Myers Struggles as Phils Lose to Mets

In his first start after a month-long stint in the minor leagues, Brett Myers was able to get through the first inning without allowing a hit.  Unfortunately, he walked four straight batters and the first inning ended with the Phillies down 2-0.  To his credit, Myers seemed to regain his composure and was able to keep the Phillies in the game in his five innings of work.  Though Myers allowed only three earned runs, things could have been worse.  His control was nothing short of terrible, especially with his fastball.

With the score tied at 3-3 in the sixth inning, Jose Reyes hit a three-run homer off reliever Ryan Madson to swing the game in the Mets’ favor.  True to form, Reyes danced around the bases and in the dugout following his homer.  There is absolutely no need for that type of behavior at any level of baseball, especially the Major Leagues.  When will someone send him a message by throwing at him?

Once again, the Phillies offense was shut down by a struggling pitcher.  John Maine, who entered the game with a 5.45 ERA in his last seven starts, pitched seven effective innings, allowing three earned runs.  Back-to-Back home runs by Shane Victorino (7) and Geoff Jenkins (9) and an RBI double by Jimmy Rollins provided all the scoring for the Phils.  Obviously, entire teams go through peaks and valleys offensively during the course of a baseball season.  However, the Phils offense has been struggling for far too long.  Each time they show signs of breaking out — last night’s ninth inning performance for example — they fail to build on that momentum the next night.  Something needs to give.  This offense needs a major wake up call, and they need it in a hurry.  I fear that Pat Gillick is done dealing, but adding another bat could be exactly what this team needs to turn things around.

As for Myers, he simply needs to be better than he was last night.  I was under the impression that he was sent down to work on his mechanics and to “rediscover” his fastball.  If he was able to accomplish that to the point where the Phillies brass felt he was fit to return to the rotation, I surly didn’t see any signs of that last night.  He had almost no control over his fastball, and even abandoned it in favor of his curve in certain situations.  I’m willing to suffer through one more Myers start, but that’s it.  If it’s more of the same, I’d call up J.A. Happ, who has continued to impress at AAA.