Saturday, August 05, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
If the Phillies do what they did last year and finish the season just one game out of the playoffs, today's' game will be the one everyone looks back at. The game started with a bang as the Phils and Mets combined for 4 runs in the 1st inning. The Phillies scored 3 runs in the top of the inning on a 3 run homer by Ryan Howard (his 38th), and the Mets scored 1 run in the bottom of the inning on 3 consecutive singles blooped into the outfield. However, after this 1st inning explosion it was all about the pitching. Both Mets starter Tom Glavine, and Phils starter Jon Lieber settled down following 1st inning and put zeros up on the scoreboard for the next 4 innings. When the Phillies went down in order in the top of the 6th inning , it appeared the zeros would continue for the rest of the night, but they wouldn't. Following the 1st inning Jon Lieber was unhittable, and entering the 6th inning he had retired the last 12 Mets batters in succession. With the 1st 2 outs of the 6th inning he extended those 12 to 14 consecutive batters and appeared to be well on his way to 15 straight, when he induced Carlos Beltran into hitting a groundball up the 1st base line. What happened next though, is the stuff nightmares are made of. As the ball rolled down the line, Lieber raced over, scooped it up, and cocked his arm to throw, but in his haste to get the out, he never got his feet set, and threw wildly, just out of reach of 1st baseman Ryan Howard. Thus, instead retiring the Mets in order and continuing his mastery, he gave them new life, and they seized it. That one lucky infield hit by Beltran, quickly turned into 2 when Carlos Delgado followed with a single, then 3 when David Wright blooped a single into left field which should have been caught by either Pat Burrell or Jimmy Rollins, but both apparently thinking they other would catch it, pulled up short and allowed the ball to fall in for a single, scoring Delgado to cut the lead to 3-2. Former Phillie, Endy Chavez then finished off the Mets rally with a bases clearing double, for a 4-3 Mets lead. Still, despite his gaff, Lieber stayed in the game to pitch the next 2 innings, and retired the Mets in order, keeping the Phillies within 1 and himself within sight a complete game win. However, the Phils themselves were also retired in order for the next 2 innings, setting up a 9th inning showdown between the Phillies and former closer Billy bleeping Wagner. Although he quickly recorded 2 outs, the Phillies were still able to put up a final rally against him. Ryan Howard lead off the inning with a single, then had to watch both the Met killer, Pat Burrell, and Chris Coste who had been swinging a hot bat, go down on strikes. Then just when it seemed that all hope was lost, in came Chase Utley to pinch hit ( he had the day off today, because his streak ended yesterday), he delivered as he has all year with a single to put runners on 1st and 3rd. Then Charlie Manuel decided to send in his wiley veteran, catcher Mike Lieberthal as a pinch hitter, to get the tying hit, and it almost worked. After working the count against Wagner to 3-2, Lieberthal slapped what appeared to be a line drive base hit to tie the game, but David bleeping Wright, somehow made a diving stop and threw to 1st base, to retire Lieberthal and end the game. Thus instead of an exalting complete game victory, Jon Lieber was dealt the cruelest hand of all, the rare complete game loss. I mean you just kind of have to feel to for the guy, to have pitched such a great game, only to lose it on the simplest of throws. Well happy trails everyone.
