Saturday, June 30, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Like J.D Durbin yesterday, J.A Happ had rough major league debut allowing 5 runs, including yet another homer By Carlos Beltran, in just 4 and 2/3rds innings of work. The Phils bullpen wasn't much better. Beltran homered for a second time in the 7th and wound up knocking in 3 runs on the day as the Mets road a 6-3 lead into the 9th inning, where they tacked on two more excruciating runs, on a throwing error and a sac fly for an 8-3 lead. The Phils meanwhile, managed just those 3 runs off starter Jorge Sosa, who wound up leaving the game in the 6th with a strained hamstring. The Phils only real highlight of the day was yet another towering upper deck blast by Ryan Howard, his 19th of th season, which briefly helped the Phils tie it at 3 in the 5th inning. The Mets bullpen then just blew them away in the final 4 innings and the Phils fell 8-3, for their 3rd straight loss to New York, dropping to 6 games behind the Mets for first, and 2 behind Atlanta for 2nd. Thus, life really sucks now. Hey wait a minute weren't we just talking about heartbreaking losses, I guess some things just never get old.
SPECIAL SECTION
The Top 10 Most Heartbreaking Losses In Phillies History
I recently came across a sports illustrated article commemorating the Phillies for their long history of losing. So long in fact that the Phils, the losingest franchise in all of sports, now stand just 6 losses away from the greatest milestone in futility yet accomplished, 10,000 losses in franchise history. With the heartbreak of yesterday's doubleheader, and that milestone looming, I though it might be interesting to take a look back at some of the Phils toughest losses. By definition heartbreaking means causing or marked by grief and anguish, and experiencing or marked by or expressing sorrow especially that associated with irreparable loss. In other words these 10 losses are those that Phils will never live down. The ones that they want to forget but never will. So all that said lets get started.
10. All of them.
Yes that's right I said all of them. Whether you're a player, coach or just a diehard, any loss by your team hurts. Some may hurt more than others, but in the end they all do. When you are the losingest franchise in sports, you learn pretty quickly that you have to be able to forget about them and move on, but as these next few losses can attest that's not always easy to do.
9. October 13, 1915 World Series Game 5, Boston Red Sox 5 - Phillies 4
Okay so only you 100 year olds out there probably remember this one, but that doesn't make it any easier swallow. The original "worst to first" team, the 1915 Phils had finished in 6th place a year earlier, but now with Grover Cleveland Alexander winning 31 games and Gavvy Cravath slamming a then single season record 24 homers, they romped to 90 wins and their first NL Pennant by 7 games over the Braves. Still, most experts didn't give them a chance in the World Series against the powerful Boston Red Sox. That didn't phase the Phils who shocked Boston by taking game 1, 3-1 behind Alexander's complete game. The Philadelphia A's had been heavily favored to win the 1914 series, but the Boston Braves swept them, would the Phillies now return the favor against Sox? not so fast. Boston won the next 3 games 2-1, twice knocking in the winning run in the 9th inning, then came the real crusher. For the first time since game 1 the Phils actually led late 4-2 on a two run double, and a homer by team captain and 1st baseman Fred Luderus, but it wouldn't be enough. Eppa Rixey, pitching in relief of Erskine Mayer, had shut down the Sox through 7, but in the 8th he was undone by a fatal move by owner William F.Baker. In an effort to increase ticket sales, Baker had placed extra seats in front of the left-field bleachers and right center field, reducing the size of the playing field at his namesake the Baker Bowl. In the 8th and 9th inning the Sox twice homered into the new seats, with Duffy Lewis tying it on a 2 run homer in the 8th, and future Hall of Famer Harry Hooper putting the Sox ahead with a solo shot in the 9th and just like that the Phils first word title had slipped away to Boston. It would be 35 years before they would have another shot at it.
