Roy Oswalt Sees Red in Rough First Start for Phillies

WASHINGTON -- The Phillies must feel right at home.

They are down but hardly out in a heated NL East race. They have a brand new ace in their back pocket after completing a blockbuster deal with the Astros for ace Roy Oswalt Thursday. They would appear to have the rest of the league right where they want them.

It sounds like a mish-mash of the last few seasons -- unquestionably the best three-year run in Phillies history -- so it must have stirred familiar emotions to see Oswalt saunter out of the visitors' bullpen and take the mound a day after he approved the trade, even if Oswalt himself was an unfamiliar quantity.

"You couldn't put yourself in a better situation," said Oswalt of moving to Philadelphia.

"The playoffs is where the true baseball is at."

Let's just remember that the Phillies have work to do before they win the NL East for a fourth straight year, that a few things have to happen for a third straight National League pennant to fly at Citizens Bank Park, that they will need a little good fortune to win a second World Series in three seasons.

For starters, Oswalt will have to pitch better than he did in his Phils debut, a dud from the moment Nationals center fielder Nyjer Morgan smacked a triple to right-center to lead off the game.



Oswalt lasted six innings and gave up five runs (four earned) to take his 13th loss of the year. The 8-1 defeat at the hands of Washington snapped an eight-game winning streak that got Philadelphia off the fringes of the division and wild-card race and right back into the heart of it.

Oswalt may not be quite the ace he was during the middle of the last decade, but let's not pretend like anyone is worried about his ability to pitch at (or near) the top of the Philly rotation after one bad start.

"His stuff was good, command, he was having a little trouble with his command," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. "I like his stuff. He's gonna be fine."

Oswalt blamed that lack of precision on nerves; it was, after all, his first start in the majors wearing anything other than a Houston Astros uniform. He was thrown off by, of all things, his red cleats, he said, and he compared the jitters Friday night to the ones he experienced in his first big-league start.

"I came in a little amped up, a little tight, and I didn't feel great really until the last two innings," Oswalt said.

And later: "I think I got myself a little too riled up."

Once Oswalt takes a few deep breaths and gets accustomed to his surroundings, the rotation should be formidable. The Phillies have a starting trio that managers dream of taking into the playoffs in Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay. (Never mind the many fans and pundits who thought they should have had that all year long by holding onto Cliff Lee after acquiring Halladay during the offseason.)

"That's big in playoff baseball. When you've got three [aces], that gives you depth," Manuel said. "I thought we were good last year once we had Pedro [Martinez] and Lee, but this right here is better."

"I came in a little amped up, a little tight, and I didn't feel great really until the last two innings."
- Roy Oswalt "I think us three can maybe feed off each other and get going," Oswalt said. "The other guys too. Hopefully we get together and form a foundation as a team of five."

It's got to go beyond the starting rotation, though. The Phillies are still 3 1/2 games back of a very good Braves team in the East. They are still two games back of the wild-card leading Giants, who also have some serious pitching. It's not ground that can't be made up, but Oswalt doesn't necessarily make it a slam dunk either.

And the Phillies aren't exactly whole just because Oswalt is in the fold.

Second baseman Chase Utley is still out. Shane Victorino just went to the disabled list this week. The Phillies' defense behind Oswalt Friday night featured a rookie playing in the third game of his career in right field (Domonic Brown), the everyday right fielder in center (Jayson Werth), the everyday third baseman at second (Placido Polanco) and a .198 hitter with 547 plate appearances -- not even a full season's worth -- since the start of 2008 at third (Greg Dobbs).

It's no wonder then that Manuel was talking pre-game as if his team, ranked third in the NL in runs, has a much higher ceiling offensively as well going forward.

"We get some of our lineup back, [Jimmy] Rollins and Utley and Victorino and now that we have Brown up here, I think we could be a real good offensive team," he said.

Yes, the hitters too need to "get going," especially when one of this new pitching triumvirate is on the mound. Despite an average 4.68 runs in all games this season, Halladay and Hamels have received sub-par help from the Phillies offense, clocking in at 4.23 and 3.91, respectively, in run support.

Oswalt, then, should have felt like one of the guys right away Friday, at least in that sense. Werth's solo blast in the seventh accounted for Philadelphia's only offense on the night. It certainly must have made him feel at home. It was the 10th time this year Oswalt's team scored one run or was shut out in one of his starts.

But none of that -- the injuries, the odd run-scoring patterns when an elite pitcher is on the mound -- should make us doubt the Phillies' chances, especially now.

"The good thing is, this team is so good," Oswalt said simply.

Both he and Manuel said they were glad to get his first start out of the way immediately.

"I get four days to get a little bit acquainted now," Oswalt said.

Then it's back to business. The Phillies have plenty of quality competition and high expectations to meet, all that much higher now that Oswalt is around.