The Phils activated Brad Lidge from the DL at last. He'll be available to pitch in the series against the Mets starting tomorrow. We'll know soon enough whether he's back to his old self this season or not. To make room for the Lidge the Phils sent Antonio Bastardo back down to AAA for now anyway. He had pitching pretty well his last couple times out so it's just a shame they ran out of room for him.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
EAGLES NEWS
The Birds signed Kevin Kolb to a 1 year 12.26 million extension today so he now two seasons to prove himself and ink an even bigger extension.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
PHILLIES NEWS
There's a been a lot of talk over the years of the Phils losing early season games that they shouldn't, but for each of those instances there always seems to be a game the Phils win that they shouldn't have. This afternoon one such affair. Cole Hamels got the start and was his usual uneven self. He struck out 10 over 6 innings but also wound up allowing 4 runs on 10 hits after failing to get out of a bases loaded jam in the 6th. With Tim Lincecum, the reigning CY Young award winner, on the mound for the Giants you would think this was going to be bad day for the Phils but it wasn't. Lincecum went and 8 and 1/3rd allowing just 1 run on 3 hits, 2 of them by Ryan Howard including a solo homer. Then Giant's skipper Bruce Bochy made the bone headed decision to remove Lincecum from the game in favor of Bryan Wilson who had been the best closer in the NL this season up until now.
He wasn't so great today. He loaded the bases with 2 out for Jayson Werth, who after a great at bat, blooped a bases clearing double to right field just in inside foul line to tie things up at 4. From there in the top of the 10th, Brian Schneider was hit by a pitch, sacrificed to 2nd, moved to 3rd on a Shane Victorino single and then scored a wild pitch to put the Phils up 5-4. Ryan Madson couldn't hold the lead in the bottom of the inning though and the game went to an 11th inning tied at 5. There Eugenio Velez gave away the Giant's hopes of a sweep. First Wilson Valdez launched an RBI double just over Velez's head for a 6-5 lead. Then Velez dropped a routine pop up allowing Valdez to score and push the lead to 7-5. Finally in the bottom of 11th Nelson Figueroa of all people got closed things out for his first career save, but only Nate Schuerholz slapped an RBI double and Schneider made a spectacular play at the plate doing a 360 almost after a slightly wide Howard throw to spin around and tag out Juan Uribe, who tried to score on a ground ball, and preserve the 7-6 win.
Chase Utley collected his 1000th career hit in the game. As Harry would say, Chase you are the man. The Giants had 17 hits in the game but only 6 runs which again shows how bad they are at knocking in runs. It was great to see Howard collect two hits off Lincecum. Maybe he is more than just a slugger after all. I wonder which is the real Cole Hamels. The one who struck out 10 or the one who allowed 4 runs on 10 hits. I still believe it is the latter but only time will tell. With the win the Phils did indeed finish 4-5 on the road trip, not bad considering how awful they played at times. They are now 12-9 overall and remain 2nd in the NL East. They can move back in to first if they can take of the NY Mets this weekend.
He wasn't so great today. He loaded the bases with 2 out for Jayson Werth, who after a great at bat, blooped a bases clearing double to right field just in inside foul line to tie things up at 4. From there in the top of the 10th, Brian Schneider was hit by a pitch, sacrificed to 2nd, moved to 3rd on a Shane Victorino single and then scored a wild pitch to put the Phils up 5-4. Ryan Madson couldn't hold the lead in the bottom of the inning though and the game went to an 11th inning tied at 5. There Eugenio Velez gave away the Giant's hopes of a sweep. First Wilson Valdez launched an RBI double just over Velez's head for a 6-5 lead. Then Velez dropped a routine pop up allowing Valdez to score and push the lead to 7-5. Finally in the bottom of 11th Nelson Figueroa of all people got closed things out for his first career save, but only Nate Schuerholz slapped an RBI double and Schneider made a spectacular play at the plate doing a 360 almost after a slightly wide Howard throw to spin around and tag out Juan Uribe, who tried to score on a ground ball, and preserve the 7-6 win.
Chase Utley collected his 1000th career hit in the game. As Harry would say, Chase you are the man. The Giants had 17 hits in the game but only 6 runs which again shows how bad they are at knocking in runs. It was great to see Howard collect two hits off Lincecum. Maybe he is more than just a slugger after all. I wonder which is the real Cole Hamels. The one who struck out 10 or the one who allowed 4 runs on 10 hits. I still believe it is the latter but only time will tell. With the win the Phils did indeed finish 4-5 on the road trip, not bad considering how awful they played at times. They are now 12-9 overall and remain 2nd in the NL East. They can move back in to first if they can take of the NY Mets this weekend.
EAGLES NEWS
The Eagles signed punter Ken Parrish today. He is a local product from East Stroudsburg and will compete with Sav Rocca to be the Eagles starting punter. He tried for the Birds before but it was cut before the season. With Rocca having an inconsistent season last year he stands a better chance of making the team this time around. Who knows a local hero could be just what the Birds to break the curse that's been hanging over them for the last 50 years.
