Howard leads Phillies to sweep over Braves

(AP Photo/Gregory Smith)

Ryan Howard has been the most criticized Phillie this season. His average has hovered around .200 and he has been racking up strikeouts at a record pace. Fortunately, he has still has monster games from time to time, including one on Sunday that led the Phillies to a 6-3 win over the Braves, completing a three game sweep in Atlanta.

3 Up
1. Howard's double-day Heading into Sunday's game, Ryan Howard had 8 total doubles on the season. He ended up hitting three two-baggers today which helped him to drive in 4 runs. Howard's average soared to .214, the highest it has been since April 5th, the 5th game of the season. With all the talk on how poorly he is hitting, Howard has still managed to do the thing the Phillies pay him to do: drive in runs. He has 49 RBIs on the year which puts him in the top 5 in the NL. His average will probably never go above .250 this year, but you can bet it will end up around .240 which means he will continue to put up good numbers in the next few months to raise it up. Howard will also likely hit 40 homers and drive in 120 runs, numbers that are all we can ask for from a someone in the middle of the order.

2. Victorino still Flyin' Shane Victorino nearly single-handedly beat the Braves on Friday, and after being held hitless on Saturday, he busted out again today. Victorino had 3 hits and scored 3 runs, and drove in the game winning run in the 9th. He also stole a base. Victorino may finally be proving that he can be an every day player. Let's just hope he can stay healthy.

3. Economical Lidge After striking out the side yesterday to earn his 16th save, Brad Lidge decided he wanted to get things over with quickly today. Lidge entered the 9th inning of Sunday's game and needed only 7 pitches to finish off the Braves and earn his 17th save. Lidge's numbers continue to be out of this world: 17 saves on 17 attempts, a 0.96 ERA and a WHIP of exactly 1.00. Mariano Rivera is the only other closer putting up numbers like that.

3 Down
1. Eaton's back! The real Adam Eaton came back today. After putting together two straight good starts, Eaton looked more like his old self in giving up 3 runs in 6 innings. Eaton was shelled for 8 hits and walked two more so he was lucky to only allow 3 runs across the plate. His performance was still good enough to earn a win, but he hardly deserved it.

2. The awful Braves bullpen Atlanta has some serious problems with their team, none more so than their terrible bullpen. Over the last three days, Braves starters did well to slow down the Phillies offense but once the bullpen came in the Phils feasted, scoring 10 runs from the 8th inning on during this series. With Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez injured and John Smoltz likely to retire, this bullpen is a mess and it could drive Atlanta right out of contention.

3. Bruntlett's bad base-running With one out and the game tied 3-3 in the 9th inning and Jimmy Rollins at the plate, Eric Bruntlett, who was on first base, took off for second on a hit-and-run play. Rollins singled to right field so Bruntlett should have ended up on third base where he could have been driven home on a sacrifice fly. Instead, for some reason, Bruntlett didn't realize Rollins actually hit the ball so he slid into second and stayed there. Luckily that base running mistake didn't matter because Shane Victorino drove Bruntlett home in the next at-bat. It's nit-picky, but it could have cost the Phils the win.

Here are the highlights from Sunday's win:


The Phillies have a day off tomorrow and then they go to Florida where they hope to stretch out their lead against the second place Marlins.

Victorino leads Phillies past Braves with arm, bat

(AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

Shane Victorino nearly single-handedly beat the Braves as the Phils squeaked by Atlanta 4-3 in 10 innings on Friday night.

3 Up
1. The Flyin' Hawaiian Victorino did it all tonight, going 2 for 3 with 2 triples, 2 runs scored, 2 walks and he drove home the run that gave the Phillies a lead in the 10th inning. Oh, and he ended the Braves rally in the bottom of the 10th by throwing out the possible tying run at the plate:

Victorino getting going has been a real plus for the line-up, especially when you factor in Jimmy Rollins' slump. Since Rollins has been unable to get on base with any consistency lately, it has been crucial for Victorino to get on to set the table for the middle of the order. The only negative about his game tonight was getting thrown out trying to steal second.

2. More Bullpen Dominance Jamie Moyer pitched well but was only able to go 5 2/3rds innings. Enter the bullpen. Chad Durbin, J.C. Romero, Rudy Seanez, Ryan Madson and Tom Gordon combined for 3 2/3rds innings of shutout ball, giving up only 2 hits in those innings. The shutout innings enabled the Phillies offense to get past Braves starter Tim Hudson and into the Braves weak bullpen where they subsequently were able to fight back into the game.

