before delivering a two-out RBI single that kept the game alive and eventually led to Travis Lee's game-winning, three-run homer off Montreal's Ugueth Urbina.
Rolen, however, insisted it was not a big deal.
"I've been choking up with two strikes my entire career," he said.
Extra bases. The Phillies made room on the 25-man roster for Byrd after Friday night's game by sending righthander Nelson Figueroa back to triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. . . . The eight runs allowed by the Phillies in Friday night's victory dropped them from first to fourth in team ERA among the National League's 16 teams. . . . The offense, on the other hand, has batted .266 (90 for 338) and averaged 4.7 runs during the 7-3 homestand. . . . After the Phillies complete today's doubleheader, they will bus to New York for their first meeting of the season against the Mets. Scheduled pitching matchups for the three-game series: Randy Wolf (4-4, 3.57) vs. Al Leiter (2-3, 4.37) tomorrow, Omar Daal (6-0, 3.57) vs. Kevin Appier (3-5, 5.24) Tuesday, and Robert Person (4-4, 3.80) vs. Rick Reed (5-2, 2.66) Wednesday.
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The Montreal Expos return to Veterans Stadium two more times this season after today.
The Phillies have six starting pitchers now.
The latter situation outweighed the former when the Phillies made the decision to make up last night's postponed game against the Expos as part of a doubleheader today at Veterans Stadium. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1:05 p.m.
After playing two today, the Phillies will play a Memorial Day matinee at 1:10 p.m. tomorrow at Shea Stadium. That's three games in 28 hours. That's a lot of baseball in a short amount of time and a potential minefield for the bullpen.
"I wanted the doubleheader," manager Larry Bowa said after last night's game was postponed at 3:40 p.m. "I wanted to get it out of the way."
Ed Wade agreed with that decision.
"We thought if the forecast was good enough, we should go ahead and play the doubleheader [today]," the Phillies' general manager said.
No one admitted it, but the overriding factor in the Phillies' decision to play two was the fact that they have six starting pitchers in the fold right now. That number will be reduced by one after today's doubleheader and, barring some unforeseen development, the odd-man out is going to start one of the games this afternoon against the Expos.
Paul Byrd, on the comeback trail after last August's shoulder surgery, had been scheduled to make his major-league seasonal debut last night, and Bruce Chen, a struggling lefthander with a 7.03 ERA in his last four starts, was the scheduled starter today. Bowa flip-flopped his starters, an appropriate move since flip-flops are the giveaway item to all women 15 and over today at the Vet.
Chen will pitch the first game against Montreal's Britt Reames and Byrd will face Tony Armas in the nightcap. Both pitchers have had a considerable amount of rest. Chen hasn't pitched since a May 16 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, and Byrd hasn't pitched since a May 18 outing for triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
"It's tough being rained out your first day," Byrd said. "Mentally, I'm ready to go. As a pitcher you usually don't want too many days of rest. Generally I'm a little wild after a lot of rest. But with my new [surgically repaired] arm I feel like I'll be OK. I've had good control all year."
Chen, meanwhile, has struggled with his location and been victimized by the long ball in recent outings. He has allowed seven home runs in his last four starts, and he has won just once overall in eight starts this season.
Pressed on the importance of today's outing, Chen did not bite.
"I can't do anything more than I'm capable of doing," he said. "I can't go out there and try to strike everybody out. You're trying to make it sound like it's a pressure situation. The way I look at it is as a challenge. I'm looking forward to the challenge. It's fun to face a challenge."
No interest in Wells. Reports in several New York newspapers yesterday said the Mets were making a push to acquire the imminently available David Wells from the Chicago White Sox. The New York Post said that the Phillies also had an interest in Wells but probably were not in contention because they wanted the White Sox to pick up some of Wells' salary.
Indications yesterday were that the Phillies never expressed any interest in Wells.
All choked up. Yes, Phillies third baseman Scott Rolen did choke up on his bat with two strikes Friday night before delivering a two-out RBI single that kept the game alive and eventually led to Travis Lee's game-winning, three-run homer off Montreal's Ugueth Urbina.
Rolen, however, insisted it was not a big deal.
"I've been choking up with two strikes my entire career," he said.
Extra bases. The Phillies made room on the 25-man roster for Byrd after Friday night's game by sending righthander Nelson Figueroa back to triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. . . . The eight runs allowed by the Phillies in Friday night's victory dropped them from first to fourth in team ERA among the National League's 16 teams. . . . The offense, on the other hand, has batted .266 (90 for 338) and averaged 4.7 runs during the 7-3 homestand. . . . After the Phillies complete today's doubleheader, they will bus to New York for their first meeting of the season against the Mets. Scheduled pitching matchups for the three-game series: Randy Wolf (4-4, 3.57) vs. Al Leiter (2-3, 4.37) tomorrow, Omar Daal (6-0, 3.57) vs. Kevin Appier (3-5, 5.24) Tuesday, and Robert Person (4-4, 3.80) vs. Rick Reed (5-2, 2.66) Wednesday.
