The Phils continued their series with the Brewers this afternoon. Joe Blanton got the start and put forth another above average effort allowing just 2 runs on 4 hits through the 1st 6 innings. Once again he seemed to run out of gas in the 7th, allowing a 3 run homer by Corey Hart, before finishing the inning and his day having allowed 5 runs on 6 hits. Hart's blast not withstanding, it was still a solid day for Blanton. That's mostly because the Phils racked up 10 runs on 17 hits so all they needed out of Joe was 6 or 7 innings while allowing 4 or 5 runss. A single by Shane Victorino and a double by Chase Utley produced 2 runs in the 2nd. Victorino bashed a 2 run homer in the 6th. Finally in the 7th Victorino and Paul each slapped RBI doubles, Placido Polanco blooped an RBI single and Utley hit a deep sac fly for another 5 runs and at the time a 9-2 lead
Then Hart's homer cut it to 9-5, making things interesting, that is until a fielder's choice in the in 8th pushed the lead back up to 10-5. Unfortunately, after Chad Durbin tossed a scoreless 8th inning David Hernon was unable to close it out in 9th, forcing Jose Contreras into the game to earn his 1st career save. It wasn't easy though. Herndon left him with 2 runners in scoring position and only 1 out. From there Contreras walked the bases loaded before striking out the side to preserve the 10-6 win. So the Phils take the series over the Brewers and move to 22-13 overall, now 3 games up in the NL East.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
FLYERS NEWS
It wasn't long ago that the Flyers were down 3-0 to the Bruins in their conference semifinal series. Most though the season was over after that, that they Orange and Black were playing on borrowed time, everyone that is except the players and coach Lavoliette themselves. So tonight they met with Bruins for game 7 of their series, looking to finish off the most improbable comeback in franchise history. First they would have to make yet another improbable comeback. Early on the Flyers looked like they meant business and were really taking it to the Bruins. All it took was misguided penalty by Scott Hartnell to turn the tables and allot Boston with a 1-0 lead just 5 minutes into the game. Less than 4 minutes later after Danny Briere took another ill advised penalty Boston made it 2-0. Then with about 6 minutes left in the 1st period Milan Lucic broke away on a 3 on 1 and flipped one by Micheal Leighton for a 3-0 lead.
So that was it right, It had been a great comeback by the Flyers, but they weren't going to be able to finish it off. Not so fast. Lavoliette quickly called a timeout after that to calm down the troops and boy did it work. Boston had multiple chances in the remainder of the period to make it 4-0 but Leighton stood tall. Then with a little less than 3 minutes in the period James Van Reimsdyk scored his first ever playoff goal, a softie through Tuuka Rask's legs to make it 3-1, and the rest as they say is history. A little over 5 minutes into the 2nd period Chris Pronger sent a pass the length of the ice to Hartnell who managed to get it to the net and then put it away off a second rebound to cut the lead to 3-2. 2 minutes later Danny Briere rumbled the length of the ice wrapped around the goal and somehow flipped one behind Rask and into the side of the net to tie it up at 3. It stayed 3-3 heading into the 3rd and all the way to about 7 minutes remaining in game as Leighton continued to hold off every Boston charge.
Finally at that point the Flyers got just their 3rd power play of the night, as Boston was caught with too many men on the ice. The Flyers took advantage a little over a minute later with Simon Gagne jabbing in a bouncing puck for a 4-3 lead, the Flyer's first of the night. Leighton made sure it held up the rest of the way as he finished off a solid 22 save night. So the Flyers got the 4-3 win and danced into history as just the 4th team overall(baseball/basketball/hockey) to successfully rally from 3-0 down to win a series, and just the 3rd NHL team to do so and now they'll host the Eastern conference finals. I just can't believe this team. They have injuries, a different goalie every month, and one deficit after another, yet nothing seems faze them. Now that they've come from 3-0 down who's gonna stop them now?
So that was it right, It had been a great comeback by the Flyers, but they weren't going to be able to finish it off. Not so fast. Lavoliette quickly called a timeout after that to calm down the troops and boy did it work. Boston had multiple chances in the remainder of the period to make it 4-0 but Leighton stood tall. Then with a little less than 3 minutes in the period James Van Reimsdyk scored his first ever playoff goal, a softie through Tuuka Rask's legs to make it 3-1, and the rest as they say is history. A little over 5 minutes into the 2nd period Chris Pronger sent a pass the length of the ice to Hartnell who managed to get it to the net and then put it away off a second rebound to cut the lead to 3-2. 2 minutes later Danny Briere rumbled the length of the ice wrapped around the goal and somehow flipped one behind Rask and into the side of the net to tie it up at 3. It stayed 3-3 heading into the 3rd and all the way to about 7 minutes remaining in game as Leighton continued to hold off every Boston charge.
