The Phils continued their series with the Mets this afternoon. Jamie Moyer got the start and tossed a gem, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits in 6 and 1/3rd innings. Meanwhile, Jimmy Rollins stayed a hot with another hit and 2 RBIs to lead the Phils to an early 3-0 which like yesterday stood up the rest of the way. Jayson Werth got the Phils started with a sac fly in the bottom of the 1st. Then JRoll slapped a 2 run double in the bottom of the 4th for the 3-0 lead. In the top of 5th, Melvin Nieves, the pitcher, gave the Mets their only run of the day with an RBI single. Finally in the bottom of the 6th "the Flyin Hawaiian", Shane Victorino slapped a 2 out RBI single to put the Phils up 4-1 and put the Mets away for good. From there, the usual suspects, J.C Romero, Ryan Madson, and Brad Lidge closed it out, for Moyer's 7th win of the season. I don't want to jump the gun again, but I think this could be it this time, this could be the end of JRoll's slump. Of course only time will tell though. Today for the first time in a while Brad Lidge looked like the guy who was perfect last season, instead of the guy who blew 5 saves earlier this season and that's really a good sign for the Phils bullpen. Even more good news for Phils bullpen, is that Scott Eyre comes off the DL tomorrow so the Phils are starting to get healthy again at the right time. Anyway so the Phils move to 41-37 overall now and still 1 game up in the NL East, but now 3 games ahead of the Mets and the Braves.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Friday, July 03, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils returned to the Bank tonight to begin a long homestand, starting with a weekend series against the NY Mets. Out of the majors since 2007 thanks to injuries, Rodrigo Lopez, recently called up from AAA to replace Antonio Bastardo who is apparently on the DL now, got the start for the Phils tonight. Lopez put forth an inspiring performance, to say the least, allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits in 6 and 1/3rd innings. Meanwhile, the Phils beat up on old nemesis, Livan Hernandez, for 7 runs on 10 hits in just 3 innings. So the Phils enjoyed a rare night in which they took an overwhelming advantage early the in game and could simply sit on it, perfect for a Met game. While the Mets were struggling to figure out Lopez, the Phils jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead. Jimmy Rollins got the Phils going right of the bat, leading off the 1st inning with a double and scoring on a single by Chase Utley. Then after Ryan Howard walked to load the bases, Greg Dobbs singled a couple batters laters for 2 more runs and 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the 2nd, Utley sac flied in a run for a 4-0 lead. In the bottom of the 3rd, Jayson Werth slugged a solo homer and JRoll slapped a 2 out 2 run double for a 7-0 lead. The Mets finally got on the board in the 7th inning scoring a couple runs on back to back doubles by Nick Evans and Brian Schneider, but they were too little too late and did little but cut the final score to 7-2. What a pleasant surprise Lopez was. I really thought he was going to get lit up but he surprised me big time. If he can keep pitching like that he could be a long term option to replace Brett Myers in the rotation for the rest of the season. Ryan Madson actually had a 1-2-3 9th inning tonight and considering how he'd been kinda struggling lately, it was great to see. Also great to see was JRoll hitting and getting on base. The Phils really need him to keep that up if they want to start a winning streak on this homestand instead of another losing streak. So anyway the Phils move to 40-37 overall and now back to a game up over the Marlins in the and 2 over the Mets in the NL East.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils completed their series with the Braves tonight. J.A Happ got the start and tossed 7 good innings, allowing just 2 runs on 7 hits. Unfortunately, the Phils only scored 2 runs in that time as well. Ryan Madson then got unlucky in the 8th and allowed to take the lead and ultimately the win. Happ's one mistake on the night, gave the Braves the early 2-0 lead on a 2 run homer by Casey Kotchman. The Phils answered in the top of the 6th inning as a RBI double by Greg Dobbs and a fielder's choice tied it up at 2. It stayed that way until the bottom of the 8th. There, Madson got burned for an RBI double by Matt Diaz, and a 2 run homer by Garrett Anderson for a 5-2 Atlanta lead. The Phils then went down quietly in the 9th as Altanta completed the series sweep, the first time the Phils have been swept on the road all season, and that after they had gone unbeaten at Turner field last season. What happened to Ryan Madson tonight? He simply missed his spots. He's just not quite as precise and in control of his pitches right now as he is when he is at his best. The funny thing about the game tonight is that Jimmy Rollins actually had a couple hits tonight. Yeah imagine that, JRoll finally got untracked and the Phils lost anyway. They're just not getting enough production from the middle of the lineup without Raul Ibanez in there. They also don't seem to have the same will win Raul in there pushing them. Unfortunately, although he is eligible to come off the DL tomorrow, it is unlikely that he will at this point. So the Phils will have to figure out away out of this funk they're without him. So anyway with the loss they drop to 39-37 overall and now into a tie with the Marlins for first place in the NL East.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils continued their series with the Braves tonight looking to rebound from their tough 10 inning loss last night. Cole Hamels got the start and looked to be cruising through 2 and 1/3rd innings, but then wheels came loose completey, and he wound up allowing 7 runs on 9 hits in just 4 innings. Meanwhile the Phils scored just one run in that time on a sac fly by Greg Dobbs in the 4th inning and needless to say they lost badly 11-1 as Jair Jurrjens went 7 good innings, holding the Phils to just 1 run on 1 hit. In fact the Phils had exactly 2 hits all night long which is just awful, although I am not sure they were really trying all that much after they fell behind 9-1 so maybe that explains it. You know for a team that had been struggling to hit coming into this series, the Braves are certainly making it look easy against the Phils. They had 11 runs on 14 hits all together and everyone in the lineup contributed. Martin freaking Prado, had another 2 hits and 2 RBIs, Chipper Jones had 2 hits and 3 RBIs, Matt Diaz had 3 hits and 2 RBIs, including a homer, I mean the list just goes on and on. It just goes to show the heightened the level of intensity teams always play with when they're facing the world champions. The Phillies aren't the hunter anymore ,they're the hunted and when you get to that point everyone you play is going to give the best they've got. So to win the Phils have to play well night in and night out, they can't just coast through games playing at an average level and expect to figure out a way to win in the end like they did last season. Right now they're just coasting again and not surprisingly losing games. If they are ever going to get out of this funk they will have to raise their play to a high level and keep it there consistently night in and night out. What has happened to Cole Hamels? After tonight's shellacking he's now just 4-5 overall with a 4.98 ERA. Is this really same guy who won NLCS and world series MVP last season? He seems to have suddenly lost his velocity and forgotten how think his way through innings. He's just going up there throwing the same pitches over and over again instead of making adjustments throughout the game to keep batters fooled from start to finish. Hopefully this isn't a harbinger of the things to come this season for Hamels. Anyway so the Phils drop to 39-36 overall now and just .5 games up in the NL East.
