Brewers Outslug Phils, 14-10

By now, Johnny Estrada might be asking himself, “What have I gotten myself into?” Better yet, the young catcher is probably wondering how in the world he can get his pitchers to throw a pitch that doesn’t look as big as a pumpkin when it approaches home plate.

	Doug Glanville can't come up with this fly ball off the bat of Jeromy Burnitz, who ended up with a triple in the first inning.

Just two games into the rookie, replacement catcher’s major league career, he has seen more hangers than a walk-in closet.

In his debut on Tuesday night, Estrada watched as the Milwaukee Brewers pounded out 14 runs and 22 hits. It looked like the Beer Boys were at it again Wednesday night, touching starter Bruce Chen for four runs and five hits in the first two innings on their way to a 6-1 win over the Phils in the Vet.

But then again, perhaps Estrada and his teammates are simply catching the Brewers at the wrong time. Fresh off pounding the Pittsburgh Pirates for 10 runs on Sunday and then scoring two touchdowns on the Phillies Tuesday, it doesn’t seem as if Kryptonite could stop Milwaukee.

This being the case, the Brewers pushed their winning streak to five games while the Phillies watched their own losing streak stretch to three games. With a win by the Atlanta Braves over the Colorado Rockies Wednesday afternoon, the 22-16 Phils saw their lead in the NL East shrink to four games.

Does that mean the Phillies are starting to hear some huffing-and-puffing as the marathon begins to reach the quarter-pole.

“There are peaks and valleys during a season and we’re in a valley right now,” Bowa said philosophically.

But we must get back to the subject of Estrada and his bird’s-eye view of those fat curves.

It was initially suggested by Phils skipper Larry Bowa that perhaps the team may be better off if Chen (1-3, 4.86) were skipped in the rotation Wednesday night. After all, the lefty has had a penchant for giving up home runs (nine in 39 1/3 innings heading into the game) and facing the Brewers, who knocked out three homers Tuesday night along with nine doubles, it only seems logical that it crossed the manager’s mind.

After two innings, Bowa might have wanted to reconsider letting Chen pitch.

“He put us in a hole after two innings,” the manager said. “He didn’t have good control and was behind in the count early. He was able to find his rhythm and settle in so we’ll have to keep running him out there and see what happens next time.”

Tony Fernandez, the game’s second batter, scalded a liner to right that landed in the Phils’ bullpen. A strikeout later, white-hot Jeromy Burnitz knocked a long triple to deep center that missed pelting Robin Roberts’ retired No. 36 by inches. After a walk to Richie Sexson, Jeffrey Hammonds drove Burnitz in with a double to make it 2-0.

The lefty seemed headed for disaster in the second. Pitcher Jimmy Haynes smashed a liner to the corner in left for a double before Chen walked two batters to load the bases. Seeking a reprisal of his game-breaking grand slam from Tuesday’s tilt, Devon White lashed a double in the gap in right-center to drive home two more.

After striking out Burnitz for the second out, Chen still had some work to do. He walked Sexson again but wriggled out of more damage when he got Hammonds to pop out harmlessly to Travis Lee at first.

Fortunately for the Phillies, Chen suffered the worst of it and battled. Over the next five of his seven-inning stint, Chen retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced. It was there that he recorded five of his seven strikeouts and retired eight via pop-up.

“I couldn’t find the plate during the first two innings,” Chen said. “But I found a groove and the ball felt good coming out of my hand.”

But the home run ball reared its head in the sixth as Ron Belliard sent one to the seats in left to close out the scoring for the night.

But despite the rocky start, Chen says he can use his strong finish as a base for the next time out. He also takes solace in the fact that he was able to pitch seven innings and give the bullpen a break after it had to go 7 2/3 innings in the slugfest the night before.

But regardless of how Chen feels the next time out, it still didn’t help the fact that the Phils offense couldn’t figure out Haynes (4-4, 4.77).

The Oakland cast-off stymied the Phillies' bats with a mix of fastballs and slow breaking pitches to scatter eight hits in his eight innings, allowing no runs. To make matters worse for the Phillies, Haynes had pinpoint control all night, throwing 120 pitches of which 82 were strikes and didn’t walk a batter.

His accuracy meant the Phillies were presented with very few chances to score. In the sixth, they had a chance to creep back into it when Bobby Abreu and Scott Rolen led-off the sixth with back-to-back singles. But Lee followed with a 6-4-3 double play and Pat Burrell whiffed to end the threat and the inning.

They did get a run in the ninth off reliever Brandon Kolb when Rolen led-off with a double, moved to third on a passed ball and came around on a sacrifice fly by Estrada.

“When we don’t score too many runs and get down early, things are going to be tough,” professor Bowa said.

The Phillies will try to avert a three-game sweep Thursday when Randy Wolf (3-4, 4.66) faces Paul Rigdon (2-1, 4.24). After the Brewers, the Phillies host the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals for three games as the 12-game, 13-day homestand continues.

Notes: After seeking a second opinion, Mike Lieberthal has opted to have surgery to repair his injured knee. Lieberthal tore his anterior cruciate ligament, his medial collateral ligament and his lateral meniscus while trying to avoid a pick-off at first base last Saturday in Arizona. The plan is for the catcher to rehab his MCL for a month and then have surgery to repair his ACL. After surgery, he should be ready to return in time for Spring Training. … A single in the first pushed Doug Glanville’s hitting streak to 12 games. … Chen picked up a basehit in the second. It was his first of the season and just the third of his career. The last one came Aug. 11, 2000 against Houston.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com