The Flyers were back in action tonight at the Wachovia center, as the Anaheim Ducks and ex Flyer Joffrey Lupul, came to town to faceoff against the Flyers and ex-Duck Chris Pronger. It was yet another nail biter for the Flyers, apparently that's only kind of game they can play now, and for all but about 16 seconds it looked like it would go in the Orange and Black's favor. The Flyers did clean things up a bit, with only 5 penalties today, and fewer turnovers, but the defense just wasn't good enough. They allowed 33 shots on goal and kept relying on Ray Emery to make 1 save after another, which he did for 2 shutout periods, and for most of the 3rd period, as he registered 31 saves on the night. Unfortunately there were 2 shots down stretch he couldn't get a stick on and that was difference. The 1st 2 periods belonged to the Orange and Black, with Mike Richards scoring on the power play in the 1st period, and Pronger ripping a vintage slap shot from point in the 2nd period for a 2-0 lead. Then with a little under 7 minutes remaining in the 3rd period someone reminded Teemu Selanne his team was trailing and he took it from there. With about 6:45 to play Selanne scored to cut it to 2-1. Then with 16 seconds left on one final rush into Flyer's zone Selanne was somehow left open, rumbling into net, and slipped one right by Emery to tie it at 2. Selanne wasn't finished yet. After a scoreless overtime period and two failed attempts in the first round of the shootout and a 3rd by Mike Richards to start the 2nd round of the shootout, in came Selanne and once again he beat Emery to put the Ducks ahead. Then Simon Gagne failed on his attempt to start the 3rd round of the shootout and that was it. So the Flyers drop to 3-1-1 overall and hope Selanne doesn't come back to the Wachovia center any time soon.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
What is it about Phils and inclement weather, or better yet Phils's postseason games and inclement weather? They just can't get away from it no matter where they go. Tonight's game 3 with the Rockies was cancelled hours before was even scheduled to start due to the fact that was supposed snow, yes snow, with temps in the 20s right at about the time of the game. Funny, when it was scheduled to rain during game 5 of the world series last year MLB didn't seem to have a problem trying to play through the weather then. Well at least this time they were smart enough to do the right thing and it might end up helping the Phils. With no game Pedro Martinez was effectively, bumped out of the rotation for this series anyway, and now J.A Happ will start game 3, and Cliff Lee will start game 4 on normal rest and that probably means that if there is a game 5 Cole Hamels would be the starter. Considering Lefty heavy Colorado generally stinks against Lefthanders, that could work out for the best for the Phils.
Friday, October 09, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils revealed today that Pedro Martinez will start game 3 of the Phils NLDS tomorrow in Colorado. I don't think there is anything particulary wrong with Happ, but I guess Charlie didn't want to chance anything. However, considering Joe Blanton will be available to pitch out of the bullpen, while Happ won't, it seems J.A will start game 4 perhaps. As for game 3, Pedro has a load of experience starting huge games in the playoffs for the Red Sox at every stage and of course he was on the roster for those New York Mets a few years ago, but was coming off an injury and never got into games. So this should not faze him at all, nor should the rumored cold, snowy weather, and you would expect him to be able to get the job done, but we'll see.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
Cliff Lee was dazzling in game 1 yesterday, but unfortunately, Cole Hamels was not quite so impressive today, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits in just 5 innings. He probably would have kept pitching past the 5th, but his wife went into Labor with their first child not long after the 5th ended, ending Hamels stay at the Park for the night. He really did look a bit distracted on the mound at times in this one and that's probably why. The Phils then had piece it together in the bullpen from there and actually did a half decent job of it, allowing just 1 run the rest of the way, while not using up any one reliever for more than an inning, and giving the Phils a chance to mount a late rally. It started in the 6th inning, with an RBI double by Ryan Howard and a 2 run single by Raul Ibanez to cut the lead at the time to 4-3. It was 5-3 by the 8th inning as Jayson Werth slammed a solo homer to cut the lead to 5-4. Then in the bottom of the 9th the Phils put 2 on with 2 out for Shane Victorino, but he could only line out to Clint Barmes to end it. There are those who would say the Phils stunk it up today, but really they didn't. It was truthfully a tight game, and the Phils played well enough to win, they just couldn't pull it out at the end. So the series is now tied at 1 game apiece and it will be a best of 3 from here to see who advances to the NLCS. It will be interesting to see who starts game 3 for the Phils, J.A Happ, Joe Blanton, or Pedro Martinez. Pedro is the freshest of the 3, as both Blanton and Happ pitched today in relief, and Happ took a line drive off his leg which might hamper him a bit. My money is on Happ if he's okay and Pedro if Happ isn't okay.
