Halladay Gives it Up

The Cincinnati Reds are one tough team as they once again they fought off the mat against one of the best pitchers in baseball to complete another comeback victory.

The Phillies (41-35) dropped a tough one today to the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3. Philadelphia jumped out to a 3-0 lead with Roy Halladay on the mound, but that was not enough as Jay Bruce clubbed a two-run home run which completed the 25th comeback win of the sesaon for the Reds, which is the most in baseball.

Cincinnati have won seven of their last nine and are locked in a tie for first place in the NL Central with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Halladay went all eight innings for the complete game on the losing end as he couldn't hold on to a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth when he gave up the two-run shot to Bruce.

Roy gave up a career high 13 hits in the game and allowed all four runs while striking out 10 batters and didn't walk a single batter, which created a very unique stat line for Halladay as you can count on one hand the number of pitchers who have given up 10+ hits while striking out 10+ batters.

With the loss, it's Halladay's seventh of the season and fourth in six starts and concluded a shaky June for Roy. But a shaky month for him still equated to a 3.27 ERA, so Halladay hasn't been horrible by any means, but definitely more hittable then he's been in any other month this season.

This was the second game the Phillies played since putting Chase Utley and Placido Polanco on the DL, as the fill-ins have performed admirably in relief of the many starters currently on the DL.

Last night, it was Wilson Valdez and Brian Schneider with two three-run home runs and today it was another three-run home run, this time by rookie catcher Dane Sardinha in the fourth inning. The home run was Sardinha's second since his call-up last week.

The Phillies couldn't get the big hit today as they left seven men on base and went 1-7 with runners in scoring position.

This was a tough series for the Phils as they should have won two out of three against a very scrappy and resilient Reds team as games like this have to go in the win column considering the Phillies were able to get their ace a three run lead and not to mention they held a one run lead in the eighth inning.

The Phillies get a much needed break as they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the hapless Pirates in a four-game set..

Cole Hamels will get the start tomorrow night after having his roughest start of the season last Saturday against the Blue Jays, but Hamels is still looking lightyears better than his 2009 counterpart. Hamels is 6-6 on the season with an ERA of 4.08 and a outing against the Pirates could easily get the left-hander back in his groove.

Injuries Continue to Hamper the Phils in loss

The big news from tonight's game was the injury to second baseman Chase Utley and how we got a tale of two Kyle Kendricks as the Phils dropped the first game of a three-game set.

The Philadelphia Phillies dropped a tough one to the Cincinnati Reds tonight by a score of 7-3. Reds starting pitcher Johnny Cueto went eight innings and gave up six hits and a lone earned run while former Phillie Scott Rolen blasted his 300th career home run, which was a two-run blast with two on, that broke a scoreless tie.

Cincinnati (43-34) are now 6-1 in their last seven games and still sit atop the NL Central.

The 24-year-old Cueto had an interesting night as he had outstanding defense played behind him as he was beneficiary of two double plays in the first four innings as well as a big throw out of Chase Utley at second base in the fourth inning, a play that will cost the Phillies much more in the long run.

Utley was pinch-hit for in the ninth inning as manager Charlie Manuel told the media that Utley was being removed due to a hand injury.

The Utley injury continues a trend for the Phillies, where the opening day roster can't seem to get on the field together this season.

With catcher Carlos Ruiz, third baseman Placido Polanco, pitchers Ryan Madson and J.A Happ already out, the Phillies are missing a chunk of their regular roster and they were already without shortstop Jimmy Rollins for a significant amount of time this season. If Chase Utley misses a bunch of time this season, this team would be losing more than I can even illustrate here, this could be a catastrophic loss.

I mentioned earlier about how tonight's start would be a big start for Kyle Kendrick, well he performed well...through three innings of work. Kendrick struggled the second time through the Reds' order and he finished with 6 and 1/3 innings pitched giving up five earned runs on eight hits while striking out four. Kendrick continued to be inconsistent but instead of being either good or bad he was both in one start, it's hard to figure this guy out.

Well, the Phillies well go from one unknown to another tomorrow when Joe Blanton will take the mound for the Phils. Blanton has been better in his last two starts and has a overall record of 3-5 with an ERA of 6.53.

First pitch for Phils/Reds tomorrow night is set for 7:10 pm.

Chris Brown Breaks Down at the BET Awards

Every year, BET attempts to create an award show to remember but more times than not what they create is a mess of a show with more errors than highlights. Last night wasn't an exception, there was a crazy amount of errors with both the timing of the show and the music. There were times when the show seemed unorganized and it bothers me when a show of this caliber looks so second-rate, year after year.

Well, despite all of those issues, I still watch because in the end I love hip-hop and this show showcases hip-hop kinda well. And the surprising showcase of the night was Chris Brown a his emotional tribute to Michael Jackson.

Brown has always been seen as connected to Jackson as the two have interacted before and before Chris went renagade, was viewed as the "next" MJ.

Brown has the moves, the look, and the voice to replicate all the things people loved about Jackson. And he used them all when he came onto the scene in 2005 at the age of 16. Brown skyrocketed to the top before falling on his face after an incident with former girlfriend Rihanna.

Everyone knows what happened, so I'm going to leave that alone, but the result was Brown supposedly being black-listed and his album was banned from Wal-Mart and not getting radio play and actually being told to stay home during last year's BET Awards which was a complete MJ tribute because reportedly Jay-Z was uncomfortable with Brown being around Rihanna, who was also in attendance that night.

Well, one so-so album, hot mixtape and a new bad boy image later Brown finally returned to the big stage of the BET Awards and the persona he once donned as a 16 year old when he got his big break, as the next MJ.

I thought he did a great job as I knew he would if he was invited last year, there isn't another performer around who can imitate the King of Pop's moveset as masterfully as Brown can.

Brown won back many supporters, but I gotta say, I wasn't sure about the crying fit he threw while trying to sing Man in the Mirror, but it's been reported that once he got backstage the tears continued as he thanked everyone from Jermaine Jackson to Ray J.

I have to give it to the BET Awards for creating a Monday morning watercooler moment. And Chris, what are you gonna do about that bad-boy image now?

Phillies Week Rewind

Coming off a "road" interleague series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, the Phillies appear to back on stable footing. Well, that footing is going to be tested tonight when they face Reds ace Johnny Cueto tonight in Cincinnati, but before we look ahead to future challenges, let's look back at a good week for the Phillies.

                                    Philadelphia Phillies (40-33)

Week Description: Last Sunday, the Phillies were coming off a disappointing 13-10 extra innings loss to the Minnesota Twins after wasting a good effort by Cole Hamels. Roy Halladay took the mound on Sunday and once again didn't receive the run support needed to win as the Phillies only managed four hits off Carl Pavano, who pitched a complete game in a 4-1 win for the Twins.

There was doubt in whether the offense was truly back for the Phils, but then the man who needed to return was finally back, Jimmy Rollins.

Rollins returned for the start of a three game set against the lowly Cleveland Indians, and this series was just what the doctor and Jamie Moyer ordered.

In the first game of the series, Jamie Moyer had another phenomenal start for the Phillies as he went eight strong innings only giving up two hits on the night and one run on a home run. Rollins went 0-4 in his first game back, but he was just setting the stage for what was to come.

The next night provided the highlight for the week as Jimmy Rollins picked up his first hit in eight at-bats since returning and that hit was a walk-off home run to give the Phillies a 7-6 victory and the second in a row going into a series finale in which a much maligned pitcher continued his resurgence.

Joe Blanton pitched well for a second start in a row and picked up his second win in a row as he pitched seven and two-thirds while only giving up three earned runs on six hits as he struck out eight. Blanton's solid perfromance led into a "road" trip that started at home.

The Blue Jays were in town to play a series displaced from Toronto because of the G20 summit and the first game had former Blue Jays ace on the mound to face his former team for the first time in the regular season. Halladay got the win for the first time in three starts as he shut out the Jays through seven shutout innings and got his ninth win of the season.

Cole Hamels had a tough go in Saturday's Game 2, he gave up three home runs in only four innings of work as his ERA jumped above four as he gave up five total earned runs on the day as the Phillies lost 5-1.