8. October 16, 1983 World Series Game 5 Baltimore Orioles 5 - Phillies 0
3 years after their first and only World Championship in 1980, The Phils returned to the fall Classic led by a new cast of characters known as "the wheeze kids" because of their extraordinary old age. 42 year old Pete Rose, 41 year old Tony Perez, and 39 year old Joe Morgan reignited the big the red machine in Philly, and led the Phils to a division title and then a dramatic NLCS victory over the L.A Dodgers who had beaten them twice before in the 1977 and 1978 NLCS. Then Cy Young award winner John Denny, one of the few younger players on the team, pitched a complete game to help the Phils take game 1, 2-1 in Baltimore. Unfortunately, Baltimore was just too much for the Phils. They took the next 3 games by excruciatingly close margins, including consecutive 1 run losses in games 3 and 4. Game 5 by contrast was no contest, which was made it so tough to endure. It all just felt so final, as the Phils gave no indication that they any fight left in them. Future Hall of Famer, Eddie Murray hit two towering homers and Scott Mcregor pitched a complete game shutout in the all too convincing 5-0 clincher. The Wheeze kids had wheezed their last, and their fans were forced to watch another road team celebrate a world title in their house.
7. October 4-7, 1950 every game of the 1950 World Series.
Most people will still say that all they remember from 1950, was Dick Sisler's "shot hear round Philadelphia" which gave the Phils the pennant on the last day of the season, but its only because they don't want to remember what happened in the series. Unfortunately, that clinching victory required a monumental 10-inning effort from staff ace Robin Roberts, pitching his 3rd game in 5 days. Thus, the exhausted Roberts was unavailable to pitch game 1 of the series. So instead the "whiz kids" as they were known due their average age of under 30, went with one of their few older players, 31 year old Jim Konstanty, who was actually a rookie, and their closer for that matter. Although Konstanty had not started a game all season, he looked as if he had, going 8 innings while allowing only 1 run, but the Phils offense ran into Yankee Ace Vic Rashi who threw a 2 hit shutout for the 1-0 win in Philly, at Connie Mack stadium(although no one called it that then, as it was still known as Shibe Park). In Game 2 Robin Roberts returned to pitch a 9 inning 1-1 duel with Allie Reynolds. Then the yankee clipper, Joe Dimaggio clipped a solo shot in the 10th inning to put the Yanks up 2-1 and that was enough to win yet another game in Philly. In game 3 the Phils called on Ken Heintzelman who won 17 games for them in 1949, but in 1950 he was only 3-9. On this day though he looked like the old Heintzelman, carrying a 2-1 lead into the 8th, the Phils only lead of the series. Unfortunately, he chose then after 2 quick outs to come back down to earth walking 3 straight batters. In came Konstanty to save the day, which he did inducing a ground out, but Granny Hamner booted it and the tying run scored. Somehow Konstanty got the next batter to end the inning, but it didn't matter as the Yanks scored again in the 9th to win 3-2, and just like that the Phils had lost 3 in a row by 1 run. Then in game 4 the Phils ran into a young lefty in his 1st world series. He was none other than future Hall of Famer Whitey Ford, and he breezed into the 9th inning with 5-0 lead, poised to shutout the Phils, but a Jerry Woodling error opened the door for the Phils to score 2 and cut the lead to 5-2. Unfortunately that woud be as close they would get and so ended the closest 4 game sweep in world series history.
6. October 2, 2005 Astros 6 - Cubs 4.
Over the last 4 years the Phils have come excruciatingly close to reaching the playoffs as the wildcard. They never came closer though than they did in 2005. Late in the season they found themselves 5 games behind the Astros in the wildcard with only a week to play and things didn't look so good, but then a funny thing happened. After a string of dramatic victories, and surprising losses for the Stros, the Phils suddenly found themselves just one game back on the final day of the season. All they needed was a win and an Astros loss to the Cubs to force a one game playoff for the wildcard, which incidentally would have taken place in Philly at Citizens Bank Park. The Phils got their win easily against the Washington Nationals, 10-1 and for a while it looked as if the Cubs would provide the loss. After trailing 3-0 for 4 innings, the Cubs surged ahead 4-3 in the top of the 6th. Then in bottom of the 6th Neifi Perez committed a rare throwing error and Houston went back ahead 5-4 and later added another run to go ahead 6-4 heading into the 9th. The Cubs got their leadoff man aboard in the 9th, but couldn't get the hit they needed tie it up again. The last batter Jose Macias, lined what appeared to be an RBI single to cut the lead to 6-5, but it went right into the glove of second baseman Eric Bruntlett to end the game, and just like that the Bank's first playoff game had slipped away.
