After a going 5-3 in a pretty good preseason the Sixers opened their 2009-2010 regular season tonight in Orlandon against Dwight "superman" Howard and the defending Eastern conference champion Magic. It wasn't pretty. Maurice Speights led the way with a career best t26 points 5 rebounds, and Jason Kapono, Rodney Carney, each scored in double figures off the bench and Lou Williams, in his 1st start at the poiny for the Sixers, scored 18 to go along with just 4 assists. Defensively however, it just wasn't there for the Sixers, as they allowed Orlando to shoot 55% from the field and beyond the arc, which is pretty much the kiss of death against the most teams. Thus, the Sixers lost convincingly 120-106, not exactly the way they wanted to start the season. The Sixers were really only in it for a quarter, as they trailed by 24 at the half with the score 70-47. Embarrassingly the lead was up to 31 by the start of the 4th quarter. There the Sixers finally woke back up again and at least mounted a rally to cut the final margin to 14. Going the forward the Sixers need to play much better defense if they hope to have any success this season or it's going to be a long year.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
After running out of gas against the San Jose Sharks in their last game, the Flyers looked to get back on track tonight in Washington against the Capitals. For a while it looked like they would do just that as early in the 2nd period Scott Hartnell and late in the period Braydon Coburn each scored on the power play for a 2-0 Flyer's lead. However, just 2 minutes after Coburn's goal Alexander Ovechkin scored to cut it to 2-1 and then 2 minutes after Niklas Backstrom scored to knot it at 2. Just like that Washington seized the momentum, and did not let go for the remainder of the night as Alexander Semin scored early in the 3rd period for a 3-2 Caps lead and Ovechkin scored again on the empty net with under a minute to play to put away a 4-2 Caps' win. It's hard to say where this one went wrong. The Flyer's outshot the Caps 43-36, went 2 for 5 on the Power play, to just 1 for 4 for Washington, and got 32 saves out of 35 shots faced from Ray Emery, all numbers that should have been enough to get a win over the Caps, but they weren't. Perhaps the defense wasn't strong enough as 36 shots is a little high or maybe they just didn't do a good enough job keeping the pressure on the Caps after getting that lead or maybe they should have taken better advantage of those 5 power plays. Whatever the reason, the Orange and Black need to figure it out fast because this can't keep happening. They just can't afford to keep letting winnable games slip away from them like this.
Monday, October 26, 2009
EAGLES NEWS
The Birds traveled to Fedex field for a divisional showdown with the Washington Redskins tonight as they looked to rebound from last week's loss to the Raiders. Fortunately, the Redskins are playing even worse right now than the Raiders had been and simply didn't have the confidence in themselves to beat the Eagles tonight. A dominant performance by the Eagles' defense and a spectacular game on offense for Desean Jackson also contributed heavily to an 27-17 Eagles' victory. The defense had Redskin QB Jason Campbell running for his life all day, sacking him 6 times and forcing him into 2 of the 4 Redskin turnovers on the night. Clinton Portis and the Redskins' running game was also held in check with just 68 yards, including only 43 by Portis. So it was up to Campbell to carry the load for the Skins on offense and he could not. Newly added linebacker Will Weatherspoon intercepted Campbell for the turnover # 1 and returned it 9 yards for a TD. Later Weatherspoon stripped Campbell and Quintin Mikell recoverd the fumble to set up a David Aker's field goal from 47 yards out. Later Antwan Randle El muffed a punt for turnover # 3 to set up a 44 yard Akers field goal. So the standouts on defense for the Eagles this week were Trent Cole with 2 sacks, and Witherspoon who had quite a debut with the Birds, with an interception, a fumble recovery, and a sack. As for the offense, it was all Desean Jackson, who took an end around on the Eagles first drive of the game and raced 67 yards for a TD. Later Jackson hauled in a 57 yard TD pass from Donovan Mcnabb, to account for all 14 points generated by the Eagle's offense. All in all it was just an ok night for the Eagles' offense which accumulated just 262 yards to go along with those 14 points. They did rush for a solid 122 yards, made all the more impressive by the fact that Brian Westbrook went down early in the game with a concussion, but hopefully he'll be all right. The Eagles' passing game tonight though left something to be desired, but it was good enough for the win and that's really all that matters. Ultimately the Eagles did not play great tonight, they simply played good and that was enough against the struggling the Redskins, but they'll have to pick it up next week against the NY Giants in a showdown for 1st place in the NFC East.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers welcomed the San Jose Sharks to the Wachovia center tonight, as they looked to get their 3rd straight win. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Since the Flyer's were playing on back to back nights, Brian Boucher subbed in for Ray Emery, for his first start in goal this season and he was less than stellar, allowing 4 goals on only 28 shots, including a few that were a bit weak. Considering this was his 1st start of the regular season and that he barely played at all in the preseason, it's not totally surprising that Boucher wasn't sharp in this one. You just have to hope he can pick it up and be effective again, before the season moves to much further along. Anyway, thanks to the weak play by Boucher, the Flyers ultimately fell 4-1, despite outshooting the Sharks 38-28. The Orange and Black was probably also a little tired coming off the win over the Panthers last night. Darroll Powe, who has quietly been making a name for himself on the Flyers, accumulated the only Flyer's only score of the night in the 1st period. After that it was all San Jose skating past the tired Flyers. With the loss the Flyers drop to 5-3-1 overall but remain 7th in the Eastern conference.