Yesterday, the Phillies once again found some offense and put up 12 runs in a 12-2 win over the Blue Jays in the rubber match as Jamie Moyer picked up his ninth win of the season and the 267th in his career. Moyer went seven strong innings while giving up two earned runs and striking out seven as the week ended for the Phils.

Record: 5-2
Avg. Runs Per Game: 6.1

The Good: Jimmy Rollins- Even though he has only hit .250 in his return from the DL, he's been the energizer to the lineup that the team has needed. Not to mention his walk-off home run last Wednesday and Jimmy may be getting hot as he had three hits and two RBI in yesterday's win over the Blue Jays.

Jamie Moyer- The 47-year-old deserves all the credit in the world for the way he has performed this season, he's been the Phillies stopper and the third best starter this season as evidenced by the rotation as of this point. Moyer is conveniently placed behind Halladay and Moyer now. In the past week, Moyer had an ERA of 1.80 in two starts over 15 innings pitched while striking out twelve.

Outlook: The Phillies are looking at a tough one tonight against the Cincinnati Reds when they face a team that can hit just as well as they do. The NL Central leading Reds are leading the National League in runs and slugging percentage and they have had good pitching at the top in Cueto and Mike Leake. They're facing Cueto tonight and he's 7-2 on the season with an ERA of 3.97, and is coming off a strong outing against the Oakland A's where he went seven shut out innings and picked up the win.


The Phillies are countering with Kyle Kendrick who has been a huge question mark this season because he's been so inconsistent and it's becoming a problem for the Phillies as Kendrick has had to pitch in some big spots this season and has alternated great starts with short outings. In one start, Kendrick is four-hitting the Yankees and the next he's flaming out allowing five runs in four innings to the Indians. This is a pressure start for Kendrick and this start will say alot about how Kyle's gonna pitch in big spots the rest of the season.


Phillies/Reds tonight at 7:05, as the Phillies get back into National League play the rest of the season.

Collins and Turner can get the Sixers back on Track

It takes alot to build excitement for an NBA team coming off a 27 win season, but the Sixers are doing their best to repair the damage inflicted on this fanbase after the debacle put on the Wachovia Center.

From the top to the bottom, it was a brutal campaign for the Philadelphia 76ers. It started off well enough a year ago with a logo redesign reminding us of a simpler and better time for the franchise, it reminded us of Doctor J and Moses Malone and now we had Eddie Jordan, yikes.

It's not a secret that I wasn't a big fan of Eddie Jordan and it's easy to track the steep descent by this team last year directly to him. Jordan was the worst possible selection for this team and made it worse was that he was a personal pick by GM and friend Ed Stefanski.

It's tough to decipher just how much damage Jordan caused because it's easy to tie the bad record to him but he was responsible for so much more. He ruined the confidence of the team and couldn't instill the discipline that a team as young as the Sixers needs and thus his hands off approach splintered the locker room between players who followed the rules and the ones who didn't.

Jordan spent an entire season messing with the heads of his players and implementing rotations that had everyone wondering what was going on. Jordan openly criticized players following losses and wouldn't play $80 million dollar forward Elton Brand for long stretches at a time. 

Jordan was finally fired on April 14th and the Sixers were once again in the market for a new coach which will be their seventh coach in as many years.

The Sixers then decided on 58-year-old Doug Collins to be the 23rd coach in franchise history. Collins is a guy who is more famous for his color commentary than he is for his NBA coaching career.

I wasn't an immediate fan of the Collins hiring at first, but with each passing day I became more and more impressed with the former TNT analyst.

Whether it was taking a shot at his predecessor at his introductory press conference,

"Every year that I’ve coached, I’ve run almost different system because I’ve never had the same team. That’s what coaches have to do. They have to adjust and play to their different personnel," Collins said.

Or how genuinely excited about being back in Philadelphia and promoting competition and giving Andre Iguodala, a much needed confidence boost by realizing that he was probably affected the most by Jordan's turbulent season.

Collins went to Iguodala and told him what he can do to get this team back to the playoffs and he didn't do it by blowing smoke, he gave him working points.

He told Iguodala to become an All-NBA defender, try out for the national team since many of last summer's players won't be involved this time around because of contract negotiations. Make the Team USA roster and watch his game improve and then he'll enter the season ready to play like an all-star. And if he plays like an all-star, then this team will have a real shot of making the playoffs. Now that's motivation that Jordan failed to infuse at any point last season.

But Collins' biggest move as Sixers coach will be his handling of #2 pick Evan Turner, as it is pretty obvious that the hopes of the city dying for good basketball lie on a back court of the 21-year-old National Player of the Year and the 20-year-old point guard, Jrue Holiday. It's a big reason why there's a little buzz in the city for the Sixers again and if Collins handles those two and Iguodala the way I expect him to, Philadelphia could be a relevant basketball town again really soon.

Welcome to Toronto...

The Toronto Blue Jays were the home team on Friday, but the crowd didn't make them feel that way.

The Phillies (39-32) won their fourth game in a row last night beating the Toronto Blue Jays 9-0. Philadelphia's offense continues to roll and Roy Halladay looked like himself while shutting down his former team in seven scoreless innings.

This was the long-awaited first "road" series for the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. It was a odd night as the Phillies batted first, wore the road grays and took batting practice last. The Blue Jays had promotional videos playing on the big scoreboard, had their own entrance music and first the first time in a National League park, there was a DH.

There were even some Canadian mounties on hand, albeit fake ones, to perform during the seventh inning stretch.

The strange nature of the game Friday night didn't affect Roy Halladay who was able to get back on track following a personal three game losing streak. Halladay was trying to avoid a career-worst four start losing streak.

Haladay (9-6) in going seven scoreless innings last night only allowed six hits and struck out four. He is now 2-3 in five starts since his perfect game against the Marlins on May 29th.

The Phillies seemed to have weathered what could have been a stretch of baseball that could have buried them, as they have gone 8-3 in their last eleven games after going 5-14 in their previous 19 games. Philadelphia was able to make up three games inside the division in the past week, now sitting 2.5 games out of first place in the NL East.

The bizarre road series for the Phillies continues this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park when Philadelphia will look for their fifth straight win in a row.

Cole Hamels will take the mound today and is coming off a good performance where after allowing three runs in the first inning vs. the Minnesota Twins, he settled down to go seven innings and was in line for a victory. Hamels is 6-5 on the season with an ERA of 3.75.

Phillies Sweep the Tribe in a Hail Storm

Not even a storm with 70-mph winds could stop the Phillies offense today, it almost stopped the grounds crew though.

The sweep is complete as the Phillies (38-32) beat the Cleveland Indians today 12-3. It was Philadelphia's highest run total in over a month as they put up a five spot in the bottom of the second to jump start the scoring.

The Phillies pounded out 15 hits today and got four hits from Placido Polanco, while Chase Utley and Jayson Werth picked up three hits each as they continue to warm up for the Phillies who with the win today pulled to within 2.5 games of the first place Atlanta Braves. The Phillies were 5.5 games back just last weekend and were able to make up three games thanks to the streaking Chicago White Sox who swept the Braves to drop them into a first place tie with the New York Mets.

Joe Blanton got the start for the Phillies and put forth another quality start for the Phillies and went seven innings today while only giving up three earned runs on six hits while striking out eight and picked up his third victory of the season and his second in as many starts.

Blanton's day was interrupted however how an insane hail storm which resembled tornado-like conditions and gave the grounds crew almost too much to handle as it blew the tarp far up into the zero visibilty sky and folded back into itself before the crew was able to get it under control.

People went flying for the exits and were literally being blown across streets as the winds were gusting up to 75 mph. Play was halted for 97 minutes but much applause has to go to the grounds crew for getting the field together after a bus load of rain blanketed the playing surface.

And back in baseball news, manager Charlie Manuel was ejected for the second time in two days. Manuel was thrown out for arguing a play at first base in the second inning as Charlie is now trying to bring out his inner Bobby Cox and Lou Pinella for some reason as of late. 

The win also marked the first series sweep at home for the Phillies this season going into what should an interesting "road" series for the Phillies when the "travel" to play the Toronto Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park this weekend, yeah it's confusing I know.

Something that isn't confusing is that Roy Halladay will make his first start against his old team tomorrow night. It should be a lot of emotions for Halladay whether he admits them or not when he takes the mound tomorrow night.