Friday, August 04, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
Leave it to Chase Utley to steal the show, on an otherwise good night for the Phillies. Despite the fact that his team had won, giving them 7 wins in their last 8, all the media wanted to talk about after the game, was that his hitting streak at 35 games, had ended, even though he was given an ample 5 at-bats to extend it. Now it's true that his streak was fun to watch, and it was a bit of a momentous achievement, but for me the only significant news on this night was that Phillies won. Of course the cool thing is that if you were to ask Utley he would probably say the same and so in light of that, let me digress for a moment and say Here's to you Joltin Chase, 35 straight, and hopefully more streaks to come. Anyway getting back to the game, as you might expect in game between bitter rivals, such as the Phils and Mets, it was tight battle throughout the night. In fact, through 6 innings both the Mets and the Phillies had identical stats with 3 runs on 7 hits, off Randy Wolf who went 4 innings, and Orlando Hernandez who went 6 innings, respectively. Thus with the game tied at 3 after 6 innings it came down to a battle of bullpens and needless to say the Phils bullpen came out on top, with 4 scoreless innings, while the Mets bullpen even though they only had to go 3 innings, gave up 2 runs, both on homers. David Dellucci led off the 7th inning with the 1st of the 2 for a 4-3 phils lead. Then Ryan Howard (37 homers now) finished the Phils 5-3 win with the 2nd of the 2 in the top of the 9th inning, following Chase Utley's streak-ending strikeout to start the inning. Tom Gordon then closed out the Mets in the bottom of the inning for his 27th save. All in all tonight's game was pretty exciting as the lead changed hands 3 times in the 1st 4 innings, with the Phils up 1-0 after 2, down 2-1 after 3, tied at 2 after 3 and 1/2 and down 3-2 after 4 before scoring the last 3 runs of the night for the win. Of course, even with tonight's win the Phillies are still 11 games behind the Mets so don't hold your breath for a division title, but hey they are still just 2.5 games back in the wild card, so there is plenty of hope left for the playoffs. Well, happy trails everyone.
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers made another change to roster today, in what has become one of their more busy off seasons to date. Today, in a much hyped about trade, at least by Flyers anyway, center Michael Handzus was dealt to the Blackhawks, for right wing Kyle Calder. Needless to say Calder is yet another winger who likes to use his speed to be affective. Last season Calder recorded 26 goals and 33 assists, solid numbers are on a team as bad the Blackhawks were last year, and apparently good enough to make him highly coveted by Flyers Gm Bob Clarke. I don't know about you, but as far as I am concerned if Clarke really wanted him, than there must be something about him, and that is good enough for me.
EAGLES NEWS
Today, the impossible dream came true for the Eagles, as they finally signed 1st-round draft pick defensive tackle Broderick Bunkley to a 6 year $13 million deal, this after Bunkley had held out for the 1st 16 games of Eagles training camp. Why this took so long to get done, remains a mystery at this point, but fortunately for Bunkley the Eagles training camp is slightly longer this year than usual, as they will be playing 5 preseason games instead of 4. Thus, even though Bunkley will likely miss the Eagles 1st 2 preseason games, including Sunday night's hall of fame game with the raiders, he will still be able to play in 3 preseason games, which should be enough for him to get ready for the season. All I can say is thank God he finally signed, and it's about time.
PHILLIES NEWS
Out of all the teams in the wild card race, the Phillies have been the hottest of late with 8 wins out of their last 10, and after tonight's sweep-clinching win over the Cardinals they stand just 2.5 games back, after being as far as 7.5 games out as recent as a week ago. This means that in one week the Phillies have gained 5 games on the wild-card leading Reds. How have they done it? In every way you can think of. The defense and pitching have both been solid, and the offense well, it has simply been the Major League's best over the last week. I mean the Phillies are hitting the ball all over the place, and scoring runs in every which way. Long ball, small ball, scoring runs on errors, you name it they've been doing it and doing it well and tonight (Thursday) was more of the same. Although it took them awhile to get started, once they did with 3 runs in the 3rd inning, they didn't stop. Led by 34 year old rookie Chris Coste's 4 hits and 2 RBIs, Chase Utley's 3 hits and 2 RBIs (35 straight games now), and Aaron Rowand's 3 hits, 1 homer, and 2 runs scored, the Phils once again beat up on the Cardinals' pitching staff with 8 runs on 16 hits, this just one night after racking up 18 hits. Perhaps even more fittingly, When the Phil's hitters weren't beating up on the Cardinals pitchers, Phils' starter Cole Hamels was beating up on the Cardinal batters, giving up just 2 runs on 1 hit (A homer by Scott Rolen of all people) while striking out a career high 12 in 7 solid innings of work. As far as I am concerned you can't ask for much better from the Phillies, or much worse from the Cardinals. Now I know they are still 2.5 games back in the Wild Card, so there is not quite reason to celebrate yet, but hey it is good enough me so you know what I am back on the Phillies bandwagon (Not that I ever got off, really I didn't, I mean really I am a diehard fan all the way, seriously I am) . Yeah that's right, playoffs or bust baby! Go Phillies! Well happy trails everyone.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
