Take 2 Roundup: Games of Sat, 12/22/07

[bernieh]

[size=24:97ff88819a][b:97ff88819a]SWEET DREAMS[/b:97ff88819a][/size:97ff88819a]
[size=18:97ff88819a]Dave Stewart Puts Dodgers to Sleep in Phillies' 7-0 Win[/size:97ff88819a]

<img src="http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/images/baseball/stratomatic/1986/story_photos/mike_schmidt_2_150x213.jpg" align="left" border="1" width="150" height="213" style="margin-right: 10px;" /> Phillies' workhorse Dave Stewart threw 7 shutout innings, allowing just 1 hit and no walks, in Philadelphia's [url=http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/1986/scores/boxscore.php?id=531][b:97ff88819a]7-0 cakewalk over the Dodgers[/b:97ff88819a][/url] on Saturday night. The victory broke a 4-game losing streak for the Phillies as they cling to 5th place in the NL East, just 1.5 games ahead of the cellar-dwelling Cubs and 13 games behind the New York Mets.

What's wrong with the Phillies? For starters, there's the pitching, whose 4.60 team ERA is ahead of only the Cubs' 5.00 in the NL. Supposed #2 starter Shane Rawley has been particularly awful, with a 1-6 record, a lofty 7.68 ERA and an outrageous 1.91 WHIP.

The hitting, a theoretical strength of the Phillies, has been underwhelming, starting with 36-year-old, 2-time MVP Mike Schmidt (left), who hit just his 7th homerun of the year on Saturday night. Schmidt, who has been playing first base primarily this year instead of his customary third base, where he had won 9 consecutive Gold Gloves before last year, is hitting only .231. Has the move across the diamond affected his play? Manager [url=http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/dglanville/]Doug Glanville[/url] has been sticking with the experiment in order to get 24-year-old Rick Schu into the lineup at third base, and at least he's been picking up the slack with the bat, hitting .306/.415/.509 so far, while committing only 3 errors so far at the hot corner. Time will tell if Glanville will stick with the plan, or if he will think of something else to shake up the team.

[i:97ff88819a]photo: SN Archives[/i:97ff88819a]