PHILLIES NEWS
Well it's official the Phils opponent in the World series beginning on Wednesday will be the New York Yankees and their 26 world titles, as they finished off the L.A Angels in the ALCS tonight. 59 years ago the Phils' Whiz Kids and Yanks faced off in the 1950 world series. The Yankees swept the Phils in that series and now finally the Phils can exact revenge. So all I can say to the Yankees is bring it!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers returned to action tonight, as they welcomed the Florida Panthers to the Wachovia center. The last time these 2 teams met, Florida delivered a stunning victory so the Flyers were looking for a measure of revenge in thid one. They got it and then some. They played probably their best defense of the season thus far, allowing just 18 shots on goal, and Ray Emery saved 17 of them. So Florida could really never get anything going in the Flyer's zone. The Flyer's meanwhile, couldn't stop creating scoring opportunities with 5 scores on 38 shots. Danny Briere scored early in the 1st period, Aaron Asham scored early in the 2nd period, Simon Gagne scored on the power play late in that period(his first goal of the season), Danny Briere scored on the power play again early in the 3rd period and finally late in the period James Van Riemsdyk capped off the scoring to finish off a 5-1 win with his 1st career goal. So the Flyers really looked like a different team tonight then the one that took the ice the last time these two teams met. The Flyers have now won 2 in a row and are back to looking like the team that started the season 3-0, rather than that team that lost to the Panthers. The win tonight really was a team effort with several top Orange and Black performers. Briere had a 2 goals and an assist, JVR had a goal and an assist, and Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, and Chris Pronger each had 2 assists. You just hope the Flyers can keep playing like this now for the rest of the season. The only black eye for the Flyers on the night was a vicious hit delivered by Richards on David Booth in the 2nd period that left Booth in the hospital with a concussion and Richards kicked out of the game and possibly facing a suspension. Replays clearly the show the hit was legal, as Richards never left his feet and led with his shoulder rather than his helmet. If Booth had not made the mistake of turning his head away from the play which left it vulnerable to Richard's hit. If Booth had only kept his head facing forward he would taken the hit on his shoulder rather than his head. Hopefully, Booth who actually scored the Panthers only goal on the night, will be okayand the penalties levied on Richards won't be too harsh.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
After another lengthy layoff the Flyers finally returned to action again as they faced off tonight at the Wachovia center against the big bad Boston Bruins. It was the Flyers though who turned out to be big bad on this night. Of course they were also a bit fortunate that Boston was playing for 2nd night in a row and thus were not as fresh as the Orange and Black. Even if they had been fresh I'm not sure the Bruins could have won this one. The Flyer's just outplayed them for most of the night and deserved the win. They were more physical than Boston, and they out shot them 39 - 26. So it wa a pretty good effort defensively for the Flyers. Ray Emery had another dazzling as well, saving 23 of the 26 shots that