FLYERS NEWS
The NHL free agent signing period is in full swing right now and so is the Flyer's offseason as they made 2 additions to the team today. First they finally found their backup goalie in former Flyer Brian ,Boosh!, Boucher who had been Evgeni Nabokov's backup in San Jose with the Sharks the last few seasons. He's been a pretty good backup too, with a 12-6 record, 2.18 GAA and .917 save percentage last season, all very good totals for a backup. Ultimately, he is good insurance in case Ray Emery turns out to be a bust, and a reliable backup if Emery plays well. Next the Flyers added 35 year old 14 year veteran defensive minded winger/center Ian Lapierrere who's been with the Colorado Avalanche the last few seasons. Basically he simply adds to the higher level of defensive grit the Flyers had already added with Chris Pronger. He's the type of with 600+ penalty minutes last season who is willing take on anybody and use his body to block shots on net. He's also reportedly a very good faceoff guy which is something else the Flyer's lacked last season. So you can pretty much rest assured that with Pronger and now this guy around, the front of net will be cleared out for whoever is in goal, Emery or Boucher, to make saves this season. The only negative for the Flyers today is that Mike Knuble signed with the Washington Capitals, which removes another 25 goals from the roster. Couple with Joffrey Lupul that 50 less goals the Flyers will have this season. Of course, is Danny Briere actually stays healthy this season he could make up most of that on his own and the improved the defensive toughness will help cover some of that as well. Still, it might be nice if the Flyers added one more scorer just in case.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils traveled to Atlanta tonight to begin a series with the Braves. Joe Blanton got the start and was decent allowing 3 runs on 8 hits in just 5 innings , just good enough to keep the Phils in the game until they could mount a late rally. The Phils took the early 1-0 lead in the top of the 3rd inning on an RBI double by Ryan Howard. Atlanta answered right back in the bottom of the inning as Gregor Blanco tripled and scored on a single by Edgar Prado. The Phils retook the lead in the top of the 5th on a solo homer by Chase Utley. Then Atlanta again answered back in the bottom of the inning, as a solo homer by Prado and a fielder's choice put them up 3-2. While the Phils bullpen began to shut Atlanta down from there, dramatic homers by John Mayberry Jr. and Pedro Feliz rallied the Phils back ahead 4-3 in the top of the 8th. Unfortunately, Ryan Madson couldn't hold the lead in the bottom of the inning, as Prado slapped a 2 out RBI double to knot it up at 4. Neither team scored in the 9th inning, but the Phils had a chance in 10th to retake the lead with one on and one out, but Jayson Werth was robbed of hit by a diving Chipper Jones on an inning ending double play. In the bottom of the inning the Braves got their chance against Chan Ho Park. Park started the inning with a strike out but it got away from him after that. Matt Diaz and Blanco each singled to put runners at the corners for you guessed it, Prado, who promtply singled himself to score Diaz for the 5-4 win. Coming into tonight, Prado had exactly 3 home runs and 9 RBIs all season. So the fact that he 4 hits and 4 RBIs tonight is ridiculous. I wouldn't expect him to keep that up for the rest of the series. Ryan Madson is killing me right now. How does he keep blowing leads like this. Is it just bad luck or he has slipped a little bit? Tonight it was a little bit of both, as after getting the first 2 batters out in the 8th, he walked Blanco and threw the ball away trying to pick him off first, allowing him to move up to second. Then what happens, the very next batter Prado doubles to tie the game. You just can't make mistakes like that, but you also don't expect the next guy up to double. Sometimes in baseball bad things happen to good people. Honestly, though the Phils have to stop making stupid mistakes like this. Anyway so the Phils drop to 39-35 overall now and just 1.5 games up in the NL East, but it's the Marlins who are 2nd now.
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