Saturday, April 05, 2008
PHILLIES NEWS
After a solid win yesterday the Phils continued their 4 game set with the Reds early this afternoon. Adam Eaton got his first start of the season and actually pitched pretty well, allowing just 3 runs on 6 hits in 7 and 2/3rds innings of work. Unfortunately, Cincinnati's Aaron Harang was equally up to the task, allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits in 7 innings of work, as the Phils wasted the rare solid effort by Eaton. In the bottom of the first inning, Corey Patterson walked, stole second, and scored on a sac fly for a 1-0 Reds lead. In the bottom of the second, Adam Dunn singled and scored on a Scott Hatteberg single for a 2-0 Reds lead. The Phils began to rally back in the top of the 3rd, as Chase Utley slapped a 2 out double to score Shane Victorino and cut the Red's lead to 2-1. In the top of the 6th inning, Pat Burrell crushed a one out double to score Utley with the tying run, but unfortunately, after Geoff Jenkins walked to load the bases the Phils wasted the golden opportunity for more runs, as Greg Dobbs struck out and Chris Coste hit a weak pop up. In the top of the 8th inning Ryan Howard blasted a solo homer, his first of the season, to give the Phils a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately, in the bottom of the inning after two quick outs Corey Patterson struck again off Eaton with a solo homer of his own to tie it at 3 and chase Eaton from the game. Finally, in the bottom of the 9th Chad Durbin struggled to throw strikes and with one out and runners on 2nd and 3rd, Paul Bako dribbled a slow ground ball that Jimmy Rollins couldn't handle, allowing the winning run to score for the Reds, and capping off a 4-3 win. So the Phils drop to 2-3 overall, as the dog days of April continue.
SIXERS NEWS
After clinching a playoff spot last night in Atlanta the Sixers returned home tonight and brought the Hawks with them, to finish off a home and home with them. It's hard enough to win one half of a home and home, but even harder to win both sides of a home and home and the Sixers learned that tonight. Offensively, four Sixers scored in double figures(Andre Iguodala, Andre Miller, Louis Williams, and Rodney Carney) with Iggy's 25 leading the way. Defensively, Sammy D led the way again with 10 rebounds and 2 blocks, but he and the rest of the Sixer's defense were out executed by the Hawks when it counted the most, as Atlanta out rebounding the Sixers 42-33. Ironically though, it was defense that helped the Sixers get back in the game, the few times that they were able to go on scoring runs. There just weren't enough of them. In the first quarter of play, the Hawks jumped out to an early 9 point lead with the score 24-15. In the second quarter of play, the Hawks stood their ground and took an 11 point lead into the half, with the score 55-44. In the 3rd quarter of play, the Hawks continued to front run and extended their lead to 13 with the score, 70-57. Finally in the 4th quarter of play the Sixers made some inroads, but the Hawks had an answer each time the Sixers got close, and eventually held on to win by 7, with the final score 92-85. So the Sixers drop to 39-38 overall, and back into 6th in the Eastern conference, just a game out of 5th.
Friday, April 04, 2008
PHILLIES NEWS
After a dramatic win to salvage the final game of their season opening three game series with the Nats the Phils had to have been feeling good about themselves as they traveled to Cincinnati to face the Reds tonight in the first of a 4 game set and they showed it. After a long rain delay at the onset, Kyle Kendrick took the mound for his first start of the season and pitched fairly well allowing 4 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings of work. Meanwhile, the Phils pounded out 8 runs on 10 hits, more than enough for a solid win. In the top of the first inning, Jimmy Rollins singled and scored on a sac fly, and Pat Burrell crushed a 2 out 2 run homer for an early 3-0 Phils lead. In the bottom of the first, Ken Griffey Jr singled in a run to cut the lead to 3-1. JRoll led off again in the top of the 3rd and doubled and scored on a another 2 run homer, this time by Chase Utley, for a 5-1 Phils lead. In the bottom of the 3rd Griffey Jr, knocked in another run with an RBI double and then scored on a fielder's choice, cutting the lead to 5-3. In the top of the 4th, Pedro Feliz walked and scored on a single and a pair of sacrifices for a 6-3 Phils lead. In the bottom of the 4th, Joe Votto singled and scored on a sac fly to cut the lead to 6-4. In the top of the 5th Utley homered again for a 7-4 Phils lead. Finally in the top of the 9th the Phils put it away for good as Sao Taguchi doubled and scored on a single by Shane Victorino for an 8-4 Phils lead. J.C Romero, who along with the rest of the Phils bullpen kept Cincinnati scoreless for the final 4 innings, then put the Reds down in order in the bottom of the 9th and the Phils had won 8-4 to even their record at 2-2. Hey, maybe the Phils won't have such a bad April after all.