5. October 7, 1978 NLCS Game 4 L.A Dodgers 4 - Phillies 3, final in 10 innings.
The Phils had already lost the last 2 NLCS including a 4 game heartbreaker to the Dodgers the year before. Now they were back for the 3rd year in a row, but initially it just looked like more of the same. The Dodgers won the first 2 games of the series in Philly easily, 9-5 and 4-0, but suddenly the Phils and Steve Carlton(god only knows why Manager Danny Ozark waited until now to give him the ball) took game 3 9-5 and Phils fans were at the edge of their seats all over again. Game 4 started well, as the Phils took a 2-1 lead in 3rd on a homer by Greg Luzinski. The Dodgers tied it in the 4th on a Ron Cey solo homer, then Steve Garvey put them ahead 3-2 in the 6th with his 4th and final homer of the series. The Phils tied it one last time in the 7th on a solo homer by Bake Mcbride, but after that the two team's bullpens dueled all the way into the tenth inning. Try as they might, the Phils just couldn't get that one run they needed to force a decisive game 5, and instead in the bottom of 10th the Dodgers struck. With 2 outs in the inning Tug Mcgraw walked Ron Cey, Dusty Baker reached on a rare error by Gary Maddox, and Bill Russell ripped a single into centerfield to score Cey with the winning run. Once again for the 3rd year in a row the Phils had failed to reach the world series.
4. October 20, 1993 World Series Game 4 Toronto Bluejays 15 - Phillies 14.
Most people will tell you that the Phillies lost the 1993 World Series in the 9th inning of game 6, but the series truly got away from them in this game. Trailing 2-1 in the series, the Phils desperately needed this one to pull even at two games a piece. They quickly fell behind 3-0 in the 1st inning, but the Phils came right back with 4 in the bottom of the inning. A 2 run homer by the dude, Lenny Dykstra pushed the lead to 6-3 in the 2nd inning. Toronto came right back with 4 of their own in 3rd inning for a 7-6 lead. Mariano Duncan tied it at 7 with an RBI single in the 4th. Then the Phils exploded for 5 runs in the 5th inning, on a 2 run homer by Darren "Dutch" Daulton, a double by Milt Thompson, and another 2 run homer by Lenny Dykstra. Now it finally seemed as if the Phils might have put it out of reach with a 12-7 lead, but Toronto just wouldn't go away. They put up 2 in the 6th to cut the lead to 12-9, then after the Phils had scored a run each in the 6th and 7th innings to up the lead to 14-9, Toronto erupted in the infamous 8th inning. The "wild thing" Mitch Williams had come in to close out the game for a 2 inning save, but he and his exhausted slide step were no match for the Toronto onslaught. The Jays scored 6 in the 8th to go ahead for good 15-14. The Phils had a shot to come back one more time in the 9th, but they had nothing left, and went down in order. Toronto thus had itself a 3 games to 1 lead at the expense of a depressed city and team.
3. October 23, 1993 World Series Game 6 Toronto Bluejays 8 - Phillies 6.
Thanks to Curt Schilling's complete game shutout in game 5, the Phils returned to Toronto for game 6, and most experts felt that if they could just pull this one out, they would win it all with Danny Jackson on the mound in game 7. At first it didn't look so good, as the Blue Jays again went ahead 3-0 in the first inning. The 1993 Phils were fighters though, and they did just that. Jim Eisenreich singled in a run in the 4th to cut the lead to 3-1. Toronto came back with runs in the 4th and 5th for a 5-1 lead, but the Phils were game enough to battle back one last time. In the 7th, Lenny Dykstra hit a 3 run homer to cut the lead to 5-4, then Dave Hollins singled in a run to tie it at 5 and then scored on a pinch sac fly by Pete Incaviglia to put the Phils ahead 6-5. That lead stood until the bottom of the 9th, as a tired Mitch Williams entered the game, with the Phils just 3 outs away from game 7. The "wild thing" walked leadoff man Ricky Henderson, then after inducing a flyout, a single by Paul Molitor put the winning run on first with just one out. Still, Williams had pitched out of bigger jams all year long, and he could certainly do it again couldn't he? Not this time. In came Joe Carter to bat with 2 on and 1 out and well, you know what happened next. "Touch em all Joe, you'll never hit bigger homerun in your life."