came his way on the night. As for the scoring, the Flyer's top scorers were held in check during this one but they were able to grind out a few goals from unexpected players and get the Flyers the lead a few times. Late in the 1st period Chris Pronger scored for a 1-0 lead. Still later in the first period Derek Morris scored off the Boston power play to knot it up. Matt Hunwick scored a fluky goal to make it 2-1 Bruins early in the 2nd period, before the Daroll Powe and Aaron Asham within 5 minutes of one another to push the Flyers ahead again 3-2. Later Steve Begin scored another Fluky goal to tie up at 3 with under 4 minutes to play. From there neither team could score for the remainder of regulation or in the overtime so the game went into a shootout. There in the 3rd round of the shootout Claude Giroux scored and then Ray Emery and the Flyer's got lucky as Micheal Ryder's attempt to start the 4th round hit the post to clinch the Flyer victory. So after 3 straight losses the Flyer's rebound in a big way tonight with the shootout win, as they move to 4-2-1 overall.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils squared off with the Dodgers tonight in game 5 of the NLCS as they looked to clinch their 2nd NL title in a row. Cole Hamels got the start but was a little uneven allowing 3 runs on 5 hits in just 4 and 1/3rd innings of work. It didn't matter though as the Phils powerful lineup proved to be too much on this night, racking up 10 runs on 8 hits. Jayson Werth slammed a 3 run homer in the 1st inning, Pedro Feliz lined a solo homer in the 2nd inning, Raul Ibanez slapped an RBI double and Shane Victorino got clunked with the bases loaded in the 4th inning, Victorino tomahawked out a 2 run homer in the 6th inning, Werth slugged a solo shot in the 8th inning, and finally a wild pitch plated Jimmy Rollins in the 9th inning. Meanwhile, although Hamels struggled a bit and could not get out of the 5th inning, the bullpen was sublime yet again. J.A Happ, Chad Durbin, Chan Ho Park, and Ryan Madson combined to get the game to the 9th while allowing just 1 run. There, Brad Lidge came in to close out the Pennant and even in a non save situation he was perfect again, getting Ronnie Belliard to pop out to Victorino in center and begin the celebration. So the Phils advance to the World Series for the 2nd year in a row and with the way they're lineup and pitching have performed thus far in this postseason, you have to like their chances to take their 2nd world title in a row, regardless of whether they face the Yankees or the Angels. Let's Go Phillies!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
EAGLES NEWS
The Eagles made a rare move at the NFL trading deadline today sending rookie WR Brandon Gibson to the St.Louis Rams for LB Will Witherspoon. With no Stewart Bradley, and Omar Gaither questionable for next week, and with Jeremiah Trotter showing his ag, the Birds needed someone to fill in at MLB and Witherspoon fills that void. He is also versatile enough to play weak side linebacker as well and led the Rams in sacks with 7 and tackles with 132 in 2007. He's also very good in coverage on pass plays, so he can make some things happen that the Eagle's current MLB's can't and should be a solid addition to the team. As for Gibson he was lucky to be on the Eagle's roster. Normally the Birds only take 5 WRs into the season, but with Gibson they had 6, so he was expendable and at least he gets to go somewhere where he can contribute.