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers likewise, had their own chance to clinch a playoff spot tonight with a win over the Atlanta Hawks in Atlanta. With a few extra passes here and a little extra effort there, the Sixers were able to do just that. Offensively, five Sixers scored in double figures, (Andre Iguodala, Andre Miller, Willie Green, Samuel Dalembert, Thaddeus Young), with Iggy's 30 leading the way. Defensively, Sammy D led the way again with 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. In the first quarter of play it was all Sixers as they jumped out to an early 9 point lead, with the score 28-19. In the second quarter of play the Hawks turned things around a bit, cutting the lead to 5, with the score 51-46. In the 3rd quarter of play the Hawks continued their long rally back, cutting the lead to 3 by the start of the 4th, with the score 77-74. Finally, in the 4th quarter of play the Sixers reasserted themselves as Iggy took over the game late and helped the Sixers hold off Atlanta for a solid 5 point win, with the final score 109-104. So the Sixers improve to 39-37 overall, and jump to 5th in the Eastern conference, while clinching their first playoff berth in 3 years. Believe it!
FLYERS NEWS
Despite all of their struggles, and all of their trials and travails, coming into tonight the Flyers actually had a chance to clinch a playoff spot, with win at home over the Devils and a loss by the Carolina Hurricanes(tied a top the southeast division with then 9th place, now 3rd place and division leading Washington). Considering they had lost their last 6 in a row to New Jersey the chances of clinching that spot seemed slim, but the Hockey gods smiled on the Orange and Black tonight and presented them with a rare bit of fortune. Marty Biron got the start in goal and for once outshined, the other Marty, the Devil's Brodeur, saving all 22 shots he faced to help the Flyer's to victory. In the first period of play, R.J Umberger scored an early goal for a 1-0 Flyer's lead. In the second period of play neither team was able to light the lamp. Finally late in the third period of play Scottie Upshall ,and Jeffrey Lupul each scored within seconds of each other to rapidly make it a 3-0 Flyers lead, and knock Brodeur out of the game, with just over 8 minutes to play. From there Biron kept New Jersey from making any sort of comeback and the Flyer's got the win 3-0. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes fell to Florida 4-3, so after 81 games of ups and downs the Flyers finally have their spot in the playoffs, which for now is the 8th seed, but could still be as high the 6th seed. Believe it!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
PHILLIES NEWS
Normally this time of the season would be too early for a team to be desperate for a win, but the way the season has started for the Phils the last couple of years, they truly were desperate to win today, salvage a win in the finale of their 3 game set with the Washington Nationals, and hopefully use the win as impetus to avoid another dismal April. On a cold, blustery and wild afternoon the Phils were able to do just that, as for once luck was on their side. The Wily veteran, Jamie Moyer got the start for the Phils this afternoon, and well let's just say he had less than his best allowing 6 runs on 9 hits in just 3 and 2/3rds innings of work. Meanwhile, the Phils offense continued to appear as its anemic snake bitten self with just one run through the first 5 innings(A solo homer for catcher Chris Coste, starting in place of Carlos Ruiz). Thus as the Phils started the bottom of the 6th inning the Nats held a commanding 6-1 lead and yet another season opening sweep loomed only 12 outs away. Thankfully the 6th, proved to be the turning point for the Phils, and perhaps a huge stepping stone to better things to come this season. Up and until now almost all the Phils hits had found the Nat's gloves, but now suddenly they began to find the holes in the infield. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Geoff Jenkins, Pedro Feliz, Chris Coste, Greg Dobbs, and Shane Victorino all singled, and when the dust had finally settled the Phils had pounded out 9 hits and 6 runs in a single inning to go ahead 7-6. Sadly, just as had happened Monday, the Phils bullpen could not hold the lead, as Christian Guzman slapped an infield single on a lucky bounce off of the glove of Jimmy Rollins, to score Ronnie Belliard with the tying run in the top of the 8th. In the bottom of the 8th and the 9th the Phils had their chances to end it, but came up short and the game went into extra innings. After Tom "Flash" Gordon barely got of the 9th inning, Clay Condrey breezed through the 10th inning, setting the stage for another Phils rally in the bottom of the 10th. There they walked away with the win literally. With one out and the bases loaded Jayson Werth stepped up to the plate and worked a walk, forcing in JRoll with the winning run, to cap off an important 8-7 Phils victory. So three games into the season the Phils are 1-2 and for now at least have been able to keep their heads above the April waters.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
