Latest Highlights

Saturday, October 23, 2010

PHILLIES NEWS

With their season on the line again the Phils turned Roy Oswalt to extend it for at least another game. Oswalt did his job, allowing just 2 runs on 9 hits, while striking out 5. The Giants had multiple opportunities to put up crooked against Oswalt but he held firm and found his way out of trouble again and again. By all rights Oswalt's performance should have been enough to force a game 7, but it wasn't. The Phils had at least twice as many opportunities as the Giants to produce runs, most of which came against the San Francisco bullpen, as Jonathan Sanchez failed to get through the 3rd inning, and they just didn't come through.

Early on the Phils took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, on a double by Chase Utley, and a sac fly by Jayson Werth. They also had 2 on with 2 out for Raul Ibanez and could have really broken the game open but Ibanez popped up to end the inning. In the 5th Jimmy Rollins leadoff with a double and Ryan Howard looked to have an RBI double but Rollins was held at 3rd. After Werth was walked to load the bases, Shane Victorino grounded out to end the inning, blowing another opportunity. In the 6th Raul Ibanez lead off with a double and moved to 3rd on a bunt by Carlos Ruiz, but he was stranded when Ben Francisco struck out looking, and Jimmy Rollins flied out.

In the 8th, Victorino and Ibanez collected back to back singled to put 2 on with 1 out for Ruiz. Ruiz crushed a line drive the other way, but right at Aubrey Huff who snared it and threw to 2nd to double off Victorino and end another threat. Finally in the 9th, the Phils put 2 on with 2 out for Ryan Howard who went down looking at strike 3, on a very questionable pitch. It was a borderline pitch at best that I've seen go both ways. In this case the umpire decided to give it to Brian Wilson to clinch the NL title for the Giants. So there will be no 3rd straight NL title for the Phils. It was still a good season for them and a lot of fun to watch.

Considering all of the injuries they had to overcome, I am still proud of them for making it this far. Considering they could make it all the way to game 6 of the NLCS without ever being at 100%, you can just imagine how good they could have been if they had been able to stay healthy all season. You have to like their chances to repeat as NL East champions, especially since Halladay, Hamels, and Oswalt will all be back next season for a full season, not just the last few months. Where they go beyond that will be determined by what they do with the Jayson Werth free agency situation. If they can figure out a way to keep him or they can replace with him with another power right handed bat they will contend for a world title again. Otherwise they might have trouble getting deep in the playoffs again.


FLYERS NEWS

Coming into tonight the Flyers had 3 lost straight contests and had not looked good doing so. Tonight was much different. The defense finally resembled last year's, holding the Toronto Maple Leafs to just 14 shots on goal. Once again they also kept the penalties on low side, putting Toronto on the power play only 4 times and killing off all of them. More importantly, the Flyer's finally got it going offensively, even scoring on the power play. They were still only 1 of 6 on the power play which isn't great, but it's a step in the right direction. Aside, from the power play score, Mike Richards had his first goal of the season and 2 assists, and the Leino, Briere, and Hartnell line, produced 3 goals, including the lone power play tally. The Flyer's can't just rely on that line the rest of the season. Sooner or later another line will have to step up for them, but for now they'll take the 1 hot line and run with it.

Richards opened the scoring on the night with an unassisted tally late in the first period. Ville Leino followed a minute later with the lone power play score and the Flyers led 2-0 after 1 period. The Flyers allowed a couple sloppy goals in the 2nd period, but a late Blair Betts score off an assist by Daroll Powe at least kept them ahead 3-2 heading into the 3rd period. The Briere - Leino - Hartnell line took over in the 3rd period. First Hartnell scored a minute into the period off Richards 2nd assist, for a 4-2 Orange and Black lead. Then Briere scored unassisted just under 8 minutes into the period to put the Leafs away for good. Brian Boucher and the defense held up the rest of the way and the Flyers walked away with an important 5-2 win.

SIXERS NEWS

There is nothing new to report

EAGLES NEWS

There is nothing new to report

Friday, October 22, 2010

PHILLIES NEWS

There is nothing new to report

EAGLES NEWS

There is nothing new to report

SIXERS NEWS

There is nothing new to report

FLYERS NEWS

There is nothing new to report

Thursday, October 21, 2010

PHILLIES NEWS

With the Phillies season on the line Roy Halladay delivered a performance that may be remembered for a long time, especially if the Phils somehow reach their 3rd straight world series this year. Despite pulling his groin while pitching to the first batter of the game Halladay gutted out 6 innings, allowing just 2 runs on 6 hits while striking out 5. It wasn't pretty but it was exactly what the Phils needed to stave off elimination. Halladay did have some help though as Phils blead out 3 runs on 4 hits off Tim Lincecum. The Phils also deservedly backed up Roy with 3 huge scoreless innings.