Monday, October 19, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
After drubbing the Dodgers 11-0 last night you expected the Phils to go for the kill and come out firing tonight with Joe Blanton on the mound. For 3 innings they were able to do just that, as Blanton retired the first 10 batters he faced and Ryan Howard slammed a 2 run homer off ex-Phil Randy Wolf in the first inning, for his 8th straight playoff game with an RBI, tying him with the "Iron Horse", Lou Gehrig for the most in major league history. So it was 2-0 heading into the 4th and it was there that Blanton ran into trouble for the 1st time, as singles by James Loney and Russell Martin knotted it up at 2. In the 5th inning Matt Kemp crushed a solo homer to dead center field to put L.A up 3-2. In the 6th inning Casey Blake slapped a 2 out single to make it 4-2 and it looked for all intensive purposes that the series was destined to be tied at 2 after this game, with Randy Wolf getting one final win in Philly. As usual though, the Phils would not make it easy. Chase Utley lined a single right on numbers into right field to score Shane Victorino and cut the lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the 6th. Still, from there all the way up to the start of the 9th the Dodger bullpen kept the Phils without a hit, including a strikeout by Howard in the 8th inning with 2 on and only 1 out. That left the Phils with Raul Ibanez plus the bottom of the order to face ultra tough Dodger closer Jonathan Broxton in the 9th. Ibanez started it off with a groundout and the 4-3 loss seemed inevitable at that point. Then Matt Stairs, who left Broxton beaten in this same game just a year ago with a 2 run 8th inning homer, worked a walk as Broxton wanted no part of him. Next Broxton hit Carlos Ruiz with a pitched ball and suddenly there were 2 on and 1 out for pinch hitter Greg Dobbs. Dobbs came close to flaring a game tying single to left field, but Casey Blake was able to snare it for out number 2. So it was up to Jimmy Rollins to keep the game alive and at most tie it up at 4. He had never gotten a hit off Broxton before so it was crazy to think he would get one now and apparently Broxton felt the same way as he layed a slider over the plate for strike 1 and then went for the fastball inside. He didn't throw it inside enough and JRoll timed his shortened swing just quickly enough to rip Broxton's 0-1 offering into the gap in right field for a game winning double, as Eric Bruntlett, pinch running for Stairs, scored from 2nd, and Ruiz dashed all the way around from 1st to score the winning run, with his teammates literally already surrounding the plate before he even slid in safely. They then mobbed JRoll who had kept running all the way to 3rd, even though the game was already over. Perhaps just as remarkable as JRoll's was the game's winning pitcher, Brad Lidge, who pitched brilliantly to get the final 2 outs in the top of the 9th and keep it at 4-3. Lidge was winless in the regular season at 0-8 so this was actually his first win of the year, in game 4 of the NLCS no less, Believe It!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
After a heartbreaking loss in game 2 of the NLCS the Phils returned to the Bank tonight looking to retake control of the series with their ace Cliff Lee on the mound. Lee delivered soundly with 8 scoreless innings on just 3 hits and while striking out 10. The Dodgers really never had a chance against him. Meanwhile, the Phils destroyed Hiroki Kuroda and virtually every other Dodger pitcher that came in to pitch, scoring 11 runs on 11 hits. In the 1st, Chase Utley tripled in 2 runs and Jayson Werth bashed a 2 run homer for a quick 4-0 lead. A Jimmy Rollins double and a fielder's choice pushed the lead to 6-0 in the 2nd inning. In the 5th inning Pedro Feliz tripled off the wall in center field and Carlos Ruiz followed with a single for 2 more runs and an 8-0 lead. Finally in the 8th inning Shane Victorino Tomahawked a 3 run homer just inside the foul pole in right field for an 11-0 lead. From there since it was 11-0 Lee was replaced in the 9th in favor of Chad Durbin who finished off a combined shutout. So the Phils now lead the series 2-1 and remain in control of the series. Now they only need to win 1 of the next 2 to at least take a lead back to L.A if need be. Hopefully that won't be the case though and they'll close it out home.
EAGLES NEWS