FLYERS NEWS
It's official the Flyers will play the Boston Bruins in the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs starting saturday. That's right mr. Ovechkin and the Capitals were knocked out last night by the Montreal Canadiens losing game 7 of their series 2-1. I can't wait until Saturday.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
PHILLIES NEWS
Tonight was one of those nights for the Phils where nothing went right and I mean nothing. The best thing they can do after this one is forget about it move on, but that won't be easy. Once again they couldn't hit with runners in scoring position. They also compounded things with some very sloppy play. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard each got thrown out at 2nd trying to stretch a single into double. Although they did turn a highlight reel double play early in the game Chase and Juan Castro mistimed a double play late in the game leading to an error when Chase couldn't get the ball out of his glove right away. That caused Chad Durbin to have his first bad inning of the season. Finally although he pitch effectively enough to keep the Phils in the game and give them a chance to win Jamie Moyer allowed 2 homers in the 2nd inning putting the Phils in a hole from which they would never escape. Oh and once again there were questionable balls and strikes almost all going in the Giants favor.
As poorly as they played the Phils actually only lost by 4 with the final score 6-2, which just shows how poor the Giants lineup is and how well Moyer battled in allowing just 4 runs against 10 hits in 6 solid innnigs. It was such a disgusting effort I don 't want to too much more about it. However, there were a few positives the Phils can take out of this one. With his 6 innings tonight Moyer has now 6 innings in all 4 of his starts this season and has yet to allow more than 5 runs which makes him, behind Roy Halladay, the Phils most consistent starter right now. As long he keeps eating up innings and saving the bullpen like he did tonight he won't be leaving the rotation any time soon. J.C Romero made his 2nd appearance tonight since coming off DL and looked sharp with a 1-2-3 8th inning. In fact he really looked like the old J.C pumpimp himself up after every pitch. That's a good sign that the Phils bullpen can indeed improve over the coming weeks and might not be in too much trouble after all if indeed Romero and Brad Lidge, who returns Monday, are strong and healthy again.
With the loss the Phils drop out of 1st place for the 1st time since last May. They've got a lot to be thankful for though. Despite their awful play of late they have still managed to go 3-5 on their current road trip and could 4-5 on the trip with a win tomorrow, basically breaking even. Conversely, the Braves, who are on a similar road trip and have played just as poorly, have lost 7 in a row. So even the Phils worst is better than most teams below average play and that's really why they are so good. After all how many teams do you know that can be awful and still play near .500 ball?
As poorly as they played the Phils actually only lost by 4 with the final score 6-2, which just shows how poor the Giants lineup is and how well Moyer battled in allowing just 4 runs against 10 hits in 6 solid innnigs. It was such a disgusting effort I don 't want to too much more about it. However, there were a few positives the Phils can take out of this one. With his 6 innings tonight Moyer has now 6 innings in all 4 of his starts this season and has yet to allow more than 5 runs which makes him, behind Roy Halladay, the Phils most consistent starter right now. As long he keeps eating up innings and saving the bullpen like he did tonight he won't be leaving the rotation any time soon. J.C Romero made his 2nd appearance tonight since coming off DL and looked sharp with a 1-2-3 8th inning. In fact he really looked like the old J.C pumpimp himself up after every pitch. That's a good sign that the Phils bullpen can indeed improve over the coming weeks and might not be in too much trouble after all if indeed Romero and Brad Lidge, who returns Monday, are strong and healthy again.
With the loss the Phils drop out of 1st place for the 1st time since last May. They've got a lot to be thankful for though. Despite their awful play of late they have still managed to go 3-5 on their current road trip and could 4-5 on the trip with a win tomorrow, basically breaking even. Conversely, the Braves, who are on a similar road trip and have played just as poorly, have lost 7 in a row. So even the Phils worst is better than most teams below average play and that's really why they are so good. After all how many teams do you know that can be awful and still play near .500 ball?
FLYERS NEWS
Bad news Flyer's fans, Ian Laperiere is finished for the season as he apparently suffered a brain injury when he took that puck to the face during game 5 of the conference quarterfinal series. It will simply be to dangerous for him to play again this season. Losing him really hurts the Orange and Black as he along with Blair Betts formed the Flyer's penalty kill unit which will be key in the next round of the playoffs whenever it starts. Now they'll have to penalty kill without him laying out to block shots. Since their defense remains healthy and intact they may just be able to get by without him. Also the team could be doubly motivated now to play well in his honor. So don't count the Orange and Black just yet. If they can score without Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne then why can't they penalty kill without Laperiere. Hey it could happen.
