Blanton Returns, Opens Series vs. Cardinals

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St. Louis Cardinals (17-8) play at Philadelphia Phillies (14-10). Jaime Garcia (2-1, 1.04 ERA) starts vs. Joe Blanton (Career: 63-54, 4.21 ERA).

The Phillies desperately needed Sunday night's win against the Mets, especially after hitting a speed bump. The Phillies are off to a 2-0 start this May, and now welcome the team with the best record in the National League.

Joe Blanton, who missed the whole month of April due to an oblique strain, will make his season debut. Blanton struggled in a few rehab starts, but did not feel any pain. Blanton's first career stint on the disabled list might put him under 213 innings this year, his career average. The Phillies are hoping to get several innings out of him to avoid a struggling bullpen, but the Phillies will be watching his pitch count.

Throughout his career, Blanton has had success against the Cardinals. He is 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA against the Red Birds. He has even limited Albert Pujols to a .125 average in eight at-bats. The Phillies are happy to have Blanton back into the starting rotation, which has been iffy with the exception of Roy Halladay.

The Phillies' offense went cold towards the end of April, but have heated up with the weather. They pounded out double digits in the last two games, and would like to continue the trend against Jaime Garcia. The left-handed rookie has been the Cardinals' top pitching prospect, and has pitched well thus far. Garcia has kept base runners to a minimum, and has out-dueled the likes of Tim Lincecum and Johan Santana. However, the 23-year old has yet to face a lineup as potent as the Phillies -- and in a hitter's park in warm weather.

The Cardinals and the Phillies are two of the top contenders in the National League this year. It will be intersting to see how these two teams match up in this four game series.

McGwire Admits To Steroid Use

It was about a year ago when Alex Rodriguez admitted (well, was caught) to using performance enhancing drugs. Here, on January 11, baseball is once again saddened to find out that another popular slugger has taken steroids. Only this time, the victim is not as surprising.

Today, Mark McGwire admitted to taking steroids during the late 1990's. In 1998, McGwire smashed 70 home runs, breaking the single-season home run record (which was later broken by another alleged steroid user, Barry Bonds). McGwire and Sammy Sosa were neck and neck for the home run race, but McGwire finished on top -- thanks to a little help. (Sosa, whose face is now discolored, tested positive for steroids.)

"I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I
truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid
era."

McGwire finished his career in 2001. During his career he smashed 583 home runs, batted .263 and had a .982 OPS. McGwire made the 2010 Hall of Fame ballot, but did not get in. The steroid controversy certainly will effect some votes from some writers.

McGwire is finally getting back into the game, which may have led to his confession. McGwire will be the Cardinals batting coach in 2010. Manager Tony LaRussa even went the distance of saying that McGwire could be activated as a pinch hitter in a pennant race!

I'm glad McGwire admitted it, but it doesn't remove the fact that he still took them in the first place. With all the Mark McGwire news, everything else in baseball has been overshadowed... and it's a shame it's for steroid purposes.

McGwire admitted to steroids, the sun rose, and it set today. Randy Johnson was measured to be tall; Bartolo Colon to be pleasantly plump.

Chase Utley admitted to excessive hair gel use. Utley claims he used LA Looks, which is legal around the league, but rumors are stating that Utley uses Redken, which is banned by baseball.

Okay, well the Utley thing is not true (well, it SORTA is), but it's a nice segway into today's real MLB news:

Greg Maddux will be the Cubs assistant general manager. Maddux is a first ballot Hall of Famer who had a 3.16 career ERA.

The Reds signed Aroldis Chapman to a five-year, $30 million deal. Chapman, a left handed pitcher, was Cuba's prized prospect. He tops 100 on the radar gun, but needs to improve his command.

The Giants agreed to sign Aubrey Huff, the Pirates are closing in on a deal with Ryan Chruch, and the Rangers signed Vladimir Guerrero.

QUOTE SOURCE: MLB.com

Two the Lucky Number

As seen on Phillies Nation

The July hot streak continues. With the 9-2 win, the Phillies took two out of three against the National League Central division leaders, the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Julio Lugo has been trouble since joining the Cards, and today was no different. He doubled and scored on Matt Holliday's sacrifice fly. Blanton was able to avoid further damage and escaped a potential big inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Phillies scored the same way the Cardinals did; a Ryan Howard sacrifice fly tied the game at one. The Phillies had a chance for a big inning, but the umpire interfered with the catcher as Shane Victorino attempted to steal. Victorino was sent back to first. The run scored anyway, but it could have turned into more.