2. "Black Friday" October 7, 1977 NLCS Game 3 L.A Dodgers 6 - Phillies 5.
For the second year in a row the Phils had won a franchise best 101 games and many thought they were the best team in baseball. The year before they'd been swept easily by Cincinatti's "big red machine" but now there was no doubt they were going to beat the Dodgers. After splitting the first 2 games in L.A the Phils returned to the Vet, for what supposed to be the greatest moment in their history. Initially, it looked like it would live up to its billing. The raucus home crowd booed Dodger starter Bert Houton so heavily in the second inning, that he walked in 3 straight runs. The Phils the breezed through the rest of the game, taking a 5-3 lead into 9th. Unfortunately, all most Phillies fans remember is what happened next. Gene Garber (Unfortunately, Tug Mcgraw didn't become the team's regular closer until 1978, but they could've used him here) came into in to close it out in the 9th and got two quick outs, but then everything that could've gone wrong did. With 2 outs 41 year old Vic Davilillo came up for the Dodgers, and bunted, yes bunted, and somehow beat it out, but no matter Garber would surely get next guy right? Well not quite. In every similar situation throughout the season manager Danny Ozark had lifted leftfielder Greg "the bull" Luzinski in favor of defensive replacement Jerry "Mud" Martin. Tonight, Ozark apparently fell asleep, leaving the Bull in the game, and the next batter, 39 year old Manny Mota lofted a high fly ball right at him. Luzinski backed up, got under the ball and actually had it in his glove for a second, but he couldn't handle it, allowing Davalillo to score from first. Then Ted Sizemore threw away the relay throw from Luzinski and Mota moved up to third, putting the tying run on 3rd for current Phillies first base coach Davey Lopes. Lopes hit a rocket right off the shoulder of Mike Schmidt into the glove of Larry Bowa who fired to first, beating Lopes by a stride, and finally ending game, or so he thought. Umpire Bruce Froemming, the original Denkinger, called him safe, although replay cameras clearly showed Lopes out. Things only got worse from there. Gene Garber apparently lost his mind for a second and threw wildly to first, in an effort to pick off Lopes, instead the ball got through 1st baseman Richie Hebner and Lopes moved up to 2nd. Next up was Bill Russell, the same Bill Russell who would end the 1978 NLCS, although Phils fan only remember him for what he did next. Russell singled to score Lopes and just like that the raucus crowd had gone totally silent and the Phils were behind 6-5. They had one more chance to come back in the bottom of the 9th, but the Phils were still too stunned to do so as they went down in order. L.A then took game 4 to the win the series and Phils fans were left to ponder what might have been.
1. "Say it ain't so Chico" September 21, 1964 Cincinnati Reds 1 - Phillies 0.
Okay so this game sounds innocent enough, I mean it's a September game, how bad could it be. Well, let's just stay it what's happend after the game that put this one on the list. The year was 1964, and it was going to be the Phillies year. Everything was going their way, Dick Allen had clubbed 29 homers to win rookie of the year, Jim Bunning had pitched a perfect game on Father's day, Johnny Callison had won the all-star game with a 3 run homer and was named MVP of the game, still the only the Phillies player to be so honored, and now with just 12 games to play they were leading the NL by 6 and 1/2 games and seemed well on their way to their first pennant since the whiz kids 14 years ago. Everyone was sure they'd win the pennant and the series. In fact the Phils and their delirious fans had already begun printing out World Series tickets. Then came this game. It started fairly innocently with the two teams sailing through 5 and 1/2 scoreless innings. Then in the 6th inning with Art Mahaffey on the mound for the Phils and Frank Robinson at the plate, and a runner on 3rd everything still seemed normal, but something suddenly caught Mahaffey's eye as he readied to throw his next pitch. The runner on 3rd, little known rookie Chico Ruiz had suddenly broke crazily for home plate. Was he going to steal home, with Frank Robinson at the plate? Mahaffey sure thought so. He freaked out at the sight of Ruiz and threw wildly towards catcher Clay Dalrymple. Dalrymple never had a chance, and the ball got away from him, allowing Ruiz to score for a 1-0 Reds lead. It proved to be the difference as the Reds got the win, but it wound up as so much more than that. The Phils apparently never got over the shock of Ruiz stealing home and well, by you've probably heard about the rest. Manager Gene Mauch panicked and began repeatedly starting aces Chris Short and Bunning on two days rest, as the Phils went on to lose 10 in a row and drop out of the lead in the NL. Still, an exhausted Short and Bunning somehow won the Phils last 2 games and all they needed was one more Cardinals loss to the Mets in order to force a one game playoff for the pennant. Of course the Mets fell to St. Louis 11-3, and so ended the greatest late season collapse in the history of sports. Adding further insult to the Phils collapse, the Cards led by Bob Gibson, wound up beating the Yankees in 7 games in the world series, leaving the Phils and their fans to wonder yet again. Why oh why couldn't that have been the Phils winning in 7 and not the Cards?