FLYERS NEWS
Coming into tonight the Flyers were clinging to the last playoff spot in the East by only a single point(both Boston and Washington had posted wins since the Flyers last game, a dramatic win over the Isles) and although the 9th place Caps were not in play, meaning win or lose the Flyers couldn't lose their spot, it still felt like a must win tonight in Pittsburgh against the Pens. Unfortunately, the kid, Sidney Crosby, stole the show as the Pens clinched the Atlantic division title. Marty Biron got the start in goal and did about well as he could, but really Bernie Parent could have been goal for the Flyers tonight and it wouldn't have mattered. In the first period of play, the Flyers actually got off to a quick start with an early goal by Scott Hartnell for a 1-0 Flyer's lead. Late in the period Sergei Gonchar briefly tied it at 1, before Jeff Carter scored on the power play for a 2-1 Flyer's lead. From here sadly, it was all Pittsburgh. In the second period of play, Sidney Crosby scored an early power play goal to tie it at and then Evgeni Malkin scored another power play goal late in the period for a 3-2 Pens lead. Finally, late in the 3rd period, with Flyers primed to pull Biron for a final push, Crosby struck again for a 4-2 Pens lead and eventual win. So the Flyers drop to 40-29-11 overall, still for now in 8th in the Eastern conference, a point ahead of 9th place Washington.
PHILLIES NEWS
The Droll days of spring continued tonight for the Phils in the second of their 3 game season opening set with the Nats. The hot days of summer can't get here fast enough. From a 9th inning whitewash on Monday, to tonight things only got the worse for the Phils. It was the season opener for Phils ace Cole Hamels and he pitched well allowing a single run on 5 hits in 8 solid innings of work. Sadly, the Phils offense seemingly had the wind knocked out of it sails from the onset, as the game turned into a pitcher's duel between Hamels and the Nationals' Tim Redding. Unfortunately, Redding out dueled Hamels allowing zero runs on one hit, a single by Pedro Feliz in the 2nd inning, as he wound up combining with Luis Ayala and Jon Rauch to blank the Phils for a complete game shutout, on that single hit by Feliz, a particularly futile offensive effort by the Phils to say the least and on a team were offense is king and pitching is a wing and a prayer, not nearly good enough. By the way the only run scored in this drollest of 1-0 wins for the Nats came on a cheap solo homer by Ryan Zimmeran. So the now the Phils are 0-2 to begin the season and again the questions will come hard and fast, how long this time until they win? how bad a start will they have this time? Here we go again right? Well let's hope not after all there are still 160 games left.
EALGES NEWS
Well, it's official L.J Smith will return to the Eagles next season, as today he finally signed the offer the Eagles tendered to him in February. Most likely despite another injury riddled season last year he will remain the Eagle's starting tight end ahead of 2nd year man Brent Celek, recently signed veteran ex-Chief Kris Wilson and of course the veteran Matt Schobel, who is now likely to play somewhere else next season, since there is no room for him here.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
SIXERS NEWS
After consecutive tough losses the Sixers still came into tonight with a golden opportunity to move within a victory of clinching there first playoff spot in 3 years. All they had to do was head into New Jersey and knock off the floundering, now Kiddless Nets. Thus, it seemed a give in that the Sixers would get back on the winning track tonight, instead like most teams fighting for their playoff lives, the Nets refused to roll over and the Sixers had to come up with the goods yet again in the 4th quarter to pull out a win. Offensively, five Sixers scored in double figures(Andre Iguodala, Samuel Dalembert, Willie Green, Andre Miller, Louis Williams) with Miller's 24 leading the way. Defensively, Sammy D led the way again, with 13 rebounds and 5 blocks as the Sixer's out rebounded the Nets narrowly 39-38, and pilfered them for 11 steals, mostly in the late going when it counted the most. In the first quarter of play, the Sixers squeaked out to a 3 point lead, with the score 35-32. In the second quarter of play the Nets turned the tables, and by the half it was all knotted up at 57. As the young guns began to come in the game, the Sixes began to wrest away control of it late in the third period of play, taking a 5 point lead with the score 78- 73, heading into the 4th. Finally in the 4th quarter the Sixers took control early and never let go eventually winning by a solid final margin of 9, with the final score 108-99. So the Sixers improve to 38-37 overall, but remain 7th in the Eastern conference now just a half a game out of 6th and 5th in the conference, and now just a win away from clinching a playoff spot.