Monday, April 26, 2010
PHILLIES NEWS
$125 million, that's a lot of zeroes and all of them went to Ryan Howard this afternoon as he signed a 5 year $125 million with the Phils 2 years before his contract was due to expire. Unfortunately it looked like the big contract might have gone to his teammates heads on this night as they failed to register a hit with runner's scoring position in the 1st game of a series with the Giants in San Francisco. They just kept trying to hit homers and tie the game with one swing everytime rather than staying patient and making contact, the two things that worked so well for them early in the season. Of course when hitting homers can suddenly get you $125 then why not go for it on every bat. I know the Phils don't really think like that, but it just seemed like it tonight and it cost them.
That's because Roy Halladay picked tonight to have one of his 2 or 3 off days of the season. He didn't pitch that poorly as Giants hit some really good pitches, but he was also squeezed by the perennial worst umpire in baseball, C.B Buckner, and ended leaving a few pitches in bad places. So for one night at least he was human, allowing 5 runs on 10 hits in 7 innings of work. Normally with the best lineup in the NL behind him that might have been enough but as mentioned the Phils lineup extended its slump at least for one more night. They did score one run on a fielder's choice and Shane Victorino, one of few guys who wasn't swinging for the fences, had a great night with a pair of doublesm but that was it as the Phils fell 5-1. Despite the loss they remain 1st in the NL East but only by a half a game now. They're going to have to pick it up with bats again to win this series and tomorrow night, with Todd Wellenmeyer, who is winless and has an ERA over 6, going for the Giants, should be a prime time for them to break out of the slump.
That's because Roy Halladay picked tonight to have one of his 2 or 3 off days of the season. He didn't pitch that poorly as Giants hit some really good pitches, but he was also squeezed by the perennial worst umpire in baseball, C.B Buckner, and ended leaving a few pitches in bad places. So for one night at least he was human, allowing 5 runs on 10 hits in 7 innings of work. Normally with the best lineup in the NL behind him that might have been enough but as mentioned the Phils lineup extended its slump at least for one more night. They did score one run on a fielder's choice and Shane Victorino, one of few guys who wasn't swinging for the fences, had a great night with a pair of doublesm but that was it as the Phils fell 5-1. Despite the loss they remain 1st in the NL East but only by a half a game now. They're going to have to pick it up with bats again to win this series and tomorrow night, with Todd Wellenmeyer, who is winless and has an ERA over 6, going for the Giants, should be a prime time for them to break out of the slump.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils finished their series with the Dbacks this afternoon. Kyle Kendrick got the start and was shaky but effective for 4 innings, before getting roughed up for 5 runs on 5 hits in the 5th inning, including 2 homers. Needless to say that was it for him after the 5th, but it wasn't it for the Phils. Before that 5th inning the Phils were leading 3-0 thanks to a 2 run homer by Greg Dobbs in the 1st and Valdez scoring on a fielder's choice in the 5th. After Kendrick surrendered the lead in the 5th it didn't take the Phils long to get it back. In the top of the 6th, a sac fly by Jayson Werth and a 2 out single by Carlos Ruiz produced 3 runs to help the Phils surge back ahead 6-5. Danys Baez managed hold that lead through the bottom of the 6th, but he had a shaky day and ultimately surrendered a run in the 7th to knot things up at 6.
The Phils then had a golden opportunity in the 8th with runners on the corners and only 1 out, but Ruiz popped up and Placido Polanco, in a rare pinch hit appearance, just missed a single as he lined out to end the inning. David Herndon wasn't so lucky in the bottom of the 8th. He appeared to have leadoff man Stephen Drew struck out but didn't get the call and Drew singled on the next pitch. Then with 1 out and a man on 2nd, he appeared to have Mark Reynolds, but again didn't get the call and Reynolds eventually went on slap an RBI double, which Ross Gload, who started in center in place of Shane Victorino, should have caught but somehow lost in the sun. Next after intentionally walking Adam Laroche, Herndon finally got a ground ball off the bat of Chris Young but it just found the hole in between short and 3rd for an RBI single. Finally after that he got the next batter to ground into a double play but it was too late. Thanks to a suddenly widened strike zone for Dback closer Chad Qualls in the 9th, the Phils could mount another rally and fell 8-6 to drop the series.
The Phils then had a golden opportunity in the 8th with runners on the corners and only 1 out, but Ruiz popped up and Placido Polanco, in a rare pinch hit appearance, just missed a single as he lined out to end the inning. David Herndon wasn't so lucky in the bottom of the 8th. He appeared to have leadoff man Stephen Drew struck out but didn't get the call and Drew singled on the next pitch. Then with 1 out and a man on 2nd, he appeared to have Mark Reynolds, but again didn't get the call and Reynolds eventually went on slap an RBI double, which Ross Gload, who started in center in place of Shane Victorino, should have caught but somehow lost in the sun. Next after intentionally walking Adam Laroche, Herndon finally got a ground ball off the bat of Chris Young but it just found the hole in between short and 3rd for an RBI single. Finally after that he got the next batter to ground into a double play but it was too late. Thanks to a suddenly widened strike zone for Dback closer Chad Qualls in the 9th, the Phils could mount another rally and fell 8-6 to drop the series.
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