Rollins Walks it Off

Well, Jimmy Rollins officially returned to the lineup on Tuesday but his impact was definitely felt on Wednesday night.

The Phillies (37-32) picked up a big 7-6 walk-off victory over the Cleveland Indians last night in a game that went back and forth up until Rollins ended it in the bottom of the ninth with a two-run blast to the right field corner.

That hit had to feel great for Rollins, as he was 0-8 in his first eight at-bats back with the Phillies. It was a hit that Jimmy knew was gone right from the plate as he flipped the bat before taking off.

The Indians struck first in the first inning with two quick runs before the Phillies responded in the bottom of the frame.

Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick went on to give up two more earned runs in only four innings of work as he also walked two and gave up two home runs.

Philadelphia used five arms out of their bullpen which included Chad Durbin who injured his hamstring running to cover first base. It looks like Durbin will be put on the 15-day DL today, but should return in a couple weeks to a bullpen that's struggling to close the door on opponents.

J.C Romero came in following the Durbin injury and held the Indians off and in the process picked up his first victory of the season.

This was a big inter league victory for the Phillies as it clinched their first series victory at home over an AL team since 2007.

And in the process, every Phillies regular got a hit with the biggest one coming in the bottom of the ninth and even Rollins knew how big the hit was when he spoke to the media after the game.

"It felt good. It was one of those moments. You try to do it all year long, but your brain just stops working and you stop thinking about what you need to do. A good thing happened tonight," Rollins said.

The Phillies are gonna try to create another feel-good moment as they go for the sweep against the Indians today with Joe Blanton on the mound for the Phils today. Blanton (2-5) is coming off his best start of the season against the Twins last Friday night and will look to keep a good thing going.

The series finale between the Indians and the Phillies is set for 1 pm this afternoon.

Don't Vote for Pedro

In the last week, the Phillies have been connected to free agent superstar Pedro Martinez. For the second time in a row, there is interest on the part of the Phillies front office to ink Martinez for a second half run and I couldn't disagree more.

I will go on and say that I was completely wrong about what Pedro had left last year, I wrote him off and thought his pitching days were over and he was holding out for one last payday and I will say that Martinez proved he had something left in the tank after a ill-faded stint with the New York Mets.

As a Met, Pedro started off well in his first season after going 15-8 with an ERA of 2.82 as he was selected to the NL All-Star game that year. But Martinez started to lose arm velocity and began to make more trips to the DL then he did the pitching mound.

Martinez's last season with the Mets was one mired in disappointment and personal loss. Pedro lost his father two summers ago during the 2008 season and went on to lose four of his last six decisions as a Met. Martinez finished his tenure earning 53 million dollars while winning only 32 games over four seasons.

Pedro took an extended leave from baseball after pitching in the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic and performed well in two appearances for the team.

Martinez had to wait until mid-season to make a decision and he was reportedly courted by Dodgers, Pirates and Indians, but chose the Phillies and chose the Phillies because of their recent success and the likelihood of returning to the playoffs.

I became a Pedro fan for that stretch run as he was always entertaining to watch on the mound and was reportedly a joy to have in the clubhouse.

Pedro in nine starts as a Phillie last season, went 5-1 with an ERA of 3.63 and his season was highlighted with a vintage Pedro performance against the Mets when he went eight scoreless innings while striking out seven in a 1-0 victory.

But Pedro despite a valient postseason performance, finished in a disappointing fashion when he got the start in Game 6 and went only four innings and gave up four earned runs while walking two and giving up a home run. Martinez still finished that postseason with a 3.71 ERA. And that should be the end of the Pedro experiment.

Bringing Pedro back into an already crowded and muddled lower third of our starting rotation would just cause confusion.

If there was any problem with Martinez last year, it was what the signing did to defined roles on the team. It converted starters to relievers and the rotation wasn't solid.

One notable dust-up from last season was the way Jamie Moyer responded to the Pedro signing and being demoted to the bullpen as a long reliever.

The question this year would be, if you sign Pedro this year, who would you replace in the starting rotation?

-The top two spots are lead-pipe locks with Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels.

-Jamie Moyer has had a great bounce back season and can be considered right now as the third best pitcher in the rotation and has been the Phillies stopper as of late.

-Kyle Kendrick will soon be replaced by J.A Happ in the rotation and the team is looking forward to adding the young left hander back to the active roster.

-Then there is Joe Blanton, who has been the worst starter for the Phillies this season, but his $24 million dollar contract will prevent him from being moved to the bullpen, maybe for a playoff series, but never for an entire half of the season.

I don't see Pedro being satisfied as a set-up guy or closer and those spots are filled right now with Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson (once he returns), so Pedro might have to look elsewhere to rekindle the magic he had last year. We'll always have the memories Pedro, but we don't need you this time.

Moyer Continues his Season for the Ages

Jamie Moyer did it again tonight as he turned away the Cleveland Indians tonight to get an important victory in Jimmy Rollins' return to the lineup.

The Phillies (36-32) won a very low scoring affair in tonight's series-opener against the Cleveland Indians by a score of 2-1. Philadelphia was led by the efforts by 47-year-old Jamie Moyer, who went eight strong innings and only gave up one run on two hits.

Moyer gave up a record-tying 505 home run tonight to Russell Branyan in the second inning, as Moyer is now tied for the lead with the most home-runs given up in MLB history along with Robin Roberts. But that was the only mistake that Moyer made on a night that belonged to him.

Following that home run, Moyer retired 15 Indians in a row and was able to elicit 14 ground ball outs on the night. He lowered his ERA to 4.43 on the season and got his eighth victory on the season which ties him for the team lead with ace Roy Halladay.

In his last four starts, if you take away his Boston implosion, Moyer hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any of those starts while throwing 31 innings.

Jimmy Rollins also returned to the lineup tonight and went hitless in four at-bats, but played well in his return to the field. The team won again with Jimmy in the starting lineup and is now 10-3 in games that Rollins starts.

The Philadelphia offense struggled for the second day in a row as the lineup was only able to grind out four hits for the second game in a row, but they were able to make it stick tonight as the Phillies scored two quick runs in the first inning and hung on the rest of the night.

Ryan Howard hit a RBI single in the first and that started a 2-3 for for Howard to increased his batting average to .294 on the season as he is now without a doubt the hottest hitter in the Phils lineup as of late.

Tuesday's victory helped the Phillies climb back to within 4.5 games of the NL East lead. They currently trail the Atlanta Braves who lost on Tuesday night to the white-hot Chicago White Sox, who won their seventh game in a row.

Brad Lidge came in after some problems by J.C Romero in the top of the ninth to close it out. Lidge got his fifth save in six opportunties this season.

The Phils are back at it tonight when Kyle Kendrick takes the mound against Jake Westbrook, with the start time set for 7:05 pm.

Loss Caps a Bizarre Weekend for the Phils

Well, that was interesting. The Phillies won on Friday night when Joe Blanton started for the Phils, arguably the worst starter this year for Philadelphia and then lost games started by Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay, hmmm, that sounds about right.

Roy Halladay lost his third straight start in a row as the Phillies (35-32) lost another interleague series at home when they lost the rubber game to the Twins today by a score of 4-1. Justin Morneau and Denard Span both homered for the Twins who improved to 40-29 on the season.

Halladay now has a pedestrian record of 8-6 in his first season as a Phillie after starting the season 6-1 with an ERA of 1.45. Halladay gave up a season high in hits today with 11 while going 8 innings and striking out eight.

Philadelphia has suffered serious power outages in Halladay's losses on the season, as they have scored only nine runs in Halladay's six losses.

The high-powered Phillies offense which had come out of their shell in recent games regressed today as they were led offensively on the day by Wilson Valdez.

Valdez hit a home run in the fifth inning and got the Phils their first and only run of the day. It was Valdez's second home run in two days and was the only semblance of offense today as the Phils only mustered up four hits off Twins starter Carl Pavano.

Pavano (8-6) pitched a gem today as he threw a four-hit complete game on the day.

Good news is on the horizon for the Phils however as shortstop Jimmy Rollins should be activated this week and will be ready to be inserted back at the top of the order as the Phillies have needed him as they have gone 9-17 in his absence.

