Astros Vs. Phillies: Jake Diekman Discusses First Major League Outing

Philadelphia Phillies lefty reliever Jake Diekman was impressive in his major league debut Tuesday, earning the win in Philadelphia's 4-3 extra-innings victory over the Houston Astros by striking out three of the four batters he faced.

But his first major league appearance wasn't at all what he expected.

"I really thought I was going to have a four- or five-run lead, or something like that," Diekman said.

Instead, he entered a tie game in the ninth inning with two runners in scoring position.

"When I got put in, I had to make sure I didn't trip down the stairs first. And then I just wanted to make it all the way to the mound without tripping," he explained.

Asked whether he wanted to take a few seconds to let the moment soak in when he first stepped on the mound, Diekman replied, "No, I really wanted to walk into the dugout and take a huge breath."

But the 25-year old felt better after coming back out to start the 10th.

"I felt pretty comfortable because I tried to control my breathing as much as possible, so the second inning helped a lot because I had that one hitter already. I felt like, 'Okay, you did it before. Just go do it again,'" he said.

Sounds like he might have taken a few lessons from Nuke LaLoosh.

For more of Diekman's comments after his major league debut, view the video below:

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Vance Worley Injury: Phillies Pitcher Scratched From Wednesday Start With Elbow Soreness

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Vance Worley has been scratched from Wednesday's series opener with the Chicago Cubs with elbow soreness (via Philly.com).

Worley (3-2, 3.07 ERA) was expected to start against Matt Garza on Wednesday at Wrigley Field. The Phillies have not yet decided if Worley will need to go on the disabled list. However, it appears Philadelphia anticipated that Worley might need a DL stint as Joe Savery will be on the two-game road trip with the team to Chicago. Savery has appeared in eight games for the Phillies in 2012 and has a 4.50 ERA in eight innings of work.

The bad news comes after Tuesday's 4-3 10-inning win over the Houston Astros and the Phillies' first three-game win streak of the 2012 season.

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Hunter Pence Walkoff HR Lifts Phillies Over Astros In Extra Innings

Hunter Pence giveth and he taketh away. Pence’s fielding error in the bottom of the 9th blew what would have been Cliff Lee first win of the season, but his walk off home run in the 9th gave the Phillies their first three game winning streak this year. It was Pence’s second homer of the game and 10th of the season.

Pence, of course, came to the Phillies from the Astros in a near deadline last season and just to add to the irony of the situation, the man who served up Pence’s walk off today? Former Phillie Brett Myers.

As great as the end was, this was really yet another frustrating game for the Phils complete with another bullpen meltdown. Cliff Lee got the start and was, as usual, brilliant allowing just 1 run over 8 innings and striking out 10. He handed a 3-1 lead to the bullpen heading into the 9th, but an awful outing by Chad Qualls combined with the Pence error meant that Lee is still yet to record a victory on the season.

In his 5 starts this year, Lee has went at least 7 innings, has a 1.95 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, .190 BAA. He even pitched 10 shutout innings in a game and yet he has no wins to show for it.

Today marked the debut of 25 year old lefty RP Jake Deikman, who looked very impressive in a 1.1 innings of work, striking out three of the 4 batters he faced. Any sign of life in this bullpen is welcome and as Deikman was hitting 96 on the gun, he probably earned himself an extended stay in the majors.

The win completes a two game sweep of the Astros. The Phillies improve to 18-19 and now sit just 4.5 games back of the NL East lead.

Phillies Vs. Astros, Game 2: Cliff Lee Tries For First Win Of Season Against Visiting Houston

Philadelphia Phillies ace Cliff Lee will try to collect his first victory of the season Tuesday, when the Phils' host the Houston Astros in the finale of a small two-game series at Citizen Bank Park. The first pitch is schedule for 1:05 p.m. ET, however, the weather forecast, which calls for isolated thunderstorms all day, could cause issues.

If the game goes off without a hitch, here's the starting lineup for the Phillies:

Jimmy Rollins SS
Juan Pierre LF
Shane Victorino CF
Hunter Pence RF
Placido Polanco 3B
John Mayberry 1B
Freddy Galvis 2B
Brian Scneider C
Joe Blanton P

Currently, the Astros starting pitcher is unknown. However, Zack Meisel of MLB.com is hinting it could be Triple-A call-up Jordan Lyles.

On Monday, the Phillies defeated the Astros 5-1, with help from Polanco's 2,000th hit which was a home run in the eighth inning.

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Phillies Vs. Astros Final Score: Polanco Homers 2,000th Hit In 5-1 Philadelphia Win

Placido Polanco recorded his 2,000th hit on Monday night, a home run over left center off of David Carpenter in the eighth inning to add a two-run emphasis to the Philadelphia Phillies' 5-1 win over the Houston Astros. Joe Blanton earned the win with seven strikeouts, and just one earned run and six hits surrendered.

Astros' starter Lucas Harrell gave up five hits and three runs (two earned) before being pulled after 5 2/3 innings. Freddy Galvis (3-for-4 from the plate) scored Polanco twice on RBI singles in the fifth and sixth innings. Carlos Ruiz (2-for-3) scored Shane Victorino on another sixth-inning single, improving his major league leading .330 batting average among catchers.

Blanton's only big blemish came in the eighth inning when he allowed a solo home run to Marwin Gonzalez, pinch hitting for reliever Fernando Abad. Blanton then allowed a single to Jose Altuve before being relieved by Wilton Lopez with no outs.

The Phillies improved to 17-19 overall with the win to move within 5.5 games of the first place Washington Nationals in the NL East.

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Phillies Vs. Astros: Lineups Announced For Monday's Game

The Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros have announced their lineups for Monday night's game which is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

The Phillies lineup will be

Jimmy Rollins SS
Juan Pierre LF
Shane Victorino CF
Hunter Pence RF
Carlos Ruiz C
Placido Polanco 3B
John Mayberry 1B
Freddy Galvis 2B
Joe Blanton P

Here's the Astros lineup:

Jose Altuve 2B
Jordan Schafer CF
Jed Lowrie SS
Carlos Lee 1B
Brian Bogusevic RF
Chris Johnson 3B
Travis Buck LF
Chris Snyder C
Lucas Harrell P

Both Blanton and Harrell will be looking to rise above .500 for the season. Blanton is 3-3 and Harrell is 2-2. Both pitchers did not receive a decision in their last starts.

Although there are showers in the Philadelphia area, the team does not expect them to delay the start of the game.

For more on the Phillies, please be sure to check out our blog The Good Phight and SB Nation Philly for all the latest news and updates.

Cole Hamels Wants A Seven-Year Deal, According To Report

Cole Hamels reportedly doesn't want his next contract to be a short one. Not at all.

Howard Eskin of NBC Philadelphia reports that Hamel's agent has told the Philadelphia Phillies that his client wants a seven-year deal once his current contract expires at the end of this season.

The Phillies are normally against extending such long contracts. The longest deal awarded to a pitcher during the Reuben Amaro Jr. era is five years to Cliff Lee. But if the Phillies don't ink Hamels for seven years, another team probably would.

After posting a monster 2011 season, Hamels has been even better this year. The 28-year old is 5-1 with a 2.28 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 47.1 innings this year. Last year, he finished fifth in National League Cy Young voting after going 14-9 with a 2.79 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 216 innings.

For more on the Phillies, please be sure to check out our blog The Good Phight and SB Nation Philly for all the latest news and updates.

Phillies Vs. Astros: Game Time, TV Schedule And More

The Phillies will look to get hot against the Astros for a two game set starting Monday night.