Phils Take Game 1

Joe Blanton allowed two hits in seven shutout innings, leading the Phils to a 9-3 victory in the first game of their doubleheader today.

The win takes the Phils magic number down to five in the NL East. Highlights from the game after the jump...

Raul Ibanez hit his 32nd homer. Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard each had a two-run single for the Fightins, who also scored on a wild pitch, two RBI groundouts and Jimmy Rollins' sacrifice fly. Hard to believe they won so convincingly after striking out 16 times and going 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position. Screw it, a win is a win.

Heavy B(11-7) struck out nine and walked two, he allowed no hits after a leadoff single in the second. He's been great this year, hopefully he keeps it up through the postseason.
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Pedro Eliminates the Mets

Pedro Martinez pitched 8 masterful innings, beating his former team 1-0. The New York Mets are now eliminated from playoff contention. Pedro's 130 pitches were the most he has thrown since he was 29 years old. How sweet it must be, sticking it to the team that had zero interest in bringing him back. Dirty Wudders also had it wrong.

Martinez (5-0) tossed six-hit ball, struck out seven batters in eight shutout innings. He retired 10 straight at one point and the Phillies are now 7-0 when he starts. Ryan Madson tossed a scoreless ninth for his eighth save. Jimmy Rollins led off the game with a walk and scored on chase Utley's RBI single, for the only run of the game. The Phillied only had 3 hits on the night.

Thanks to Busted Coverage for the pic.

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Eagles Rip Panthers/Phils handle Mets

Ok, maybe the Eagles do not start off so slow anymore. After falling behind 7-0 early in the 1st Quarter, the Eagles rebounded nicely and stomped the Carolina Panthers 38-10. Sheldon Brown had two key interceptions and Trent Cole was a beast at the line of scrimmage. Desean Jackson provided a spark with an 85-yards punt return - where have you gone Reno Mahe? Donovan McNabb tossed two short TD's to Westbrook and Brent Celek and also rushed for another. The rushing TD proved to be costly.

McNabb broke a rib while bulldozing into the endzone in the 3rd Quarter. He is listed as Doubtful for Sundays game against New Orleans. Kevin Kolb relieved McNabb and did not impress. Let's hope he performs better with a week of preperation under his belt. The Eagles are expected to re-sign A.J. Feeley if #5's injury is short-term or maybe Jeff Garcia if it turns into an extended absense.

Phils 5 - Mets 4

Brad Lidge slammed the door shut on the Mets, getting his 39th save of the season. Ok, maybe he didn't slam it but the result was a win. Mimicking what he has done all season, Brad Lidge allowed multiple runs in the ninth inning but thanks to a 3-run lead, the Phils still held on. Game winning hit by Andy Tracy, a career minor leaguer who was called up to provide an extra bat in September. Kyle Kendrick pitched into the 8th inning earning his first win of the year.

Except for McNabb's injury, it was a good day to sit back and watch Philly wins. Kolb's career may rest on how he performs against a suspect Ner Orleans D next week. Pedro vs (Cy)Redding at 8:05. Expect Section 202 to get rowdy!
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Not a Good Weekend for the WFC's

Hunter Pence homered and drove in three runs Monday in the Astros' 4-3 win over the Phils, capping off 6 for 13 performance in the series including three homers and eight RBI's. Chan Ho Park took the loss for the Phils after walking Michael Bourn with the bases loaded in the 7th inning, squandering a three-hit, two-run gem pitched by Jamie Moyer. The old man was a last-minute substitution after J.A. Happ was unable to pitch due to an oblique strain. Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez both homered in the losing effort.

The Phils did everything possible to prevent themselves from winning over the weekend, but the low point of the series had to be Brad Lidge's continued sucking. The Phils' bats finally came to life Saturday night, and their trusted closer did what he seems to do best this season - suck. Brett Myers has looked decent in his first couple of outings, and it might be time for Charlie to take a look at bailing on "Lights Out". How many more games does Lidge need to blow before Charlie swallows his pride and does something about the situation? It's beyond ridiculous at this point. Loyalty to your players is a great trait for a manager to possess, but loyalty at the expense of success is just stupidity.