3. Chipper is ridiculously good I hate to give an Up to a Brave, but Chipper Jones had two hits on the night and pushed his batting average up to .421 for the season. It's still fairly early in the season, but that's an incredible number. Chipper is going to make it impossible for Chase Utley to even challenge for the Triple Crown.

3 Down
1. Lidge bailed out You'll notice I did not mention Brad Lidge when praising the Phillies bullpen. Lidge was spared from blowing his first save of the season by the rocket arm of Shane Victorino. Lidge looked shaky in giving up three hits, and while he did strike out 2 batters, he really didn't deserve the save that he is credited with tonight. He better be taking Victorino out to dinner.

2. The disappearing Phillie offense It's not time to sound the alarm because they are still winning games, but the Phils offense has really come back to Earth. After averaging 12 runs a game over a five game stretch last week, the Phillies are averaging 3.4 runs per game over their most recent five games. Much of this is likely due to Chase Utley coming down a bit from his recent hot streak, but they have been fortunate that the pitching staff has come through lately. On a positive note, this team is showing it can win ballgames in a variety of ways and we all know it's only a matter of time before the offense explodes again.

3. Feliz nailed at home I am not sure if we blame third base coach Steve Smith or Pedro Feliz on this one, but this play was just embarrassing, especially with two outs in the 9th:

The Phillies were pretty fortunate considering Eric Bruntlett scored on the play to send the game into extra innings but I have no idea what Feliz is thinking there.

Flyers trade Ryan Potulny for young defenseman

The Flyers made their first off-season move today, trading center Ryan Potulny, who played 7 games with the Flyers last season, to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Danny Syvret.

Syvret is a puck-moving defenseman who spent all of last season in the AHL where he played a total of 63 games for two different teams, the Springfield Falcons and the Hershey Bears. He scored 2 goals and picked up 18 assists while registering a plus/minus of -4. Syvret has played 26 career games in the NHL and picked up one assist. He is 22 and isn't considered a great prospect, but he could he a 5th or 6th defenseman in the future. He is a strong skater but at only 5'11'' and 195 pounds, he lacks size.

Potulny spent most of last season with the Phantoms, netting 21 goals and 26 assists in 58 games. He managed only 1 assist in limited action in the NHL this year, but in 06/07 he played 35 games with the Flyers and picked up 12 points. Potulny, 23, suffered a couple of injuries that slowed down his progress, but he was still seen as a quality prospect who could have eventually developed into a third line center. Unfortunately for Potulny, the Flyers are extremely deep at center, with Danny Briere, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter expected to be locked into center positions on the top three lines for the foreseeable future.

This deal likely came down to the Flyers trading away depth at a position of strength for something of need. Syvret is a long shot at best to play for the Flyers next year, but at the very least they have another young talent that they can groom for the future.

Click here for Syvret's profile page at Hockeysfuture.com

King Cole dominates while J-Roll gets benched

(Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

The Phillies finished off their series with the Reds by winning 5-0 behind a stellar performance by Cole Hamels. Hamels threw his second shut-out of the season, clearly bouncing back from getting shelled by the Marlins last week.

3 Up
1. King Cole dominates Cole Hamels was the story of the game as he completely shut down the Reds offense. Hamels needed 103 pitches to get through all 9 innings, motoring through the game in just over 2 hours. He gave up only 3 hits and walked 3 batters and managed to strike out 4. Hamels spent most of his time pitching to contact instead of going for strikeouts and that helped him economize his pitch total and remain fresh throughout the game. This was the third straight quality start from a pitching rotation that was widely thought of as the biggest weakness on the team. With the offense coming back to Earth, the rotation has picked up the slack and kept the Phils on a winning track.

2. Jenkins homers On a night where the Phillies got most their runs off mistakes by the Reds defense, Geoff Jenkins continued his recent hot streak by hitting a homer in the 6th:

Jenkins has quietly bounced back after a sluggish start to the season. Since May 14th, Jenkins has seen his batting average rise 30 points as he has belted 4 homers and driven in 10 runs. When he's hot, the Phillie line-up can be nearly unstoppable.

