Saturday, July 29, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
Ever since he came back from his infamous leave of absence, Brett Myers has been simply lights out and he was again tonight, but unfortunately for him and the Phils, Marlin's starter Ricky Nolasco was just a tic better. While Myers shutout the Marlins for 7 innings, and gave up just 1 run on 5 hits in 8 innings of work, Nolasco not only shutout the Phils, he no-hit them for 6 and 2/3rds innings, before Abraham Nunez beat out an infield hit, the phils only hit of he night off Nolasco in 7 and 1/3rd innings. When Myers left the game he and Phillies only trailed 1-0 and there was still hope for a victory, but that all evaporated quickly in the top of the 9th inning, as relievers Geoff Geary, and Aaron Fultz were roughed up for 3 runs on 3 hits, for a 4-0 Marlin's lead. Thus, by the time Ryan Howard stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom of the inning with his 33rd homer of the year, it was merely a formality, as the Phils went down in order from there for a 4-1 loss. On a more positive note, although it appeared for a while that this could be the night that ended it, Chase Utley did manage to extend his hitting streak with a single in the 8th inning, to 28 games, which if you do the math is halfway to Joltin Joe's 56, and 8 games away from Jimmy Rollins team record of 36 set earlier this year. In other news the Phillies continued their selling today(Friday), dealing David Bell to the Milwaukee Brewers for minor league pitching prospect Wilfredo laureano, another single A who probably won't be helping the Philles for a little while. Now, what this trade really means, of course is that for now anyway, Abrahem Nunez will start at 3rd base for the Phils. However, considering Nunez's blistering .157 batting average, Gm Pat Gillick has said that the Phillies will look to make a deal for a 3rd baseman if they can before the trade deadline, on Monday. Also with Nunez starting the Phillies have no backup middle infielders, and Chris Coste, yes Chris Coste the backup catcher, is now also the Phillies backup at 1st and 3rd base as well, so that is something else the Phillies may try to address before the trade deadline. Well, happy trails everyone.
Friday, July 28, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
Today (Thursday) the Phillies extended a pair of streaks, a hitting streak to 27 and a winning streak to 2, had some fun doing it, and in the process picked up the series win over the Diamondbacks. Although they took an early 2-0 lead on homers by Luis Gonzalez and Conor Jackson, the Diamondbacks never appeared to be into this game. In the 4th inning Mike Lieberthal, matched Jackson and Gonzalez with one swing of the bat, crushing a 2 run homer, to forge a 2-2 tie. Chase Utley then extended his hitting streak, to 27 games with a single and scored on Ryan Howard's RBI double for a 3-2 lead in the 5th inning. From there the Phillies would never trail again as Cory Lidle gave the Phils their 2nd strong pitching performance in a row going 8 innings and giving up just those 2 previously mentioned runs on 4 hits. Aaron Rowand put the nail in the Diamondback's coffin in the 7th inning with a 2 RBI double for a 5-2 Phils lead. Following Lidle's exit after the 8th inning Tom Gordon came on in relief and pitched a perfect 9th inning for the 2nd night in a row, for his 25th save, sealing the 5-2 phils win. Well, I would love to tell you that there was more to this game, but there wasn't, just like last night's game it is as simple as that. Besides with the way the Phillies season has been going lately, it's nice to be able to keep things simple for a change. If only they could all be this simple. Anyway, the Phillies have now won 2 games in a row. Might this be the start of something , or is it to little too late. Personally I think it's just a little too late, but who knows maybe they are not done yet after all. Well happy trails everyone.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
Tonight(Wednesday) in front of a record crowd of 45,459 fans thanks to a Ryan Howard bobble head promotion the Phillies finally showed the home fans what they can do. They got an early 2-0 lead on a bases loaded single by David Dellucci in the 1st inning and never looked back. Chase Utley extended his hitting streak to 26 and the lead to 5-0 with a 3 run homer in the 2nd inning. Starter Jon Lieber got a little wild in the 3rd inning giving up 3 runs to cut the lead to 5-3, but Dellucci bailed him out with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning for a 6-3 lead and that would be all the Phillies would need and more, as they went on to a much needed 6-4 win. Jon Lieber settled down after the 3rd inning and pitched 7 solid innings for the win. Arthur Rhodes retired the Diamondbacks in order in the 8th inning and Tom Gordon retired them in order in the 9th for his 24th save. That's it, that was the game, it's as simple as that. They came, they saw, and they conquered. In others news as I mentioned before it looks like the Phillies will be sellers at the trade deadline and today they started their selling by trading Sal Fasano, whom I mentioned had been designated for assignment, to the Yankees, yes those Yankees, for minor league second base prospect Hector Made, who will join single A Clearwater. With the Phillies record now at 45-53, it is likely that Fasano won't be the only Phillies veteran leaving town before the trade deadline on July 31. In fact, the two most prominant names on the trading block at this point are the 2 guys that had the biggest hand in the Phils win tonight, David Dellucci and Jon Lieber. Obviously after tonight their trade stock is up, so stayed tuned to see if they get traded. Well, happy trails everyone.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
