Long before the Phillies and Cubs played a wild one in Wrigley Field, it was another Philadelphia baseball team that came out on top of a high-scoring outburst. Today marks the 80th anniversary of one of baseball's wildest games, in which the Philadelphia Athletics topped the Cleveland Indians 18-17 in 18 innings.

July 10, 1932: Shortstop Johnny Burnett of the Indians sets a major league record with nine hits, but his club loses, 18–17, in 18 innings to the Athletics at League Park in Cleveland. The two teams combine for a big league record 58 hits. With Sunday baseball illegal in Philadelphia, the Indians interrupt a swing through the East, and the A’s a long home stand, to travel to Cleveland for one game on a Sunday for what figures to be a large gate. To save on train fare, Athletics manager Connie Mack brings only two pitchers. He lifts starter Lew Krausse after the first inning, and reliever Eddie Rommel has to go 17 innings and allows 14 runs and 29 hits. To make matters worse, Rommel also pitched batting practice. Burnett sets the record with seven singles and two doubles. No one else has more than seven hits in a big league game. Burnett will finish his nine-year big league career with 521 hits and a .284 batting average.

Thanks to the wonders provided by Google, you can read the original game story in black and white.

Boxscore 

HT: Page-A-Day Calendar, The Hardball Times

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The Phillies may have picked up a big win keyed by a late-inning scoring outburst against the New York Mets, but the five-time reigning NL East champions remain 14 games back in the loss column against the Washington Nationals with a record of 36-46. That record also keeps the Phillies eight games out (nine games back in the loss column) of either of the two National League wild card spots in this year's postseason, with six teams to jump before cracking the top two wild card spots.

While getting Chase Utley back in the line-up is nice and the possibility of having Roy Halladay return to form once he returns and possibly having Ryan Howard back seems to be a positive thought, the reality is this team has shown their weaknesses and may have too many to dig out of the hole they currently are in right now. With the Phillies struggling the conversations about trading Cole Hamels have gotten hotter by the day (and by the loss). It is no surprise of course. Hamels is a free agent to be at the end of the season and it is unknown if the Phillies will make a commitment to retain the 2008 World Series and NLCS MVP that grew up through their farm system to become one of the dominant left-handed pitchers in the game.

So, if the Phillies are not destined to make a run for the postseason, and there is still time to get a feel for whether that could happen, should the team trade Hamels in exchange for some prospects, or even a player that can contribute now?

First and foremost, there is one key decision that absolutely needs to be made. Do the Phillies have a realistic shot at retaining Hamels, either by the end of the season or through free agency? If there is a strong feeling the Phillies, Hamels and his agent can agree to a new contract then it would be unwise to trade away Hamels unless the Phillies bring in a star player. This is unlikely because teams just do not give up on quality left-handed pitching that easily. Hamels is among the best lefties in the game and still at a good age in his prime.

Phillies fans around the Delaware Valley can rejoice. Todd Zolecki has the tweet of the day...

Qualls designated for assignment.

— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) June 28, 2012

It may have been just a matter of time...

Chad Qualls was not the lone reason the Phillies lost last night to the Pirates, but his woeful outing in the eighth inning killed any momentum that seemed to be building late in the game. Qualls allowed three runs in the eighth inning to allow the Pittsburgh Pirates to extend their 8-7 lead to 11-7. As he is designated Qualls holds a 4.60 ERA with a 1.53 WHIP. In 31.1 innings pitched Qualls allowed seven home runs and 16 earned runs and walked nine. For a guy brought in to be the eighth inning set-up man for Jonathan Papelbon, those just are not good numbers.

Joe Savery was also sent back to triple A Lehigh Valley after struggling with the Phillies this season.

In his place will step lefty Jeremy Horst. Horst appeared in 12 games for the Cincinnati reds last season, allowing five earned runs on 15.1 innings with six walks and nine strikeouts. This season with the IronPigs Horst has put together a 2-1 record with a 2.11 ERA and 1.59 WHIP and converted two of four save opportunities.

The Phillies also purchased the contract of Brian Sanches. Sanches appeared in three games this season for the Phillies, accumulating a high 11.25 ERA quickly in four innings of work. Sanches was hit hard by the Atlanta Braves (2.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R), Washington Nationals (1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R) and New York Mets (1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R). 

Earlier today I vented about how the Phillies are trying to get by with a minor league bullpen. To be fair, it is not entirely their fault, and Qualls was not adding any veteran leadership. Maybe this will ultimately be more of the same, but something had to change. Whether or not this turns the direction of the bullpen around will be learned soon.

If nothing else, today gives the Phillies a fresh arm after a rough day on Wednesday.

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So, can he pitch out of the bullpen? Photo: Drew Hallowell/Getty Images

The buzz was expected and met with an appropriate action. With one seemingly majestic swing of the bat Chase Utley gave Phillies fans all over a sense of confidence that has been lacking all season long. Utley's solo home run in the top of the first inning seemed like a sports writer's dream as he stepped to the plate for his first at-bat of the 2012 season. Despite Utley's impressive 2012 debut (3-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR), which included some decent play in the field, it was once again a familiar story when all was said and done.

The Phillies made the unconscionable decision to get through a game with their bullpen, essentially forfeiting a game to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The decision came about due to Friday night's rainout. Rather than pitch Cliff Lee on Saturday and bump everybody back a day, Charlie Manuel put his team in a poor situation Wednesday night at a time when the Phillies cannot afford to give any games away in the standings. The Phillies were without a starting pitcher last night and instead of call up a starter from triple A Lehigh Valley or even double A Reading, a move that has been done in the past, Manuel decided to try and get lucky with his insufficient bullpen featuring minor leaguers Raul Valdes (2.0 IP, 3 ER, 1 HR), Joe Savery (2.2 IP, 5 ER, 1 HR), Michael Schwimmer (1.1 IP, 0 ER), and Jake Diekman (1.0 IP, 0 ER). While Schwimmer and Diekman got the job done while the offense started to put together a rally, it was painful to watch Valdes relinguish a 2-0 lead after one by allowing a three-run home run with two outs and the pitcher on-deck. Savery's five runs allowed in the fourth and fifth innings was nothing short of de-moralizing.

But the goat of the night, as he has been so often this season, was off-season free-agent pick-up Chad Qualls. As the Phillies started chipping away at Pittsburgh's lead, closing to within 8-7 after seven innings of play, Qualls etered the game with the task of holding on to the one-run deficit heading in to the bottom of the eighth.

Epic Fail.

The hopes of another postseason may rest on these two players.

We are creeping up on the All-Star Break and the Philadelphia Phillies, winners of five consecutive NL East Division championships, sit eight games behind the NL East leading Washington Nationals, and are ten games back in the loss column. At 35-40 the Phillies are in unfamiliar territory right now and just hoping to stay in the running for a postseason spot in the first year of the expanded playoffs with an extra wild card. Winning the division for a sixth straight season seems out of reach, and perhaps it is.

But is it impossible? No, but it is a steep uphill battle.

While this season has largely been negative, perhaps the second half of the season will be a different story. Here are some keys to a return to the postseason.

Chase Utley's return

Chase Utley is expected to return to the team on Wednesday, but how much can we really expect form him? More importantly, how stable will his knees be once he is back at the big league level and feeling the pressure of needing to pick the team up?

Eternal Optimistic Phillies Fan says Utley's return improves the team by having a player that has been a part of the core back at second base, leaving Michael Martinez and Mike Fontenot on the bench, where they belong. Even Utley at less than 100 percent should be better than having Martinez and/or Fontenot in the lineup, correct?

Maybe Utley's bat will be a fraction of what he is fully capable of (even in his downward trend at the plate) but he may be more capable of driving a ball to the outfield when needed to move a base-runner along and taking more pitches to get on base.

I'll take it, for now.

While Mother Nature delayed the start of Friday night's series opener between the Phillies and visiting Tampa Bay Rays, Twitter updates suggested that Citizens Bank Park had been struck by lightning.

Lightning jjust knocked the scoreboard out.

— Amanda Orr (@amandax23) June 23, 2012

I think we were just hit by lightning.

