Saturday, May 26, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Well, the 5th time was the charm for the Phils. In there 5th attempt to do so, the Phils finally got above .500 at 25-24. The Phils trailed early 1-0, but Micheal Bourn bunted for a hit and scored in the 3rd inning, to get the Phils started and Chase Utley then doubled in a couple runs two batters later and Shane Victorino scored on a passed ball to put the Phils up and running 4-1. Atlanta rallied for a couple in the bottom of the inning, but after that Adam Eaton took charge with 6 solid innings allowing just 4 runs on 6 hits. Chase Utley added a run in the 5th with a single to finish his day with 3 RBIs and Shane Victorino added a solo homer in the 7th to finish his day just a double short of the cycle with an RBI and 3 runs scored and a couple great plays in the outfield. The Phils bullpen again shut the door by committee with Micheal Zagurski pitching his second scoreless inning in the 7th and Geoff Geary doing likewise in the 8th, while Antonio Alfonseca registered his first save since 2002 in the 9th for a 6-4 Phils win. So the Phils are finally above .500 at 25-24, just 3 games behind Atlanta for 2nd in the NL east and wild card, and Life is beautiful again. I just hope they keep it up and get the sweep tomorrow.
Friday, May 25, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Big night for the Phils tonight. At one game under .500 they needed a win to get back to .500 yet again, and get back to .500 they would. Fresh off his worst start of the season, Jamie Moyer rebounded for 7 strong innings, allowing just 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out 4. The Phils meanwhile, romped to an early 3-1 lead which stood until the 6th inning when a Ryan Howard error opened the door for the Braves to tie it at 3. Greg Dobbs put the Phils right back ahead in the 7th though, with a 2 run double. Then in the 8th Howard atoned for his blunder with a two run double of his own to all but seal deal as the Phils went up 7-3, but they weren't done yet. Jayson Werth hit a pinch solo homer in the top of the 9th for good measure, to put the Phils up 8-3. Rookies Michael Zagurski ,who was just called up from double A reading ot fill Brett Myers roster spot, and Yoel Hernandez ,who had only pitched 2 innings so far this season then closed it out with perfect 8th and 9th innings respectively. Who knows, maybe they're the answer in the bullpen right now, well at least until Myers returns from DL. Anyway the Phils once again try to get above .500(they are now 24-24, 4 behind Atlanta for 2nd in the NL East and Wild Card) tomorrow at 3:35, and since life is now beautiful again they better keep me happy and finally do it.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Well, the Phils just aren't meant to get above .500 this season. Tonight for the 4th time they had a chance to do so, and for the 4th consecutive time they failed and are once again one game under .500. The game began with an 85 minute rain delay, and the Phils then came out firing. Aaron Rowand doubled and the Phils went up early 2-0 in the first inning. Jon Lieber had bit of a rough outing though, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits in only 5 innings of work, and by the 6th inning the Marlins had rallied ahead 3-2 behind clutch hitting and the left arm of Dontrelle Willis. Willis starting getting wild in the 6th, walking the bases loaded and the Phils used a sac fly to tie it up at 3, but could do no more damage. Florida took the lead again in the bottom of the 6th on a double by Jeremy Hermida, but again the Phils rallied back in the 8th as Shane Victorino singled in the tying run. They had a chance for more earlier in the inning, but alas after a boneheaded move to send him Micheal Bourn was gunned down at home trying to score from first on a double by Greg Dobbs. Dobbs of course was the runner who later scored on Victorino's single. Anyway, the Phils bullpen somehow kept it going until the 11th. There they watched a golden opportunity slip away and then watched the Marlins celebrate. In the top of the 11th, they loaded the bases with one out, only to watch Greg Dobbs strike out, and Victorino ground out. Then in bottom of the inning Hanley Ramirez singled and Miguel Cabrera doubled to score him and end the game in a 5-4 marlins win. So life sucks again and the Phils are back under .500 as they head to Atlanta for the weekend, where Ryan Howard should finally return to the team.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Even when the Phils won tonight they lost. Freddy Garcia had another solid outing, going 6 innings and allowing just 3 runs on 5 hits, 2 of them solo homers by Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez. The Phils led by Chase Utley's 2 run homer in the 1st inning racked up 4 runs and 5 hits off Marlins starter Byung Hung Kim. Until the 9th inning those 4 runs were all they needed. Entering the top of the 9th they still led 4-3 and greatly increased their chances of winning, from a possibility to sure thing, by romping for 3 runs off the Marlins bullpen to take a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the 9th. Then things turned upside down. Brett Myers came in to close it and watched as the Marlins came all the way back to tie it at 7. They hit a couple of soft singles, a triple and Josh Willingham was hit by a pitch. Then after Myers retired the next two