Blanton's Struggles Continue

In terms of starting pitchers, Joe Blanton is the odd man out for the Phillies so far in this early 2011 season.

In his second start last night, Blanton again got into trouble pitching 6 innings and giving up 5 runs. The Phils provided run support early with Ryan Howard's solo homerun in the top of the 2nd. But Blanton gave up a run in the bottom of the 2nd and then imploded in the bottom of the 4th giving up 3 runs. Blanton then gave up a solo shot to Jayson Werth in the 5th to put the Phillies down 5-1. The Phillies tried to battle in the 7th by loading the bases, but John Mayberry and Shane Victorino struck out and the Phillies were unable to cut the deficit. The Phils tacked on 2 runs in the 8th and another in the 9th but eventually lost by a final of 7-4.

Joe Blanton got into trouble last night mainly because a lot of his pitches were up in the zone. In order for Blanton to be successful he needs to have a downward plane and keep his pitches down. After just 2 starts it is still too early to panic. Blanton is a solid big league pitcher and he will make any necessary changes to his mechanics.

The Phils will look to get back to their winning ways tonight behind Roy Halladay who is 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA.