In Progress: The Vanimal's Awesomeness

Vance Worley is awesome. Seriously, homeboy is awesome! He came into tonight's game with 6 straight outings of allowing 1 run or less and going 5 innings or more. Tonight- 8 innings, 2 runs, and only 3 hits allowed. Manuel didn't even pause to contemplate pinch hitting for him in the bottom of the 7th, because The Vanimal had only dispensed 88 pitches, so the 8th was his too. The streak may be over, but he's a winner nonetheless. Love this kid.


Other Cool Stuff:
*Chase Utley hit his 3rd career inside-the-park homerun. National League be warned, the real Chase Utley is back.

*Tim Lincecum was scratched from his start with the flu and Barry Zito was bumped up a day. Zito got hammered by Raul Ibanez and John Mayberr Jr., along with Utley of course.

Checking Our Email:
Hey guys. In May I dropped yous an email asking for thoughts along the lines of "what's wrong with Cliff Lee?". Then June happened and we all thought "ah, back to normal." But we ain't...Cliff is back to struggles and inconsistency. So, is it mechanics? Not likely. His head? Hard to imagine. I'm totally stumped! I wouldn't even be writing this except that it's Lee. Anyone else with his numbers would, on the whole, be lauded....but he clearly is not meeting Cliff Lee expectations. Anyway, I'm not bitching, but I am asking, WTF with Cliff?

Discuss.

Regards. Best blog going on the Phightins.

~Randy