Remember Mitch "the wild thing" Williams, well tonight (Tuesday) the Phillies had a night that even he would have categorized as wild. The game started innocently enough. In bottom of the 1st inning the Phillies, fueled by a Chase Utley solo homer, extending his hitting streak to 25 games, scored 3 runs for an early 3-0 cushion and seemed as if the Phils might route the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks. After 2 innings it was more of the same as the phils still led by 3 at 4-1. Then in 3rd innings wild things began to happen. Phils starter Ryan Madson threw a record 4 wild pitches in the inning, but somehow only allowed 1 run to score. Things would not get much better for Madson, as he would leave the game after just 4 innings even though remarkably he only had given up 2 runs on 5 hits. At this point it was 4-2 and the Phillies bullpen kept it that way until the 7th inning. In the top of the 7th Luis Gonzalez homered off reliever Rheal Cormier to cut the lead to 4-3. In the 8th inning things got worse for the Phils. Although reliever Arthur Rhodes retired the first 2 batters in the innings, he could not get the 3rd out, allowing Carlos Quentin to reach base, so in came closer Tom Gordon to bail him out. Unfortunately Gordon to could get enough get out of the inning with out giving up the tying run, although upon further review he should have. After Quentin reached base he attempted to steal 2nd base, initially he slid into 2nd safely, but he went off the bag and was tagged by Jimmy Rollins, and thus should have been out to end the inning. However, umpire Joe Young never saw Quentin go off the base and called him safe. As a result instead leaving the 8th with a 4-3 Gordon was forced to continue pitching and ended surrendering a game tying triple to Jeff Davanon. Then he got himself into a bases loaded jam, but somehow got out if with the scored still tied. Then in 9th inning as if the 8th wasn't wild enough for him he got into another bases loaded jam this time with no outs, and guess who, Carlos Quentin at the plate. Quentin grounded into what appeared to be a force out at home plate, but as he gobbled up the ball and began to throw home David Bell stumbled on the infield grass and threw wildly, pulling catcher Mike Lieberthal off the plate, and allowing Chad Tracy to sneak across with the go ahead run, for a 5-4 lead. At this point it seemed like the Phillies chances for a win had slipped away, but Chase Utley would let his team die. In a scene reminescent of Ryne Sandberg at Wrigley, Utley stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 9th with one out and crushed his 2nd homer of the night off Jorge Julio to tie the game at 5 and send it into extra innings. Then in the 10th inning Utley had a chance to win the game, but flew out to center field with two on and one out. With the way things have been going for the Phils, this missed opportunity was sure to haunt them and it did, as guess who Carlos Quentin homered in the top of the 11th inning off Ryan Franklin, for an eventual 6-5 Diamondacks win. The phillies are now 7 games out in the wild card race and fading fast. It seems almos inevitable now, that as the July 31 trade deadline approaches, the will be sellers rather than buyers. Well, happy trails everyone.
SIXERS NEWS
It official sports fans. We know where the Allen Iverson will be playing next year and his destination is..... the Sixers! what? did you honestly think he was going to get traded. Anyway Iverson publicly commented a couple weeks ago that he wanted to remain a Sixer, and today Gm Billy King affirmed that sentiment when he announced that he fully expected to see Iverson in a Sixer's uniform next year, and that all the deals he and his colleagues had been working on for Iverson had finally fallen through for good. Well, I don't want to say I told you so, but I told you so.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
Tonight's (Monday) game was a tale of 2 Cole Hamels. There was the dominant Hamels that struck out 12 Braves through 5 innings ,striking out the side 3 times and there was the weak Hamels who gave up 2 solo homers in the 2nd inning, a 3 run homer in the 6th inning, and 7 runs overall. The Dominant Hamels held the Braves to 2 runs through 5 innings, and kept the Phillies close with the lead at 2-1 Braves. The weak Hamels on the other hand, put the Phillies in an early 2-0, hole and then just when it seemed like the Phils were back in the game, he walked off the mound demoralized just one out into the 6th inning, as the Braves had scored 5 more runs off him for a 7-1 lead which the Phillies would never overcome despite a valiant effort. They answered the Braves 5 runs with 3 of their own in the bottom of the inning to cut lead to 7-4. In the 7th however, the Braves had answer with 2 more runs for a 9-4 lead. The Phils again mounted a rally with 2 runs in both the 7th inning on a David Bell Homerun, and the 8th inning on Ryan Howard's league leading 32nd homerun to cut the lead to one at 9-8. However the Braves again had an answer as Wilson Betemit hit a solo shot off reliever Geoff Geary for a 10-8 lead and that was pretty much all she wrote as the Phils again went down in order against closer Bob Wickman. Now I would like to give you a good answer as to why the Phillies lost tonight, but I can't. I mean the Phillies played well tonight, they scored 8 runs and their starter had 12 strikeouts, there is really nothing to complain about, the Braves were just the better team tonight, plain and simple. Well, happy trails everyone.
