Utley's bombs send Phillies back to New York

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

This is why you can't give up hope, Phillies fans. Facing elimination, the Phillies came out and played inspired baseball to get past the Yankees in Game 5 by a score of 8-6 and push the series back to New York.

The hero of the game for the Phillies was Chase Utley, who hit two homers on the night, a three-run shot in the 1st inning and a solo homer in the 7th. Utley set the tone for the Phillies right away with his 1st inning homer, helping erase the Yankees early 1-0 lead and putting the Phils up for good. Utley's homers have now become historic as he has tied Reggie Jackson's World Series record for homers with 5. With Game 6 coming on Wednesday, Utley has a great chance at making the record all his own.

Phillies starter Cliff Lee did what everyone expected of him, pitching 7 solid innings before running into a few bumps in the 8th inning. In all, Lee's numbers weren't spectacular as he gave up 7 hits and 5 runs, but he ate innings and kept the team ahead throughout. Lee's confidence alone has to give the team a boost. Although things got dicey near the end of the game as the Yankees made the game close, the Phillies bullpen proved to be just good enough to back Lee up.

Now the series shifts back to New York with the Yankees still needing one win to close it out. The Phillies will send Pedro Martinez to the mound for Game 6 while the Yankees will counter with Andy Pettitte, who will pitch on three days rest. Given the fact that Pedro is fresh, you have to give the Phillies the edge in that pitching matchup, meaning there is a great chance this series could be pushed to a 7th game. What the Phillies would do for a pitcher in that case is anybody's guess since Cole Hamels has shown he wants no part of pitching again this year.

Keep the faith, Phillies fans. This team has done what seemed impossible before, there is no reason not to hope they can do it again. Winning two more in New York won't be easy but the Yankees will start feeling the pressure the moment they fall behind in a game. Go Phillies, we believe!

Gagne to have surgery, miss 6-8 weeks

Less than a week after placing him on Injured Reserve, the Flyers got a timetable as to when they can expect Simon Gagne back in the lineup: 6-8 weeks. Gagne, who hasn't played since October 25th, will undergo surgery to repair two hernias in the coming days. This current injury is not believed to be related to the groin issues Gagne has had throughout his career.

While losing Gagne for an extended period of time will set the Flyer offense back a bit, if there is one thing the Flyers have plenty of it is forward depth. With the emergence of youngsters Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk, losing Gagne's scoring won't hurt the team too much.

There is no word right now on Danny Briere, the other oft-injured Flyer, who has been dealing with groin issues.

Failure. Lidge implodes, Yankees take commanding 3-1 series lead

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It's been a rough year for Brad Lidge and tonight was the icing on that crap-filled cake. Lidge failed for possibly his last time this season as the Phillies lost Game 4 to the Yankees, 7-4, and now face a 3-1 series deficit.

With the game tied at 4-4 going into the top of the 9th inning, the Phillies closer took the mound looking to keep the Yankees off the scoreboard. Lidge got two quick outs, then appeared to have the inning sewn up after he got two strikes on Johnny Damon. A single, two stolen bases, a hit-by-pitch, a double and another single later, the Yankees plated 3 runs and completely silenced Citizens Bank Park. After the Phillies failed to do any damage in the bottom of the 9th, the crushing loss was complete.

This loss was particularly hard to take as the Phillies were in the game the whole time. The Yanks scored 4 runs off starter Joe Blanton but the Phillies nipped away at the lead throughout the night, getting solo homers from Chase Utley and Pedro Feliz in the 7th and 8th innings to bring them back into the game. It was all for naught, however, as Lidge failed just like he had all season long.

Now the Phillies find themselves on the brink, one loss away from ending their 2009 season. With Cliff Lee taking the mound in Game 5, the Phillies certainly have a great chance of extending the series back to New York but it's quite an uphill climb to pull off three straight wins against a good team like the Yankees. One thing this team has proven is that they are never out of any game, and although they have not been down in a series like this in the last few years, you have to believe they have some fight left in them. All it takes is one win to get the momentum back in the series and hopefully Cliff Lee will provide that win.