EAGLES NEWS
The Eagles re-singed cornerback Huselio Hanson to a one year deal today. Hanson had been a restricted free agent but there was always little hope for anyone other than the Eagles to sign him. Basically by the end of last season with Lito Sheppard and Will James struggling with injuries off and on, he had essentially become the Eagles 3rd cornerback otherwise known as the nickelback. Now, with Asante Samuel newly signed to lead the secondary, and Lito Sheppard likely to be traded away to make room, Hanson should stay right there at nickelback where he belongs.
Monday, March 31, 2008
PHILLIES NEWS
Over the past couple seasons the Phils got off to agonizingly slow starts in April. This season was supposed to be different. So far it has only been more of the same agony. Brett Myers got the start this afternoon in the season opener at the Bank against the Washington Nationals. He left much be desired, allowing 5 runs on 4 hits in just 5 innings of work. Unfortunately, the Phils bullpen wasn't much better, particularly Ryan Madson who allowed 2 runs on 2 hits in one inning of work and Tom "Flash" Gordon who allowed 5 runs on 4 hits in just a third of inning, basically crushing the Phils chances. Since it is the season opener I will disclose some of the gory details. In the bottom of the first inning the Phils took the early 1-0 lead as Jimmy Rollins doubled and scored. In the bottom off 4th inning the Phils went up 2-0 as Chase Utley singled and scored on a Pat Burrell single. In the top of 5th inning the Nationals powered ahead on a sac fly by Ryan Zimmeran, a bases loaded double by Austin Kearns and a rare fielding error by JRoll for a 4-2 lead. The Nats kept it going in the top of the 6th with a 2 run homer by Lastings Milledge for a 6-2 lead. In bottom of the 6th Utley crushed a solo homer to cut the lead to 6-3. The Phils kept it going in the bottom of the 7th as Carlos Ruiz doubled in a run and JRoll redeemed himself with a game tying 2 run homer. So at this point all seemed well for the Phils. It was still tied at 6 in the top of the 9th as Flash Gordon took the mound. He didn't stand a chance. Nick Johnson doubled in a run and scored on a Ruiz throwing error, Paul Lo Duca doubled in a run, Ronnie Belliard doubled in a run, and finally Gordon was pulled from the game, but Clay Condrey allowed yet another RBI double to Dmitri Young, before the carnage finally ended with the Nats up 11-6. In the bottom of the 9th, well, with the bottom of the order up the Phils went down in order to take the 11-6 loss, but hey there are still 161 games left, so there's no reason to give up hope yet.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
SIXERS NEWS
After an embarrassing home loss against the Suns the Sixer's traveled to Cleveland tonight to face Lebron and the Cavs. It was a hard fought battle, but in the end star power won out over teamwork and the Sixers had dropped their 2nd in a row. Offensively, five Sixers scored in double figures(Andre Iguodala, Andre Miller, Samuel Dalembert, Louis Williams, Thaddeus Young) with Iggy's 19 leading the way. Defensively, it was a team effort, and not quite a good enough effort, but then again nothing ever is King Jame's court. In the first quarter of play, the Sixers set the pace and jumped out to a 5 point lead with the score 27-22. In the second quarter of play the Sixers continued to pace the Cavs and still led by 5 with the score 48-43 at the half. Sadly, in the 3rd quarter of play Lebron and the Cavs turned it up a gear by the 4th quarter it was all tied up at 68. Finally, in the 4th quarter of play, Lebron proved to be too much down the stretch. With 19 seconds left and the game tied at 88, Lebron, well defended by Iggy, drove the lane and threw up a runner that banked in for a 90-88 Cavs win. Louis Williams then missed an open three pointer, and after ex-Sixer Joe Smith hit a free throw, Iggy had a chance for redemption but his three point attempt at the buzzer rimmed out and the Sixers fell 91-88. So the Sixers drop to 37-37 overall, but remain 7th in the Eastern conference, still just a half a game out 6th, and a game and a half out of 5th.
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils finished spring training today with a little exhibition game against their brand new AAA affiliate the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Kyle Kendrick got the start and his final spring tuneup he tossed 5 scoreless innings as the Phils knocked off the Iron Pigs 5-3. So the regular season begins tomorrow and I can't wait, it should be a great season.
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