Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Tuesday's Headlines: Pap blows another save, Adams could be out for the year, Doc throws again and Zambrano's last minor league start

June 25, 2013

By Nick Tricome



Monday wasn't all that great for the Phillies.

They lost in extras to the Padres after blowing a 3-0 lead, and they could lose their setup man for the rest of the year.

On the bright side, Doc is making progress on the road to recovery.

Blown Save Leads to 4-3 loss to Padres


Once again, everything seemed to be going right for Cliff Lee.

For eight innings, Lee shutout the Padres and had the benefit of a two-run lead and some great defense, like a diving catch in left field by Domonic Brown with runners at the corners, to work with.

A solo home run by Chase Utley in the eighth would make it 3-0, with the Phillies six outs away from starting the nine-game road trip off right.

Lee retired the side in the bottom of the eighth to get the first three outs, but it was the last three that were a problem.

In the ninth, Lee allowed a single to Carlos Quentin, then a double to Chase Headley that put runners at second and third.

Charlie Manuel opted to bring in Jonathan Papelbon to close out the game, but with one at-bat, the Padres' Kyle Blanks singled to center to score Quentin and Headley.

It went from a one-run game to a tie game just as quickly.

Papelbon hit Jesus Guzman with a pitch, then Yasmani Grandal grounded into a double play to put the Phillies an out away from escaping with the win. However, Blanks was now standing at third base.

With Mark Kotsay at the plate, the 2-0 pitch got past Carlos Ruiz. Blanks slid home to tie the game and send it into extras. Meanwhile, Papelbon had blown his fourth save in eight days.

After a scoreless top of the 10th, with Justin De Fratus pitching, the Padres loaded the bases and Blanks, who scored the tying run, hit a walk-off single to end it.

The Phillies have fallen five games below .500 at 36-41 and will have to try and rebound on Tuesday night with Kyle Kendrick (6-4, 3.56 ERA) on the mound. The Padres will have Jason Marquis (9-2, 3.56 ERA) get the start in game two of a three-game series.

(Image from WashingtonPost.com)

Surgery a possibility for Adams


The Phillies could be without setup man Mike Adams for the rest of the season.

According to CSNPhilly.com's Jim Salisbury, Adams will be examined on Tuesday by Dr. Neal Elattrache in Los Angeles to see if he will require season-ending shoulder surgery to fix a labrum problem.

“It could require some surgery, but we don’t know yet,” GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told Salisbury. “Our doctors are not recommending surgery, but we’ll see what [ElAttrache] says.”

Adams hit the 15-day disabled list on Saturday with bicep tendonitis. It is the second time Adams hit the DL this season, the first was due to a right back strain.

In 25 innings pitched this season, Adams is 1-4 with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. He hasn't done much to   improve the Phillies' struggling bullpen, which he was expected to do when he was signed to a two-year, $12-million contract in the off-season.

Halladay throwing, decision on Zambrano coming

Roy Halladay, who had shoulder surgery on May 15, has picked up a baseball again.

CSNPhilly.com's Jim Salsibury reports that Halladay is throwing from about 60 feet.

Although Halladay still has a while to go before he can pitch again, a return to the Phillies later in the season is still an expectation.

Meanwhile, Carlos Zambrano, who signed a minor league deal with the Phillies in mid-May, will have one more minor league start. The Phillies will make a decision on whether or not to promote him to the majors after that.

According to Salisbury, Zambrano is likely to start for Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Friday night. If he is not promoted to the majors, then he has the option to end his deal with the organization on Monday.

With that said, Zambrano would have already been with the team if he did have a good shot of being called up, based on what GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told Salisbury.

“If we thought he could help us he’d already be here,” Amaro said.

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