Phillies vs. Dodgers: NLCS Schedule

The rematch is on! The Phillies and Dodgers will meet in the NLCS for the second year in a row, although this time the Dodgers have the home field advantage. Here is the schedule for the NLCS, with times and probable pitchers listed for some games:

Game 1: Thursday, October 15th: Phillies (Hamels) @ Dodgers (Kershaw), 8:07 pm

Game 2: Friday, October 16th: Phillies @ Dodgers, 4:37 pm

Game 3: Sunday, October 18th: Dodgers @ Phillies, 8:07 pm

Game 4: Monday, October 19th: Dodgers @ Phillies, 8:07 pm

Game 5: Wednesday, October 21st: Dodgers @ Phillies, 8:07 pm

Game 6: Friday, October 23rd: Phillies @ Dodgers, 8:07 pm

Game 7: Saturday, October 24th: Phillies @ Dodgers, 8:07 pm

Bring on the Dodgers! The Phillies are going back to the NLCS

(AP Photo)

The Phillies are going back to the NLCS!

In a game that was a roller coaster of emotions, the Phillies pulled out a thrilling 5-4 Game 4 victory over the Rockies to win the NLDS and move on to a rematch with the Dodgers in the NLCS.

The Phillies proved once again that you can never count them out, even when down by two runs and down to their final out. With the Phils trailing 4-2 in the 9th, Ryan Howard hit a clutch double to bring in a pair of runs and Jayson Werth followed with a single to bring Howard home and give the Phillies the lead. After another nail-biting bottom of the 9th with the Phillies bullpen, Scott Eyre and Brad Lidge managed to close the door and clinch the series for the Phils.

Of course, the game would have been a lot less interesting had the Phillies not given up 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th. Cliff Lee, who pitched a marvelous game, ran into some trouble in the 8th and allowed two runners on base, the second one getting on after a botched play by Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins. Ryan Madson entered the game after that and the Rockies offense woke up, getting clutch hits from Jason Giambi and Yorvit Torrealba to give the Rockies a huge 2 run lead.

None of what happened earlier mattered, though, as the Phillies proved once again that no deficit is too great. Tonight's game is exactly why they are the World Champs: they never give up. The confidence they showed with their backs against the wall, when they were down to their final out, even their final strike, was simply amazing.

Bring on the Dodgers! While some of the names have changed, the Phillies now get to face off against the team they shoved aside in the NLCS last year. With the magic they continue to pull out, a return trip to the World Series seems like a pretty solid bet. GO PHILLIES!

Phillies survive the cold, take 2-1 series lead

(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

I'm going to keep this short and sweet thanks to the geniuses at MLB who decided to schedule this game in the middle of the night.

The Phillies survived the cold, some rather questionable umpiring and a save situation with Brad Lidge to overcome the Rockies in a 6-5 marathon game that ended at 2:14 AM. The win puts the Phillies in the drivers seat for the series as they are one win away from moving on with Cliff Lee taking the hill tomorrow (today!) for Game 4.

The Phillies had no individual hero in the game, rather a collective effort from nearly everyone who played. Starting pitcher J.A. Happ didn't last long, going only 3 innings before the Phillies turned to their bullpen to keep them in it. The Phils ended up using 5 pitchers out of the 'pen, and, for the most part, they all did their jobs. Ryan Madson was the biggest savior, entering the game in a sticky situation and only giving up one run after Scott Eyre injured himself allowing two runners on base with no outs.

Having Lidge close out the game, no matter how dicey it got, was also huge for the Phillies. If Lidge can be even a shadow of what he was in 2008, the Phillies have a real shot at going the distance again.

Kudos to everyone that stayed up to watch the Phillies pull out a nail-biter in Colorado. With Game 4 just about 15 hours after Game 3, let's hope the Phils take some momentum from this win into the next one and finish out Colorado. Maybe once the Phillies are in the NLCS we will actually be able to watch these games at a reasonable hour.

Eagles cruise past Tampa Bay despite sloppy play

(AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Normally when a team is penalized 10 times and makes an inexperienced quarterback look good, they lose. Not the Eagles, though, as they found a way to overcome their shortcomings on defense and special teams to beat down the Bucs, 33-14.