After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, as Chase Utley fumbled away a double play opportunity, the Phils got some luck in the 3rd. Raul Ibanez lead off with a single. Carlos was then hit by a pitch to put two and nobody out for Halladay. Attempted to bunt the runners over into scoring position but bunted foul, or at least he thought it was foul, but the home plate ump called it fair, and Ruiz went to second and the hustling Ibanez reached 3rd, despite Buster Posey's throw beating him as Pablo Sandoval missed bag with his foot. The dumbfounded Halladay never left the batter's box and was thrown out at first. Still the damage had been done. Shane Victorino followed with a ball off Aubrey Huff's glove and into right to score both runners. Then back to back singles by Utley and Placido Polanco scored Victorino for a 3-1 lead.

The 3 runs would be all the wounded Halladay would need. He got into and out of trouble in 3rd, allowed a run in the 4th but avoided further damage, as Jayson Werth gunned Cody Ross at 3rd as he attempted to tag up. He cruised through the 5th inning and then finally got of jam in the 6th inning, striking out Juan Uribe, with 2 on and 2 out to preserve the Phils 3-2 lead. The Phils had a golden opportunity to cushion their lead in the 7th, but Huff robbed Ross Gload of extra base hit, to keep it at 3-2. Next in the 7th Jose Contreras and J.C Romero combined for a scoreless frame after Polanco and Utley snared back to back line drives, by Freddy Sanchez and Aubrey Huff.

After the Phils again failed to cushion their lead in the top of the 8th, Ryan Madson, who pitched an inning and a 3rd last night, stared down the heart of the Giants lineup, Buster Posey, Pat Burrell ,and Ross and struck them out one by one to preserve the lead. Finally in the 9th Werth offered some insurance with a leadoff solo bomb to push the lead to 4-2. As it turned out, Brad Lidge did not need extra run. He comfortably retired Sandoval, Uribe, and pinch hitter Travis Ishikawa in order to close out the huge 4-2 win that shifts the series back to Philadelphia. Getting the series back to Philly doesn't mean the Phils will win it but with Roy Oswalt to pitch game 6 and Cole Hamels if neccessary in game 7 they at least have a chance now.

FLYERS NEWS

For the 3rd straight game the Flyers played a team, this the Anaheim Ducks at the Wells Fargo center that came in tired, having just played the night before. For the 3rd straight game they failed to take advantage of it. They did cut finally down on the penalties, with just 5, 4 of which resulted in a power play. They also killed off all 4 of those power plays but again their own power play struggled once again, going 0 for 5 and that ultimately came back to haunt them. Aside from the power play struggles there was just something missing for the Flyers tonight. The hunger that they played with at the end of last season just isn't there yet and until they find that hunger again they're going to continue struggling.

The Flyers fell behind early in the first period, with Lubomir Visnovsky scoring just 35 seconds into the game. 4 minutes later Scott Hartnell scored his first goal of the season to knot it at 1. A little over halfway through the period Jason Blake put the Ducks ahead again 2-1. That would be the trend the remainder of the night. Late in the 2nd period Claude Giroux tied it up again at 2. The Flyers had opportunities after that to slap in the goal that would win it, with 10 of their 42 shots on goal coming in the 3rd, but for whatever reason they just couldn't finish on their scoring chances.

Their inability to finish finallly came back to bite them when with a little under 2 minutes to play, Ryan Getzlaf beat Sergei Bobrovsky for a 3rd time on the night to put Anaheim ahead for good 3-2. The Flyers couldn't come up with anything of their own in the waning moments as they dropped their 3rd in a row and fell to 11th in the Eastern conference. Sure, it's still early in the season but I don't think they want to stay that far down in the standings much longer.

EAGLES NEWS

There is nothing new to report

SIXERS NEWS

There is nothing new to report

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

PHILLIES NEWS

Down 2-1 in the NLCS and desperately seeking the win that would even the series again, the Phils turned to Joe Blanton to cook up a good one in game 4. Save for 2 wild pitches in the first inning that lead to an unearned run, he gave the Phils about as much they could have hoped for. He allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in 4 and 2/3rds innings and left the game with the lead thanks to a 4 run Phils 5th, which would have been 5 had Carlos Ruiz only been held at 3rd. He would have gotten through 5 if not for Aubrey Huff's 2 out RBI single, that went just over Blanton's head. Still, Jose Contreras finished the inning without further damage and the Phils just needed their bullpen to hold up to even the series.