batters Aaron Boone lined a single, to score Hanley Ramirez with the tying run, even though Jayson Werth's throw from left field beat him by 10 feet. Catcher Rod Barajas failed to block the plate and instead tried to stand up and tag him, but Ramirez slid through Barajas' legs and beat the tag. Things then went from bad to worse for the Phils as two pitches later with Barajas and Charlie Manuel both ejected for arguing, Myers uncorked a wild pitch and ran off the field holding his shoulder. With runners now on 2nd and 3rd as a result of the pitch and Myers now on the bench with a shoulder strain, Clay Condrey came in to bail the Phils out and bail them out he did. Florida's Todd Linden hit a screaming line drive right back at Condrey on the next pitch and somehow he caught it to end the inning and force the game into extra innings. There in the top of the 10th Abraham Nunez singled in a run and Clay Condrey stayed in to close it out in the bottom of the 10th for an 8-7 Phils win. Still, despite the win which puts them back at .500 again they are now in big trouble. As both Tom Gordon and Brett Myers will now be on the DL. Thus, they now have no closer, and will either have to close by committee, or try out someone else in the closer's role. Neither of those possibilities looks good on paper, considering they didn't have much in the bullpen to begin with. So even though life is beautiful again, it still sucks.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Once again the Phils had a chance to get above the .500 mark tonight and once again they failed to do so. One would think with ubertalent Cole Hamels on the mound tonight they would have been able to do so easily but that was not the case. Early on things looked pretty good for the Phils. In a rare start in place of Pat Burrell , who was greeted with a rare day off, Jayson Werth Homered twice, driving in all 3 of the Phils runs on the night, and Hamels looked lights out as the Phils led 3-1 through 5 and 1/2 innings. Then Hamels stepped in to pitch the bottom of the 6th and the wheels fell off. Before the 6th Hamels had only given up 1 run on 2 hits for the night after the 6th those totals had risen to 5 runs and 6 hits and Hamels was on the bench. All 4 Marlins hits in the inning went for extra bases including a misplayed fly ball by Aaron Rowand which wound up as a Miguel Cabrera triple and then saw Cabrera score after Chase Utley threw away his relay to 3rd which probably wouldn't have caught Cabrera anyway even if it had been on line. A Josh Willingham double followed and suddenly the Phils were behind 5-3. They would not recover. In the final 3 innings they mustered only 1 hit and failed to score. So the Phils lost 5-3 and now stand at 22-23 once again one game under .500. Life sucks once again.
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers played the lottery tonight, that is the NBA draft lottery and well let's just say they didn't win the big bucks, but they matched a couple numbers and won the $500 or whatever they give you for only matching 2 or 3 of the numbers. Anyway, they didn't even come close to getting one of the top 3 picks, as they were left with the 12th pick in the draft. Still, with the talent pool in this draft, considered one of the deepest in recent history, there's still a chance they could get somebody pretty good even as low as the 12th pick. Or, with their other 2 picks in the draft, 21 and 30, respectively they could make their selection some sort of package deal, so as to trade up into the top 3 for Kevin Durant or Greg Oden. Or they could keep all 3 of their picks and use them. Either way, they are still in pretty good shape as far as I am concerned.
Monday, May 21, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils got the day off today for their annual fan festival to raise money in support of the fight against ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease as they call it now. Tomorrow they head to Florida to begin a 3 game series with Marlins. Hopefully when it's over their record will finally be back above .500 on the season.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils finished off their 10 game homestand today and they are now in pretty good shape. Adam Eaton got the start today and delivered what Jamie Moyer couldn't yesterday. He pitched 6 strong, scoreless innings, allowing just 4 hits. He left early only because he spent too much time running the bases in the bottom of the 6th. At any rate the Phils bats backed him up competently as Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell both went yard, and Rowand and Greg Dobbs both had RBI singles, staking the Phils to a 5-0 lead through 6 innings. Thanks to a nightmare 8th inning pitched by Geoff Geary, in which he allowed 3 homers, by Alexis Rios, Matt Stairs, and Vernon Well, that lead almost evaporated. Fortunately Brett Myers again came into the game early, finishing off the 8th and closing it out in the 9th for a 5-3 Phils win, and another series win. As it stands now the Phils are back at .500 with a 22-22 record, and trail the Braves by 4 games for 2nd in NL East, and the Mets by 6.5 games for 1st in the NL East, far better shape than they were in after their 10 game road trip. Also Ryan Howard is expected to return to the Phils as soon as next weekend when they head to Atlanta for a 3 game series. So life is beautiful again.
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