Luckily the Phils have a comfortable cushion in the NL East. They head into series' with the Nationals and Mets this week up 6 games on the Marlins.

P.S. Google Hunter Pence's girlfriend - you will not be disappointed.
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Who's Who?

The Phils beat Lincecum and the Giants last night by the score of 2-1, and took the series from them. They have increased their lead in the NL East to 8.5 games, and barring a Mets/my fantasy baseball team/ collapse the Phils will win the division. Pedro dominated the Giants offense last night striking out 9 and pitching 7 innings. Jason Werth hit a ball off of Lincecum that still has not landed yet, that was only the 9th time all year that Lincecum has given up a home run. Howard followed that up with what would eventually be the game winning RBI double. Lidge surprisingly came in and got his third consecutive save. It wasn't pretty, but he still got the job done. All around it was a great effort last night beating the best pitcher in the NL.

Pedro came out last night and looked the best he has in 3 years. He mixed his change up in really well, which made his fastball look that much faster to hitters. With the exception of the lead off home run, he shut down the Giants all night. I mean the Giants offense blows, but when you are facing Lincecum you cannot give up too many runs. He did exactly what a veteran 2 time Cy Young winner should do in that situation last night. He kept the ball down and let the Giant hitters chase balls out of the strike zone. This was a huge win for the Phils before they hit the road to take on the Astros. Not only does it give them some confidence after beating Lincecum, but it keeps the Giants out of the wild card for now. I would much rather see the Rockies at this point.

I know Tim Lincecum is one of the best pitchers in baseball, but honestly he needs to do something with his whole look. Who wants to look like Mitch from "Dazed and Confused". I know Moose will stick up for him cause he blows Lincecum, but he looks like a DOUCHE. That's right Namesake, a douche.
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Howard Continues to Dominate

A nearly two-hour rain delay couldn't keep Ryan Howard from staying on fire last night. The big guy blasted two more HR's in the Phils 4-2 victory over Atlanta, giving Howard 37 bombs on the season and extending the Phils NL East lead to 8 games. Pedro was short changed by the rain for the second time this season, but he looked good for the two innings he was in there. Jamie Moyer looked nothing like his former self again, receiving a standing ovation when he came in and another when he departed after allowing one run in 4 1/3 innings, while striking out five. Brad Lidge picked up his 26th save of the season, putting the Braves down in order in the 9th - it's a long time since we could say that. Only 36 games remaining...Go Phils!


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Phils

The Phils looked like the team that they are supposed to be last night. It was good to see Utley and Ibanez contribute. Pedro pitched five effective innings as was expected out of him. At certain points he was touching 93mph. That is a good sign that he is 100% healthy, for the time being at least. The Phils are starting to show again that they are the class of the NL. Today they will go for the sweep in Chicago with Lee on the hill this afternoon. There will be live up to the minute posts throughout the game. Make sure that you check it out.

I want to discuss the situation that happened in center field last night with Victo. He goes to catch a fly ball, and as it is about to land in his glove some piece of shit Cubs fan throws a beer on him. Now if this was to happen in Philadelphia it would be all over the news throughout the country. I think that people and the media feel that because Cubs haven't won in 100 years they are allowed to do whatever they want. This is Bush League at its finest. This is an embarassment to the city and to the team. Now dont get me wrong us Philly fans aren't exactly angels. It seems like our antics go national though, and these losers, cause that is exactly what they are in Chicago, will do something like this and it will be talked about for one day and then never come up again. I was reading that the punk blamed Bartman for what he did. Are you kidding me? I mean you Cubs fans really are the worst. You blame everything else but your shitty players and front office for your losing ways. How about this, you lost to the Marlins not because of Bartman, but because you stink! As fans, as players, and as an organization. I was hoping that Victo would have jumped up in the bleachers and stuffed a pillow case full of bars of soap, and beat the shit out of that kid.