The reason the Eagles were able to win this one easily? Their offense was dominating. With Donovan McNabb returning to the field, the Birds offense clicked all game long, picking up a number of big plays while basically looking unstoppable. McNabb spread the ball around the field to 7 different receivers, although his number one target was Jeremy Maclin, who started the game at wide receiver in place of the injured Kevin Curtis. Maclin made the most of his opportunity, catching 6 passes for 142 yards and 2 long touchdowns of 51 and 40 yards. Maclin looks like the real deal and it's only a matter of time before he supplants DeSean Jackson as the Birds number one receiver.

As for the things the Eagles did poorly today, there were quite a few. While they did manage to pick off Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Johnson three times, the Bucs offense moved the ball all day long on the Eagles defense. Johnson threw for 240 yards and kept the Bucs driving down the field thanks to some timely throws and some timely penalties on the Eagles. The Birds were mired with penalties all day long, committing 10 of them for 111 yards, all 10 of which seemed to happen at the worst possible time. Despite looking mediocre throughout the day, the Eagles defense does deserve credit for clamping down when they needed to, sacking Johnson three times and even getting a safety late in the game.

The Eagles special teams were also a mess today, committing their fair share of penalties. Just once I'd like to see the Eagles go a quarter or even a half without holding someone or blocking someone in the back on a return. That's not too much to ask, is it?

While some Philadelphia fans will complain that the Eagles weren't dominating enough, you really can't complain with a 33-14 win for the Birds. The Eagles beat down a poor team just like we expected them to despite not being perfect on either side of the ball. They have a few things to work on, a few tweaks to make, but what team has everything figured out 5 weeks into a season anyway? With a game against the Raiders next week, the Eagles have another game to work the kinks before they start playing the real teams.

Great job by the Eagles offense today, now just knock off all those penalties and clean up the special teams and they will be just fine when they start playing some real teams.

Eagles/Bucs Week 5 Inactives: McNabb and Westbrook are back

The Eagles and Bucs have announced their inactives for their Week 5 matchup:

Eagles: DE Jason Babin, WR Kevin Curtis, DB Quintin Demps, WR Brandon Gibson, OG Todd Herremans, DT Trevor Laws, LB Joe Mays, OL Mike McGlynn

Bucs: OL Marc Dile, T Demar Dotson, C Jeff Faine, RB Earnest Graham, QB Byron Leftwich, S Corey Lynch, DT Dre Moore, DE Kyle Moore

The best news for the Eagles are the two players who aren't on the inactive list: Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook will return to action after missing Week 3. The bye week was just what the two stars needed to get healthy, although it wasn't enough time for Kevin Curtis to get himself back on the field. Rookie Jeremy Maclin will get his first start at wide receiver in place of Curtis. The only other inactive player that is surprising is Trevor Laws. Laws wasn't injured this week but I guess someone had to sit because the Eagles chose to have all 3 quarterbacks active for the game. Brandon Gibson returns to the bench, giving the Eagles only 4 active wide receivers. Also, remember that Jeremiah Trotter will make his Eagles re-debut today. Let's see if the old guy has got it anymore.

For the Bucs, Earnest Graham is the biggest name inactive. Graham wasn't doing much in the offense this season anyway, so the Bucs won't miss him. Byron Leftwich has fallen like a rock from starting QB to emergency QB.

With McNabb and Westbrook returning to the field, this game has all the makings of a blowout. The Bucs are a terrible team and the Eagles look ready to hit their stride. Go Birds!

Pitching change: Happ to replace Pedro in Game 3

With the postponement of Game 3 until tomorrow, the Phillies have announced a change in their starting pitcher: J.A. Happ will now take the mound instead of Pedro Martinez. Clearly, the Phillies want a left hander facing this Rockies lefty-heavy lineup, so Happ, given an extra day of rest, makes for the smart choice.

With Happ pitching Game 3, Cliff Lee likely pitching Game 4 and Cole Hamels set for Game 5 if need be, the Phillies are now going to put a lefty on the mound to start every game this series. In the playoffs you take every advantage you can get.