Well, that ends this list so now that all these losses are out of your memory, its time to flip on the Phils game and wait for some much better moments.
Friday, June 29, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
It was a dark day and night for the Phils today. It started at 1:35 in the afternoon with Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez mowing down the Phils for 6 innings while allowing just 2 runs on 3 hits and striking out 7. 2 of thos 3 hits were homers by Aaron Rowand and Chris Coste, who just rejoined the team after Jayson Werth went on the DL. In his Phillies Debut J.D Durbin wasn't quite as good as El Duque. He struck out the side in the 1st, but after that he had trouble locating his pitches and the Mets took advantage. In the end he allowed 6 runs on 8 hits in just 4 and 2/3rds innings of work, as Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes both homered to help the Mets build a 6-1 lead through 6. The Phils then began their usual rally in the 7th, as Wes Helms hit a 2 run homer to cut the lead to 6-4. Then the "Met Killer" Pat Burrell blooped a pinch RBI single in the 8th to cut it to 6-5. In the 9th, former Phil and current nemesis, Billy Wagner came in for the save and well, he shut the door on the Phils and locked it striking out the side easily. Still, it was only the first game of a doubleheader and with Cole Hamels set to start game 2 you had think they would come right back and take the night cap. Sadly, that would not be the case. While the day belonged to "El Duque" the night belonged to John Maine and a suddenly revitalized Carlos Beltran. Maine pitched 8 innings and actually went all the way into the 9th, but wasn't able to record an out, as he allowed just 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 6 on the night. Both Phillies runs were knocked in by Chase Utley on a sac fly in the 4th and an RBI single in the 9th. The Mets meanwhile blitzed Cole Hamels, to the tune of 3 runs on 5 hits, including 2 homers by Carlos Beltran, and perhaps more importantly 5 walks. In fact Hamels had as many walks on the night as he had strikeouts. Still, he kept them in the game, trailing by only 3-1, through 6. Then in the 7th Geoff Geary gave it away, serving up a 2 out 2 run homer to Damion Easley, to put the Mets up for good 5-1. Yet, the Phils battled back one last time in the 9th off Billy Wagner. With one out Chase Utley singled in a run to cut the lead to 5-2. Then Ryan Howard worked a walk and suddenly the Phils had the tying run at the plate in Aaron Rowand, with just one out. After a long at bat Rowand struck out, then in came, yes you guessed it, "the Met killer" Pat Burrell with 2 outs, 2 on and chance to tie the game with one swing, just as he had during the series the Phils swept back in New York earlier this month, but alas after another long at bat Burrell struck out and so ended the most torturous day of the year so far. The Phils are now just 41-39, 5 games behind the Mets and back again 3rd place, 1 game behind Atlanta. Life Sucks again, big time.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Tonight, was big for the Phils. With a huge 4 game weekend series with the first place Mets starting tomorrow they needed a win tonight to bring some momemtum into that series. Adam Eaton toughed out 6 solid innings despite allowing 5 runs on 6 hits, 2 of them homers, by Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Dunn. The Phils meanwhile flashed some power of their own. Twice Chase Utley hit 2 run homers in he 1st and 4th innings, and Greg Dobbs crushed a two RBI double in the 5th to put the Phils ahead 6-5 through 6 innings. The Reds tied it in the 7th and then took the lead in the 8th at 7-6, with a solo homer by Alex Gonzalez. In the end though, the hero of the night would be Jimmy Rollins. He tied it at 7 in the 8th with a two out triple and then in the bottom of the 10th in a driving rain with 2 on and 2 out he singled into gap in right center to score Jayson Werth with the winning run. So the Phils won 8-7 to improve to 41-37 now just 3 games behind the Mets for first in the NL East. In other words the winner of this weekend's series will move into first in the NL East, of course the Phils will have to sweep the series to do so, but to me that still counts. Anway, life is beautiful again.