On another note did you see that fat panda in San Fran yesterday get all upset because someone pitched him inside? The ball didn't even come close to hitting him.


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The Morning After

Rays 7 Phillies 1: A pitchers duel through 7+ innings, the Rays opened the game up when Jimmy Rollins made a rare defensive mistake missing trying for a tough force out at second when Pat Burrell was running to first. Joe Blanton pitched very well only to be outdueled by Matt Garza. Pat Burrell had 3 RBI's including a 2-run homer, only his second as a Ray. Jimmy Rollins has zero base hits since Thursday. It is time for Chalie to send him a message. The NL East is tightening as the Mets and Marlins both won.

LSU 11 Texas 4: LSU wins the 2009 CWS! It is their 6th National Title, tied with Texas for second most of all-time. LSU took a 4 run lead with the help of Jared Mitchell's 3 run home run but Texas quickley tied it up. LSU scored 5 in the sixth to wrap it up. Mitchell, the CWS MOP and a first round pick of the Chi Sox, adds to his 2007 NCAA Football title. Congratulations to LSU!

U.S. 2 Spain 0: The US advance to its first men's FIFA Final since starting play in 1916. Spain, a -1100 favorite (cough...whatever that means..cough), was the European champion and had won 15 straight international games, the most since Brazil won 35 straight betwenn '93 and '96 (was that the Baggio days?). Spain had not lost since November '06. Jozy Altidore scored the first goal in the 27th minute and Clint Dempsey put it away in the 74th. Hopefully we have soccer readers that can comment on this game because I am not doing the win justice.

NFL: Julius Peppers signed a 1 yr, $16.7 million tender with the Carolina Panthers.5 months ago Peppers made it clear that he would not sign a long term deal with Carolina but after he signed a 1 yr deal which will give him over 1 million per GAME, he seems willing to sign long term.

Flyers: Sources say that the Flyers will accept an invitation to play the Boston Bruins on New Years day at Fenway Park. Very cool, though I would still like to see a Flyers v Penguins game at State College.

Wimbledon: 2004 Champ Maria Sharapova loses 6-2,3-6,6-4, to Gisela Dulko in the second round. Damn it!

NBA: The Cavs acquired Shaq O'Neal from the Suns for a couple of expensive basketballs and a late draft pick. Read More

The Morning After - Weekend Edition

O's 7 Phillies 2: The Phillies home woes continue as Rich Hill pitched a rare good game holding the Phillies to 2 first inning runs over 6+. Antonio Bastardo pitched relatively well allowing 4 runs over 7 innings. Jayson Werth, the only Phillie who showed up for this homestand, had a 2 rbi double for the Phillies in the first inning giving them an early 2 run lead, beofre th Phillies decided to put their bats away for the night. For anyone looking for a bright spot, the Phillies got 7 innings from a starter and only used Bastardo and Jack Taschner so they should have a fairly rested bullpen for tonight's game. The NL East lead is down to 2 games. Happ looks to right the ship tonight against Brad Bergesen, another no-name who the Phillies will try to make look like Cy Young. No, I think Happ pitches a gem tonight and Hamels wins tomorrow. Go Phils

LSU 14 Arkansas 5: LSU cruises into the CWS Final riding a 13 game winning streak. Arkansas tried to keep it close using Closer Stephen Richards to start the game due to an exhausted rotation. He did, up until the third inning when LSU scored 3 runs off of him and relievers. There was no stopping LSU. Tigers starter Anthony Ranaudo pitched 6 scoreless innings, only throwing 77 pitches, which may make him available for game 2 of the finals on Tuesday.

Texas 4 Arizona State 3: Two outs from forcing a rematch to decide who makes the CWS Final Arizona State could not hold on. Texas' Cameron Rupp hit a game-tying solo homerun with one out in the ninth and two batter later Texas won on a walk off homer by Connor Rowe. The Instant Classic sets up a CWS final between Texas and LSU.

U.S. OPEN: Mike Weir (-6) has a 2 stroke lead after round 1.