Up next is a much needed off day for the Phils and they will be back in action on Tuesday when they host the Cleveland Indians and I hope that when manager Charlie Manuel takes the field on Tuesday night, that Rollins is on his lineup card.

Contreras and Lidge Blow It in the 9th

In what was supposed to be a game that stroked the egos of the Phillies hitters that had to hear for the last month how cold they were, this was the game they proved that they were officially back on track and so was the team as they looked for their fourth straight win. It didn't turn out that way.

The Phillies (35-31) lost an 11 inning heart breaker to the Minnesota Twins today in a shootout, 13-10. Every position player but Ben Francisco registered a hit for the Phillies.

Today's game resembled a home run derby as both teams combined for nine home runs in the game and both teams hit ninth inning blasts as this game packed a lot of drama into an almost four hour tilt.

Cole Hamels got the start for the Phillies today and didn't have his best stuff early as he surrendered three runs in the first inning before calming down and getting through seven innings of work while allowing another earned run on a Justin Morneau home run in the sixth inning. Hamels finished with a good stat line, he only gave up five hits and struck out seven on the night and got into a good groove in the later innings.

The Phillies hit some home runs of their own as they hit five out of the ballpark today.

Ryan Howard continued to torch the ball as he hit another home run today, his 14th of the season and his fourth in the last three games. Howard finished with that one home-run on the day and three strikeouts as he couldn't create a Citizens Bank Park memory late, but Brad Lidge did.

The ninth inning is where everything went horribly wrong for the men in red, the inning began with the Phillies holding a 9-4 lead with Jose Contereras entering the game to finish off a what should have been a laugher.

Contreras didn't record a out as he gave up a lead-off single to Delmon Young and then gave up a huge pinch-hit blast to former Phillie Jim Thome which cut the lead to 9-6. Contreras walked another former Phillie in Nick Punto and that spelled the end for Contreras' day.

Lidge entered the game there and then got a quick out before allowing a run on an RBI single to Denard Span. Lidge recorded another out before Joe Mauer approached with two outs.

Mauer had only hit two home runs on the season but that didn't matter as Mauer blasted a 419 foot home run to center field as he tied the game at nine.

The Twins got a run in the top of the tenth off a home run by rookie Drew Butera and the Phillies came to plate in the bottom of the tenth down to their last out when Ross Gload...yes, that Ross Gload hit a two out game-tying home run off Minnesota reliever Jon Rauch to tie it again at 10.

But that was all the fight the Phillies had left as the Twins scored three times in the top of the 11th and the Phils couldn't respond in the bottom of the inning as the Phillies blew a tough one.

The thing that concerns me about this game is that just as there are games that can springboard a team into a winning streak, there are games that can do the opposite to a team's fortunes and I hope today's game doesn't mean the start of another such streak for the Phils since we just endured a month of brutal play.

The one saving grace for the Phillies is that Roy Halladay is starting tomorrow, but are we gonna get the Halladay we saw on Tuesday or the Halladay that's been spectacular all season long. The answer could mean the difference in the way the Phillies play for the next month.

Phillies Win 3rd Straight thanks Howard & Utley

The bats could be back as Chase Utley and Ryan Howard looked like their old selves on Friday night as they bashed their way to victory.

The Philadelphia Phillies (35-30) defeated the AL-Central leading Minnesota Twins 9-5 last night at Citizens Bank Park. Ryan Howard led the offensive charge as he had a 4-4 night with two home runs and three RBIs and scored three runs as Howard fell a single shy of the cycle. It was Howard's first two home run game of the 2010 season.

It was a feel-good victory for the Phillies who weren't hitting much going into Wednesday night's game against the Yankees and now they have scored 22 runs since in three straight interleague victories.

Joe Blanton got the start on the night and he turned around his recent bad fortune on the mound by lasting a solid six innings while giving up three earned runs and seven hits. Blanton got off to a terrific start as he retired the 11 of the first 12 Minnesota batters.

There was quite a stir caused by first base coach Davey Lopes yesterday as he made a statement about Chase Utley saying that he had been playing with a sore knee, a statement that was rebuffed from all sides from Chase himself, to manager Charlie Manuel, all the way up to Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. who went as far as to say that Lopes isn't a doctor.

Well, the the added attention to Utley certainly didn't hurt his game as he broke out in a big way with a two-run home run in the second inning that put the Phillies up 7-0 at the time. Utley had gone 88 at-bats since his last home run.

Utley finished the game with two hits and drove in four runs in the four run victory.

One negative for the Phillies last night was the injury to catcher Carlos Ruiz which occurred in the eighth inning when he was hit in the head with a broken bat. Ruiz was down for a couple of minutes on the field before eventually walking off the field under his own power. Ruiz was taken to the hospital and there is no immediate word on his condition other than a possible concussion.

The Phillies have to be confident with the way the rest of this weekend will shake out pitching wise because they have Cole Hamels going today and Roy Halladay pitching tomorrow, looking to bounce back after the poor start on Tuesday against the New York Yankees.

First pitch for Phils/Twins today is set for 4:10 this afternoon.

Could No Dalembert mean No Turner?

The Philadelphia 76ers continued their off season makeover yesterday when they traded center Samuel Dalembert to the Sacramento Kings yesterday.

Philadelphia had been looking for a way to rid themselves of Dalembert for the better parts of the last two seasons partially because they realized that he would never live up to the crazy expectations set for him inside the organization when he was drafted back in 2001 in the first round.

Dalembert has seen his share of negative press in the city for his wildly inconsistent play which was a staple of his eight seasons as a Sixer. The perfect example would be his play in the first round of the 2008 playoffs vs. the Detroit Pistons.

 Sammy in Game 1 of that series only put up 5 points and was a non factor, but then in Game 3 he exploded for 22 points and 16 boards in what was a 20 point victory. And then in a big-time Game 6 elimination game fnr the Sixers on their home floor, he literally disappeared with a stat line that read like this: 8 points, 6 rebounds on six shots.

The problem with Dalembert is that for a starting center he didn't have an lasting impact and could go an entire playoff game with just three points (he did it in Game 2 of that Detroit series). But when Sammy came to play, he played with a athleticism and a energy that flowed through the team and helped the pacing on the floor and led to victories.

In eight seasons as a Sixer, he averaged just 8.1 points per game and 8.3 rebounds and never lived up to being that super nimble, athletic and hard to guard beta-center that the team wanted him to be, and the truth is many times he would take himself out of games with his disinterest and his obvious lack of focus. It's always disappointing when you can't get what you want out of a player like Dalembert, but now that's he gone, he may still be having an impact on the Sixers' present and future.

The future should be Ohio State star guard Evan Turner, even the Sixers website is banking on Turner being taken with the number two pick and why shoudn't they, he is the most logical pick for the Philadelphia.

There is one problem however and that is with the loss of Dalembert, the team may believe it now needs fresh blood in the front court and that youth could come with Georgia Tech's Derrick Favors or Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins.

It should be noted that the team released a statement not to long ago stating that the Kings trade will not have an affect on the team's draft plans.

Here's is what Sixers GM Ed Stefanski had to say about the situation,

"I think we're where we were before — the same draft options we had. We're very fortunate to be drafting No. 2. I don't think [the trade] changes it a lot," Stefanski said.

Evan Turner is the selection for Philadelphia because of a few reasons:

- He's an impact player, someone who can and will contribute immediately, something this team needs.

- He allows Andre Iguoudala to move down a number, to the three spot where I think he will be better suited because as we have seen, Iggy isn't a natural scorer. But he is athletic enough to be a matchup problem at the three spot.

- The most important reason: MONEY, Turner will make this team a lot of money because he is a marketable name right off the bat. He's somebody fans are already starting to identify with because of his insistence of working out only for the Sixers and praising the Sixers the last couple of days.

Turner is one of only two sure bets in this year's NBA Draft and if the Sixers pass on him, this could be another black-eye to an organization already riddled with bruises.

ill Take: Bryant gets his 5th and the Celtics choke in Game 7

The Los Angeles Lakers won their 16th NBA championship last night in a Game 7 for the dark ages. It was a game that set the NBA back a half decade or a decade depending on which defensive era of basketball you prefer.

