Saturday, September 09, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
It's hard to imagine anything more frustrating then tonight's game was for the Phils. Chase Utley homered twice, and Brett Myers pitched 6 solid innings, allowing just 3 runs but it wasn't enough for the Phils to get the win. They took the an early 1-0 lead on Utley's 1st homer in the 1st inning, but the Marlins and Dan Uggla(he hit a 2 run homer) came right back with 2 runs in the bottom of the inning to go up 2-1. Utley briefly tied it at 2 with his 2nd homer in the 3rd inning, but Uggla once again put the Marlins on top 3-2 with an RBI single. For a while after that it seemed like that 3-2 lead would stand up for the Marlins, as the Phils missed several opportunities to pull even. I mean it seemed like every inning the Phils got another chance to pull even with Marlins but they just couldn't as they left 17 men on base. However, just when it appeared it was over for the Phils, they got 1 last chance in the top of the 9th inning and finally took advantage of it. With 2 on and 1 out, Jeff Conine got the Phils offense off the deck and burned his old team for an RBI single to tie it at 3. Marlins Reliever Joe Borowksi then loaded the bases, but the Phils just could not push across the go ahead run, and the game stayed tied at 3 into extra innings. The Phils and Conine got another chance to push across the go ahead run in the top of the 10th, but Conine's line drive with the bases loaded was caught by a diving Josh Willingham, and the Phils came up empty again. They would not get another chance as Cody Ross singled in the winning run with 1 out in the bottom of the 10th after the Phils had walked the bases loaded in hopes of turning a double play to end the inning. To make matters worse, Phils reliever Arthur Rhodes went down earlier in the inning with a left elbow strain(no word yet on how serious it is). Now of course, as the Phillies lost tonight, so did the Padres, meaning the Phils remain 1.5 games out of 1st in the wild card race. If they had won they would have pulled to within .5 games, but oh well, let's just hope they come back and get a win tomorrow. Well, happy trails everyone
SIXERS NEWS
There is nothing new to report, but I did forget to mention something yesterday. So, without further adieu let me just extend a congratulations to the round mound of rebound himself, Charles Barkley on being inducted into the NBA hall of fame yesterday.
Friday, September 08, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils got a big win against the Marlins last night and just kept it going tonight. The Marlins actually led early 1-0 after an RBI triple by Miguel Olivo and for a while it looked like that 1 run might hold up. Both starters, Ben Olsen for the Marlins, and Jamie Moyer for the Phils, were just dealing through 5 and 1/2 innings as the Marlins maintained their 1-0 the lead, but in the end Moyer simply outlasted Olsen, with a little help from Ryan Howard. Moyer tossed 8 solid innings, allowing just that 1 run on 5 hits, and Howard homered twice(that's 56 now), 1st in the top of the 6th(a 2 run homer) to give the Phils their 1st lead at 2-1, and again in the 8th inning(a solo shot) to put the Phils ahead for good 3-1. Tom Gordon(yes he's back now, in fact he pitched briefly last night too) then came in and closed it out in the 9th, but not before allowing 1 more run as the Phils held on for a 3-2 win. All in all, this was a nice win for the Phils and a big one at that. With the win the Phils move to within 1.5 games of the wild card leading Padres who lost tonight. Anyway, before I finish this for the night I just want to talk about Ryan Howard for a minute. I mean, it's great that the Phils won tonight, but let's be honest the real reason you've been watching the Phillies lately is to see Howard do his thing. I mean come on, can the guy get any hotter. It doesn't seem to matter where you pitch to him, he still hits it out. With the 2 homers tonight he now has 56 homers, as I mentioned earlier, 138 RBIs and he's currently batting .311. All I can say is, I hope he can keep this up for the rest of the season, and not just because what he is doing right is just extraordinary, but because it's just fun to watch him go out there every night. Well, happy trails everyone.