U.S. Basketball: Villanova's Corey Fisher and Penn State's Taylor Battle are two of twelve collegiate players named to the U.S. Team for the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia in July. Road Trip anyone?

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The Morning After

Blue Jays 8 Phillies 7: Rod 'friggin' Barajas hit a pinch hit home run leading off the ninth inning to give the B Jay's an 8-7 win and a three game sweep over the defending champs. Joe Blanton gave up 4 runs in 5+ innings as the Phillies continue to not get any consistant innings from their rotation. It is a developing problem. Rollins, Werth, Mayberry Jr and Dobbs all homered for the Phillies who lost their 5th out of their last 6 games. Scott Rolen, 6 hits in the series and Rob Barajas, 4 hits, 2 hrs continued the trend of Ex Phils hurting the Phillies this year. Wes Helms anyone? Ronnie Paulino? Their still bums

O's 5 Mets 4: K-Rod blew his second save in a week as the Mets lost to Baltimore 5-4. The Mets have lost 10 of 14. Rookie phenon Matt Wieters led off the inning with a hustling double and after a walk, a bad defensive play and another walk, Aubrey Huff hit a game winning single. The Phillies are blowing a golden opportunity to bury these frauds.

US Open: The first round of the US Open was suspended Thurday due to inclement weather. Friday's forcast calls for morning rain before dry conditions move in during the afternoon. Saturday looks like it could be more like Thursday. Maybe they can get one of those retractable roofs that they have in Arizona? Why would they have a retractable roof in Arizona? Nevermind...Namesake's boy Mediate will pull through once they get going. Heard it here first. Play resumes at 7:30 am

Sixers: Moved training camp from State College to St Joes this year. Camp opens on September 29th and runs thru Oct. 4th. Its because Penn State didn't want YOU Dalembert.

Arizona St 12 North Carloina 5: Hero Kole Calhoun hit a game tying Salami in the fifth and the go ahead double in the 7th to lead ASU over UNC in the College World Series. Calhoun ended with 6 RBI's in the game and has homered in each of the Sun Devils CWS games. The # 5 seed Sun Devils plays # 1 Texas on Friday night. ASU would have to win Friday's game and another Saturday also against Texas to advance to the best of 3 final. UNC is eliminated, finishing 48-18.

NHL: Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals beat out Evgeni Malkin, winning the Hart Trophy for the second straight year. Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins was voted as the NHL's top goalie. The Flyers Mike Richards was robbed by the Red Wings Pavel Datsyuk as the Selke Trophy winner, NHL's top Defensive Forward. Datsyuk edged Richards 945-942 into total votes, but Richards received more first-place ballots. Its rigged.

NFL: Donte' Stallworth has been suspended indefinitely by Roger Goodell and the NFL. Stallworth was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in jail, a controversial ruling that drew a great deal of criticism.

The conduct reflected in your guilty plea resulted in the tragic loss of life and was inexcusable. While the criminal justice system has determined the legal consequences of this incident, it is my responsibility as NFL Commissioner to determine appropriate league discipline for your actions, which have caused irreparable harm to the victim and his family, your club, your fellow players and the NFL

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King Cole Dominates

The Dodger lineup must have thought they were experiencing déjà vu last night with Cole Hamels on the mound. Reminiscent of his domination of LA in the NLCS last year, Hamels pitched a complete game shutout last night, facing only 29 batters and throwing only 97 pitches in the Phils 3-0 victory.* Last night’s win extends the Phillies win streak to 7 games, and more importantly extends their lead in the NL East to 4 games - the Mets getting swept deserves its own post.

Highlights:

4th Inning, Utley doubles, moved to third on a Werth groundout, scored on sac fly by Howard.
6th Inning, RBI double by Rauuuuullllll
7th Inning, RBI single by Werth scored Chooch.

Hamels was the show last night, though - no question about that. Anybody make it through the whole game? Damn West Coast games are killing me.

His wife was in the stands last night, too. Definitely a babe.

Go Phils!

*I know Hamels didn’t pitch a CG SO in the NLCS, just saying he dominated.

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