Ace Adam Eaton pitches Phillies past Reds

(Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

And the Phillies just keep winning. The Phils beat the Reds 3-2 Tuesday night for their 3rd straight win and their 8th win in their last 9 games. The game was a good display of how the Phillies can still win a game even if their offense doesn't explode. Just like I did after yesterday's game, here is the good and the bad from Tuesday night's win:

3 Up:
1. Eaton's on a roll! Meet your new ace of the Phillies, Adam Eaton. Coming off his first win of the season last week against the Rockies, Eaton put forth his second straight dominating effort. Eaton went 6 and 2/3rds innings, gave up only 3 hits and 1 run, and struck out 5 batters to earn his second straight victory. Eaton was in total control all night, making very few bad pitches, except for the one Edwin Encarnacion planted in the left field seats. Eaton has fared remarkably well lately and has done enough to tighten his grip on his spot in the rotation. It's a good thing, too, since there isn't really anyone else the Phillies could turn to right now, given how far Kris Benson seems to be from being ready.

2. Burrell supplies the offense The Phils offense was held off the scoreboard for most of the night despite getting 9 hits off Reds ace Aaron Harang. Pat Burrell had the big hit on the night, a two-run blast in the 6th inning that proved to be the game winner:


With 6 hits in his last 4 games, Burrell appears to be heating up again after going through a rough stretch for most of May. It seems like only one of Burrell or Ryan Howard can be hot at once, imagine what this line-up would look like if both were able to get going at the same time.

3. The bullpen holds another lead If Chase Utley is the team MVP then the bullpen has to be a close second. Even though they gave up a run in tonight's game, the trio of J.C. Romero, Tom Gordon and Brad Lidge continue to hold leads and shut down the opposition. Throw Chad Durbin into the mix and I have never been as confident with a 1 run lead in the late innings as I am right now. Most of the credit has to go to Pat Gillick for assembling this group; it appears that he has finally found the right mix for the late innings.

3 Down:

1. Utley goes homerless Chase Utley failed in his attempt to break the Phillie record of consecutive games with a homer when all he did was go 2 for 3 with a double, an RBI and 1 run scored. Utley should be ashamed that he didn't hit a homer and was only able to muster a broken bat RBI single:


Obviously, Utley is still the man. He doesn't even need his bats to stay together to get hits.

2. Howard keeps missing and missing Like I said before, this team will really take off (as if it hasn't already) when Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard get hot at the same time. Howard went 0 for 4 tonight, striking out 2 more times. He also left 7 runners stranded on base. His average has now dipped down to .205. Howard has gone back into a mini-funk after two weeks of solid hitting. He'll bounce back.

3. Manuel benches Coste One day after Chris Coste hits his 6th homer of the season, Carlos Ruiz gets the start behind the plate tonight and goes 0 for 4. Hey, Charlie, play the hot bat! Keep Coste in the line-up! Manuel is known for riding the hot bat so why wasn't Coste in there tonight? Count on him to be penciled in tomorrow.

Lito fails to show up for mini-camp. Should we be surprised?

Perhaps Lito Sheppard isn't enticed with the idea of playing wide receiver?

The Eagles started their voluntary mini-camp today and two players skipped it: DB Lito Sheppard and OL Scott Young. I know, I can't believe Young was a no-show either!

Seriously though, should we be mad at Sheppard for not showing up? He is under contract with the Eagles for four more years but there is nothing in his contract that says he has to go to a voluntary mini-camp. Of course, when 98% of the team shows up and you skip out, he doesn't exactly look like a team player.

It will be a much bigger story if Lito skips training camp. After all, he did show up for the mandatory mini-camp last month. Missing training camp this August would make a much bigger statement about how unhappy Lito really is.

Let's not get too upset about Lito missing time now. There are still plenty of opportunities for both sides to mend fences and figure out how to co-exist. Hopefully this is a situation that can be resolved either through a trade or through a mutual understanding, otherwise this could turn into an off-field distraction of TO proportions. Although Lito could never be that big of a pest, let's hope the Eagles have learned their lesson.