LA beat the Boston Celtics last night by a score of 83-79 and it was Boston's game for the taking, if they could find the bottom of the basket. The Lakers waited until the fourth quarter to pounce on what looked like a tired, worn out and beat up Celtics team that was missing their defensive stalwart in the paint, center Kendrick Perkins.

Perkins missed Game 7 due to a knee injury he suffered in Game 6, which was a huge blow to not only the team but the man who went from being the weak link in the starting five to arguably their toughest cog. He most notably frustrated Orlando Magic star center Dwight Howard in the Eastern Conference Finals with his wide frame and stubbornness to giving up prime positioning in the paint. The Celtics clearly missed his energy and front court presence in Game 7 when Pau Gasol took over the offensive boards in the fourth quarter.

A 13 point lead is what the Celtics had with 8:23 to go in the third quarter when Rajon Rondo made a lay-up to put Boston up 49-36, but the difference between this game and other games in the 2010 playoffs for Boston is that no one could close this championship out for the Celtics.

The C's would frequently go minutes at a time between baskets and this happened in the fourth quarter as well when the Celtics went without a field goal for five minutes in the fourth quarter. A stretch of time in which the Celtics went from having the lead at the 8:26 mark to trailing by four with 3:45 to play and that was a lead that the Celtics never got back.

People talk about Kobe Bryant getting his fifth championship ring and at this point in his career maybe surpassing Michael Jordan, but if you really watched the game last night and listened to Phil Jackson's comments following the game about Kobe trying to do to much and being nervous, then you would realize that Kobe was nothing but a role player last night, something that MJ never was when he was winning his six rings.

Bryant deserves a lot of credit for what the Lakers have been able to accomplish over the last decade-plus, but when looking at the role that he's played on the Lakers' championship teams, you could argue that on four out of the five teams and maybe with all five that he wasn't the most integral part of the lineup for the Lakers.

Last night, Bryant scored 23 points on 6-24 shooting from the floor and went 0-6 from three point range and pulled down 15 boards while committing four turnovers, I wouldn't call those numbers MJ-worthy. I think Bryant deserves alot of propz and respect for being one of the best in the game, but the comparisons to Michael Jordan need to stop now because no man will ever compare, period.

But, I wanted to give an "ill Take" on Game 7 of the NBA Finals and sound off so to speak on the people that are foolish enough to compare one of the greatest ever to a great player in the NBA currently. Stay tuned for more NBA talk soon, with my take on the trade of Samuel Dalembert and the possibility of adding the former Ohio State star Evan Turner to the Sixers. Yes, there will be Sixers talk. Everyone rejoice.

Phillies Win Two out of Three in New York

After a loss in the first game of the series, the Phillies may have finally regained some momentum with a huge series victory over the Yankees.

The Philadelphia Phillies (34-30) took the final game of the series tonight from the New York Yankees by a score of 7-1. Kyle Kendrick pitched his best game of the season tonight as he held the potent New York lineup to only four hits over seven innings of work.

The starting pitching in this series has been stellar if you wipe away the performance by Roy Halladay on Tuesday night, believe it or not.

Jamie Moyer last night went eight strong innings only allowing two runs on two solo home runs and Kendrick tonight dialed it up to get the Phillies a much needed victory as they head back home to host the Mnnesota Twins for a weekend set.

Kendrick tonight won his fourth game of the season and took it to the Yankees all night long. He pitched out of some big time jams in the second inning when there was two men on with one out and other sticky spot in the bottom of the sixth where New York scored thir first run.

The Yankees had men on first and third base following a RBI single by Robinson Cano and then Placido Polanco made a defeinsive play that may have iced the game for the Phils and definitely turned the tide.

Offensively speaking, the Phils came to play tonight and the top of the order came through when Shane Victorino hit a two-run blast in the fifth with the Phillies holding a slim one run lead.

Philadelphia tacked on four runs late in the game and iced the game for good and as they got through the AL East with a 3-3 record and now look forward to returning home.

Carlos Ruiz returned to the lineup on Thursday after being nicked up in Tuesday's loss and returned with a bang. Ruiz had two doubles on the night thus ending a 0-20 stretch for him.

The Phillies still sit three and a half games back in the NL East entering this weekend as they will have their eyes on the first place Altanta Braves who will be playing the lowly Kansas City Royals and the second place New York Mets will play the Yankees in the Subway Series.

Halladay loses Game 1 to Yankees

Roy Halladay had his third bad start of the season and it couldn't come at a more inopportune time

The Phillies (32-30) are still mired in their worst slump of the season as they lose Game 1 of this 2009 World Series rematch to the Yankees by a score of 8-3. The Yankees struck first blood in the second inning and piled it on their old friend from the AL East.

Halladay gave up six runs in a game for only the second time this season and it came versus an opponent that he knows all too well. He was 18-6 with an ERA of 2.84 against the Yankees going into tonight's start. Tonight, Halladay gave up six earned runs on eight hits while allowing three home runs in a game for the first time this season.

The Phillies could only muster hits on the night as they fall to two games over .500.

C.C. Sabathia got the start for New York and had some struggles in the third inning as the Phillies struck back in the fourth inning again, like on Sunday against the Red Sox. The Phillies scored all three runs in the fourth inning to pull within two, but that's as close as it got.

Sabathia ended up going seven innings while giving up the three runs on five hits while striking out seven on the night.

Shane Victorino had a horrific night at the top of the order as he generated nothing. Victorino went 0-5 with two strikeouts and couldn't set the table for the rest of the order.

The Yankees now stand at 18 games over .500 which is a season-best for New York and has won seven of the last eight.

The Phillies are back at it tomorrow night with Game 2 in this series when Jamie Moyer will take the mound after the worst start of his career last Friday night in Boston when he allowed nine earned runs in just over a inning of work.

Moyer will be opposed by A.J Burnett who is 6-4 on the season with an ERA of 3.86. Burnett hasn't pitched well against the Phillies in his career with a ERA of 4.75 and a record of 5-8. First pitch for Phils/Yanks tomorrow is set for 7:05pm.

Top 5 Games in Philly Sports the last 5 Years

5) Phillies vs Yankees: Game 1, 2009 World Series, Phillies 6, Yankees 1

 Game Highlights

The first game on this list marks the point where every Philadelphian thought Cliff Lee was immortal. Lee came to the Phillies in a mid-season trade last season and for the most part was dominant in a Phillies uniform.

Lee had a rough September and thus people began to doubt the magic that was Cliff Lee, but then the playoffs hit and the guy was automatic. He had heard the criticism about never making a playoff appearance and whether or not he was ready, well he squashed all that talk.

Coming out of that Game 1, Lee had thrown 33 and 1/3 innings and gave up a total of two earned runs which equalled an ERA of 0.54.

In that now-legendary Game 1, Lee threw a complete game while striking out ten and walking none. The most amazing part of his performance was how effortless Lee made it look in Yankee Stadium in October, it was a pitching clinic for the ages and it made life-long Cliff Lee fans out of the entire tri-state area. 

4) Villanova vs. Pittsburgh: 2009 East Regional Final, Villanova 78, Pittsburgh 76

Game Highlights

Anytime Pittsburgh loses is a plus, but in this fashion and to the Villanova Wildcats made this glorious. The Wildcats have become the undisputed D1 basketball power in Philadelphia unseating the Temple Owls, who are certainly no slouch.

This game helped the Wildcats' image in the city and made fans out of millions of people in the Philadelphia dying to support good basketball (sorry Sixers).

No one will ever forget big shot Scotty Reynolds' drive towards the rim for the winning basket with .5 seconds left on the clock that sent the 'Cats to the Final Four. Villanova improved to 30-7 on the season and made it to a Final Four where they played North Carolina, that one didn't turn out so well, but this was a classic March Madness game.

3) Eagles vs. Cowboys: Final game of the 2008 regular season, Eagles 44, Cowboys 6

Game Highlights

This...was...awesome. There are few moments in sports that feel as good as winning a championship to fans, but this game almost captured the euphoria that would result from winning a championship. It was the perfect ending to the not-so-perfect season.

The above picture is what I will always remember from that day, a day where everything was on the line and the Cowboys turned in one of the worst efforts in team history. Romo completed only 21 of 39 passes with an interception.

