Saturday, August 25, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils remained in their funk today. This time though, it wasn't the starting pitching that faltered for the Phils, but rather it was bullpen that gave the game away. Kyle Lohse held up his end, allowing just one run on 4 hits in a solid 6 and 2/3rd innings of work. The Phils offense seemed to do enough as well, as Pat Burell hit a solo homer in the 1st inning(his 20th), and Jayson Werth doubled in a run in the 4th to give Lohse a 2-1 lead. Though poised for victory, a two out walk in the 7th inning, was enough to end the night for Lohse. J.C Romero then came into get the last out of the inning, and did so sending the Phils to 8th with the 2-1 lead still intact. It was at this point that it all fell apart for the Phils. Tom Gordon Served up a solo homer to Milton Bradley for a 2-2 tie in the top of the 8th. Then in the 9th Brett Myers served up two more solo homers, to Kevin Kouzmanoff, and Termel Sledge, and suddenly the Padres were ahead 4-2. Jimmy Rollins leadoff the Phils 9th, with a double and then scored on a two out single by Ryan Howard, to cut the lead to 4-3. Unfortunately, Aaron Rowand struckout on 3 pitches, and the Phils had lost again 4-3. So the Phils are now just 66-62, overall, which puts them now 7 games behind the Mets in the NL East, and 4 games behind the Padres in the wildcard. The fact is the Phils need to get healthy in a hurry, if they are to make a final playoff push, and until then life will continue suck as it does now.
EAGLES NEWS
The Eagles play their 3rd and most important preseason game tomorrow night, as it is likely the only one in which the Eagles starters will play into the 3rd quarter.
Friday, August 24, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
The Heartbreak continues for the Phils. Rather than opening their series with the wild card leading Padres tonight with a bang, they opened it with a thud. Early on things looked good. Sure, Jamie Moyer allowed 2 runs right off the bat on a two run homer by Adrian Gonzalez, but the Phils came right back with 2 in the bottom of the 1st, on a double by Ryan Howard, and a single by Aaron Rowand. Then in 3rd inning, Tad Iguchi singled, stole second, and scored on a fielder's choice to put the Phils up 3-2. Sadly, it would be their last lead of the night. In the bottom of the 4th, with one out and Carlos Ruiz on first base, Abraham Nunez hit what appeared to be a harmless double play groundball at SS Khalil Greene. Greene then flipped it to 2nd baseman Marcus Giles to get Ruiz, but before Giles could throw to first, Ruiz slid into his legs and took him out, allowing Nunez beat his throw. Apparently, Giles took the takeout slide personally, and began a heated argument with Ruiz, that cleared both benches without incident. Unfortunately, that confrontation fired up the wrong team as San Diego exploded for 12 more runs and 20 hits the rest of the night, inluding 8 runs on 10 hits off Moyer in a dismal 4 and 2/3rds innings. The Phils on the other hand never scored again, losing 14-3 to drop to 65-61 overall, now 3 games behind the padres in the wildcard ,and 6 behind the Mets in the NL East. Life thus, still sucks.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
Once again without Cole Hamels or Adam Eaton(he's out with shoulder problems) in the rotation , the Phils were forced to look elsewhere to fill the 5th spot in the rotation, recalling Fabio Castro from triple A. If you remember, Castro started the season as the Phils middle reliever, but struggled so much they sent him back down to triple A, where he's been until now. Today he was much better than he had been back then. As usual, he had a little trouble finding the strikezone, but still managed to hold the Dodgers to 1 run on 2 hits, while striking out 4 in 5 innings of work. Unfortunately, the Phils offense was unable to support him, scoring just one run of their own on a double by Pat Burrell, among just 4 hits off Dodger starter Chad Billingsley. The Phils bullpen then could not keep it close, as J.C Romero allowed a run on 2 hits in the 7th inning, and Tom Gordon was pasted for 3 runs on 2 hits in 8th inning while failing to record an out. This inning became particularly crushing as the phils were only trailing 2-1 at the time and Tad Iguchi later hit a solo homer in the bottom of the inning which would have tied it, had Gordon been able to hold the Dodgers in check. In the end Dodger closer, Takashi Saito, proved too strong for the Phils in the 9th and they lost 5-2, to drop to 65-60, still 5 games behind the Mets in the NL East, but now 2 games behind the Padres in the wildcard. Thus, life still sucks.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
With Cole Hamels sidelined by an elbow strain(don't worry it's not serious and he'll only miss 2 starts) the Phils looked to, guess who? J.D Durbin to take the mound tonight. Unfortunately without their ace, neither Durbin nor the Phils were any match for the Dodgers.
Durbin just didn't have it tonight, as in 6 innings of work he allowed 5 runs on 7 hits, including a 2-run homer by Andre Ethier. Still, when Durbin left the game the Phils only trailed 5-1 and thus still had at least a chance to win, but the Phils bullpen could not provide any relief on this night. Jose Mesa was tagged for 5 runs on 2 hits to start the 7th inning and after recording just one out, Clay Condrey had to come in and bail him out. However, Condrey too could not stop the Dodgers, as he allowed 5 runs on 9 hits in the final two innings. By the time the dust finally cleared the Phils had fallen hard 15-3, to drop to 66-59 overall, still 5 games behind the Mets in the NL East, but now 1 game behind the Padres(who beat the Mets) in the wildcard race. So once again life sucks. Anyway, in other injury news the 'Flyin Hawaiian" Shane Victorino returned to the Phils starting lineup today, and went 0 for 4 at the plate, but played well in the field. So even with the loss the Phils at least have something positive to dwell on.
