The Philly Phyles

[General]

Brett Myers worked five innings and allowed three runs Saturday in a no-decision versus the Red Sox.
Myers failed in his attempt to become just the third pitcher ever to beat the Yankees, the Red Sox and his wife in the same week. He gave up seven hits and walked four, but five strikeouts and a couple of double plays helped him limit the damage

[General]

Jimmy Rollins went 3-for-6 with a three-run triple, and RBI double and a walk Monday against the Red Sox.
Rollins used the Green Monster for both of his extra-base hits. The triple was nearly grabbed by a jumping Coco Crisp, but it got over his glove and rolled back toward center. Had no one been on base on the play, there's a good chance Rollins would have had an inside-the-park homer. Instead, he was to break momentarily at first base

[General]

Julio Santana will undergo Tommy John surgery on Wednesday.
Santana will miss the remainder of the season.

[General]

Ryan Madson earned a win over the Orioles on Thursday after throwing 8 2/3 innings of scoreless ball.
Madson almost had his first complete-game shutout, but Brandon Fahey drew a walk and Melvin Mora singled with two outs in the ninth. Manager Charlie Manuel then pulled Madson at 114 pitches with the tying run on deck, allowing closer Tom Gordon to pick up his 21st save of the season in a 4-0 game. Madson was fantastic tonight while striking out seven and walking just one, though he's shown these flashes before. Still, he's worth using in most formats against the Padres next time out.

[General]

Adam Bernero was rocked by the Blue Jays for eight runs in just two innings tonight.
He walked two and gave up seven hits, including three homers. Bernero was up to take Brett Myers' place in the rotation and should head back to the minors once Jon Lieber returns. It's possible he'll get another start before heading back down, but the Phillies may want to try something else after what happened tonight.

Different NL East team, same Adam Bernero.

[General]

Bobby Abreu went 3-for-5 with four RBI in an 11-6 win over the Blue Jays today.
Abreu has been performing at last year's pace in almost every category thus far. That he's batting .290 with 52 runs scored, 21 doubles, 57 RBI, and 15 steals are all expected, but belting only eight homers has made him a slight disappointment. However, he is quite capable of going on a tear and catching up to his standard pace, as evidenced by his 18 homers before the All-Star break last season.

[General]

Kyle Drabek, the Phillies top pick in the 2006 draft, agreed to a contract with $1.55 million signing bonus on Saturday night.
Drabek, the son of former NL Cy Young winner Doug Drabek, will begin his career at the Phillies rookie camp in Clearwater

[General]

Michael Bourn played in his first game for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday and went 0-for-4.
Bourn was at .274/.350/.365 for Double-A Reading, so he didn't really earn the promotion. His stock is sliding a bit, but it's still possible that he'll be a regular center fielder in 2008.

[General]

Phillies activated RHP Jon Lieber from the 15-day disabled list.
Lieber will make his return to the rotation Friday against the Pirates

[General]

Jon Lieber, making his first start since May 29 because of a groin injury, held the Pirates to three runs -- two earned -- over seven innings of work tonight but still took the loss in a 3-2 game.
Lieber struck out two, walked one, and gave up five hits in the contest. That he gave up over twice as many flyouts (13) as groundouts (6) was surprising, but he should be fine to activate in most leagues. That the Phillies play the Giants, Padres, Braves, Diamondbacks, and Marlins after the break should help

[General]

Cory Lidle yielded two runs in six innings against the Pirates on Saturday to win for the first time since May 21.
If you had told us at the beginning of the season that Lidle would have allowed two, three or four runs in all but two of his 18 starts through the All-Star break, we would have expected better than a 5-7 record. In the exceptions, both of which were losses to the Mets, he gave up five earned runs.

[General]

Mike Lieberthal (hip) went 1-for-2 with a HBP as the catcher for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday.
Lieberthal is expected back right after the All-Star break.

[General]

Ryan Howard beat David Wright 5-4 in the finals to win Monday night's Home Run Derby.
Howard passed Wright with five outs remaining in the finals. Wright, who had Paul Lo Duca pitching to him, tired himself out early, hitting 16 homers in round one. Miguel Cabrera and David Ortiz were eliminated in the semis, and Ortiz hit the longest homer of the night. Wright's total of 16 homers was the third most ever in the first round of a derby, behind Bobby Abreu (24) and Ortiz (17) in 2005.

[General]

In seven starts for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Gavin Floyd has gone 2-1 with a 5.28 ERA.
"He's still not at a point where he can repeat things consistently enough. Obviously, one good outing is great," assistant general manager Mike Arbuckle said. "But he has to be able to put them together back-to-back-to-back." Floyd is still just 23 years old - he could return in September.

[General]

Phillies activated catcher Mike Lieberthal from the 15-day disabled list.
The Phillies are still without Sal Fasano, so Carlos Ruiz hangs around for now. Chris Coste probably won't see much time behind the plate in the future