he Philadelphia Phillies have been off to a successful start as they are challenging the rest of the teams in the league for the coveted chance to head to the World Series.
Since opening day, they have played legendary teams such as the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and are starting their next series against the Colorado Rockies.
After a 7-6 record, the loss to the Mets hurt the spirits of the team, but not enough to get them down for their next few games.
Many fans and players will attribute the loss to the return of Phillies pitcher Vincente Padilla.
According to the Phils official website, Mike Liebrthal said ” He felt like he didn’t have the zip that he used to. He’s used to pounding the zone with his fastball to inside hitters. he started the game like that, but his location was high, and his velocity dropped.”
Padilla, however is notorious for not making any comments or speaking to the media so there was no comment obtained from him.
However, Lieberthal did go on to say “In the bullpen he was throwing pretty hard. After the first couple of innings he just lost the velocity and couldn’t get it back.”
In a defeat of 16-4, the Phillies were still behind padilla. They will still support him.
As for the scorers of the game, Chase Utley and David Bell each hit a home run to help the team out so they were not defeated in a shut-out.
For Padilla’s replacement, Gavin Floyd, a rookie, was sent in as an attempt to save the day.
When Floyd was asked about what he took away from the game, he responded by saying “It’s a weird game. I came in trying to get us back into it and things just snowballed again.”
“I felt better with everything. I felt better with my control. I was able to throw strikes and I felt better than the last time. I’ll learn from this,” Floyd said.
Although the Phillies now stand with a record of 7-7, they will take on the rigorous schedule of playing the Mets again, the Rockies and the Marlins with in the next week or so.
Because the Phillies did capture the vistory the expected over the Mets, they are now placed in last place in the East National League Division. They will be forced tostep up in practices this week and padilla will be training extra hard so he can get his head back on his shoulders.
The Phillies will be playing at home on Wednesday, April 20, and Saturday, April 23. The games are also broadcast live on www.phillies.com.
Natonal League
Team Record
Arizona 6-6
Atlanta 6-6
Chi. Cubs 6-6
Cincinnati 6-5
Colorado 2-9
Florida 6-6
Houston 5-6
Los Angeles 9-2
Milwaukee 5-6
N.Y. Mets 6-6
Philadelphia 6-6
Pittsburgh 4-8
San Diego 5-7
San Fran. 6-5
St. Louis 6-4
Washington 8-4
American League
Team Record
Baltimore 8-4
Boston 8-5
Chi. Sox 8-4
Cleveland 5-7
Detroit 5-7
Los Angeles 6-6
Kansas City 4-8
Minnesota 8-4
N.Y. Yanks 4-8
Oakland 6-6
Seattle 6-6
Tampa Bay 4-8
Texas 6-7
Toronto 8-6
