Midnight’s Children

The Phillies started off the season with an 11-6 loss to the Washington Nationals at Citizen’s Bank Park. Brett Myers was not throwing the ball all that well through the first 5 innings and then when it was turned over to the bullpen Ryan Madsen allowed 2 runs to make the score 6-2. The Phillies clawed their way back to a 6-6 after a Jimmy Rollins 2 run homer but when Tom Gordon took the mound in the ninth all hell broke loose. Gordon was charged with 5 runs and if this is any sign of how he will pitch as a closer the team has some problems to resolve. Chase Utley also homered in the loss. 

       The 76ers hit a little bump in the road last night called the Orlando Magic and took a 113-95 loss to drop a game under 500. The Magic lights out from behind the 3-point mark making an incredible 14-23 attempts. This was just playing their game and the 76ers could do nothing to stop them. The Magic had 8 players in double figures led by Rashard Lewis’ 18 points. The 76ers were led by Louis Williams’ 18 points in the loss. The Sixers will be home tonight against New Jersey at the Wachovia Center. They need a solid performance to keep the postive momentum they have going.

The Flyers were just totally humiliated at the hand of the Pittsburgh Penguins today 7-1. The loss was the Flyers 4th in a row and hopefully the team has hit bottom. They were just outclassed by a Penguins team that was playing without Sidney Crosby. Evgeni Malkin continues to dominate as he punched in 2 goals to lead Pittsburgh. Marty Biron was his usual less than stellar self starting his 2nd game in two days. John Stevens is aware of Birons record on back to back games but chose to start him over Antero Nittymaki anyway. Bad decision John Stevens. The rumor mill has now started to churn and the word is Stevens’ job is on the line along with future roster spots for players. Paul Holmgren is really hot over the current losing streaks and is ready to take the axe to someone. The Flyers dominated the Penguins in the early season games but wre no match for them today. They had better get their act together quickly before they lose the playoff spot they now hold. I am an avid Flyers fan and can honestly say that the way they are playing right now does not earn them the right to make the playoffs.

The Flyers have continued their fall from 1st to worst in a matter of three weeks. They were sitting atop the Atlantic division a few weeks ago palying excellent hockey. Then a few injuries to key players including a concussion to Simon Gagne and Joffrey Lupul really hurt the Flyers scoring punch. The defense suffered injuries to Derrian Hatcher and  the bad trade for Jim Vandermeer just didn’t pan out. The next few weeks saw them fall to last place for a few days before they started a rebound. They suffered through a 10 game losing streak that really hurt their fragile confidence. The injuries have continued to mount with Mike Richards the most prominent  name added to the list with a hamstring injury. The Flyers just seem to be hanging on and will need some key people to go the extra mile inorder for them to make the playoffs and advance a round or two.

The losing continues for the 76ers as they dropped one last night in New York 89-81. The Knicks have ivproved lately and are 5-2 in their last seven games while the 76ers are on a free fall to the bottom. They have moments when they look really good but the inexperience shows eventually. When you can’t beat the Knicks you have some problems. The 76ers were led by Andre Iguodala with 24 points while Jamal Crawford led New York with 18 points. The 76ers need to figure out what is wrong very quickly or they will be in the basement looking up.

Well its stretch time for the Phillies. The Mets are not playing good at all and the Phillies are on a roll. They have played all seven games this week picking up 6 more wins! They been the Mets (for another sweep), the Cardinals and the Nats. Things are swinging in their favor.

Coming off a great sweep of the Mets at home the week before the Phils sputter when they meet the Braves and Marlins going 2-4 this week. The bullpen took a beating playing a large part in every loss. This unit has to tighten it up or we can forget about the Playoffs.

Well they are playing dome good teams out west like the Padres and Dodgers. Only 1 win is still not acceptable. The Phils were blow out by the Dodgers on the 22nd 15-3 and by the Padres on the 24th 14-3. Greg Maddux got another win in that one.

Another 4 win week of the Phillies as Moyer, Hamels and Durbin picked up wins. The offense has been steady and the pitching good. the bullpen has been a surprise with their reliability. Another west coast swing is up next week.

This week the Phiilies have won 4 out of 6 games. They save face against the Brewers taking the last game of the series late, Moyer and Lohse get wins against Florida and Hamels picks up the in on the 10th vs Atlanta. All in all it was a good week. The Phillies are now 9 games above .500.