Tough Order for Phils

The Phillies now have the improbable test of trying to win three games in a row to advance to the next round of the 2007 MLB Playoffs. How did this happen? Well, the Phils blew the first two games against the Rockies, both day games. Hopefully, that had something to do with it and the Phils can do better when they head to Coor's Field for two games at night. The Phillies hitting has been struggling most of all, it was supposed to be the pitching. Aside from some Jose Mesa, who has an ERA of about 13, the pitching staff has been unexpectingly good. The Phillies have an off-day today, that will give Charlie time to get this team back on track. Whatever happens, I know it isn't going to be easy.

Preview: Rockies and Phillies, Game 1

Game one between the Rockies and Phillies is this afternoon at 3 at Citizen's Bank Park. It will be a high-scoring series between the two teams because both of them are on top of the N.L. in runs scored. So much for pitching gets you to the playoffs. Here are the probable starters for both teams.

Phillies: Rockies:

pitcher Cole Hamels pitcher Jeff Francis
shortstop Jimmy Rollins shortstop Troy Tulowitzki
rightfielder Shane Victorino or Jayson Werth rightfielder Brad Hawpe
second baseman Chase Utely second baseman Kazuo Matsui
first baseman Ryan Howard first baseman Todd Helton
leftfielder Pat Burrell leftfielder Matt Holliday
centerfielder Aaron Rowand centerfielder Willy Taveras
third baseman Abraham Nunez or Greg Dobbs or Wes Helms third baseman Garrett Atkins
catcher Carlos Ruiz catcher Yorvit Torrealba

The lineups look pretty much the same. They are pretty equal, the Phils might have a slight edge because the Rollins, Utely, and Howard combination has been deadly recently. The pitchers, Cole Hamels and Jeff Francis, are pretty equal in ability and wins. The Rockies are red-hot going 20-8 in September. The team who will win will get to the starting pitchers more and hold on to the lead. The Phils do have a lot of come-from-behind wins. It should be great.

Phillies Win Pennant

The Phillies have won the National League East pennant. The Phillies will be playing in October for the first time since 1993. These fans are hungry for some good postseason baseball; heck, they haven't had it in 14 years. The Phillies were tied for the lead in the division going into yesterday's game at Citizens' Bank Park. The Phillies beat the Nationals, 6-1, yesterday and by the time the game was over, the Mets had already been killed by the Marlins. The Mets have had a great fall from grace, and a very historical one as well. The New York Mets had a seven game lead on the Phils with 17 games left in the season. That is the greatest fall in the history of Major League Baseball.
The hometown guy clinched it for the Phillies with his great pitching performance. Jamie Moyer did not give up an earned run in the 5 1/3 innings that he pitched. Moyer took off from school to go to the parade in 1980 when the Phils won their last World Series. Howard also helped by getting three RBI's and smacking his 47th homer of the year. Jimmy Rollins had a big RBI triple in the game. Rollins is only the fourth person in MLB history to reach the 20-20-20-20, triples, doubles, homers, and stolen bases.
This is the tenth postseason the Phillies have reached in their 100 plus years of playing ball. They will play wednesday, at home, against the winner of the one game playoff featuring the Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres. It doesn't matter who they play, the Phillies are still red hot and for the first time in a long time: division winners.

Phillies Game Back in Both Races

The Phillies are walking the annual tight rope to the playoffs again this year. They haven't reached the other side in more than ten years. They do have a good chance this year. The current update on the playoff chase is that the Phils are one game back in both the wild card and the N.L. East. The Phils won 5-2 yesterday and the New York Mets lost. The Padres won again.
I think the Phils have a better shot at winning the division than anything else. The Mets are slumping and might just fall apart with four games to play. The Padres are surging and so are the Colorado Rockies. Now, wouldn't you want to race just one team to the finish or would you rather try to beat every team that's in second in their divisions in the N.L.. The Phillies, to give themselves a good shot, would probably want to win, at the very least, three out of the last four games.
You gotta think, though, that if the Phillies would have won a few more games in their horrible start to the season, that it would be a different story right now. But I guess you shouldn't cry about spilled milk.
Even if this team doesn't make the playoffs, I think they still did a great job getting this far. I mean, with the rollercoaster of a bullpen and a rotation that has dropped like flys the entire season, that they are lucky to be in this position alone. Remember that when you call into WIP after the season, if the Phils are not playing October baseball, and start ripping Charlie Manuel and telling him to get out of town. He did a good job with this team and has earned the right to coach next year. But let's just hope that he has his team ready for the start of the season next year.

Phillies Closing In

The Phillies will finish their season off with a six-game homestand. Entering that homestand, which starts tonight against the Braves, they will be tied for the wild card lead and a chance at the division. How did they get a share of the top spot in the wild card? Well, they didn't play last night and they were a half game back. The leader at that time was the San Diego Padres and they lost last night.