Utley once again powers Phillies

(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Another great win by the Phillies, 5-4 over the Reds, capped by Chase Utley once again going yard. With this article, I am starting something new: after every Phillies game I will post 3 Up and 3 Down, where I highlight the good and the bad from the game.

3 Up:
1. Chase Utley = MVP Another day, another homer for Chase Utley. Utley smashed his major-league leading 21st home run in the 1st inning, his 7th homer in his last 8 games. Tonight's homer was of the line-drive variety and it came on a 3-0 count:

Utley is absolutely tearing it up right now, raising his average to .320 and picking up his NL leading 52nd RBI. Utley even made a diving catch in the 9th inning to finish off the game. He is making it a very real possibility that we will have back-to-back-to-back NL MVPs from Philadelphia.

2. Feliz and Coste go back-to-back Pedro Feliz and Chris Coste did their best Chase Utley impersonation in the 4th inning when they hit back-to-back home runs. Feliz hit a 2-run shot and Coste added a solo drive:

Coste has been getting more playing time lately and he has been making the most of it. There was some talk that Carlos Ruiz was taking time off to recover from a hand injury, but with the way Coste is swinging the bat (.327 average on the season), expect Charlie Manuel to keep finding a spot for him in the line-up.

3. Man-child Jay Bruce continues torrid hitting Not really a Phillies Up, but this guy deserves mention. Since being called up by the Reds on May 28th, 21 year old Jay Bruce is hitting .577 with 3 homers and 7 RBIs. Tell me again why the Reds wanted to keep him in the minors for so long? Oh, that's right, Corey Patterson and his .240 OBP needed to get playing time.

3 Down:
1. Kendrick has a weak outing Coming off his solid start last week against the Rockies, Kyle Kendrick looked good for the first three innings, but as soon as Bruce took him deep in the 4th, he seemed to lose confidence, giving up another homer to Edwin Encarnacion in the 5th and then a pair of hits in the 6th before getting yanked. Giving up 4 runs in 5 innings will earn you a win with this offense, but it still isn't very good.

2. Howard strikes out two more times Ryan Howard still occasionally looks lost at the plate and he struck out twice tonight, although he did manage to get a double. Howard is now on pace for well over 200 strikeouts, a total that would shatter his previous MLB record of 199 from last year.

3. Lidge fails to strike out the side in the 9th So I am grasping for another negative here, but in picking up his 14th save of the season, Brad Lidge only struck out two batters in the 9th instead of all three. Get it together, Lidge!

TRANSACTION NOTE: Chris Snelling is back! Snelling was activated from the disabled list today and T.J. Bohn was sent back down to the minors. Snelling has a few days to prove he should stay with the big club before Jayson Werth comes back. I hope we don't see Bohn again for a long time.

So long, Sami: Kapanen retires

After 12 years in the league, Flyers winger Sami Kapanen has decided to end his NHL career. According to Bill Meltzer of Hockeybuzz.com, Kapanen will play for KalPa in Finland, the team he started his career with, for one season before hanging up his skates for good. Kapanen spent the last 4 1/2 seasons with the Flyers and was a total team player, doing whatever it took to help the team win, including playing defense from time to time. He still had one year left on his contract where he would have earned just over a million dollars, so now the Flyers will have a little bit of extra cap space.

Kapanen spent his career with two franchises: Hartford/Carolina and Philadelphia. He was a true warrior who constantly battled. He represents everything the hard-working Flyers are, and for that he will be missed. Kapanen retires having never won a Stanley Cup.

Here are Kapanen's career stats:

YEAR	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
1995-1996	HFD	35	5	4	9	0	6
1996-1997	HFD	45	13	12	25	6	2
1997-1998	CAR	81	26	37	63	9	16
1998-1999	CAR	81	24	35	59	-1	10
1999-2000	CAR	76	24	24	48	10	12
2000-2001	CAR	82	20	37	57	-12	24
2001-2002	CAR	77	27	42	69	9	23
2002-2003	CAR	43	6	12	18	-17	12
…	PHI	28	4	9	13	-1	6
2003-2004	PHI	74	12	18	30	9	14
2005-2006	PHI	58	12	22	34	-9	12
2006-2007	PHI	77	11	14	25	-21	22
2007-2008	PHI	74	5	3	8	-12	16
Career	--	831	189	269	458	-30	175

He may be remembered most for showing a ton of heart in getting back to the bench after being laid out by Darcy Tucker of the Maple Leafs in the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs:

Phillies overcome early deficit to re-take first place

(AP Photo/H. Rumph, Jr.)