After making a spectacular diving catch by readjusting himself, Chase Utley's two-run home run gave the Phillies a 3-1 lead in the third. Utley was "the man" with a 3-for-4, 2 RBI day. On his T-shirt day, Victorino (2-for-4) scored on the sac fly and Utley's homer.

The Cards inched closer on Mark Derosa's solo home run to make it 3-2. But the Phillies gave Blanton plenty of run support, via two-run shots.

In the fifth, Ryan Howard hit a two-run moon shot off the centerfield bricks. Jimmy Rollins hit a two-run bomb to right in the sixth. Raul Ibanez finished it off with a seventh inning opposite field two-run blast.

Big Joe didn't need all those runs as he settled down and dominated. He pitched eight innings, allowed two earned runs on seven hits and one walk. He struck out six, including the last three batters he faced (Lugo, Albert Pujols, and Matt Holliday). Blanton has been better each time around, and today he was brilliant, controlling a very strong Cardinal offense.

Two was today's lucky number. Two-run home runs, and two runs allowed by Blanton. And two wins against St. Louis.

Call of the Day: Jimmy Rollins his his 22nd home run in 2006.

"This is well hit to right field. This ball is outta here! Home run JRoll!
Number 22, and the Phillies now lead it by a score of four to one."

Blanton On Hill for Rubbermatch

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St. Louis Cardinals (53-47) at Philadelphia Phillies (55-40)
Todd Wellemeyer (7-8, 5.68 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (6-4, 4.24 ERA)

Joe Blanton and Todd Wellemeyer are on the hill for the rubbermatch game of the series. Numbers-wise, the edge goes to Joe Blanton and the Phillies.

Blanton has improved each start. Blanton started the season 2-3 with a 7.11 ERA. Since, he is 4-1 with a 2.43 ERA. Blanton says the difference may be the improvement in his changeup.

On the other hand, Wellemeyer has struggled, and has a 6.44 ERA in his last eight starts. Chase Utley has Wellemeyer in his book. He is 4-for-8 with 2 home runs against him.

A win today would give the Phillies 9,001 all-time regular season wins.

Fan Points Laser

Booing Santa Claus, throwing batteries at J.D Drew. Guess what Phillies fans? You can add another thing to your resume. A fan shined a laser (yes, the kind from 1997) at Julio Lugo while he was up to bat.

The incident caused a brief delay, as the umpires, security, and even coaches tried to find the criminal. Nobody knows who pointed the laser, and nobody around him played "tattle-tale."

It was a stupid thing for this fan to do. The fan should have never pointed a laser and could potentially cause eye damage to a player. However, it is silly to claim that it could have "changed the outcome of the game" in favor for the Cardinals. If anything, wouldn't it have took Chan Ho Park out of a rhythm? Lugo struck out, but he admitted it was a good pitch by Park. It could have cost the Phillies the game if Park had a long wait.

"I thought I was going to get shot," Lugo said.

"It's immature. It's
something that doesn't belong at the ballpark," Rollins said.

Many Phillies fans are upset about the incident, much like Cardinal fans. Just another addition to a bad Phillies fan reputation.

As the media and other fans "Philadelphia fan hate-fest" continues, didn't a similar incident happen a few years ago in New York?

QUOTE SOURCE: WPIX

JRoll Slams Past Cards

As seen on Phillies Nation.
There is no doubt the Phillies have been clutch with the bases loaded. Jimmy Rollins joined the club. His sixth inning salami gave the Phillies the lead in their 14-6 win. It also was their eighth grand slam of the season, which tied a franchise record set in 1993 and 2005 for most grand slams in a season.

It didn't take long for the Phils to jump on their former teammate, Kyle Lohse. Raul Ibanez and Pedro Feliz's RBI singles gave the Phillies a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Lohse lasted only four innings. He gave up three earned on four hits and three walks. Luckily for him, he was not tacked with the loss because Julio Lugo tied the game at three with a RBI double.

When the Phillies saw Rick Ankiel earlier in the year, he landed on the disabled after making a fantastic catch, running into a brick wall. He has given the Phillies a lot of trouble in this series. He went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in during the opening game. Today, he homered to give the Cardinals a 4-3 lead in the sixth. Ankiel finished the day 3-for-5.

Then, Jimmy Rollins struck. With two outs, and two on, Greg Dobbs had a great at-bat fouling off pitches and worked a walk to load the bases. Rollins didn't disappoint, breaking his 0-for-8 streak with the bases loaded by clubbing a go-ahead grand slam to right field. Victorino immediately followed with a homer to make it back-to-back jacks. The Phillies lead 8-4 and did not look back.

