Are the Philadelphia Phillies allergic to winning at home?
It sure seems that the defending World Series champs could use some Allegra when they take the field at Citizens Bank Park, because home has been anything but a fortress for the Phillies thus far this season.
After dropping two of three to Boston last weekend and getting swept by Toronto in a midweek three-game set, a woeful week and a woeful season at home continued for the Phils last night, as they fell 7-2 to AL East cellar dweller Baltimore in the opener of their series against the Orioles.
That defeat dropped the Phillies to 13-20 at home this season, which is the third-worst home record in the majors behind the Arizona Diamondbacks (14-23) and the Washington Nationals (11-22). That’s some good company to be in, right?
Philadelphia has been one of the National League’s better teams at home in each of the past two seasons, posting a 47-34 home record in 2007 and a 48-33 home record last season. Add to that a perfect 7-0 mark at home in the postseason on the way to winning the World Series last year.
But for some reason, the magic just hasn’t been there so far this season. To highlight just how bad things have been for the Phillies at home, take away their two series wins and a 5-1 record against the Nationals, and what you have is no series wins and a 8-19 record against everyone else. That includes series losses to San Diego (9-23 on the road) and the sweep against Toronto, who entered their series at Philadelphia 13-18 on the road, and with one more defeat, their ledger could include a series loss to an Orioles team that was 8-20 on the road before last night.
Citizens Bank Park is known as a hitter-friendly park, and it has been…but not for the home team.
Take away the six games against the Nationals (in which they’ve averaged 6.5 runs per game), and the Phillies have averaged 4.4 runs in the rest of their home games (119 runs in 27 games). All told, Philadelphia is averaging 4.6 runs at home this season, Nats games included.
Not enough run production puts added pressure on the pitching staff, and they haven’t been up to the task. Once again, take away the games against the Nationals (which does include allowing 11 runs in a 13-11 win on April 27), and the Phillies have allowed just over six runs per game in the other 27 games (163 runs in 27 games). Overall, that makes for an average of almost 5.8 runs allowed per game.
It’s been even worse in the last seven games against Boston, Toronto, and Baltimore, as the Phillies have given up 52 runs (7.4 per game) and scored only 32 (4.6 per game). Take away their 11-run performance against the Red Sox in Sunday’s 11-6 win, and they’re averaging 3.5 games in the other six games.
Brad Lidge’s struggles this season are well known, but he’s not the only one. Here’s a look at how Philadelphia’s primary arms have done this season, including Lidge, who’s looked nothing like the Lidge that was 41 for 41 in save opportunities last season and posted a 1.95 ERA in 72 appearances.
Cole Hamels: 2-1, 4.19 ERA at home, 2-1, 4.85 ERA away
Joe Blanton: 1-2, 6.05 ERA at home, 3-1, 4.37 ERA away
Jamie Moyer: 2-4, 7.15 ERA at home, 2-2, 5.40 ERA away
Brett Myers: 0-3, 4.75 ERA at home, 4-0, 4.59 ERA away
Antonio Bastardo: 0-2, 9.00 ERA at home, 2-0, 2.46 ERA away
J.A. Happ: 2-0, 5.24 ERA at home, 2-0, 2.20 ERA away
Chan Ho Park: 2-1, 5.70 ERA at home, 1-0, 6.57 ERA away
Relievers
Ryan Madson: 0-2, 3.38 ERA at home, 2-0, 1.47 ERA away
Clay Condrey: 2-1, 4.74 ERA at home, 2-1, 2.40 ERA away
Chad Durbin: 1-1, 3.57 ERA at home, 0-1, 4.19 ERA away
Scott Eyre: 0-0, 7.71 ERA at home, 1-1, 0.00 ERA away
Jack Taschner: 1-1, 5.21 ERA at home, 0-0, 5.40 ERA away
And then there’s Lidge, who’s been pretty bad all around (0-1, 7.43 ERA at home, 0-2, 7.11 ERA away) and has actually been a little more shaky in save opportunities away (7 for 12 in save situations) than at home (6 for 7).
Still, despite their struggles at home, the Phillies top the NL East by two games over the New York Mets. That’s thanks to their 23-9 road record, which is far and away the best road mark in the majors.
The Phillies have averaged 6.2 runs per game away from home (198 runs in 32 games), and just as the offense has been better away from Citizens Bank Park, the pitching has been markedly better as well, allowing only 4.3 runs per game (137 runs in 32 games). In this case, if you take away the games against the Nationals (44 runs scored in six games), the runs scored per game goes down (from 6.2 to 5.96), but the runs allowed per game goes down (from 4.3 to 3.8), as the Phillies allowed 38 runs in their six road games against the Nats.
I know that the stat fiend in me is rambling, but it’s easy to see that the Phillies need to amp it up at home, and not just against the likes of Washington and Baltimore, but against the better teams in the NL if they want to stay atop the NL East for the long haul. Their home struggles have allowed the Mets to stay well within striking distance despite not being world-beaters themselves, and the Atlanta Braves (four games back heading into today’s action) and Florida Marlins (five back) are a hot streak away from being in the thick of things themselves.
They may well be looking forward to going back on the road after this series for a nine-game road swing at Tampa Bay, Toronto, and Atlanta, because they’ve been so much better on the road and because the length of the road swing will allow for slugger Raul Ibanez (strained left groin) to heal up ahead of a 10-game homestand against the Mets, Reds, and Pirates.
But if they don’t want to go into that road swing trying to cling on to their NL East lead -and respectability, for that matter, and if they want to be in position to defend their World Series crown, they need to step it up in the friendly confines starting tonight.