Unfortunately because the 39 year old Contreras went 2 innings in game 3, he could not come back out for the 6th inning. Instead Chad Durbin, out of action since September because of the Phils great starting pitching, came in for the 6th and promptly walked the leadoff man before allowing 2 runs on a Pablo Sandoval double to put San Fran back ahead 5-4. Somehow Durbin avoided further damage and sent the game into the 7th at 5-4. Ryan Madson pitched into and out of trouble to keep it at 5-4 heading into 8th. There back to back doubles by Ryan Howard, and Jayson Werth tied the score at 5. However, Jimmy Rollins, Ben Francisco, and Carlos Ruiz all failed to get Werth and proved to be the Phils undoing.

Madson got through the 8th as well, thanks to Carlos Ruiz gunning down Andres Torres at 2nd. The Phils didn't score in the top of the 9th so Brad Lidge could not come in to close it out in the bottom of the inning. If they had only been able to score Werth in the 8th, Lidge likely would closed the door on San Fran in the 9th and evened the series at 2. Instead the desperate Phils were forced to go to Roy Oswalt to keep the game tied and he could not, as Juan Uribe slapped a 1 out game winning sac fly as the Phils dropped a heartbreaker 6-5 and fell behind 3 games to 1 in the series. It isn't over yet though as the Phils have their big 3, Halladay, Oswalt, and Hamels lined up for the final 3 games and are certainly capable of winning out if they can all toss a gem.

SIXERS NEWS

With the Knicks resting Wilson Chandler, Amare Stoudemire, and Danilo Gallinari they were no match for the Sixers who closed out their preseason tonight with a win. Andre Iguodala and Jason Kapono each had 20 points, Elton Brand had 16 and 11 rebounds, Jrue Holiday had 10 and 11 assists, and Thad Young and Lou Williams were big off the bench with 14 and 18 respectively as the Sixers blew away the Knicks B team 118-91. With the win they finish the preseason at 2-5 and probably with more quetions then answers as they head into the season.

FLYERS NEWS

There is nothing new to report

EAGLES NEWS

There is nothing new to report

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

PHILLIES NEWS

In a pivotal game 3 matchup of aces it was unfortunately Matt Cain who bested Cole Hamels. Cain tossed 7 scoreless innings while Hamels allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in just 6 innings. Like Roy Halladay in game 1, it was just hard luck that got to Hamels in this one. He had 2 outs in the 4th inning when a walk to Pat Burrell, followed by back to back RBI singles by Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff put the Giants up 2-0. Later in the 5th inning he had 2 outs again when Chase Utley was unable to keep a groundball in front of himself, allowing Aaron Rowand to score from 3rd for a 3-0 lead.

Those 3 runs would be all the Giants would need. Cain was just too good for the Phils today. They did have a few opportunities against him but were unable to capitalize. They had 2 on with 2 out in the 3rd inning, but Chase Utley grounded out. They 2 on with 1 out in 4th but Jimmy Rollins flied out and Raul Ibanez. They put 2 on with 2 out in the 7th for Shane Victorino but after a long at bat he grounded sharply to the 2nd to end the inning and Cain's night. From there the Phils. Finally they had 1 on with 1 out in the 9th but Ibanez grounded into a game ending double play and the Giants had a 2-1 series lead.

This is not the first time the Phils have trailed 2-1 in the NLCS with game 4 on the road, in fact they won the series that last 2 times that happened. They trailed 2-1 in the 1980 NLCS and came back to win 3-2, defeating Nolan Ryan at Houston in game 5. They also trailed the 1993 NLCS 2-1 and came back to win 4-2, winning games 4 and 5 at the then 2 time defending NL champion Atlanta Braves. So the series is far from over and they're just going to have to dust themselves off and come back strong in game 4 tomorrow.

SIXERS NEWS

Micheal Curry subbed in as head coach for Doug Collins, who went to back to Philly with post-concussion symptoms, as the Sixers faced the Cleveland Cavaliers in their 5th preseason game. Andre Iguodala has his best game of the preseason thus far with 19 pts, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists, and Andes Nocioni and Lou Williams came off the bench for 17 and 15 points, respectively, but the Sixers stil lost 111-95. The Cavs 44 points in the paint and 57% shooting from the floor were just too much for the Sixers to overcome.

FLYERS NEWS

Matt Walker, the defenseman the Flyers acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Simon Gagne, is going to need to surgey on his hip and will miss 10-12 weeks. He injured the hip during a fight in the preseason and hasn't played at all so far in the regular season. Even if he was healthy there wa some question as to whether there was even room for him in the Flyer's rotation of defenseman. So losing him now is probably not that big of a deal, but it could be a big deal to add him to the roster when he comes back, especially if the Orange and Black are really hurting defensively.