Finally at that point the Flyers got just their 3rd power play of the night, as Boston was caught with too many men on the ice. The Flyers took advantage a little over a minute later with Simon Gagne jabbing in a bouncing puck for a 4-3 lead, the Flyer's first of the night. Leighton made sure it held up the rest of the way as he finished off a solid 22 save night. So the Flyers got the 4-3 win and danced into history as just the 4th team overall(baseball/basketball/hockey) to successfully rally from 3-0 down to win a series, and just the 3rd NHL team to do so and now they'll host the Eastern conference finals. I just can't believe this team. They have injuries, a different goalie every month, and one deficit after another, yet nothing seems faze them. Now that they've come from 3-0 down who's gonna stop them now?
PHILLIES NEWS
Fresh off a rain shortened series in Colorado the Phils traveled to Milwaukee tonight to begin a weekend series with the Brewers. While Jamie Moyer turned back the clock in with a complete game shutout in his last start both teams did so tonight as they donned their uniforms from the 70s, with the Phils in their old blue and maroon road jerseys. Although he goes back about as far as those unis Moyer continued to look under his age in this one going another 6 strong while allowing just 3 runs on 5 hits. Meanwhile Ryan Howard bashed a 2 run homer in the 1st, Raul Ibanez slapped an RBI double in the 2nd and a solo shot in 4th, Shane Victorino tripled in 2 runs in 4th, and singled in a run in the 6th, and finally Placido Polanco hit a sac fly in the 6th, to pace the Phils to an 8-3 lead. After that Jamie ran out of gas in the 7th, allowing Milwaukee to cut the score to 8-5 and briefly get back into it, but the Phils bullpen hung tough from there.
David Herndon closed out the 7th for Jamie. Danys Baez pitched into and out of trouble in the 8th inning. Finally, after Chase Utley hit one of those 'How did he do that' solo homers in the top of the inning to push the lead to 9-5, Jose Contreras closed it out but only after allowing a 1 out single and making things interesting. Fortunately Wilson Valdez made a great leaping catch a line drive to finish the night. Still, it was another job well done for Contreras. It's the 5th win of the season already for the ageless Moyer and who knows how many more there will be. With Brian Schneider and Carlos Ruiz both nursing injuries Paul Hoover got the start at catcher and proved to be a worthy replacement, reaching base twice with a single and a walk and calmly working through the night with the Phils pitching staff. He's actually a 33 year old veteran and this is his 7th time being up in the big leagues so he should be quite capable of holding down the fort for a while. It was still nice to see him play so well though. Anyway the Phils are now 21-13 overall and remain 1st in the NL East, 1.5 games up on the Nationals.
David Herndon closed out the 7th for Jamie. Danys Baez pitched into and out of trouble in the 8th inning. Finally, after Chase Utley hit one of those 'How did he do that' solo homers in the top of the inning to push the lead to 9-5, Jose Contreras closed it out but only after allowing a 1 out single and making things interesting. Fortunately Wilson Valdez made a great leaping catch a line drive to finish the night. Still, it was another job well done for Contreras. It's the 5th win of the season already for the ageless Moyer and who knows how many more there will be. With Brian Schneider and Carlos Ruiz both nursing injuries Paul Hoover got the start at catcher and proved to be a worthy replacement, reaching base twice with a single and a walk and calmly working through the night with the Phils pitching staff. He's actually a 33 year old veteran and this is his 7th time being up in the big leagues so he should be quite capable of holding down the fort for a while. It was still nice to see him play so well though. Anyway the Phils are now 21-13 overall and remain 1st in the NL East, 1.5 games up on the Nationals.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers and Bruins met at the Wachovia center tonight for game 6 of their conference semifinal series. With a win the Flyers would complete their improbable turn around from 3-0 to 3-3 and force a game 7. In their history the Orange and Black had never even gotten this far, back to 3-2, when trailing 3-0 in a series. So just playing tonight was special for them but they didn't allow themselves to get caught up in moment. Once again Boston did not perform up to same standard they set for themselves early in this series, mostly thanks to the Flyer's swarming defense. Even when they were able to control the puck in the Flyer's zone for a while, Boston couldn't get off quality shots. Of the 31 shots they did get off, 30 were swallowed by Micheal Leighton who spent the night looking surprisingly calm and confident in his first ever playoff start.