SIXERS NEWS
A few days ago on July 22nd John Salmons backed out of the sign and trade deal he had agreed to with Raptors, because reportedly upon reviewing the situation in Toronto he decided that it was not a good fit for him. Funny how he didn't notice that before he agreed to the deal with the Raptors. Now today(Monday) it was announced that he had signed a multi-year deal with the Sacramento Kings. Now, all of this means of course that the Sixers are not going to get the draft pick or the trade exception that was promised to them in exchange for Salmons. So in effect they did reach their objective by getting rid of Salmons ,but they got nothing in return for it. Gee, thanks John, thanks for absolutely nothing.
Monday, July 24, 2006
WEEKLY POLL QUESTION
What are your excpectations for the Eagles in their upcoming season?
a. Super Bowl champions
b. NFC champions
c. NFC East division champions
d. wild card playoff berth
e. 8-8 or 9-7 but just miss the playoffs
f. same as last year
last week's results:
75% b. Eagles
15% a. Phillies
10% d. Flyers
0% c, e, and f.
a. Super Bowl champions
b. NFC champions
c. NFC East division champions
d. wild card playoff berth
e. 8-8 or 9-7 but just miss the playoffs
f. same as last year
last week's results:
75% b. Eagles
15% a. Phillies
10% d. Flyers
0% c, e, and f.
PHILLIES NEWS
As I mentioned before Brett Myers made his first home start today since, you know what. As expected Myers got a bit of a mixed reception from the fans during pregame announcements, but by the end of night as he walked off the mound, that mixed reception was replaced by an ovation of cheers, despite the fact that he and the Phillies were trailing 2-1 and the Braves were threatening for more. For nearly the entire night, from start to finish tonight's (Sunday) game was dominated by brilliant pitching and defense. The Phillies struck 1st with a run in the second inning and the Braves answered back in the 4th inning with a solo homer by Edgar Renteria, tying the score at 1. From then on however, it was all pitching and defense. For the next 4 innings both Myers and Braves starter Horatio Ramirez put up matching zeros. At this point both pitchers had gone 8 innings, and given up just 1 run, Myers on 3 hits and Ramirez on 10 hits. It seemed likely that both teams would turn to their bullpens for the 9th inning, but for some inexplicable reason, Charlie Manuel decided to send Myers out for the 9th, even though it was clear in the 8th inning that he was tiring. As most pitchers do when they are tired Myers was unable to retire a batter. He walked lead off man Marcus Giles, than served up an RBI double to Edgar Renteria, ending his night. The normally reliable Tom Gordon entered the game in relief of Myers, but he could provide no relief, as he served up a 3 run-homer to Jeff Francoeur before he could get out of the inning. Down, 5-1 in the bottom of the 9th inning the Phillies could do no damage against newly acquired Braves closer Bob Wickman, who set them down in order. Now, 1st of all Brett Myers probably never should have pitched in the 9th inning, but that is besides the point, because he should have entered the 9th inning with the lead. There is no reason why Phillies did not score more than 1 run tonight. I mean, the numbers don't lie. In every inning from the 2nd until the 8th the Phils recorded a hit, yet came up with nothing to show for it but that one run. That is simply unacceptable, especially when you consider the fact that they out hit the Braves 11-5. I don't know about you but I don't understand how you can out hit a team that convincingly and still lose to them 5-1. In closing three cheers to Brett Myers, and a loud boo to the Phillies offense for letting him down. Well, happy trails everyone.
WEEKLY TRIVIA QUESTION
I guided the Phillies to their 1st World Series in 1915, There was no Cy Young award in my day but if there had been I would have won it 3 or 4 times, I am not the only Phillies pitcher to have won 30 games in a season but I am the only one who did it 3 times, Although I only spent 8 of my 19 seasons with the Phillies, I did start and finish my career with them, the crowning achievement of my career came in 1926, when I struck out Tony Lazzeri to win game 7 of the world series for the Cardinals, Who Am I?
Last Week's Answer:
Pat Burrell last season
Last Week's Answer:
Pat Burrell last season
Sunday, July 23, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phillies and the Braves were rained out today, but their game will be made up as part of a double header on September 2. In other news say good-bye to Sal Fasano Phils fans, the Phillies designated him for assignment today, as he was activated from the DL. This of course means that at long last Chris Coste a rookie at 33 years old has finally earned a steady spot on a major league roster, at least until the end of the season. The Phillies now have 10 days to trade or release Fasano, either way he won't be back in Phillies uniform any time soon. Finally, the Phillies will continue their rain-shortened series with the Braves tomorrow, and wait for it, the starter for the Phillies will be Brett Myers, yes you heard right Brett Myers makes his 1st home start since his infamous leave-of-absence, so get ready to throw something at your TV tomorrow afternoon, or if you are going to the game, get ready to boo loudly, at least until he strikes out the side in the 1st inning. Well, happy trails everyone.
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