Game 15: Phillies futile offense causes another loss in series opener (10-5)

Joe Blanton had a much better outing last night, as he was able to go 7 strong innings while recording a 1.142 WHIP and allowing 2 runs. This is a significant improvement over his first two starts, and while fans shouldn't exect a 2.57 ERA out of him the rest of the season, I believe his true value lies much closer to this performance than his first two.

The problem last night was not pitching, rather offensive output. The Phillies have had terrible plate discipline of late, and while it was better last night, it still wasn't great.

Ryan Madson was called on in the 8th inning in a tied game, and he allowed his first run of the season. I thought he'd go the whole season without allowing a run, but what do I know.

Charlie started the 9th inning with J.C. Romero on the mound, and Erick Almonte, Rickie Weeks, and Carlos Gomez due up. All of these batters are right-handed. J.C. Romero is absolutely atrocious vs. RHB. He luckily did not give up any runs; however, he did unluckily get injured.

Manuel also likely called for a Valdez bunt last night that dropped the Phillies run expectancy from approximately 0.95 to 0.73 (going from a runner on first and 0 out to having a runner on 2nd and 1 out). Congratulations, Charlie. You do not understand which base/out states give your team a better chance at winning.

Kyle Kendrick was brought in to pitch in extras, and not surprisingly, he couldn't handle the job.

Roy Halladay will take on Randy Wolf tonight.