The Phillies would love to compete in their first post season since 1993 this year. They certainly have the talent to do it: the reigning MVP and two different candidates for this season's award.

It will be a tough task for the Phils to edge out the Padres or any other team close to the wild card lead. The Padres pitching staff is why they are competing for a playoff spot this season. With Chris Young (left), Gary Maddux and Jake Peavy, their staff is one of the finest in the entire league.

That is exactly what the Phils lack: quality pitching. Sure it wasn't their fault, because they had a pretty good staff coming into this season but plenty of injuries have turned them into patch work and mediocre at best. The Phils strength is their hitting, no question about it.

The Phils have six games left: three against the Braves and three against the Nationals, all at home. Those are certainly winnable games. It will be fun to watch.

Why Jimmy Rollins Should Be MVP

Jimmy Rollins is a remarkable ballplayer. You don't see many players go all-out every game and play flawlessly. Jimmy Rollins is about the best all-around shortstop in the league. He is having one of his best years this year. Rollins is a big reason why this team is still contending for a playoff spot.
In spring training, he took a bold step by saying that the Phils were the team to beat in the N.L. East. Now you can imagine what the team that won the division by double digit games last season thinks about that. The Mets fans put a big target on Jimmy from the begining and still boed him till the final game between the two teams.
Jimmy plays in almost every game and it shows, he has 201 hits, 18 triples, 38 doubles, and 29 homers this year. He is batting .295 and has 90 RBIs. That is a remarkable number of RBIs for somebody batting in the lead off position. He is also very good on the base pads; he has 38 stolen bases. He is impecable in the field
MVP stands for most valuable player and right now I'd rather have Jimmy on the team than anyone else.

Eagles Go Lion Hunting

The Eagles surprised everyone, even their most faithful fans, as they tamed the Detroit Lions at Lincoln Financial Field earlier this afternoon. They scored 56 points in their first win of the season and by the way, that's the most points the team has scored in 54 years. The final score of the game, in which the Eagles scored 42 first half points, was 56-21. Going into this game most people thought that it was a must-win, and that if they lost the game the season looked as bright as the Titanic did when it hit the iceberg. Hopefully, we saw the real Eagles' offense today. Perhaps it was still asleep for the first two games.
McNabb looked like Peyton Manning as he threw for four touchdowns and 381 yards. Kevin Curtis looked unstoppable as he reeled in four touchdown grabs and gained 221 yards. He tied an NFL record for the most receiving yards in the first half, with 205 yards. It was one of the best performances by a wide receiver I have ever seen. Brian Westbrook played like a man-with-something-to-prove, breaking tackles and gaining first downs with ease. He finished with 222 yards total with three scores, but left the game in the third quarter with a rib injury. That will give Eagles' fans nightmares and sweaty palms even if it turns out to be minor.
Jon Kitna had a great game in this offensive showing, as he threw for 446 yards and two touchdowns for the Lions. The Philly defense showed yet again how solid it is by getting to Kitna nine times.
Earlier in the week, most Eagles' fans were busy burning McNabb on local radio stations for saying that black quarterbacks are criticized more than white quarterbacks in an interview for HBO. After that interview, most people thought that McNabb couldn't handle the pressure put on him from the fans. A lot of people thought he was just making up excuses because he hadn't won a Super Bowl yet, and they wanted him out of town after that interview was shown last week.
McNabb showed why he should still be in town in the beginning of the game when he scored on his first five possesions. Many people will probably think, though, that this was nothing more than a fluke game. All I know is that the Eagles looked pretty stinkin' good today.

Pathetic Eagles

The Eagles' offense showed just how pathetic they were on Monday Night Football, with the nations eyes on them they did not come through in the clutch. The final score was 20-12, Washington Redskins. The defense played solid but it the offense was horrid. They didn't even score a touchdown against the Redskins. David Akers scored all of the points for the Eagles, with four field goals.
Why is the offense floundering when it was the defense we worried about coming into the season. I will give you a one of reasons: the receivers are not getting open. The offensive line protected McNabb well enough but he needed more time because Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown and various other receivers weren't getting into enough space to allow McNabb to complete the pass.
Another thing I miss about the offense is McNabb making a good play out of a bad play. His ability to buy time and run around until someone gets open. He can't do that any time soon because it is not even a year after his surgery. But that playmaking ability is what has made McNabb the kind of quality quarterback that he is.
The Eagles lost this game because they could not score in the red zone, which used to be automatic for McNabb and this offense. Brian Westbrook was the one bright spot in the offense. He made big play after big play but you can't win with only half of your offense showing up for the game.
The defense did good but not great. Believe me people people, Jason Campbell isn't as good as he looked Monday night. I do think the defense did well against Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts. But hey, at least their wasn't any muffed punts.