SIXERS NEWS
The NBA draft was tonight and with 2 first round picks it proved to be an interesting night for the Sixers. With 12th pick they selected Georgia Tech small forward Thaddeus Young, a freakish athlete with miles of potential and upside. He may not be able to help the Sixers right away as he needs to get tougher on the defensive side of the ball, but he's a scorer and an energy guy and success of the Chicago bulls has proven that if you put enough guys like that on your team you can go places. Not to mention with some hard work and determination he could become a superstar in a couple years. With their next pick (number 21) the Sixers selected shooting guard Daequan Cook of Ohio State and promptly traded him to the heat for their 20th pick, 7 foot power forward Jason Smith, out of Colorado State. Smith could be the big guy the Sixers have been looking for years. He needs to get stronger, but he is a great rebounder and shooter. In fact he was one of the best free throw shooters in nation last year, which is incredible for a 7 footer. He is also another one of those energy guys like Young who can run the floor and score. In other words he could be pretty good player with a little time in the weight room. With 30th pick, their third and last in the first round, they selected Petteri Koponen a young point guard from Finland. However he was also traded away to Portland for their 42nd pick, Derrick Byars a 6-7, 230 pound guard/forward out of Vanderbilt. Byars is another high scoring energy guy and one of the sweetest shooting players in college basketball a year ago in fact he was a projected 1st round pick, so getting him this slow was somewhat of a steal. Potentially, he could team up with Rodney Carney to provide the Sixers with a dynamic duo off the bench. Finally, the Sixers finished their draft with the 38th pick of the second round. There they took a Center from Ukraine, whose name I can't remember, mostly because they traded him away to Utah for the 55th pick of draft, Forward Herbert Hill out of Providence. Hill led the big East in scoring with 19.9 points per game, and was second in rebounding with 9.8 a game. At 6-10, 240 pounds Hill gives the Sixers some more sixe off their bench, which could come in handy if they wind up trading Steven Hunter or Joe Smith.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Unfortunately for the Phils things are not always what they seem. Through the first 6 innings of tonight's game everything was going the Phillies way. They Led 3-0 on 2 out 3 run 500 ft homer by Ryan Howard in the 5th inning. As it happened it was his 100th career homer, making him with with only 135 games under his belt the fastest player to reach 100 career homers in major league history, beating by a whopping 50 games, the previous record ,held by Pirates hall of famer Ralph Kiner, of 185 games. Meanwhile, Jamie Moyer seemed set to make his own history, taking a no-hitter all the way to 2 outs in the 6th inning, and although he allowed 2 hits at that point he still managed to get out of the inning without allowing a run. So the Phils were just rolling towards another easy win right? wrong. In the 7th inning an obviously tired Moyer wound up allowing 3 runs before Charlie finally pulled him from the game with only 3 runs allowed on 3 hits while striking out 8. The Phils bullpen, specifically Geoff Geary, could give neither the Phils nor Moyer any relief, as they allowed 3 more runs before finally getting out of the inning, and just like that Moyer had gone from 5 and 2/3rds innings of no-hit ball to a no-decision and the Phils had gone from a sure win, to oh shit! what happened. Fortunately, the Reds being the worst team in the league, gave all of their 3 run lead right back to the Phils as Greg Dobbs singled in a run and scored on a passed ball, and Aaron Rowand singled in another run to tie it at 6. The Reds came right back in the 8th to take a 7-6 lead on a pinch double by Javier Valentin. The Phils nearly tied it again in the bottom of the 8th as Greg Dobbs hit a 2 out triple, but alas ,following a Chase Utley walk, Ryan Howard struck out to end the inning. Then in the 9th the rains came, but since it was the 9th they played on, as they say when it rains it pours. With 2 out and Ken Griffey on first due to a Ryan Howard error, Adam Dunn crushed his 22nd homer of the year to put the Reds up for good 9-6. The Phils went down in order in the 9th to take the loss and our now just 40-37, 3.5 games behind the first place Mets, but still in second place, although now tied with Atlanta. Thus, life sucks again.