The Cardinals inched a run closer in the seventh after a brief delay because a fan shined a laser on Julio Lugo. The delay may have took Chan Ho Park out of his rhythm. He allowed a RBI double to Matt Holliday (2-for-4), but escaped further damage by getting out of a jam.

The runs kept pouring in for the Phils, who scored 11 runs in the sixth and seventh inning combined. Carlos Ruiz singled, Rollins (2-for-5) doubled, Victorino (4-for-4) singled, and Howard (2-for-5) doubled, each driving in runs.

The Phillies 14 runs were plenty for Rodrigo Lopez and the depleted bullpen. Lopez made it through six innings, allowed four runs (3 earned) on 10 hits and a walk.

Call of the Day: Phillies clinch the 1980 NLCS.

"Swing and a drive to right center field. Maddox is there!"

Former Phillies Takes Hill for Cards

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St. Louis Cardinals (53-46) at Philadelphia Phillies (54-40).

Kyle Lohse (4-6, 4.21 ERA) vs. Rodrigo Lopez (2-0, 2.60 ERA)

The Phillies look to rebound after an awful performance on Friday. This could be one of Rodrigo Lopez's last starts with Pedro Martinez in the waiting. The Phillies couldn't have asked for more out of Lopez since his callup. In 17.1 innings, he has allowed only five runs. He has struck out 13 and walked five.

Lopez will be faced by the former Phillie, Kyle Lohse. Lohse was roughed up by the Phillies earlier this season. In 4.1 innings, he gave up six earned runs, including home runs to Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth. At Citizens Bank Park, Lohse is 2-0 with a 3.52 ERA. It is very important for the Phillies offense to jump on Lohse early before he gets into a groove.

Cardinals Have Holliday Against Happ

Originally posted on Phillies Nation.

Welcome back to Earth, J.A. After pitching well all season long, J.A Happ lost his first game since his his Major League debut in 2007.

The St. Louis Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Rick Ankiel's RBI single. He drove in Matt Holliday, who got an infield single in his first official at-bat as a Cardinal. Holliday wasn't close to being done.

A 48 minute rain delay paused play, but Happ was back on the mound once the game resumed. Happ was pitching fine, but all his trouble came in the sixth inning. Usually, when Happ gets into jams, he gets out of them. Friday was a different story. Holliday, Ryan Ludwick and Yadier Molina each had RBI singles. Ankiel doubled to give the Cardinals a five-run cushion.

Happ allowed five earned runs on ten hits in six innings. Granted, he wasn't backed with the best defense as there were some sloppy plays (most notable by Jayson Werth and Pedro Feliz). On a positive note, he made hitters earn their way on; he did not walk a batter.

The Cardinals did not look back. The score was 7-0 in the seventh, thanks to a RBI single by Mark DeRosa, and yet another run batted in from Ankiel. Julio Lugo homered in the eighth.

Albert Pujols is usually the one who has the big game. Pujols went 1-for-4, but was backed by teammates Ankiel (3-for-4, 3 RBI) and Holliday (4-for-5).

The offense was pathetic and didn't help their own cause. They had plenty of opportunities to score, by managed just one run in the seventh inning on a wild pitch. They left 10 runners on base and were 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

The 8-1 loss destroys Happ's undefeated streak. He is now 7-1 this season, but his earned run average is still under three.

In baseball news, Vicente Padilla has been diagnosed with Swine Flu.

Cards/Phils Open Series

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The St. Louis Cardinals (52-46) play the Philadelphia Phillies (54-39).

Joel Pineiro (8-9, 3.09 ERA) gets the start vs. J.A Happ (7-0, 2.68).

The Phillies open the weekend series with the St. Louis Cardinals, who just acquired Matt Holliday. He will be in the lineup tonight, batting cleanup. It should be a very close series as both these teams lead their divisions.

There is a very confident feeling with J.A Happ on the mound. Happ has one career start against the Cardinals. He pitched 6.1 innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits and four walks.

Both pitchers, Happ and Joel Pineiro, do not tally many strikeouts, but have had very successful seasons by relying on their defense. In three career starts against the Phillies, Pineiro is 1-0 with a 2.33 ERA.

Done Deal: Holliday To Cards

ESPN reports that Matt Holliday has been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Oakland A's acquire the Cardinals top prospect Brett Wallace (3B), in addition to Shane Peterson (OF) and Clayton Mortensen (P).

Additionally, the A's wil pay $1.5 million of Holliday's remaining salary, leaving $4.5 million for the Cardinals to pay. Holliday becomes a free agent at the end of the season.

Holliday batted .287 with 11 HR, 54 RBI and a .837 OPS. He finished second in the 2007 MVP voting behind Jimmy Rollins (but Holliday deserved it more).