A 4 run deficit is no problem for this offense. The Phillies trailed the Marlins 5-1 in the 3rd inning of Sunday's game only to score six unanswered runs to win the game, 7-5, and take over first place in the National League East. It was the Phils 6th win in their last 7 games and it gives them a half game lead over the second place Marlins.

Chase Utley once again helped to power the offense, hitting his 20th homer of the season, a deep shot to center field. Utley now has hit home runs in 6 of the last 7 games and also leads the National League with 50 RBIs. He is the definitive front runner for the NL MVP.

Also homering for the Phillies was Geoff Jenkins, who tied the game up at 5 with his pinch-hit homer in the 6th inning. Pat Burrell drove in the winning run in the 7th when he doubled in two runs.

Jamie Moyer looked shaky again, but managed to settle down just enough to earn the win. After allowing 5 runs in the first three innings, Moyer locked in and didn't allow another run. Brad Lidge continues to pitch lights-out and earned his 13th save of the season with a perfect ninth inning.

Up next for your first place Phillies is a four game series with the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds, who just swept the Braves, are playing some pretty good baseball. Recent call-up Jay Bruce has lifted the offense by hitting .591 with 2 homers since he was called up last week. The Reds have some pretty shaky pitching, however, so the Phils should be able to feast on them.

Highlights of Sunday's win over the Fish, plus post-game analysis and interviews:

Eagles interested in Jason Taylor?

According to Adam Schefter of the NFL Network, the Eagles are one of five teams that are interested in acquiring defensive end Jason Taylor from the Miami Dolphins. Taylor and the Dolphins have been feuding all off-season and Taylor appears ready to demand a trade out of town. Taylor would like to play for a team that will contend, something the Dolphins won't be doing any time soon. The five teams Schefter believes have shown interest in trading for Taylor: New Orleans, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Dallas and San Diego.

Here is what Schefter says about the Birds:
"Throughout the offseason, the Eagles have tried to make a big splash. First they landed free-agent cornerback Asante Samuel. Then they nearly signed free-agent wide receiver Randy Moss. They inquired about trading for Cincinnati wide receiver Chad Johnson. And they have looked into the possibility of trading for Taylor. Eagles coach Andy Reid never has enough defensive linemen. During the Reid era, the Eagles have drafted a defensive lineman with their top pick five times in nine years, including this past year, when Philadelphia drafted Notre Dame defensive tackle Trevor Laws in the second round with the 47th overall pick. Taylor would team with Pro Bowl defensive end Trent Cole to give the Eagles a dynamic pass-rushing tag team."

Schefter has some interesting points about the Eagles wanting to make a splash, but the Eagles won't go out and acquire a player just because they are a big name. At this point in the off-season they have to be looking at their needs and defensive end simply isn't one of them, especially at the price it would take to get Taylor, both in salary (7.5 million) and in a trade (two first day draft picks). The Eagles are already set at defensive end anyway, considering they have five guys who are ready to be part of the rotation: Trent Cole, Juqua Parker, Chris Clemons, Victor Abiamiri and Darren Howard. The Eagles still could waive Howard which would leave room for Xzavie Jackson to have a role.

The only way Jason Taylor is an Eagle is if he is willing to take a pay cut to take on a smaller role with the Eagles as part of the rotation. In other words, it's not going to happen. The Eagles already made their big move along the defensive line for this off-season when they signed pass-rush specialist Chris Clemons. There might be another move in the cards for the Eagles, but that would likely involve Lito Sheppard or bringing in someone on the offensive side of the ball.

Now that June 1st is here expect all of the speculation to continue, just don't expect the Eagles to actually do anything.