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers welcomed the defending Stanley Cup Champion Penguins to the Wachovia center tonight, as they looked to go to 4-0. Just as in their last game the Flyers were sloppy again on this night and this time Pittsburgh made them pay with 5 goals on only 25 shots. The Orange and Black just made too many mistakes to stick with the champs in this one. They turned the puck over too many times, and committed too many penalties, but did a good job of killing off all but one of them. Ray Emery can't really be blamed for this one. He just had no shot on quite a few of Pittsburgh's 5 goals. I am just impressed he was able to keep them to just 5 goals. Meanwhile, the Flyer's scoring was on par again. Trailing most of the night, they did an admirable job mounting a couple of rallies to keep the game close until the end. Danny Briere and Jeff Carter each scored twice, once at full strength and once on the power play, effectively keeping the Flyers within a goal of the lead most of the night. They just couldn't get the equalizer and eventually ended up losing 5-4. So the Orange and Black drop to 2-1-1 overall now, and will need to clean things up from now on, if they hope to get back on the winning track again.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils began their 2009 postseason this afternoon with game 1 of their NLDS with the Rockies. Cliff Lee got the start and was brilliant, allowing just 1 run on 6 hits in a complete game victory. He was simply too sharp and too commanding for Colorado to handle. Meanwhile, the Phils did handle Colorado starter Ubaldo Jimenez, touching him up for 5 runs on 9 hits in just 5 innings. Raul Ibanez slapped an RBI double, and Carlos lined an RBI single, in the 5th and Ryan Howard doubled, Jayson Werth tripled, and Ibanez singled for 3 more runs in the 6th. That was about all she wrote from there. Troy Tulowitzki did spoil Lee' s shutout bid, doubling in a run with 2 out and 2 strikes on him in the 9th, but other than that it was smooth sailing for the Phils. In his first time in the postseason since 2000, Ibanez was most impressive, with 2 hits 2 RBIs and a run scored. He'll have to continue that if the Phils are to win this series. What an afternoon for Lee. He really set the tone for this series now and helped the Phils avoid using the much maligned bullpen at all, and you just can't ask for anything more than that from Lee. It feels good knowing he's available again if this series goes the full 5. Anyway so the Phils are now up 1-0 in the series and they couldn't have made it look any easier. Game 2 is tomorrow and with Cole Hamels on the mound this could suddenly be a short series for the Phils, which is just the way they would like it.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers finally got a chance to play at the Wachovia center this season, as they enertained Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in the home opener tonight. It was not the most well played game, but it was an enertaining and exciting slopfest that came down to overtime. Ultimately, despite Ray Emery's worst night of the season thus far, with 5 goals getting past him out of the 36 shots he faced, the Flyers prevailed to the joy of the home crowd. Emery's struggles stemmed mostly from the suddenly porous Flyer's defense, which allowed 36 shots on goal, turned the puck over far too many times and committed too many penaties. Offensively on the other hand, the Orange Black had 1 heck of a night. Neither team could score in the 1st period, but in the 2nd period a Kimmo Timonen score, and a hat trick by Mike Richards, left the Flyers clinging to a 4-3 lead after 2. Washington retook the lead in the 3rd period, but a Scott Hartnell put away with just under 5 minutes to play knotted it up again for the Orange shirts at 5. Finally neither team could score in regulation from there, so the game went into overtime. There in the extra period, just under 4 minutes in, Danny Briere slapped in a rebound to give the Flyers the 6-5 win. So this was another impressive win for the Flyers against a very good team, but it was very sloppy. The Flyers will have to clean things up if they want to keep winning games like this against there top competition. Anyway so the Flyers move to 3-0 overall, okay actually 2-0-1 overall but you get the idea.
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils begin another postseason run tomorrow afternoon at the Bank against the Colorado Rockies. Cliff Lee will be the starter in game 1 and Cole Hamels will start game 2. After that it's anyone's guess. The game 3 starter could be either Joe Blanton, J.A Happ or Pedro Martinez, but for now they're all available out of the pen. As for the rest of the team it goes something like this. In the bullpen, the Phils will have Brett Myers, Chad Durbin, Kyle Kendrick, Scott Eyre, the rookie Antonio Bastardo(to provide another lefty arm out of the pen, and of course Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge. The starting lineup will be the same as always and lastly, off bench the Phils will have, Matt Stairs, Ben Francisco, Gregg Dobbs, Paul Bako, and in a slight surprise Miguel Cairo.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Sunday, October 04, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils finished off the regular season today against the Marlins, looking to avoid an embarrassing sweep. J.A Happ got the start and was effective allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits, but he was pulled after only a couple innings. Obviously the Phils were still trying to figure out the bullpen for the playoffs, and just wanted to have as many innings as possible to try out some guys. In fact the Phils ended up using 8 pitchers on the day, mostly just to see what they could do. Together they allowed 6 runs on 11 hits, just good enough of an effort to keep the Phils in it. Meanwhile, the Phils lineup for the day was almost totally devoid of regulars, except for Jayson Werth, who was trying to get to 100 RBIs on the season. Despite that, the Phils were able to put together enough offense to stay with the Marlins. With the Phils down 2-0 in the 4th inning, Miguel Cairo lined a solo homer and Ben Francisco slapped an RBI single to tie it up. With the Phils down 5-2 in the 5th, Andy Tracy tripled and scored and Shane Victorino and Greg Dobbs blooped back to back RBI singles to tie it up again. Down 6-5 in the 8th, the Phils came back one more time, with Miguel Cairo tripling and scoring on an error by Dan Uggla. Finally in the bottom of the 10th, with 1 out and a man on 2nd, the 3rd catcher, Paul Hoover, slapped a single off Wes Helms' glove to plate John Mayberry Jr. with the winning run. So it was a thrilling finish to what's been a thrilling regular season and the Phils 93rd win of the season, 1 more than they had last year. Now the hard part begins for Charlie Manuel , picking that playoff roster. It should be interesting to see what the final roster is come game 1 with the Rockies on Wednesday. Can the Phils repeat as World Champs? I am not sure, but I am certainly revved up to find out. Let's Go Phils!
EAGLES NEWS
The Birds got to enjoy their bye week this weekend and thus were not in action today. They return to the field next week against the winless Tampa Bay Bucs. It should be yet another easy win for the Birds.
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