— Matt Gelb (@magelb) June 23, 2012

A huge crush of thunder/lightening was followed by a video announcement that the fire alarm had been activated and to leave the bldg #oops

— Leslie Gudel (@lesliegudel) June 23, 2012

Well, if that doesn't give the Phillies a spark at home, what will?

Former Phillies starting pitcher Jamie Moyer continues to try and stick in the big leagues, and if he is not promoted by the Baltimore Orioles in the next few days he will once again become a free agent on the market.

According to MASN's Roch Kubatko...

#orioles must make a decision on Moyer in the next few days. He can opt out if club doesn't select his contract from Norfolk.

— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) June 21, 2012

RotoWorld's scouting report notes "Moyer has allowed just four runs (three earned) in 16 innings at Triple-A Norfolk" since signing a minor league contract with the AL East franchise. Moyer was released form his contract earlier this season by the Colorado Rockies. "He struggled mightily for the Rockies earlier this season and seems doubtful to fare much better against AL East teams, but the O's may decide to give him a look," notes RotoWorld.

Given some recent struggles by the Phillies starting pitching the question will obviously come up should Moyer wiggle out of his Orioles contract. Should the Phillies give Moyer a look? If so, is there any chance he could help this team make another postseason run?

Personally, and keep in mind I am a huge Moyer fan, I just do not see that happening. The Phillies will eventually get Roy Halladay back in the rotation, Cliff Lee will eventually stop blowing three-run leads (we hope), Cole Hamels will remain a steady lefty, and the combo of Vance Worley and Joe Blanton should be more than enough to round out the rotation for the remainder of the season.

Adding Moyer would limit what the Phillies can do to boost their offense, although that could be coming around a little bit. I wish Moyer the best for the remainder of the season and will be cheering him on wherever he lands. If he can find himself on a playoff team, it would be fun to see what he can do but I just do not think he has enough left to rely too much on.

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The Phillies may have come up small this weekend in Baltimore, with the Orioles defending their home field in two of three games in dramatic fashion, but it was certainly not because the Phillies had the backing of the fans. Baltimore recorded high attendance for each game this weekend, and the Phillies fans were certainly strong in numbers.

Take a look at this video, posted by Baltimore sports radio station WNST as fans made their way in to Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It is proof that Phillies fans are currently traveling like few other fan bases in the majors.

I was in the crowd on Sunday, and the electricity at times was far better than the few games I have seen in Citizens Bank Park this weekend. Still, all of those Phillies fans that were smiling heading in for the game were surely leaving with their heads hanging low on the way out.

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The injuries just keep piling up for the Philadelphia Phillies this season. Is there no end in sight?

Freddy Galvis strained his back last night in the middle of a decent at-bat and pulled himself out of the game, unable to continue any further during the asme at-bat. It was a painfully frustrating, and all too familiar feeling for Phillies fans watching as the home team dropped their fifth straight game, and third to the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Freddy Galvis to the disabled list with a lower back strain - ouch!!

— Leslie Gudel (@lesliegudel) June 7, 2012

Oof. Losing Galvis' glove at second base is more of a concern than anything he would bring to the plate. Look for Mike Fontenot to take over second base duties in the meantime.

Consider me surprised that the injury news was not worse last night. Watching Hunter Pence crash in to the outfield fence awkwardly, dropping his glove and giving care ot his left arm or wrist had me thinking that Domonic Brown would be getting a call to come up today, but that does not appear to be the case. Pence stayed in the game following his scary moment in the outfield.

Cole Hamels will look to salvage one game in this series Thursday afternoon.

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The Phillies have activated first baseman Jim Thome (back). To make room on the roster the Phillies have optioned Pete Orr to triple A Lehigh Valley. Thome of course will still be primarily a bench player, but Charlie Manuel may use Thome from time to time at first base if he is feeling OK.

The real reason Thome is being activated again is to have him available for upcoming inter league games as a designated hitter. Thome's bat has been a mere sliver of what it once was, and thus painful to watch for those of us who have been big Thome supporters. Losing Orr also removes a little speed off the bench for when a pinch-runner is needed late in the game.

Chase Utley and Ryan Howard continue with their extended spring training participation, but there is no indication how soon either will make their seaosn debut.

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