The Eagles needed to win this game to make it to the playoffs as they were aided by the Oakland Raiders and Houston Texans of all teams to make it to the wild-card round to play Minnesota. The landscape for the Eagles is a little different now, but for one day the Eagles were able to silence all the critics and the Cowboys at the same time.

2) Flyers vs. Bruins: Game 7 of 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Flyers 4, Bruins 3

Game Highlights

This one just happened as well, but it's no less important in the Philly sports pantheon. Everyone not only counted out the Flyers, people forgot about them.

The Flyers got into the postseason thanks to a last day of the season shootout victory against the New York Rangers which secured the Flyers the seventh seed in the playoffs. The Flyers began shocking people from that point forward.

Philadelphia dismissed the New Jersey Devils in five games and went on to play the third seeded Bruins and then the hot at the moment Brian Boucher was suddenly not so hot and then injured.

Just returning from injury was Michael Leighton and so he was inserted into the starting goaltender role and the comeback was on. The Flyers were down three games to nothing and after Leighton entered the net, they just kept chipping away at the series lead until the impossible became possible.

Game 7 echoed the story of this series, the Flyers quickly got down in the first period 3-0 and then Flyers coach Peter Laviolette called a timeout, it's been labelled the timeout that saved the season because after that point the Flyers played more agressively and Leighton was better in goal and the Flyers successfully climbed out of a 3-0 hole in the series and completed a 3-0 comeback in Game 7 which was piunctauted by Simon Gagne's power play goal with seven minutes left in the game.

The Flyers went on to beat the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Finals but fell to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Finals, but overall, a great year for the orange and black.

1) Phillies vs Rays: Game 5 of the 2008 World Series, Phillies 4, Rays 3

Game Highlights

So good it spanned three days, the reason this game tops the list is obvious. This game ended all the frustration, all the "can't get over the hump" talk. the cursed talk, the Phillies ended our 25 year championship drought and created a buzz for baseball in Phialdelphia that the city hasn't seen in about 15 years. 

Baseball is now an event in Philly, Citizens Bank Park is the "it" spot in town and part of the reason is this game.

This game was unique because Game 5 originally began on Monday night, was postponed due to rain in the sixth inning and finished on Wednesday.  

Cole Hamels was crowned as World Series MVP as he started Games 1 and 5 in the World Series and went 4-0 in 5 postseason starts, but in the end this was important because we didn't fall short, we lived up to the expectations and surpassed them. Without a doubt, the greatest moment I've experienced as a Philadelphia fan. Now back to the current day...

Phillies Week in Review

Going into a big World Series rematch tonight with the New York Yankees, what better time to look at where the Phillies stand after a tumultuous week. Let's take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly.

                                    Philadelphia Phillies (32-29)

Week Description: The Phillies entered the third game of a four game set with the NL-leading San Diego Padres last Sunday with a 2-0 series lead and it was starting to look like the Phillies had turned a corner after scoring six runs the night before, it was the first time since May 17th that the Phillies had scored more than four runs in a game.

Joe Blanton got the start and continued his poor play on the mound as the Phils got behind the eight ball and ended up losing in extra innings and was hamstrung by the play of Jayson Werth who struck out to end the game, Werth went 0-5 with three strikeouts.

The Phillies went on the lose the next day as well to split the series with the Padres as they wasted another quality start from Cole Hamels who carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Adrian Gonzalez homered. In support of Hamels, the Phillies only mustered one run going into a three-game set against the Florida Marlins.

And for one night, the Phillies look like they are supposed to look and scored 10 runs, which was the first time since mid-May that they scored in double-digits as the Phils won 10-8. All the important players got hits and Ryan Howard hit a home run, something he hasn't done as frequently this season. But, the Phillies were shutout the next day, not by the Marlins, but by rain.

Wednesday's Game 2 against the Marlins was rescheduled to September 6th and turned into a day-night doubleheader with the rescheduled game being the 1:05pm start time, so that meant the Phillies suddenly hot bats had to wait another day and face Josh Johnson which turned out to be double whammy.

The Phillies were shutout officially in this one as Johnson outpitched Roy Halladay in a pitching duel that ended with a 2-0 Marlins victory. Shutout for the seventh time this season, Philadelphia matched their shutout total from all of 2009 and was only able to manage four hits on te night and then the team traveled to Boston...

And proceeded to be schooled on the field in humiliating fashion, the Red Sox took Game 1 by a score of 12-2 and Jamie Moyer had the worst start of his career lasting just over a inning while allowing nine earned runs as Boston jumped out to a 12-0 lead in just three innings of play. It was the worst loss for the Phils in almost a year and it was followed by another massacre.

Joe Blanton's string of bad starts continued as he went four innings and gave up 13 hits and allowed the same number of earned runs Moyer gave up the night before, nine. As the Phillies lost again 10-2 and looked lifeless and defeated again and a players-only meeting followed. Blanton fell to 1-5 on the season and adding insult to injury, J.D Drew had a home run in the blow-out.

Cole Hamels ended the week on a good note though, getting the Phillies a 5-3 victory on Sunday. Hamels performed well following a second inning home run to Adrian Beltre as the Phillies now prepare for the New York Yankees tonight at "New" Yankee Stadium.

Record: 2-5
Avg Runs Per Game: 3.0

The Good: 
Roy Halladay- This one's obvious, Roy has been everything we've expected of him this season. He's only had two bad starts this year, games in which he's given up more than five earned runs. If you take out those two starts, then Halladay would have an ERA of 1.12. And even though he lost on Thursday, he still managed to lower his ERA to 1.97 in the process, Halladay has been great as advertised.


Placido Polanco- He has the highest batting average of any regular Phillie, minus the injured Jimmy Rollins who only has 41 at-bats. Polanco has proven that manager Charlie Manuel knew what he was talking about when he put Polanco in the number two spot in the lineup to start the season. In the last week, he's batting .400 and is batting .394 in June, he's been a tough out at the top of the lineup and the only consistent Phillie in the starting lineup.

The Bad: Chase Utley- Utley started out the season on an epic tear, and has since gone through what's been considered the worst slump of his career. There has been talk of a potential injury, but there has been no evidence to support that rumor. His average has dropped to a season-low .256 and he's only hitting .153 with no homers since May 20th.

Ryan Howard- Howard has hit a little better of late, but is experiencing a power outage much like Chase Utley. Howard has only 10 home runs this season, while last year he had 19 home runs at this point in the season. Howard is hitting .230 since May 20th.

The Ugly: Jayson Werth- It's been no secret how poorly Jayson Werth has played in the last month, but what makes his play worse is that while Howard and Utley have shown some signs of life, Werth has shown approximately two signs of life in the past month, the home-run last weekend and the big single on Sunday before a two-run shot by Raul Ibanez that gave the Phillies the lead for good. The reason Werth gets so much flack for his slump is because of how important he was earlier in the season, he was in a zone and now...not so much. His end of game strikeouts on back-to-back days, were definite low-lights from this past week.

Joe Blanton- He has been without a doubt, the worst Phillies starter this season and his two starts this past week displayed how bad he has been on the mound. He has the highest ERA on staff of any Phillies pitcher, both reliever and starter, it stands at 7.28. The record sits at a immensely disappointing 1-5 and he has an ERA in June of 14.00 in only nine innings of action while giving up two home runs in each start.

Hopefully, this week will spell better fortunes for the Phils as the defending National League Champs are going into the Bronx to take on the champs tonight in a World Series rematch that isn't really getting the hype it deserves because of the Phillies recent poor play.

I mean, this is the first World Series rematch we've had in season since 2002 when the D'Backs and Yankees played each other following the 2001 seven game epic.

It's Roy Halladay vs C.C Sabathia in what should be an interesting one and this series will definitely be a good way to determine where the Phillies are since they will be facing the same 1-2-3 punch they faced last October. Burnett and Pettitte will be following Sabathia tomorrow and Thursday night. All the baseball eyes will be on New York for the next three days, let's hope the Phillies show up.

Hamels gets the Phillies back on track

Cole Hamels got the Phils a much-needed win after a disastrous first two games of the weekend set against the Boston Red Sox.

The Philadelphia Phillies (32-29) finally won a game in Boston yesterday by a score of 5-3. It was Philadelphia's first win at Fenway since 2004 and it was fueled by a dominant Cole Hamels. Raul Ibanez also hit a big two-run home run that broke a one all tie in the top of the fourth inning.