Durbin just didn't have it tonight, as in 6 innings of work he allowed 5 runs on 7 hits, including a 2-run homer by Andre Ethier. Still, when Durbin left the game the Phils only trailed 5-1 and thus still had at least a chance to win, but the Phils bullpen could not provide any relief on this night. Jose Mesa was tagged for 5 runs on 2 hits to start the 7th inning and after recording just one out, Clay Condrey had to come in and bail him out. However, Condrey too could not stop the Dodgers, as he allowed 5 runs on 9 hits in the final two innings. By the time the dust finally cleared the Phils had fallen hard 15-3, to drop to 66-59 overall, still 5 games behind the Mets in the NL East, but now 1 game behind the Padres(who beat the Mets) in the wildcard race. So once again life sucks. Anyway, in other injury news the 'Flyin Hawaiian" Shane Victorino returned to the Phils starting lineup today, and went 0 for 4 at the plate, but played well in the field. So even with the loss the Phils at least have something positive to dwell on.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils began a key 10 game homestand, by opening a 3 game series with the L.A Dodgers. Kyle Kendrick took the mound for the Phils to oppose the Dodger's Brett Tomko. As usual Kendrick offered another solid performance. He started a little a rough, spotting the Dodgers a 3-0 lead on a double by Andre Ethier, and a single by Luis Gonalez in the 1st inning, and a solo homer Russel Martin in the 2nd inning. Still, Kendrick beared down after the 2nd inning and allowed just one more run(a solo homer by James Loney) in 6 and 2/3rds innings of work. Fortunately, for the Phils they were facing in the ,2-11 Tomko, the one guy who could blow a 3-0 lead all on his own. Carlos Ruiz doubled in a run, then scored on a sac fly to cut the lead to 3-2 in the 3rd inning. Then in the 4th, Aaron Rowand crushed a two run homer to put the Phils ahead 4-3. Finally, in the 5th, Kendrick singled and scored after Pat Burrell worked a bases loaded walked to push the Phils lead to 5-3. Of course, Loney's homer cut the lead to 5-4 in the 7th and chased Kendrick from the game, but together, J.C Romero, Tom "Flash" Gordon, and Brett Myers were too strong for the struggling Dodger's offense to handle and the Phils hung on to win 5-4. With the Padres losing today, the Phils move back into a tie for first in the wildcard race, but the Mets won today, so the Phils remain 5 games back in the NL East. Still, life is beautiful once again.
EAGLES NEWS
In a fairly stunning move the Eagles announced today that they have released veteran middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter. At 30 years old and admittedly heading towards the twilight of his career, after having a bit of an off-season last year, Trotter claims that he is okay with the move and understands why it has to happen. Sure, losing Trotter makes the Eagles linebacking core less experienced, and a little lacking in locker room leadership, but it doesn't necessarily make it less talented. After all, they just added Takeo Spikes in the off-season and Trotter's replacement Omar Gaither looked pretty good late last season while starting at weak side linebacker(Spikes will be there this-season). Strong-side linebacker Chris Gocong, is a bit of question mark, considering he spent all of his rookie season last year on the injured list, but his size, 6-2, 263 pounds is a perfect fit, so he could be pretty good. Still, you'd think the Eagles would have given the Trotter-Spikes combo a chance, at least for one season, but this is just what they do. The Eagles are notorious for releasing their stars(well, except for that Dawkins guy, apparently he's pretty good) once reach their thirties, like Jermaine Mayberry, Hugh Douglas, Troy Vincent, and Bobby Tayloy to name of few. Each time, the released players proved to be past their prime, while the Eagles continued to thrive and win with young replacements. There's no reason to think that this Gaither-Trotter, switcheroo won't workout just as well.
Monday, August 20, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils got the day off today, but tomorrow they return home to begin a key 10 game homestand, featuring 3 games against the wildcard leading padres, and 4 games against the NL East leading Mets. In other news Chase Utley, has been cleared to take part in batting practice, and to throw balls in fielding practice, without a cast on his injured right hand, meaning he could be back in the lineup within a week. Also Shane Victorino is one rehab start away from returning to the Phils, while young reliever Mike Zagurski was recently placed on the DL after straining his hamstring in saturday's night game. Yoel Hernandez (remember him) was recalled from Triple A to fill Zagurski's roster spot. So the Phils could be getting healthier very soon, and at the right time, as they begin to play their most important games of the season. All I can say is good luck fellas.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
PHILLIES NEWS
For the second game in a row the Phils took an early 4-0 lead. This time it was a leadoff homerun by Jimmy Rollins and a 3 run homer by Russell Branyan in the 6th inning that put the Phils ahead. Unlike yesterday, it was not the starter that gave the lead away. In fact, Kyle Lohse cruised through the first 6 innings in shutout fashion striking out 7 along the way. Unfortunately, he ran out of gas with two out in the 7th inning, allowing a bases loaded double to former Phils farmhand, Matt Kata. The double cut the lead to 4-3 and ended Lohse's night. Lohse was then replaced by the normally reliable, J.C Romero. Romero was anything but as he allowed another run to tie it at 4. Finally, Antonio Alfonseca came in to replace a flustered Romero, but he too could not stop the Pirates, at least not until they had scored 3 more runs for a 7-4 lead. Pittsburgh tacked on another run in the 8th, for an 8-4 lead, and that was about all she wrote, as the Phils went down in order in the 9th. So the Phils drop to 65-58, now 5 games behind the Mets in the NL East, and 1 game behind the Padres in the wild card race. Life thus, still sucks.
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