Fresh off an easy win over the Tampa Bay Bucs, the Birds traveled to Oakland this afternoon for a date with the lowly Raiders, who came in with just 1 win on the season. Thus, it was going to be another easy Eagle's win. There was no way the Raiders would be able to challenge them. Unfortunately left tackle Jason Peters went down with a knee injury in the 1st quarter and that spelled the Eagles' doom. With no Peters, King Dunlap was forced into his first regular season game and he spent the day watching Richard Seymour run circles around him as Donovan Mcnabb was sacked 6 times, hit about 30 times, and under pressure and running for his life on just about every snap. It's hard for any quarterback to be successful under that kind of pressure, and Mcnabb was not on this afternoon. Nor was the rest of the Eagles' offense which gained just 283 yards, most of them passing yards, while failing to score any TDs on the day. Inspired by their defense, the Raiders were able to score a TD, by taking advantage of an apparently still rusty Jeremiah Trotter, who misdiagnosed a play action and left TE Zach Miller wide open to rumble for an 86 yd TD pass. In the end that TD was the difference, as the teams traded field goals the rest of the way in a 13-9 Raider victory. The Eagles actually could have won even without scoring any TDs, but David Akers missed 2 field goals on the day. In reality though, for offense with as many weapons as the Eagles, it should not have come down to Akers hitting field goals and I don't know too many kickers who could have hit 5 field goals of over 40 yards, as Akers kicks all were today. The only bright spot for the Birds on the day then was the defense, which intercepted Jamarcus Russell twice and sacked him twice, while holding Oakland out of the end zone other than that one TD pass. It wasn't enough though and now the Eagles must go back to the drawing board as they prepare to play their first divisional games against the Redskins and the Giants in the next 2 weeks. At 3-2 overall and with plenty of season left the Birds are still in position to have a sucessful season, but they can't lose anymore games like this.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers finally returned to action tonight after a long, long layoff. Unfortunately, the layoff proved to be too much to overcome against on this evening against the Florida Panthers. Considering the Panthers came in with 1 win on the season thus far, this was supposed to be an easy way for the Orange and Black to come back from their layoff. Unfortunately, the Flyers apparently got a little too rested and relaxed and just couldn't quite get up for this game. They did lead 1-0 after the first period and 2 - 1 late in the 2nd period, but the focus was never quite there for them and eventually the Panthers were able to pull ahead of the drowsy Flyers. Nathan Horton scored with under a minute to play in the 2nd period to tie it at 2. Then Radek Dvorak scored shorthanded halfway through the 3rd period to put Florida ahead 3-2. Finally with about a minute and a half to play, Steve Reinprecht scored an empty netter to put away the 4-2 Panther win. Sure it's early in the season so it is okay to lose some focus now, but the Flyers better get it back in a hurry as they play the Boston Bruins in their next game and Boston won't let the Flyers hang around for 2 periods.
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils and Dodgers squared off in game 2 of the NLCS this afternoon. Pedro Martinez got the start and was masterful tossing 7 shutout innings, while allowing just 2 hits and throwing just 87 pitches. Meanwhile, Ryan Howard slammed a solo homer in the top of the 4th to put the Phils ahead 1-0. Unfortunately, coming off a 17 day layoff and an injury, Pedro could not come out for the 8th inning and that's where it fell apart for the Phils. Chan Ho Park, who was perfect yesterday, got the call to pitch the 8th and allowed the first 2 batters he faced to reach base, both on fluky plays. First a groundball off the bat of Juan Pierre just got under the glove of Pedro Feliz, then a bunt by Ronnie Belliard got through a diving Park. Next Rusell Martin slapped a dead double play ball, but Chase Utley could not cleanly relay to first for the 2nd out, allowing Pierre to score the tying run and Martin to reach base safely. Next Scott Eyre replaced Park and allowed a pinch single by Jim Thome to put runners at the corners with still only 1 out. So in came Ryan Madson to face the righties. First he walked Rafeal Furcal to load the bases, but he came back to strike out Matt Kemp. Since he had thrown 32 pitches last night, that was it for Madson, as J.A Happ came in to face the lefty Andre Ethier. Happ got ahead of Ethier with 2 quick strikes but he couldn't put him away and eventually, Ethier worked a walk to put L.A up 2-1. Finally after that Chad Durbin got Manny to pop up and end the inning, but the damage was done. In the top of the 9th, Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino produced quick outs and it was once again up to Utley to get Howard to plate one more time. He almost did, hitting a screaming liner off Jonathan Broxton, that was unfortunately right at Ethier, who was shaded over to just to the right spot in the usual no doubles defense. So the series is now tied at 1 game a piece as it shifts to the Bank for games 3, 4, and 5 and the Phils will have to win all 3 to take series and avoid having to go back to L.A.