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers actually made some roster moves today, signing veteran forward/center Alan Henderson who spent last season with the Cavs, and forward Ivan Mcfarlin, a rookie free agent out of Oklahoma State who dazzled for the Sixers during summer league play. Now, I can't say for sure what the Sixers expect from these 2, but apparently they feel like Mcfarlin and Henderson can add good depth to their front court.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
Coming off a tough loss yesterday, the Phils needed something positive to happen to them. Moreover, tonight also began a run of 10 straight road games for the Phils, so it was really important that they start on the right foot and get a win tonight. Unfortunately, for the Phils, there first stop on the road trip was against the hottest team in majors right now, the Marlins, in a place, Dolphin Stadium(formerly Pro Player stadium), that has been a house of horrors for the Phils over the years. Thus, the chances of the Phillies starting their road trip with a win seemed slim. However, no one told the Phils that they weren't supposed to win tonight. Jon Lieber tossed 5 and 1/3rd solid innings, allowing just 4 runs on 7 hits, and Ryan Howard(solo shot, number 54 now), Chris Coste(solo shot), and Chase Utley (3 run homer) all crushed homeruns, as the Phils jumped out to a 10-4 lead through 7 innings. Now you would think that a 10-4 lead through 7 innings would be enough to guarantee the Phils a win, but not against the feisty Marlins, who roughed up reliever Rick White for 4 runs on 3 hits, cutting the lead to 10-8. Fortunately, for the Phils though, their bullpen was able to bare down from, there, and Jeff Conine, who had already burned his former team for a triple and a single, hit the Phils 4th homer of the night(another 3 run homer), putting the phils up for good 14-8. Yeah, that's right the Phils got the big 14-8 win over the Marlins that they needed, and they gained .5 games against the idle Padres(they won again last night, so the phils were behind by 3 games). Thus, the Phils are back to within 2.5 games of the Padres for the lead in the wild card. Well, happy trails everyone.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
Remember how I said the Astros have been the Phils arch nemesis for last few years, well today they showed why. Randy Wolf tossed 6 solid innings, allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits, Carlos Ruiz homered in the 5th inning, and Jeff Conine singled in a run in the 6th inning for a 2-2 tie, but that was as good as it would get for the Phils. The game stayed tied at 2 into the top of the 9th inning and it looked like the Phils were headed toward another extra inning thriller, but it was not to be. As they have in the last couple weeks the Phils bullpen collapsed late, this time in the form of Ryan Madson. Madson, got himself in trouble right off the bat in the top of the 9th inning by loading the bases with only 1 out. From there, he struck out Craig Biggio and actually got ahead of Lance Berkman 0 balls and 2 strikes. Now, just 1 strike away from ending the inning, there was hope that Madson could get himself out of the jam, but a couple pitches later Berkman managed to inside out a curveball just inside the foul line for a bases clearing double. At this point, down 5-2 it was pretty much over for the Phils, and although they rallied to score a run in the bottom of the inning, they still fell short 5-3. Needless to say it was a crushing loss for the Phils, but one they can still recover from. Anyway, at the moment the Phils trail the Padres by 2.5 games, but they can get back to within 2.0 games if the Padres lose later tonight. The Padres won last night, but currently they are locked in a scoreless tie with the Rockies through 5 innings(I will have to update you on the situation tomorrow). Well, happy trails everyone.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
Well, if you looked outside your window today then you know what I am about to say. The Phils and the Astros were rained out today, but their game will be made up on September 25th , which was originally an off day for both of them. As for the Wild Card situation the Padres did play today and as I write this they are tied with the Rockies at 3 in the top of the 6th inning. If the Padres lose, then the phils will move to within 1.0 game of the wild card lead, so I will have to update you on the situation in tomorrow's post. Well, happy trails everyone
Monday, September 04, 2006
PHILLIES NEWS
Over the last few years the Phillies arch nemesis has been the Houston Astros. In fact, coming into today's game the Phils had lost their last 12 against the Astros, but tonight all that changed. Pitching against his idol, Roger Clemens, Cole Hamels tossed 8 solid innings, giving up just 2 runs on 2 hits(both solo homers). Meanwhile, the Phils offense could do no better against Clemens, scoring just 1 run on 1 hit, before he left following the 5th inning. Ryan Howard then added a 2nd run, with a solo homer off reliever Russ Springer. Actually, the Phils led at that point, 2-1, but Aubrey Huff led off the top of 8th inning with a solo homer of his own to tie it a 2. After that, though, neither team could get on the board as the 9th inning went by and the game ventured into extra innings. Just like game 2 last night, the extra innings wouldn't last very long. With 2 out in the bottom of the 10th inning and nobody on, Chase Utley stepped up to the plate and delivered. Lately, Utley has been slumping a bit, but in this one instant he rebounded in a big way, as he crushed a homer off Astros reliever Dave Borkowski to lift the Phils to a 3-2 win. Thus, for 1 game at least the Phils were able to get a measure of revenge against their nemesis. Anyway, with the win, the Phils remain 1.5 games behind the Padres in the wild card race(the padres won today too). Well, happy trails everyone.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
WEEKLY POLL QUESTION
Will Ryan Howard hit 60 homers this season?
