Philly Explodes out of Buffalo with Sweep

The Philadelphia Flash management entered this season with high expectations for their revamped offense, but even those were exceeded during the opening 4-game sweep of their division rival Buffalo Hot Wings. They outscored the Hot Wings 44-13, an average of 11 runs per game, en route to their 4-0 start.

The sweep was punctuated by a 22-0 throttling that was over before Buffalo SP Ivan Cortes could wipe the sweat off his brow. Cortes, making his major league debut, had already surrendered a 3-run home run to SS Richard Takada when he recorded the second out of the inning by striking out CF Willie Campos. By the time the last out of the inning was recorded, it was 13-0.

The Flash sent 17 men to the plate in that 1st inning, and 12 of them got hits. Takada had 6 RBIs courtesy of 2 3-run home runs (he would finish the day with 11 RBIs). Speedsters 2B William Saitou, LF Lefty Hodges, and RF Denny Katou had all been plated twice. SP Maximo Lemon recorded his first RBI as a Flash before throwing his first pitch.

Lost amid the offensive display that drew lusty boos from the Hot Wing fans was Lemon's own equally impressive performance. In his first regular season start for Philadelphia, he spun a 4-hit shutout, striking out 5 and walking only 2. The only time Buffalo even put a man in scoring position was in the 9th, but a double play ball ended a bases loaded rally.

Of course the sample size is small and other opponents will have tougher pitching staffs, but flying out of the gates like this has the Philly players abuzz with excitement about what the rest of this year might bring. And if this opening series is any indication, the sky is the limit.

New Offense Stuns Buffalo in Season Opener

The slightly tweaked and modified Philadelphia Flash offense woke up just in time in the season opening game, as the Flash rallied from 6 runs down with 3 outs to go to win 10-9 over the Buffalo Hot Wings. The 7-run 9th inning saw contributions from the entire lineup and prevented the Flash from dropping to 0-1.

LF Lefty Hodges started the inning by striking out, only to hit a 2-run triple later in the same inning that provided the tying and go-ahead runs. "Yeah, that inning had just about everything," Hodges said after the game. "I came in as a pinch-hitter and was a little too aggressive in my first at-bat. I was facing a different pitcher the second time around, so I felt like I was pinch-hitting again, but saw a fastball I liked and let my legs do the rest."

The inning featured, in order, a strike out, a home run, a triple, an infield single, another infield single, a bloop single, an error, a sac fly, a single, a triple, and a ground out. Whew! Quite the inning.

The game was actually a pitcher's duel until the 7th. SP Donovan Leiter and Buffalo's SP Midre Navarre had battled to a 2-1 score until Leiter was pulled for pinch-hitter C Jorge Ayala, who hit a 2-run double that ended Navarre's day. Both bullpens went to work and both looked shaky by the time it was all said and done.

"It's not how you win them, that's for sure. I'll take 10-9 as often as I'll take 1-0. Especially on the road," said manager Harold Willoughby after the game. The Flash were returning to the scene of their demise in last year's playoffs in this game, and as Willoughby mused, "It was good to exorcize some demons out there today."

Flash Land Big Fish and Finish 25-Man

After a long bidding war, the Flash succeeded in bringing their one big offseason target to the city of brothery love. SP Maximo Lemon, a former Augusta Black Bear, is a lifetime 43-37 pitcher with a 4.15 ERA, and once won 17 games. His deal is a 2-year, $10.1 million deal, though it includes a $4.9 million signing bonus and a mutual option for the second year.

Lemon fills the final hole in the rotation, allowing SP Carl Oliver, who is a solid innings eater but not a power arm, to move to the bullpen as a long reliever. Top to bottom, if SP Benny Aybar builds off his Season 3 success, the Flash could be as strong as ever 1 to 5 in their rotation.

The Flash snagged 1B Ray Kent off the Waiver Wire to play the position against right-handed pitching this year. AAA 1B Davy Hausmann was disappointed by the news, as he had to journey back to the minors, but his numbers against right-handers are not there.

Philly also signed RP Macbeth Porter to complete their bullpen. While not the reliever Sour Surfer wanted, really all the Flash needed was a final arm to make sure they had enough bodies in the pen, especially given the low innings capability from some of their feature arms like RP Rafael Perez and RP Felipe Martin.

The Flash also promoted AAA RP Albert Rosado to the major league bullpen for the same reasons. Rosado likely will only pitch if he is the last option available on a given day.

Phil Brock Climbs On Board

The Flash let one of their best role players go in the offseason in CF Brady Pickett. A speedy defender who could only hit lefties, Pickett actually led the team in batting average (with limited at-bats, of course) for most of the season. To fill the hole, however, the Flash were very pleased to find CF Phil Brock on the open market for 3-years and $10.0 million.

Brock is another solid defensive CF, with blazing speed and good IQ on the basepaths. He is much younger than Pickett, and actually a bit cheaper as well. And he can switch hit, as if all of that were not enough. Brock has spent the past 3 years in the minor leagues of the Minnesota North Stars franchise, and will be making his big league debut with the Flash this year when the time comes. But management believes he can hit lefties even better than Pickett, and is likely to post a high OBP as well.

At 25, Brock provides versatile backup to the already talented Philly outfield, though he does not come without risk. He has been injury-prone throughout his career and enjoyed two DL stints during his 3 years in the North Stars minors. However, given the limited reps he is likely to receive this year as a bench player, the Flash believe it is a lessened risk than otherwise.

Takada Receives Extension: Coming off a Silver Slugger year, SS Richard Takada, 27, received a 5-year extension as opposed to going through the arbitration process. The deal features a mutual option for the 5th year at $7.8 million, and the remaining 4 years are worth $22.1 million. Takada has become, over the years, the most dangerous power threat in the Flash lineup. While not the surest defender, the Flash felt it proper to reward one of their best homegrown talents with a deserving long-term contract, both to lock up his big bat and to show the younger kids that talent does get rewarded in Philadelphia.

Flash Make a Trade Splash

The Philadelphia Flash wasted no time making some noise at the Winter Meetings this year, negotiating a deal with the Los Angeles Stars that brings both RF Cozy Thomas and RP Rod Duvall to the Flash. In return, the Flash gave up one of their top pitching prospects, SP/RP R.J. Manuel, and former compensation round pick 2B Victor Furcal. Completing the deal was RP Mark Ming, who the Flash acquired from the Atlanta Mad Dogs near last season's trade deadline.

Surrendering R.J. Manuel meant the Flash wanted big returns, and they believe they got just that. Cozy Thomas has the makings of a big-time bat in the Philly lineup. He is a career .260 hitter, but the Flash think his swing will really benefit by moving to Philadelphia's more home run prone ballpark. More importantly, if he can make the shift from outfield to infield, he fills the void left by 3B Ramon Martin, who is set to become a free agent in the morning. The potential starting lineup for the Flash is now an intimidating blend of power hitters and on-base guys.

Duvall is not an electric reliever, but he certainly has big league stuff and will help fill one of the holes vacated by all of Philly's free agent relievers. Getting Duvall on top of a solid offensive player sealed the deal for the Flash.

The Flash were reluctant to give up Furcal since they like to build through the draft, but his inability to hit left-handed pitching led the Flash to believe he would only become a platoon player some day. "There's a lot to like in Furcal, but if he only gets to play part of the time, his value becomes quite a bit diminished," said general manager Sour Surfer.