There was and is a lot of talk in the dugout about the Red Sox being the team that started the downward slide for the Phils and specifically Tim Wakefield was the man to credit for the Phillies losing alot of their hitting mojo because of his tricky knuckleball.

Wakefield started the game strong but entered some trouble in the fourth when the Phils bats finally woke up. Trailing 1-0, Ryan Howard doubled with one out and was followed by a huge at-bat for Jayson Werth, who was able to get a clutch single which tied the game at one apiece. Ibanez then came to the plate and lifted a much-needed home run for the team to right field that gave the Phillies a 3-1 lead.

Philadelphia tacked on one more in the inning when Ben Francisco scored off a Juan Castro single.

Wakefield settled down after that and retired the next 10 Phillies batters in order and pitched well enough on the day, going seven and a third giving up the four earned runs on seven hits while striking out three.

While Cole Hamels on the other side did better than just pitch well enough, he kept the Phils in this game early after giving up a second-inning solo home run to Adrian Beltre.

Hamels won his sixth game of the season by keeping his cool following the home run and went on to strike out the next four batters following Beltre.

This was definitely a highlight of the 2010 season for Hamels, coming up huge in a start that absoltuely demanded it. Hamels went seven innings while giving up one earned run while striking out eight Boston batters on the afternoon.

Philadelphia needed a pick-me-up after a terrible 10-2 loss on Saturday afternoon that resulted in a players-only meeting following the game.

The Phillies are 7-17 since May 17th which puts them amongst the cellar-dwellers in baseball and the quality of play had to improve going into a big World Series rematch with the Yankees starting on Tuesday night.

Roy Halladay will take the mound on Tuesday against the Yankees and oppose C.C Sabathia in another mega-matchup of starting pitchers. Roy just faced this situation last Thursday when he was out dueled by the Marlins' Josh Johnson and now the prized free agent acquistition for the Phils can test his worth against the team that ended the Phillies run last fall.

We will see how the Phils respond following a big win over the Red Sox, it will be interesting to see whether Philadelphia can parlay any of the success they had yesterday on Tuesday into a winning streak.

With the Phils having an off-day tomorrow, I'll have a Phillies Week-in-Review for you soon, discussing the good, the bad and the brutal from the past week in Phillies baseball.

Red Sox Woes Continue

The Phillies just cannot solve the mystery that is the American League, and more specifically, the Boston Red Sox.

Last night, the Philadelphia Phillies lost in a humiliating fashion to the Red Sox by a score of 12-2. Jamie Moyer picked up the loss after enduring the worst start in his 24 year career. Moyer only went an inning plus on the mound, giving up a career-high nine runs on nine hits as the Phils suffered their worst loss in almost a year.

Moyer picked up his sixth loss on the season and in the process went from having a respectable ERA of 3.98 to having the third-worst ERA on the roster at 5.03.

The Red Sox jumped out to a 12-0 lead in only three innings of action and manager Charlie Manuel pulled Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley in the fifth to get them some rest since the game was easily in hand for Boston,

With the loss, the Phillies fell to third place in the NL East for the first time this season falling behind both the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets...ugh.

Philadelphia keeps adding to the negative numbers that have defined the last month for this team. The Phillies are 7-15 since May 17th and have hit just .219 and are averaging two runs a game in their last 22 games.

The Phillies got some hits last night, they racked up 10 of them, but one of the biggest problems this team has had since the Red Sox series back in Philadelphia was hitting with runners in scoring position. Last night, they went 1 for 10 with RISP and left seven men on base, while Boston went 8 for 17 with runners in scoring position.

Today, the Phillies have Joe Blanton going to the mound for the Phils in what could be another offensive explosion. Blanton has had trouble in the early goings in his recent starts including his start last Sunday against the Padres when he went five innings and allowed five earned runs and two home runs in the process.

The Phillies would love to win Game 2 in this series allowing Cole Hamels to take the mound tomorrow and possibly win this series which is something that the Phils would desperately need going into a huge series against the New York Yankees starting on Tuesday.

Phillies Bats go Quiet......Again

In a highly-anticipated rematch between Roy Halladay and Josh Johnson, neither arm disappointed but the Phillies bats did.

The Florida Marlins blanked the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0 last night at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies were only able to muster four hits last night as Philadelphia was shutout for the seventh time this season which matches the number of times they were shutout all of last year.

It is also the sixth time this season Philadelphia has been held to four or fewer hits.

It was pretty obvious that Halladay wasn't going to throw a perfect game last night allowing a single to the first batter he faced in the game, Marlins left fielder Chris Coghlan. Halladay allowed another single and a walk in the inning before before Jorge Cantu hit a sacrifice fly to score the first run of the game.

As it turned out, that run would be the difference as Marlins starter Josh Johnson was on his game going eight dominant innings only giving up three hits while only walking one and striking out five. Johnson lowered his ERA on the season to 1.91.

Johnson retired his last 17 batters in a row before leaving after the eighth inning.

Halladay righted the ship after that shaky first inning and didn't allow more than one baserunner in any inning following the first. Halladay went eight innings as well giving up one run with one walk and struck out eight.

Halladay picked up the loss on the night, making it his fourth loss this season while lowering his ERA to a tidy 1.96. The Phils have lost for the fourth time in Halladay's last six starts and have struggled to score runs for him as well. According to philly.com, in Halladay's last six starts, Philadelphia has only scored only 1.8 runs per game.

Now to the on again, off again concern about the Phillies bats. Last night, they returned to form. That form being a team that has struggled to score in recent weeks and have raked up the strikeouts.

Jayson Werth returned to the lineup last night, but the two days rest didn't make much of a difference in his performance at the plate. Werth went 0-3 with two strikeouts and left two men on base.

The Phillies are back in action on Friday as they resume inter-league play against the Boston Red Sox.

Jamie Moyer will be on the mound for the Phils as they travel to Fenway for an important weekend set.

Moyer is 6-5 on the season with an ERA of 3.98 and has been the Phils second best pitcher with his recent stretch of quality starts. He's coming off his second complete game of the season last Saturday against the Padres and has an ERA of 2.83 in his last six starts.

The Red Sox have had the Phils number this season, winning two of three the last time they met in Philadelphia last month. That series is largely remembered for sending the Phillies into their tailspin, maybe a return engagement is in order to get the Phils out of their prolonged funk.

First pitch for Red Sox/Phillies is set for 7:10 pm tonight at Fenway Park.

Roy Halladay vs. Josh Johnson Part Two

As a result of last nights rain-out, tonight's series finale vs the Florida Marlins will feature a top-notch pitching matchup between two of the best in baseball today.

The Philadelphia Phillies (31-26) are looking to keep the bats hot as they are coming off their most prolific scoring outburst in about a month. Philadelphia scored 10 runs in Game 1 of this series back on Tuesday night, although runs might be at a premium tonight.

Roy Halladay will return to the mound to face the Marlins for the first time since his perfect game on May 29th in down in Miami. The Phillies were in the midst of a prolonged scoring drought, scoring only one unearned run that night to win 1-0.

Halladay is 8-3 on the season with a stellar ERA of just over two at 2.03. Halladay is coming off a win against the San Diego Padres on Friday night, a game where he went eight innings while only giving up two earned runs.

And on the other side is Florida's ace, 26-year-old Josh Johnson. On the season, Johnson is living up to the hype as well. He's 6-2 on the season with an ERA of 2.10 and has struck out 43 batters in his last 46 innings.

Hitters are hitting a lowly .213 off of Johnson and in his last month of work, Johnson has compiled an ERA of 1.37.

The Phillies do hit Johnson well however, with Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jayson Werth all hitting over .300 in their careers off the right hander.

Speaking of Jayson Werth, he will be returning to the lineup tonight after being given the night off on Tuesday. Werth and manager Charlie Manuel had a disagreement earlier this week about the origins of Werth's troubles at the plate. Jayson thought it was mental and Charlie thought it was free-agency related. Werth wasn't pleased with the statement and it sent Charlie into a full-blown backstroke yesterday.

But the air has been cleared between the starting right-fielder and the skipper as Werth will return to the starting lineup tonight still struggling. Werth is three for his last 38 with 17 strikeouts, two of them were game-enders on back-to-back nights.