While the Flyer's defense continued to frustrate Boston, Mike Richards and Danny Briere took care of business on the other side of the ice. Early in the 1st period Richards slapped in a rebound for a 1-0 lead. Late in the 2nd period Briere broke into the Boston zone on his own lost the puck for a moment, had it bounce fortuitously right back to him, and then quickly lifted over Tuuka Rask for a 2-0 lead. Later with Milan Lucic poking one in with a minute to play, Briere's score turned out to be the game winner. So there will be a game 7 and once again I can't wait to see it. In other news the Montreal Canadien's completed another shocker tonight knocking off the defending stanley cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in game 7 of their conference semifinal series. That means if the Orange and Black win game 7 on Friday they will host the Eastern conference finals which would incredible. Go Flyers!
While the Flyer's defense continued to frustrate Boston, Mike Richards and Danny Briere took care of business on the other side of the ice. Early in the 1st period Richards slapped in a rebound for a 1-0 lead. Late in the 2nd period Briere broke into the Boston zone on his own lost the puck for a moment, had it bounce fortuitously right back to him, and then quickly lifted over Tuuka Rask for a 2-0 lead. Later with Milan Lucic poking one in with a minute to play, Briere's score turned out to be the game winner. So there will be a game 7 and once again I can't wait to see it. In other news the Montreal Canadien's completed another shocker tonight knocking off the defending stanley cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in game 7 of their conference semifinal series. That means if the Orange and Black win game 7 on Friday they will host the Eastern conference finals which would incredible. Go Flyers!
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils continued their series with the Rockies tonight. They were supposed to play a day night doubleheader, but game 2 of the doubleheader was rained out and postponed indefinitely. In game 1 Roy Halladay got his first start in his home state of Colorado and unfortunately it wasn't one of his best. He didn't pitch that poorly, he just wasn't at his best, allowing 3 runs on 10 hits in just 6 and 1/3rd innings. He was probably a little nervous pitching in his home state and also Coors field of making great pitchers like Halladay look average. The Phils also didn't give him much support with Jayson Werth's RBI double in the 4th inning, and Chase Utley's RBI single and Raul Ibanez's sac fly in the 5th inning, producing the Phils only runs of the night. Still that was enough to allow the Phils to take a 3-1 lead into the 7th inning, before the Rockies scratched out a couple of runs to tie it up and chase Halladay from the game.
So it became a battle of the bullpens the rest of the way. J.C Romero finished off the 7th with 2 quick flyouts. Then Danys Baez tossed a scoreless 8th and Chad Durbin got through a scoreless 9th inning. Durbin then came back for the 10th and wasn't as lucky. On the first pitch he threw in the inning Miguel Olivo smacked a solo shot to lift the Rockies to the 4-3 win. So ultimately it was just one of those nights where it didn't quite go the Phils way. However, the Phils also lost more than the game tonight as Carlos Ruiz went down with a knee injury, but tests showed it was not a serious injury. So hopefully he won't be out long if at all. At any rate right now the Phils sit at 20-13 overall and remain 1st in the NL East by a couple games.
So it became a battle of the bullpens the rest of the way. J.C Romero finished off the 7th with 2 quick flyouts. Then Danys Baez tossed a scoreless 8th and Chad Durbin got through a scoreless 9th inning. Durbin then came back for the 10th and wasn't as lucky. On the first pitch he threw in the inning Miguel Olivo smacked a solo shot to lift the Rockies to the 4-3 win. So ultimately it was just one of those nights where it didn't quite go the Phils way. However, the Phils also lost more than the game tonight as Carlos Ruiz went down with a knee injury, but tests showed it was not a serious injury. So hopefully he won't be out long if at all. At any rate right now the Phils sit at 20-13 overall and remain 1st in the NL East by a couple games.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils were supposed to continue their series with Rockies tonight with Colorado native, Roy Halladay, making his first start in his home town. Unfortunately the night washed out. So tomorrow the Phils will play 2 games in a night time doubleheader with game 1 at about 3 and game 2 around 8:30 or so. It should be a wild night.
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