a. yes, definitely
b. no, not quite
(actually these are from 2 weeks ago, not sure why I didn't post a question last week)
last week's results:
50% a. smart move
50% c. not sure
0% b. what were they thinking
a. yes, definitely
b. no, not quite
(actually these are from 2 weeks ago, not sure why I didn't post a question last week)
last week's results:
50% a. smart move
50% c. not sure
0% b. what were they thinking
PHILLIES NEWS
As I mentioned yesterday, the Phillies had a doubleheader today, and well it went kinda like yesterday's doubleheader, except this time the Phils won the 1st game and lost the 2nd. In the 1st game of the doubleheader, it was all about the power of Ryan Howard and Jamie Moyer rebounding from the rough outing he had in his last start. Well at least for the first 8 innings that was all it was about, as Moyer tossed 7 and 1/3rd solid innings, allowing just 3 runs on 6 hits, and Howard homered in 3 straight at bats giving the Phils a 6-3 lead through 8 innings. In the 9th inning however, it got a little tricky. Neither Ryan Madson, nor Fabio Castro could close out the Braves and in fact coughed up the lead completely, as the Braves went up 7-6. Fortunately for the Phils, Geoff Geory was able to stop the bleeding from there, and the Phillies were able to mount a final rally to escape with an 8-7 win on a game-tying single by Jimmy Rollins and a walk off single by Shane Victorino. In the 2nd game however, the Phils weren't so lucky. Brett Myers cooked up a good one, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits over 8 innings, but the Phils offense couldn't get anything going either as they too scored only 1 run through 8 innings. Try as they might, the Phils just couldn't push across a 2nd run in 9th, so the game went into extra innings, and didn't last long from there. A couple innings later in the top of the 11th inning, the Braves finally forged ahead for good, as Geoff Geary, who had saved the day in the 1st game, fell victim to a throwing error and a passed ball by catcher Carlos Ruiz, allowing the Braves to score 2 runs for a 3-1 lead. Unfortunately the Phils did not have another rally in them and went down in order to give the Braves the win. Well, just to summarize again, that's 1 up and 1 down , and at this point a 1.5 game deficit in the wild card race (the Padres won again today). Well, happy trails everyone.
WEEKLY TRIVIA QUESTION
I know there was no question last week, and that's because for now due to time constraints and a lack of trivia for me to use I am discontinuing the trivia question for a little while, but I'll bring it back from time to time (whenever I get a good question). Anyway, let me just give you the answer from a couple weeks ago. The 5 players besides Ryan Howard who have hit 40 homers in a season for the Phils are the following:
Mike Schmidt
Dick Allen
Chuck Klein
Cy Williams
Jim Thome
Mike Schmidt
Dick Allen
Chuck Klein
Cy Williams
Jim Thome
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