It will be an interesting match-up tonight at the Bank as the Phils and Marlins go at it with the first pitch set for 7:05 pm, and fortunately for all of us attending tonight there is not a drop of rain in the forecast.

The Run is Over for the Men in Orange

They fought until the bitter end, and it's over for the Philadelphia Flyers as tonight the NHL season officially came to a close.

The Flyers fell to the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals as the city of Chicago wins their first Stanley Cup in 49 years. Patrick Kane scored the overtime winner four minutes into the extra session with a spectacular shot that Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton never saw coming.

Jonathan Toews was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy following the game as the Flyers faithful booed the NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and the Blackhawks who celebrated on the Wachovia Center ice.

It wasn't the prettiest hockey game the Flyers have played this postseason especially with some of the sloppy penalties the team committed in the second period following a daniel Breire goal that gave the Flyers a brief lead at 2-1.

Nine seconds after the goal, Braydon Coburn got called for a cross-checking penalty that resulted in a huge power play goal by Patrick Sharp. The B'Hawks scored again before the end of the 2nd with a goal by Andrew Ladd and Chicago went into the third period with a 3-2 lead.

The Flyers struck back in the third period with a clutch goal by Scott Hartnell with 4:59 to go in the game. The goal energized the Wachovia Center and it was rocking as the Flyers got two really good shots by Mike Richards and Jeff Carter at Chicago's goaltender Antti Niemi.

Niemi played well tonight and had some phenomenal saves in the third period and turned away 21 of 24 shots and finished the 2010 playoffs with a 16-6 record as the Blackhawks finally hoist the Stanley Cup.

Another storyline from tonight's game was Marian Hossa. Hossa quest to the cup is well-known around hockey circles as he has made it to the Cup Finals three years in a row with three different teams and he finally will have his name etched onto the Cup he's desperately chased for years.

And for the Flyers, while there is much to be disappointed about, there is also plenty to be proud of when it comes to this year's edition of the Flyers.

Hockey has never been at the forefront in Philadelphia, it has its die-hard followers but it was never the top dog in town and with this run, the Flyers received some much deserved respect from all the Philadelphia sports fans. This was a great year for the Flyers and more great things are to come for this team as many players on this roster are still in their prime.

Hopefully next season it won't take a last day of the season shoot-out victory to get the type of hockey we saw out of this resilient bunch. Congrats to the 2010 Eastern Conference Champions.

It's Officially Leighton's to Lose...Maybe

Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said during his press conference on Thursday that the goaltender with the best numbers will start Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals...and that has to be Michael Leighton, right?

Well, if we look at the numbers, Brian Boucher had a 9-18-3 record throughout the regular season with a 2.76 GAA and a .899 save percentage, but if we look at what Bouch has done in the postseason, it's equally as muddled.

Boucher in the postseason has a 6-6 record with a 2.47 GAA and a .909 save percentage and a shutout.

Leighton by far has the better numbers in the regular season and postseason. In the regular season, he has a record of 17-9-2 and a 2.8 GAA and a .905 save percentage.

Leighton's numbers in the postseason despite being pulled twice in the Stanley Cup Finals, make him the de-facto choice for Game 6. He has a 8-2 record in the 2010 playoffs since coming in following a injury to Boucher in the Boston Bruins series. Leighton has a 2.34 GAA and a .918 save percentage and three shutouts, all coming against the Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Reportedly, both players weren't told before the press conference who will start Game 6 and hopefully that was not a ploy to try to out maneuver the Chicago Blackhawks because if nether player actually knew who was going to start, then this is a awful way to enter a obvious must-win situation for the Flyers.

I've been a huge fan of the way Peter Laviolette has inspired and motiavted this team since taking over for the fired John Stevens in December, but the one issue I've had with him is the way he's treated the goaltender who got him to the Cup Finals. He's been far too cavalier with the man that helped carry the team to the doorstep of the Flyers first championship since 1975.

"Our goaltender has the best numbers in the playoffs, I didn't think I had to announce it, " Laviolette said earlier today to the press.

After a shaky overall performance from the Flyers in Game 5, I wanted to see a confidence and prepared team enter the Wachovia Center tomorrow night. I hope goalie-gate doesn't affect the way the Flyers come out and respond in the biggest game of the season.

The Phillies Bats Finally come Alive

The Phils broke the 10 run barrier for the first time since mid-May and looked good doing it.

The Philadelphia Phillies (31-26) defeated the Florida Marlins in a high-scoring affair, winning 10-8. Ben Francisco had the big hit of the night with a two-out, two run single in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Philadelphia the lead for good.

The most impressive part of this game is the way the Phillies didn't give up. The Marlins scored the first four runs of this game before the Phils responded in the bottom of the third inning with their newly awakened heart of the lineup

The middle of the lineup, minus a resting Jayson Werth, looked on the ball tonight. Ryan Howard and Chase Utley had two hits each.

Howard jacked his 10th home run of the season in the third inning, a two-run blast off Marlins starter Chris Volstad.

Every player in the Phillies lineup, except catcher Carlos Ruiz, had a hit for the Phillies.

Raul Ibanez had four hits for the Phils, the most of any regular. Ibanez also had 2 RBIs on the night as he brings his total on the season to 24 total. The four hits for Ibanez are the most he's had in a game in over a year as all of his power numbers are significantly down from last year. Ibanez only has 3 home runs on the season with a .246 average.

While the bats woke up, the solid starting pitching for the Phils went away.

Kyle Kendrick got the start for the Phils and struggled through just five innings while allowing six hits and five earned runs. Kendrick didn't factor into the decision.

Jose Contreras (3-2) entered the game in the eighth inning and got the victory despite giving up a run while striking out two batters. 

Brad Lidge came in to save the game in the ninth and his performance was reminiscent of last year's version of Lidge. He made the top of the ninth very interesting as the Marlins were able to load the bases before eventually grounding out to end the game. Lidge picked up his third save of the season.

The Phils are back at it tomorrow night as we'll see a perfect rematch.

It will be the same pitching matchup as it was the night Roy Halladay pitched his perfect game. It will be Halladay vs Josh Johnson tomorrow night at the Bank with a 7:05 pm start time. Get there early, this should be a quick one.

Hamels loses No-No and the Game

Cole Hamels had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning, but once again the offense didn't do much in support of it.

The Philadelphia Phillies (30-26) lost to the San Diego Padres last night by a score of 3-1 which forced a split of the four-game weekend series. Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres broke up no-hit bid and the shut out with one swing in the seventh inning that gave the Friars a one run lead. 

Gonzalez hit another home-run in the ninth inning off Danys Baez. Those shots were Gonzalez's 12th & 13th home runs on the season and his third in two days off of Phillies pitching.

Gonzalez's first home run was followed by another blast by Scott Hairston to give the Padres a 2-0 lead in a matter of pitches.

Hamels deserved the win last night, he went eight innings and gave up three hits and two runs while striking out six.

Hamels drops to 5-5 on the season, but lowered in ERA in the process to 3.98.

The concern though turns back to the Phillies offense, which seems to greatly miss the services of Jimmy Rollins.

This Phillies offense in the 15 games since Rollins left the lineup has slumped big-time and they've stumbled to a 4-11 record in his absence. The Phils have only scored 29 runs in those 15 games and been shut out five times.

The Phils have lost six of eight, 11 of 15 and 13 of their last 19 and all the offensive stats surrounding that stretch of games have been truly offensive.

The Phillies remain two games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East.

If there was one positive to this mess of a Philadelphia lineup, you can look to the top of the order. Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco, since his return on Friday, have done their part to energize the silent 3-5 Phillies batters.

Victorino and Polanco were hot during the Phils victories on Friday and Saturday and last night they went four for eight. While the anchors of the heart of the order, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth, went one for 11.

Well, the Phillies are back at it again tonight as they open a three-game set against the Florida Marlins tonight a Citizens Bank Park.

On the mound for the Phillies will be Kyle Kendrick who is 3-2 with a 4.62 ERA. Kendrick is coming off arguably his best start of the season against the Braves last Wednesday night when he allowed olny one run in seven innings of work.

First pitch for Phillies/Marlins tonight is set for 7:05pm.