3. No K's for Howard! Ryan Howard finally gets off the Down list! I will not only give him credit for not striking out but he also singled in a run in the game.

3 Down
1. MVP benched Jimmy Rollins was benched today by Charlie Manuel for not running out a pop-up that ended up being dropped in the third inning:

Manuel felt that if Rollins was hustling on the play he would have easily ended up at second base. Here is another video showing Rollins not running out the pop-up:

Eric Bruntlett entered the game to play shortstop and after the game Rollins owned up to his mistake, saying Manuel "has two rules: Be on time and hustle. I broke one today. It's my fault. I can't be mad at him." Manuel did the right thing. Whether it's the reigning MVP or the 25th guy on the roster, everyone should be hustling, and if they don't, then they should take a seat for someone who will. This isn't an issue that will linger, in fact it could light a fire under J-Roll that could get him going offensively. He has really lost his power this season with only 3 homers so far.

2. Griffey stuck at 599 After four games in Philadelphia, Ken Griffey Jr leaves the city having failed to hit his 600th home run. Of course, when he only gets 6 plate appearances in those 4 games we shouldn't expect much from him. The Reds will likely continue to keep him on the bench until they return back home next Tuesday so he can make history in front of the home crowd.

3. Reds fielders Just an ugly game by the Reds in the field today. They made three errors that each lead to the Phillies putting runs on the board and ruined an otherwise good start by Homer Bailey. Can't say I really mind!

Duel! Volquez outpitches Myers to lead Reds over Phillies

(Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

The Phillies wasted an amazing outing by Brett Myers, who held the Reds hitless through 6 and 2/3rds innings, and fell to Cincinnati 2-0. Reds starting pitcher Edinson Volquez was the story of Wednesday night's game.

3 UP:
1. Volquez dominates When an opposing pitcher is this good, he gets top billing. Edinson Volquez has taken the league by storm this season and the Phillies never had a chance tonight. Volquez pitched 7 innings and gave up only 2 hits and 2 walks and struck out 8 batters. For the 4th time this season, Volquez didn't give up an earned run and lowered his major league low ERA to 1.32, a number that dwarfs the next lowest ERA in the NL, Tim Lincecum's 2.23. Volquez also leads the majors in strikeouts with 91. With all the talk about how good Brandon Webb was at the beginning of the year, Volquez has to be the NL Cy Young with numbers like that. The Phillies offense never stood a chance.

2. Myers takes no-hitter into 7th You can't blame tonight's loss on Brett Myers. Despite some wildness (6 walks), Myers held up his end of the pitchers duel by not allowing a hit until the 7th inning. Of course, that hit came after Myers walked a batter, so his first hit allowed turned into his first run allowed:

Myers pitched 7 1/3rd innings in all and gave up only the one hit and struck out 8 batters. In his last two outings, Myers has now struck out 19 batters in 15 1/3rd innings. It's safe to say the Phillies have their ace back, at least for now.

3. Burrell walks twice On a night where very few Phillies managed to reach base (2 hits, 3 walks as a team), Pat Burrell walked twice. Yep, that's the best I can do.

3 Down
1. Howard....again! For the third day in a row, Ryan Howard finds his way onto the Down list. Yes, Howard managed a hit, one of only two on the night for the Phillies, but he also struck out twice and stranded 4 runners on base in a game where getting a single run could have made a huge difference. That's 6 strikeouts in his last three games.

2. Utley hitless I thought about giving Chase Utley a pass, but if he's the MVP, he should still manage to fare better than an 0 for 3 with two strikeouts. Of course, Utley, being The Man that he is, still managed to get on base via a hit by pitch in the 5th inning, but one of his patented homers would have been nice.

3. Phillips kills a rally The Phillies had one of their few rallies going in the second inning when Pedro Feliz was robbed by Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips:

You'll definitely see that catch on SportsCenter's Top Plays.

Gulp..... Samuel and Jackson suffer injuries

I know it's early and these aren't major injuries, but it has to be a bad omen when your two biggest off-season acquisitions go down with minor injuries on the same day. Both Asante Samuel and DeSean Jackson limped away from practice today with mild hamstring pulls. These aren't the type of injuries to get worried about as the Eagles will likely shut them both down for the rest of the week and they will be plenty healed by the time training camp rolls around in late summer.

It's always scary when a 57 million dollar free agent and a second round pick get hurt, luckily the season is still a long way off.