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils and Dodgers squared off in L.A tonight in game 1 of the NLCS. A year ago in this same series the Phils dismissed the Dodgers in 5 games en route to winning the world series. Tonight they looked to pick up right where they left off. Cole Hamels got the start and appeared to be in good form dueling with Clayton Kershaw to a 1-0 Dodger's lead through 4 innings. Then in the 5th inning both pitchers lost it. First in the top of the inning, Kershaw issued 2 walks and threw 3 wild pitches, as Carlos Ruiz slammed a 3 run homer, and Ryan Howard slapped a 2 run double for a 5-1 lead. Then in the bottom of the inning Hamels was this close to shutting down L.A, before JRoll and Chase Utley botched a double play, allowing a run to score and opening the door for Manny Ramirez to slam a 2 run homer to cut it to 5-4. Hamels then could not get through the 6th inning, and exited having allowed 4 runs on 8 hits, not his best stuff but enough to get the win if the bullpen could just hold the lead. Fortunately on this night they were up to the task. First Chad Durbin, and J.A Happ combined to bail out Hamels and escape a bases loaded jam in the 6th. In the 7th Antonio Bastardo allowed a leadoff double to Andre Ethier, but Chan Ho Park, finally back from his hamstring injury, picked him up, retiring Manny, Matt Kemp, and Casey Blake in succession. Finally in the top of the 8th, the Phils struck oil again, as Raul Ibanez followed back to back walks to Howard and Jayson Werth, with a 3 run bomb to put the Phils up 8-4. Still, the Dodgers did not go away quietly. Ryan Madson had a rough time in the bottom of the 8th, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, but he got out of it by retiring Manny again, to preserve an 8-6 lead. In the 9th, in came Brad Lidge to get the save, and again it was not easy. Kemp led off with a single, Blake hit into a double play to leave the Dodgers with no one on base and 1 out to work with, but they still would not give up. James Loney followed the double play with a walk to once again run to the plate, but again Brad was up for it, forcing Ronnie Belliard to pop out, to finish off an 8-6 Phils win. I am running out of superlatives to describe this team with, but there are 2 things I'll take with me from this game. First much was made of the Dodger's having a bullpen far superior to the Phils'. On this night however, it was Phils' bullpen that held up, and Dodger bullpen that floundered. Second, much also about this Dodger team no longer needing to rely so much on Manny, yet it seemed to be tonight that when things really got tight they looked to Manny to come up with something and he could not. Well's that it for tonight, Let's Go Phils!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
Never underestimate the heart of a champion. If there were still any doubts that the Phils had that kind of heart they were erased on this night in a game that may go down as the greatest in NLDS histroy. So wild and crazy, was this one that the superb performance of CLiff Lee, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits through 7 innings, before running out of gas in the 8th,went for naught. So too did dramatic solo homers by "the Flyin Hawaiian", Shane Victorino in the 1st, and Jayson Werth in the 6th inning, which had given the Phils a seeming safe 2-1 lead through 7. That was before an 8th inning Rockies rally that seemed destined to force this series to a decisive game 5 back in Philly. Lee gave way after 7 and 1/3rd innings and rare error by Jimmy Rollins that put 2 on with 1 out, in favor of Ryan Madson. Fortunately, Ben Francisco was also inserted into the game as a defensive replacement for Raul Ibanez, as he promptly made a spectacular diving catch just seconds later to rob Troy Tulowitzki of an RBI single. At that point it looked like Madson would hold the lead and get out of the inning , but he could not, and a pinch RBI single by Jason Giambi and a 2 run double by Yorvit Torrealba later, Coors Field was rocking with Colorado ahead 4-2 and 3 outs from a game 5. The word quit is a foreign word though to these Phillies, and so even with the odds against them, as a revved up Houston Street took the mound for the 9th, they did not. Street had blown just 2 saves all year long, but somehow the Phils, particularly Ryan Howard who quietly told his teammates before the inning began, "Just get me to the plate", knew this would be number 3. Thus in a scene reminiscent of a Rocky movie they got off the canvas 1 last time. Jimmy Rollins got it started with a 1 out single, but Victorino grounded into a fielder's choice, with JRoll out at 2nd, and suddenly the Phils were down to their final out and Howard was a still a batter away. Chase Utley stayed calm though and after long at bat, he worked a walk to get Howard to the plate. A couple pitches later, Street gave Howard a gift, laying a fastball right into his wheel house, which the big man, or the "big piece" as Charlie Manuel calls him, deposited it deep to right field for a game tying 2 run double. Next