They're so cliche, but the questions are asked anyway:
Can a victory like this be a turning point in a season?
Can it be a momentum builder?
The Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers last night at Citziens Bank Park, 8-6. The Brewers, who own the best record in the National League, were 21-0 when leading after seven innings this season. The Phillies were 1-15 when trailing after seven. So the ballpark was rocking and rolling as the Phillies beat Derrick Turnbow, scoring six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. But I guess I'm not a big believer in one game being able to turn around a season. I remember Larry Bowa always saying that momentum depended on the next game's starting pitcher.
I believe there is truth in that.
Phillies righthander Adam Eaton (3-3, 7.43 ERA) faces Brewers righthander Claudio Vargas (3-0, 2.65 ERA) in the second game of this four-game series tonight. Will last night's victory ensure Eaton throws seven quality innings like last week in Arizona? You know, because of the momentum?
Hardly.
The Phillies were 4-11 (.267) when Charlie Manuel held a team meeting in Cincinnati on April 21. They are 14-9 (.609) since. People thought Manuel's meeting might be the turning point in the season because the Phillies won five-straight games and seven of their next nine. But then the Phillies lost six of their next nine. What happened to the momentum? The bullpen imploded. The offense stalled.
The Phillies simply need to be more consistent if they expect to make the postseason, and it's unlikely one victory will springboard them into making that happen. Consistent teams win games like last night's on occassion. Inconsistent teams win games like this far less.
The Phillies have had consistent starting pitching recently. If that continues and their offense continues to score runs, they could make things interesting once Ryan Madson and Tom Gordon return to the bullpen -- assuming Gordon gets healthy and can pitch effectively. Momentum? Season altering games? It's talent. It's production and performance. If the Phillies have it, they will continue to win. If they don't, they will continue to frustrate.
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Brewers manager Ned Yost explains why he started the fatal eighth inning with Brian Shouse rather than Turnbow. I'm still not sure why Yost left in Turnbow so long after it became clear he practically had abandoned his splitter and was going to throw mostly fastballs.
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The Phillies snapped their streak of seven-consecutive quality starts. Still, Jamie Moyer, who allowed five runs in 6 1/3 innings, has been one of the biggest bright spots in the Pat Gillick Era.
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This week's Sports Illustrated -- Cleveland's Grady Sizemore is on the cover -- surveyed 11 high-ranking big-league talent evaluators. They asked them to pick their dream rotation of pitchers with less than a year of big-league service time.
Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka received eight first-place votes and finished first for 46 total points.
Cole Hamels received two first-place votes and finished second for 40 total points.
Yankees prospect Phil Hughes finished third with 25 points.
Interesting, huh?
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We Should be GM's points out that Turnbow looks like Boober from Fraggle Rock. My Lord, what an old-school reference. I watched that show as a kid, but I couldn't name one character from there. Nice work.
