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.