After being called up, sent down, re-called, asked to pitch relief, sent down again and ultimately recalled once more, Vance Worley's struggles on Sunday afternoon weren't altogether shocking considering his recently unorthodox travel and pitching schedules. Though Vance had performed plenty well in his previous appearances for the big club this season, the New York Mets saw to it that Worley encountered his first rough up of 2011 in the form of a 9-5 series-ending loss.
Before receiving the hook, Worley surrendered eight runs on twelve hits and needed seventy-one pitches to complete just three innings of work. Now, in fairness to Vance, only five of those eight allowed were of the earned of the variety, with the remaining three credited to a Jimmy Rollins fielding error in the first. That said, regardless of exactly how the runs came, the Phillies founds themselves in an eight-run hole after only the second inning.
In relief, the combination of Kyle Kendrick, J.C. Romero and Danys Baez would give up only one more run in the final six innings of play. While the pen was solid in terms of limiting any extra damage, Baez was especially lucky to work out of a messy bases-loaded jam in the eighth thanks to a timely (and somewhat lucky) double-play.
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On the mound for the Mets, although neither Niese nor Bucholz nor Beato were particularly dominant in allowing five runs of a totals of eleven hits, they were all good enough to lock down an eight-run head start.
Actually, the five crossed and eleven knocks are pretty impressive considering the lineup Charlie marched out in Flushing Meadows on Sunday afternoon. With Chase Utley, Carlos Ruiz and Ryan Howard all getting the day off, Phils fans watched as Michael Martinez, Wilson Valdez and Dane Sardinha did their best to fill some bigs shoes. Deserved or not—and you're certainly free to weigh in with thoughts of your own below—the manager will no doubt be on the receiving end of at least some criticism for deciding to sit all three on the same day.
Leaving NY for DC, the team will be hopping the train this evening in preparation for tomorrow's Memorial Day match up with the Washington Nationals. As stated on the broadcast, Phillies' color commentator Chris Wheeler is really looking forward to the trip, and especially enjoys traveling by rail. "The scenery is really beautiful and it's just so easy to fall asleep once that train starts gently rocking back and forth."
There's truly nothing like a Chris Wheeler anecdote to make a bad afternoon of baseball even worse. Let's say we all forget this and get back to some barbecue. Enjoy the weekend, guys.