Throughout the month of July, Brett Myers was one of the hottest pitchers in baseball, and seemed to be able to do whatever the Phillies needed him to do. He could go deep into games, he could rack up strikeouts, and he could keep teams scoreless. One thing he couldn't seem to do though, was get a win because the Phils' offense had been giving him almost no run support. Tonight However,(Wednesday), in his 1st August start, he didn't quite have his best stuff and tired early, lasting just 6 innings, but he did get the win, as the Phils' gave him all the run support he could handle, pounding out 16 runs on 18 hits. They scored 8 runs while Myers was in the game and then tacked on 8 more after he left early in the 7th, to cement an impressive 16-8 win. Jimmy Rollins started it all off with a leadoff homer, just minutes into the game. Led by David Dellucci's 2-RBI single the Phils tacked on 4 more in the 2nd inning. David Dellucci then followed himself up with a 2 run homer in the 4th inning, and Aaron Rowand followed that with a solo homer in the 5th inning. Now at this point, through 6 innings, the Phillies led 8-2 , Brett Myers had pitched 6 solid innings and it seemed that victory was assured. However, Myers began to tire in the 7th inning, and gave up 4 runs, in route to a 5-run Cardinals 7th, cutting the lead to 8-7. However, the Phillies would not allow the outcome to remain in doubt for long, scoring 5 runs in a wild 8th inning capped off by Chase Utley's streak extending infield single(34 straight now). At this point the Phils led 13-7 and seemed to have finally assured themselves a victory, but they weren't done yet, scoring 3 more runs in the top of 9th inning on a 3 run homer by Jimmy Rollins (his 2nd of the game). Now ahead 16-8 the Phillies finally let up and closed things out for the win. Interestingly enough, as the Phillies were winning tonight, the wild-card leading Reds were dropping a 5-3 loss to the Dodgers, thus the Phillies are now just 3.5 games back in the wild card, and seemingly closing fast, with 5 wins out of there last 6, pretty cool huh. Well, happy trails everyone.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
Although they haven't always played like it (see yesterday's post), the Phillies bullpen has been one of the best in the national league all season and tonight they showed the Cardinals just how good they could be. Although he pitched well, Phillies starter Scott Mathieson, recently called up to replace the departed Cory Lidle, lasted just 5 innings tonight. Thus, the Phils needed their bullpen to go 4 innings for the win, something they hadn't done much of, and something they hadn't really done successfully. However, as soon as Geoff Geary entered the game in the 6th inning and retired the 1st batter he faced, it was clear tonight would be different and it was. All told, Geary, Arthur Rhodes, and closer Tom Gordon combined, for 4 not just scoreless, but perfect innings. That's right, in 4 innings of work, neither Geary, nor Rhodes, nor Gordon allowed a run, hit, or a walk. They retired all 12 batters they faced, which is as good as it gets, and the main reason the Phillies came up with a huge 5-3 win, which I might add gave Scott Mathieson his 1st career win, pretty cool considering all those hard luck losses he suffered in his 1st go around with the Phils. Now of course the bullpen is not the only reason the Phillies won tonight, there were other contributing factors as well. Mathieson, as I said only pitched 5 innings, but gave up just 3 runs on 3 hits, impressive since he also issued 5 walks. Although he had been hot as of late, Cardinals starter Jeff Suppan just did not have his good stuff tonight, helping the Phillies cause by allowing 5 runs on 9 hits in 5 innings. Ryan Howard, playing in front of his hometown (That's right he is from St. Louis), knocked in 3 of those runs on a 2-RBI single in the 3rd inning, and a solo homer in the 5th inning (36, 3 more than Cards counterpart Albert Pujols). Chris Coste also added a run to the Phillies total and the gave the bullpen, which didn't need it, some insurance with a solo homer in the 6th inning. Lastly, Chase Utley had 2 hits on the day (his hitting streak is 33 games now) and scored a run. So as you can see, just about everybody had a hand in the Phils win tonight, which is exactly how it should be. Also with today's win the Phils have won 4 of their last 5, and have quietly moved to within 4.5 games of the wild card, at 50-55, so who knows, they may yet have a playoff run in them. Well happy trails everyone.