Werth fought off a tough Street breaking ball, to loop an RBI single to center and against all hope the Phils were ahead again 5-4. Now who would close it out in the 9th? Shockingly lefty specialist Scott Eyre, who had crumbled in a heap in front of the mound less than 24 hours earlier after rolling his ankle, was the man who got the call against the Rockie's lefties. Eyre managed to get the 1st 2 outs, but after Todd Helton slapped a single up the middle to put 2 on with 2 out for Tulowitzki, in came Brad Lidge to close the door again. He got the count to 2-2 on Tulowitzki, then tossed a vintage knee buckling slider that Tulo couldn't hold up on, to close out the 5-4 win and the 3-1 series win. This was simply put the performance of the season by a team for the ages and I don't know what else to say about it other than, L.A here we come.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
Oh what a night and what a game between the Phils and Rockies tonight. With the game being played in 20 degree weather the air was supposed to be too thick to score too many runs, instead the 2 teams combined for 11 runs on 18 hits in a wild one. J.A Happ got the start but was pulled after only 3 innings, as the Phils tried to put more runs on the board with pinch hitter Greg Dobbs. Jason Hammel meanwhile lasted just 3 and 2/3rd's innings for the Rockies so it was a battle of the bullpens, and the Phils with the heart of a champion found a way to win. Chase Utley started things off with a rousing solo homer in the top of the 1st, to put the Phils up 1-0. A couple of weak singles allowed Colorado to go ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the inning. A double by Garret Atkins made it 3-1 in the 3rd inning. In the 4th, singles by Ryan Howard, and Carlos Ruiz, and a bases loaded walk pushed the Phils back ahead 4-3. In the bottom of the inning Carlos Gonzalez ripped a solo shot off Joe Blanton to tie it up again at 4. In the 6th Ruiz singled in another run for a 5-4 Phils lead. In the bottom of the 7th Gonzalez doubled and score on a sac fly to tie it up again at 5. Finally in the top of the 10th a sac fly by Ryan Howard put the Phils ahead again 6-5 and this time it would stand up. With Ryan Madson having already pitched in the 7th inning, in came Brad Lidge for the save. After allowing 2 on with 2 out, Lidge got the dangerous Troy Tulowitzki to pop up for the final out, as he remained perfect in postseason save opportunities as a Phil and put the Phils in command of the series again with a 2 games to 1 lead and Cliff Lee to start tomorrow.
EAGLES NEWS
The Birds, inlcuding the wounded, Donovan Mcnabb and Brian Westbrook, returned to action this afternoon against the winless Tampa Bay Bucs. For Mcnabb the return from his rib injury could not have been better, as he completed16 of 21 passes, for 264 yards and 3 TDs, including 2 40 + yard bombs to rookie WR Jeremy Maclin. For Westbrook the return wasn't quite so sweet, but he did compile 6 rushes for 18 yards and a TD, and 2 catches for 17 yards, which is a start at least. Ultimately the star of the offense on this day was Maclin, who caught 6 balls for 142 yards and those 2 TDs. Maclin was so good, the Birds didn't even really need Desean Jackson today, who caught exactly 1 ball for 1 yard. That's how many weapons this offense has. The number 1 reciever was basically shutdown and they still rolled to 325 yards of offense and 33 points. Other contributors on offense, include Brent Celek who chipped in with 4 catches for 58 yards, and new Fullback Leonard Weaver, who scored his 1st TD as an Eagle, on a 20 yard pass from Mcnabb. As for the defense it was solid, which is really all it needed to be against an admittedly god awful Buccaneer offense. They sacked QB Josh Johnson 3 times and forced him into 3 interceptions. Early on Tampa did manage to put together a TD drive to cut the lead to 14-7, but after that they starting committing penalties, and Johnson just couldn't get comfortable in the pocket, which made things easy for the Birds. Individually, it was Trent Cole leading the way as usal with 7 tackles and a sack. Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown were also huge with an interception each. Early on the Birds had a 14-0 lead thanks to Mcnabb's 1st 2 TD passes. Then Tampa cut it to 14-7, before Mcnabb hit hus 3rd TD pass to make it 21-7 at the half. In the 2nd half Westbrook got his score from 7 yards out to make it 28-0 and an Akers' feld goal made it 31-7 heading into the 4th quarter. Tampa Finally got on the board again in the 4th quarter to cut it to 31- 14 before a safety with 58 seconds left pushed the Eagle lead to 33-14 and put away the win. So the Birds move to 3-1 overall and continue their good start to the season.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
FLYERS NEWS
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.
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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