SIXERS NEWS
The NBA Draft is tomorrow so get ready for a wild night as the Sixers own 3 picks in the first round, but none higher than the 12th pick, so you never what might they do with those picks.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils opened their series with the Reds tonight, just the way they should have, by winning easily. So Easily, that when the 4th inning ended, the game was already over as they already led 10-2 by that point. The Phils scored 2 in the first on a 2 run homer by Ryan Howard, 4 in the second on single by Carlos Ruiz, a fielders choice, a double steal with Carlos Ruiz stealing home, while Micheal Bourn stole second, and yet another RBI single by Chase Utley, 1 in the 3rd inning on a solo homer by Shane Victorino, and 3 in the 4th on a bases clearing double by Carlos Ruiz with the bases loaded and 2 outs, and 1 more in the 7th on a solo homer by Chase Utley. In all the Phils pounded the Cincinnati pitching staff for 11 runs and 16 hits. Meanwhile, young gun Kyle Kendrick once again sparkled, going 6 innings while allowing just 4 runs on 6 hits. In the end those 4 runs would be all the Reds would get as the Phils bullpen mowed them down in the final 3 innings, with Geoff Geary and Mike Zagurski combining to allow just 1 hit in the final 3 innings. So the Phils won 11-4, for their 40th win of the season, improving to 40-36, while Kendrick improves to 2-0 in his young career. Cincinnati young gun Homer Bailey, mentioned in yesterday's post was not so lucky, as he lasted just 1 and 2/3rds innings, allowing 6 runs on 6 hits, and fell to 2-1 on the season. Anyway, the Phils remain 2nd in the NL East, but are now a half game closer to the idle first place Mets, at 2.5 games in the rear. Thus, life remains beautiful.
SIXERS NEWS
There is nothing new to report, the draft is apparently not until Thursday. I don't know why I though it was tonight, I guess because last year it was on a Tuesday.
Monday, June 25, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils got the day off today after winning their weekend series against the Cardinals. Tomorrow they start a 7 game(but only 6 day, with a doubleheader Friday) home stand with a 3 game set against the lowly Cincinnati Reds who come into the series sporting the major league's worst record, at only 29-47. Of course, the Royals had that same distinction a couple weeks ago when they took 2 of 3 from the Phils and ended Freddy Garcia's season, so it is not give in that the Phils will dominate this series, but the fact is, they should dominate it, and if they don't they'll be in big trouble. At any rate in the first game of the series tomorrow night, young guns Kyle Kendrick of the Phils, and Homer Bailey of Reds will face of against each other. At this point both are undefeated with ERAs of 4.50 and 4.00 respectively, so it should be a interesting night.
SIXERS NEWS
There is nothing new for today, but tomorrow is the night of NBA draft and with 3 picks in the first round it should be a big night for the Sixers.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Coming into today's game Cardinals starter Kip Wells was undefeated against the Phils in his career with 5 wins. He's now still undefeated against the Phils, but only because he got a no-decision. Early on the game was mired by rain delays, with one at the on-set and one following the 3rd inning. At the time of the 2nd delay, the Cards led 1-0 and Wells was dealing. After the delay it was all Phillies. Wells, was inexplicably left in the game following the delay and Phils made him pay evening the score at 1 in the 5th inning on a Micheal Bourn RBI single. In 8th, Shane Victorino and delivered a pinch 3 RBI double to put the Phils up for good 4-1. Micheal Bourn tacked on another run in the 9th with yet another single for a 5-1 lead. Meanwhile, the Phils bullpen was lights out as Ryan Madson, Brian Sanches, Clay Condrey, and Antonio Alfonseca combined for 6 innings of shutout 4 hit ball to closeout a 5-1 Phils win. So the Phils improve to 39-36, still in 3 games back in second but now 1.5 games up on the 3rd place Braves who lost again. Thus, life is beautiful again
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