PHILLIES NEWS
Well, I don't know about you but I don't think I have ever seen the Phillies get beat as badly as they did today (Monday). It's kind of hard to fathom just exactly why they lost so bad. Perhaps, they were distracted by all the incessant trade talking that's been going on lately, or maybe the Marlins were just mad as hell, and not willing to be the victims of another route, whatever the reason the Phillies just had no answer for Marlins today. The Phillies pitchers, especially starter Jon Lieber who gave up 9 runs on 13 hits in only 4 and 1/3rd innings of work, could not stop the Marlins offense, and the Phillies offense could not seem to get started against Marlin's starter Josh Johnson, who gave up just 1 run on 5 hits, in 7 innings of work, and recorded 8 strikeouts. When all was said and done the Marlins had pounded out 15 runs on 17 hits, and the Phillies had been dealt a humiliating 15-2 loss. I'd give you some blow by blow analysis, but it's just too ugly to talk about. If you didn't see this game, then just be glad you didn't. However, despite the lopsided numbers on the scorecard, Phils fans did have one thing to cheer about, as Chase Utley extended his hitting streak to 32 games. In other news the Phillies finished their trade deadline selling today, by trading reliever Rheal Cormier to the reds for right-handed pitcher Justin Germano, another minor league prospect, although he did just make his major league debut on Saturday, so the Phillies might actually be able to use him at some point this season. Now as a result of this trade the Phillies were left with a hole on their roster, and they filled it by recalling pitcher Brian Sanchez from AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre. Sanchez did actually pitch an inning for the Phillies today, and well let's just say he didn't do so well, but hey the Phillies were all ready down by 8 runs at the time, so it really didn't matter. Well, happy trails everyone.
Monday, July 31, 2006
WEEKLY POLL QUESTION
What is your opinion of the Phillies trading Lidle and Abreu, to the Yankees for 4 prospects?
a. smart move
b. what the hell were they thinking?
c. not sure
last week's results:
75% c. division champs
25% d. wild card berth
0% a, b, e, and f
a. smart move
b. what the hell were they thinking?