Holliday spent most of his career with the Colorado Rockies, before being traded in the offseason. He is a career .315 hitter with a .926 OPS. The Cardinals had interest in Holliday before he was traded to Oakland.

The Cardinals are in town this weekend to face the Phillies.

DeRosa To Cards

The St. Louis Cardinals acquired Mark DeRosa from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for reliever Chris Perez and a player to be named later.

The 34 year old, DeRosa, is a very versatile player, playing almost any position. DeRosa is batting .270 with 13 HR and 50 RBI this year. DeRosa was traded from the Chicago Cubs to Indians during the off season. He is in the final year of a three year deal that pays him $5.5 million this year.

In 23.2 innings, Perez has a 4.18 ERA and 1.35 WHIP. He has struck out 11.4 batters per nine innings. Perez is young, and still has a lot of potential.

The Cardinals are also pursuing Matt Holliday from the Oakland A's.

Walk Off Phashion

The Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, 2-1.

Jason Werth homered in the 1st inning giving the Phillies an early lead. It was his second home run in two days.

Chan Ho Park continues to make a case as to why he should be in the starting rotation, pitching 4.2 scoreless innings. He allowed just 3 hits, struck out 6 and did not allow a walk. He lowered his spring ERA to 1.54.

Aside from Werth's home run, Kyle Lohse dominated his former team for 5 innings. He allowed 5 hits, and struck out 5 giving up just the one run.

The Cards tied the game in the 7th inning when Brendan Ryan hit an RBI single.

Jason Ellison drove in the winning run after a walk off double scoring Miguel Cairo.

Utley was 0-2 with a strikeout in his debut.

Super Bowl Sunday

Maybe it was destiny. The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays to win the World Series and the Super Bowl is in Tampa Bay. However, that is not the case at the Eagles are home like the rest of us watching the big game on the big screen. Maybe not the thing every Philadelphia sports fan wants to hear, but today America will be watching the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XLIII, between the AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers and NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals will be held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

The Steelers, 12-4, will be led by Ben Roethlisberger and Willie Parker. The Cardinals, 9-7, will be led by Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald, who scored 3 touchdowns in the NFC Championship game.

Besides the game, there are lots of things to look forward to for the Super Bowl, even for those non-football fans. The boss, Bruce Sprinsteen, will be preforming at half time. In addition, there are always those new commercials paying millions of dollars to be aired for 60 seconds.

Prediction: I have a strict no prediction policy for myself during playoffs, but now that the Eagles are out, it doesn't matter if I jinx it. The Steelers seem to be the favorite, but I'm going to go with an upset. Cardinals, 21-17.

MLB Updates

Here is the latest news from around Major League Baseball:

The Boston Red Sox locked up the 2008 American League MVP, Dustin Pedroia, signing him to a 6 year contract worth $40.5 million. The deal includes a club option for 2015.

The 22 year old Japanese pitcher, Junichi Tawaza will join the Boston Red Sox pending a physical on Thursday. Tawaza and the Red Sox reportedly signed to a 3 year, $3 million deal.

The San Francisco Giants signed relief pitcher Bob Howry to a one year contract. In 11 years, Howry has a career ERA of 3.68. In 70+ innings in 2008, Howry had a high ERA of 5.35 with the Chicago Cubs.

The St. Louis Cardinals signed left handed relief pitcher Trevor Miller to a one year deal. With the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, Miller appeared in 68 games with a record of 2-0 and a 4.15 ERA.

The Astros welcome back Mike Hampton, who signed a one year, $2 million deal with Houston. Hampton missed a lot of time over the past 2 years due to injuries. The Astros also re-signed Doug Brocail, agreeing to a one year, $2.5 million contract with incentives. Brocail was 7-5 with a 3.93 ERA in 68.2 innings in 2008.

The Atlanta Braves acquired Javier Vazquez from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for 3 prospects. In 11 Major League seasons, Vazquez has a 4.32 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. In my opinion, the White Sox get the better side of this deal, as they add 3 prospects while the Braves add a number 3 type starter at best. The Braves could also be closer to a 5 year deal with A.J Burnett, which would be big.

The Seattle Mariners signed Russell Branyan to a one year deal. The Mariners, along with the Giants and Angels could be considering Pat Burrell.

Speaking of Pat Burrell, he was not offered arbitration by the Phillies along with Jamie Moyer, Tom Gordon, and Rudy Seanez. The Phillies did not want to fork out any money... big shocker there. Because the Phillies failed to offer arbitration, the Phillies will not get an extra first round draft pick if one of the four were to sign with another team. Probably not the best move for the Phillies, especially since they could use a few more first round draft picks with a weaker farm system.