EAGLES NEWS

There is nothing new to report

Monday, October 18, 2010

PHILLIES NEWS

There is nothing new to report

FLYERS NEWS

There is nothing new to report

SIXERS NEWS

There is nothing new to report

EAGLES NEWS

There is nothing new to report

Sunday, October 17, 2010

PHILLIES NEWS

When the Phils had to have it from him, Roy Oswalt delivered tonight. He was brilliant, dazzling Giant's hitters through 8 innings in which he allowed just 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 9. Only Cody Ross' 3rd homer of the series in the 5th inning averted a shutout and perhaps even a no hitter. Aside from Roy Halladay's no-no and Cole Hamel's shutout in the NLDS it doesn't get much better than what Oswalt did tonight. That's especially evident when you consider the pressure he was under to do so with the Phils down 1-0 in the series and in a virtual must win scenario. Oswalt didn't just do it with his arm either. He also singled and scored as the Phils offense awakened to the tune of 6 runs on 8 hits and treated the Giants to their first non 1 run game of the postseason.

Early on the Phils had a golden opportunity to get to Jonathan Sanchez right away in the first inning, but Jimmy Rollins bases loaded walk was all they could come up with. The pitching of Oswalt and Sanchez mostly dominated the night from there and it looked like for all the world that Roy would have to throw a shutout to get the Phils the win. Then Ross homered in the 5th to tie it at 1 and panic briefly set in at the Bank. Shane Victorino quickly wiped the sweat off everyone's brows in the home half of the 5th with a leadoff double and run scored on back to back sac flies. Sanchez hung in there and kept it 2-1 through a scoreless 6th but he finally ran out juice in the 7th. There after Oswalt leadoff with a single Sanchez was removed from the game. The Giants bullpen proceeded to implode from there.

Oswalt moved to 2nd via a bunt and then surprisingly scored on a 1 out single by Placido Polanco, after running threw a stop sign at 3rd. From there the Phils executed a double steal before struck out to put 2 on with 2 out for Jayson Werth. Werth was intentionally walked to bring up the struggling Jimmy Rollins to face righty Santiago Casilla. That forced JRoll to turn around and bat lefthanded, which is generally his weaker side, especially season. At this moment though it wasn't weak at all as JRoll got ahead of Casilla and then ripped a bases clearing double to blow the game open. Behind 6-1, the Giants did not resign themselves to loss, but instead kept fighting. It didn't matter though as Oswalt held them off in the 8th and Ryan Madson worked around a walk and a single to close them out in the 9th. Tied at 1-1, the series now shifts to San Francisco for game 3 on Tuesday as Matt Cain and Cole Hamels faceoff.

EAGLES NEWS

The Eagles came into this afternoon's matchup with the Falcons wondering how good they really were. Atlanta came in having been anointed the best team in the NFC and were simply looking to cement that claim. After 60 minutes of football 2 things were clear. The Falcons were most definitely not the best in the NFC and the Eagles were most definitely back in the conversation for tops in the NFC. The Birds just thoroughly outclassed the Falcons on both sides of the ball from beginning to end. Offensively, Kevin Kolb was near flawlesss throwing for 326 yards and 3 TDs. With Desean Jackson getting knocked out early in the game with a concussion, Jeremy Maclin wound up Kolbs top target with 7 catches for 159 yards and a TD.

Before he left with a concussion Jackson had a pretty explosive day as well with a 34 yard TD catch and 2 carries for 44 yards and a TD. On the whole the Birds piled up 474 yards of offense, 154 rushing and 320 passing, to stun the vaunted Falcon's defense. Defensively the Birds played maybe only their 2nd complete game of the season. They held the rush happy Falcons to just 65 yards on the ground. They also terrorized Matt Ryan most of the afternoon, sacking him 3 times and intercepting him once as he threw for just 250 yards. Like their defense, the Atlanta offense was just out of sync all day long. The Eagles jumped on them early and they never recovered. At the same time they also seemed to have a poor game plan and no real plan B and that cost them dearly as well. It was type of performance of Atlanta that makes you wonder what people ever saw in them in the first place.

It was all Eagles in the first quarter, with Desean Jackson rushing 31 yards for a TD on the Birds opening drive and Kevin Kolb tossing a 34 yard TD pass to him for a quick 14-0 lead. Later a little over halfway through the 2nd quarter Kolb found Maclin for an 8 yard TD pass and a 21-0 lead. Asante Samuel then intercepted Ryan late in the 2nd half and the route was on, or at least it would have been if Kolb had not given the ball right back. Following Kolb's interception, Ryan and the Falcons finally punched it in to cut it to 21-7 at the half. A little over halfway through the 3rd quarter, with Atlanta having cut the lead to 21-10, Kevin Kolb fired his 3rd TD pass of the day, an 83 yarder to Maclin to make it 28-10. Finally in the 4th quarter Tony Gonzalez hauled in a TD pass from Ryan to cut it to 28-17 before David Akers could add a late field to put away an impressive 31-17 win. Ultimately it wasn't as close as that score would indicate.

SIXERS NEWS

There is nothing new to report

FLYERS NEWS

There is nothing new to report