c. not sure
last week's results:
75% c. division champs
25% d. wild card berth
0% a, b, e, and f
PHILLIES NEWS
Today (Sunday) was a day to remember for the Phillies and their fans and not just because of what happened on the field. The Phils played a day-night doubleheader with the Marlins today, with the 1st game beginning at 1:30 and the 2nd game beginning at 7:35. In the 1st game Randy Wolf, yes that Randy Wolf made his 1st start for the Phillies since last July, he only lasted 4 and 1/3rd innings but it was more than enough for the Phillies, as he only gave up 3 runs on 3 hits, not bad for his 1st day back. By the same token Marlin's starter Anibel Sanchez lasted just 4 and 1/3rd innings himself, but he gave up 8 runs, as the Phillies led by Mike Lieberthal's Grand Slam and 5 RBIs, Chase Utley's 2 hit day, extending his streak to 30, and Ryan Howard's amazing 5 walks and 2 runs scored, routed the Marlins 11-5. In the 2nd game Ryan Madson started for the Phillies and turned in a sparkling performance going 6 innings and giving up just 2 runs on 8 hits. The Phils offense meanwhile once again punished Marlin's starter Brian Moehler, who lasted just 5 and 1/3rd innings and gave up 5 runs on 4 hits, as the Phils, led by a 2-run homer by Ryan Howard (his 35th), and solo homers by run Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, and Chase Utley(extending his streak to 31 games) once again routed the Marlins, this time 9-2. Now, despite this sweep of the doubleheader, and their impressive play all day long, the biggest news concerning the Phillies today actually happened off the field. Shortly, after their easy win in the 1st game of the doubleheader , The Phillies and GM Pat Gillick held a press conference to announce that they had made a team altering trade. Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle, went to the Yankees for 4 minor league prospects, Left-handed pitcher Matt Smith, shortstop C.J Henry, the Yankees 1st pick in the 2005 draft, catcher Jesus Sanchez, and right handed pitcher Carlos Monasterios. Also sweetening the deal, the Yankees agreed to assume the contracts, of Lidle and Abreu, meaning the Phillies won't have to pay them off. Now, with Abreu and Lidle gone and nothing but prospects in return, the Phillies were left with a couples holes on their roster, and to fill those holes they recalled both pitcher Scott Mathieson, and OF Micheal Bourn from AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre. Obviously, Mathieson will fill Lidle's spot in the rotation for the time being, but it is not clear who will replace Abreu, it would seem for the most part that David Dellucci will be the man in right, but Shane Victorino, and Bourn are also expected to get some time in right. Also in other news today, the Phillies designated Ryan Franklin for assignment, to make room on the roster for Randy Wolf, whom I mentioned finally returned to action today. They can now either, trade him, release him, or send him to the minors, and it is expected that they will trade him. Well, happy trails everyone.
WEEKLY TRIVIA QUESTION
In the 1st game of today's(Sunday) doubleheader Ryan Howard was walked a major league record tying 5 times, among the players tied with Howard for the record, 2 are Phillies, who are they?
last week's answer:
Grover Cleveland Alexander
last week's answer:
Grover Cleveland Alexander
Sunday, July 30, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
Coming off a night in which they were the victims of a 4-1 loss and a near no-hitter, things only figured to get worse for the Phils today, going up against the Marlin's ace Dontrelle Willis. However instead of folding against Willis the Phillies avenged last night's near no-hitter in a big way today(Saturday), punishing Willis for 8 runs on 5 hits . It all started in the 2nd inning with a solo homer by Pat Burrell, back in the lineup for the 1st time in a few days. The Marlins actually managed to tie the game in the top of the 3rd inning on a sac fly by Dan Uggla, but from then on it was all Phillies. In the bottom of 3rd, led by Chase Utley's streak extending(that's 29 now) 2 RBI double and Ryan Howard's 3 run homer, the Phils scored 7 runs and chased Willis from the game after only 2 and 1/3rd innings of work. All ready ahead 9-1 after just 3 innings, you might think the Phils offense would have shut it down for the night right then and there, but they didn't and kept it going with homers in the 4th inning by Chase Utley, and in the 6th inning by Aaron Rowand. Only when Chris Resop came into game in relief to start the 7 inning, did they finally stop scoring. Meanwhile, as the Phils offense was lighting up the Marlin's pitchers, starter Cole Hamels was dazzling the Marlins hitters going 7 and 2/3rds solid innings, giving up just 3 runs on 5 hits, and recording 7 strikeouts on the night. When all was said and done the Phillies had thoroughly pummeled the Marlins with 12 runs and 11 hits in a 12-3 victory. The Lone dark spot on the night for the Phillies came in the 8th inning, when Hamels, a batter or 2 from leaving the game, was hit on the left leg by scorching ground ball, and then limped off the field to end his night. Fortunately for the Phillies, all later x-rays came up negative, and showed nothing but a leg contusion, so hopefully Hamels won't miss a beat. Well, happy trails everyone.
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