Speaking of money, the Phillies recieved $18 million for their World Championship. Each player getss $351,504.48. The Rays recieved $12 million for winning the American League Pennant.

Ruben Amaro Jr. has spoken to Jayson Werth and Ryan Madson on contract extensions, and it appears the Phillies could be interested in Mark Loretta.

That is the lastest from the hot stove as Opening Day inches closer. 122 days away, but who's counting?

Down to the Wire

Phew! Take a deep breath now. The Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4.

Brett Myers started the game and pitched terrific. He pitched 6.0 innings, gave up just 2 earned runs on 4 hits. He did not allow a walk, and struck out 3. Not allowing a walk is big for Myers. He is getting his command back again.

Myers made one big mistake and that was to the red hot Ryan Ludwick, who hit a solo homerun. Ludwick hit his 4th homerun in 3 games. His season total is 27.

The Red Birds had a 2-0 lead before the Phillies made some noise. Chase Utley hit is 28th homerun of the year in the 7th inning. Going into the 8th, the Cardinals had a 2-1 lead.

But the Phillies would do what they've done many, many times before. Comeback. With two outs, Pat Burrell singled in Chase Utley to tie the game.

Big things come in small packages and that was the case for Shane Victorino. Victorino pinched hit for Geoff Jenkins in the 7th inning. Victorino would stay in the game, and get another at bat in the 8th inning. He crushed a 3-1 fastball over the right field fence. The Phillies took a 5-2 lead!

However, the Cardinals weren't about to quit either. In the 8th, Brendan Ryan would score on a Ryan Howard error. The Cards cut the lead to 2. The bases would load with 1 out, but Ryan Madson came in and got out of the jam by getting a ground ball double play.

Brad Lidge time. Although, he wasn't as "Lights Out" this time. Troy Glaus would lead off the inning with a solo homerun. 5-4, Philadelphia. Nobody out. The bases would load, now with one out.

Could this be Brad Lidge's first blown save of the year? As it ran through all our minds, it didn't run through Lidges'. He struck out Nick Stavinoha and Joe Mather back to back to end the game! The Phillies took the series, 2 games to 1.

The Phillies win, and Tom Gordon could be back soon. He made his first rehab appearance today since he went on the 15 day Disabled List with a strained rotator cuff. In 2/3 innings he allowed 2 earned runs. He walked one, stuck out one, and gave up a homerun. Looks like the same old Tom Gordon to me.

Keeping the Lead

2-1, Philadelphia. Bottom of the 9th. Brad Lidge on the mound. Albert Pujols, Ryan Ludwick, and Troy Glaus due up. Albert Pujols. Brad Ligde. They go way back.

In the 2005 playoffs, Albert Pujols took Brad Lidge deep. After that, Lidge just wasn't the same. That was until he came to Philadelphia.

Lidge got Pujols to ground out to shortstop Jimmy Rollins. He would strike out Ludwick. Two outs. Glaus worked a walk to represent the tying run, and bring up the winning run. Rick Ankiel came in to pinch hit for Yadier Molina. Ankiel has been sidelined due to abdominal pain. But he would come into pinch hit.

The Cardinal crowd roared hoping for a walk off. The intensity rose. Nerves jittered throughout both Philadelphia and St. Louis fans. The 2-2 pitch...

Struck him out! Brad Lidge completed his 27th consecutive save as a Phillie.

There was a game before the 9th inning though. And Joe Blanton dominated. He earned the win lasting 7.0 innings. He would only give up 1 earned run, a solo homerun to Ryan Ludwick in the 7th inning. He gave up 4 hits, walked 2 and struck out 5. His first win as a Phillie was an impressing one.

J.C Romero and Chad Durbin got through some trouble in the 8th to set it up for Lidge. Romero walked a batter, but with one out, Durbin came in and got the double play ball. Durbin has been excellent for the Phillies. His ERA is a minuscule 1.65.

The Phillies received their only run support by solo homeruns by Greg Dobbs and Ryan Howard.

There's no place like home, and that's the case for Ryan Howard. Howard just tears apart his hometown Cardinals. With family and friends in the stands, Howard does not disappoint.

Additionally, the Phillies top prospect, Carlos Carrasco, is a step closer to the Major Leagues. Carrasco was promoted to AAA Leigh-High Valley. He has pitched 114.2 innings with an ERA of 4.32 in AA Reading. The Phillies feel that he ready to pitch against higher competition, so he can make a run for a spot in the 2009 rotation.