Worley Delivers, Howard and Polanco Power Offense

By Amy McCormick

Last night, my best friends and I had a girls’ night at the ballpark.  To be honest, we never expect an exciting game when the Mets are in town.  We surely had no idea what was in store for us.

Joe Blanton, now on the DL, seemed long forgotten when Vance Worley took the mound.  We saw him a few times last year; his record was 1-1 and his ERA was 1.38.  Not too shabby for a 22 year old kid brought up to the bigs for the first time.  Last night, Worley was our starting pitcher, and he proved that he has more than just potential.  I love that he’s calm and focused – something you don’t often see in someone so young.  Getting the win, Worley’s line was: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K.  Needless to say, my friends and I were pleased with his performance.  Is he a better choice than Blanton for our #5 spot?  Hard to say, if you ask me, but it’s nice to know that the Phils are adept at making quality substitutions when necessary. 

Offensively speaking, Philadelphia brought their A Game last night.  And by “Philadelphia,” of course, I mean Ryan Howard and Placido Polanco.  Howard hit two homers, one of which was a grand slam; he was responsible for six of the team’s ten runs.  Polanco’s base hit in the seventh scored two runs.  Ryan Howard now has 27 RBIs in the month of April, which breaks the Phils’ record set in 2008 by Pat Burrell (he had 24).  I think that it might be time to stop blaming Howard for losing the NLCS in 2010.  The man is an RBI machine.  Polanco is no slouch, either.  He has posted nineteen RBIs thus far and is batting .390.  If Halladay, Lee, Oswalt and Hamels are the four aces, then Howard and Polanco are our offensive dynamic duo. 

Last night, aside from having to set eyes on David Herndon, we saw a formula for winning games: solid pitching and aggressive offense.  The Phils showed that even with two starting pitchers being out, the show must go on.  They had an offensive slump lasting about a dozen or so games, and it appears to be over.  I know that it’s still April, but Philadelphia is asserting itself as the team to beat.