That was a tough loss to stomach, Phillies fans, but don't give up hope just yet. Until they lose that 4th game, this Phillies team is going to fight with everything they have. They are the World F'n Champs, after all.

Eagles crush Giants, move to top of the NFC East

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

If only this Eagles team showed up every week! After two straight weeks of playing down to their opponents, the Eagles got up for the Giants and then some, crushing their rivals 40-17 in a game that was never in question. The win helped move the Eagles past the Giants and into a first place tie with the Cowboys in the NFC East.

This one was all Eagles from the start as the Birds took only 3 plays to score on their opening drive when Leonard Weaver ran it in from 41 yards out. Just a few plays later, the Eagles struck again after they picked off Eli Manning when Brent Celek caught a touchdown pass. Just like that, 4 minutes into the game, the Eagles were up 13-0 and they never looked back.

Offensively for the Eagles, it was the typical "spread the ball around" passing attack Andy Reid likes to employ, as 8 different receivers caught passes, including Donovan McNabb himself, who caught one of his own passes that was deflected back to him. DeSean Jackson, coming off his huge Monday Night performance, had another big play in him today, this time catching a 54 yard touchdown pass. Not to be outdone, Jeremy Maclin also had a TD.

The Eagles also ran the ball better than they had in recent weeks as both Leonard Weaver and LeSean McCoy finished with over 70 yards of rushing and a touchdown. Not having Brian Westbrook made little difference to the Eagles rushing attack; the "thunder and lightning" of Weaver and McCoy was quite effective, finishing with 8.3 yards per carry.

The defense for the Eagles also played one of their best games of the season, forcing Eli Manning to make bad throws all game long. The Birds finished with 2 sacks, forced a fumble and had two interceptions. We all know what happens to Eli when the calendar turns to November and the weather starts to get a little colder and the Eagles took advantage of his poor play all game long.

Suddenly, the Eagles Week 9 match-up against the Cowboys is for first place in the NFC East. Dallas rolled all over the Seahawks this week as they continued their hot play but the Eagles know that if they play the way they did against the Giants, they should easily handle the Cowboys. With the Eagles, it's never a question about talent, they have plenty as they displayed today. It's a question of motivation, and they are always motivated for these big games against their division rivals. When they get up for a game, there are few teams better in the league. When they simply show up expecting to win, things can get ugly.

In all, a great win for the Eagles over the Giants. Let's hope that trend continues tonight as the Phillies look to beat a different New York team.

Eagles/Giants Week 8 Inactives: Westbrook out

The Eagles and Giants announced their inactives for their Week 8 clash:

Eagles: DE Victor Abiamiri, WR Kevin Curtis, OL Max Jean-Gilles, FS Macho Harris, QB Kevin Kolb, G Mike McGlynn, DB Dmitri Patterson, RB Brian Westbrook

Giants: WR Ramses Barden, LB Michael Boley, DL Chris Canty, C Adam Koets, RB Gartrell Johnson, WR Mario Manningham, CB Aaron Ross, T Guy Whimper

The Eagles will be without Brian Westbrook, who is still recovering from his concussion on Monday Night. Starting in his place will be LeSean McCoy, who isn't much of a drop-off. Newly signed P.J. Hill will suit up for the Eagles and be the 3rd RB. The other notable inactive for the Eagles is Macho Harris, who will be replaced by Sean Jones in the starting line-up. Jones got beat out by Harris in the preseason for the starting free safety spot but now he has his opportunity to re-claim the spot. Kevin Curtis is also out again, as expected.

The most notable Giant that will be out is Mario Manningham. The Giants receiving corps are deep so it shouldn't slow down the passing attack much.

It's a big day for Philly sports today, let's see if the Eagles can set the tone for a better day than yesterday. GO BIRDS!

Hamels falters again as Yankees take 2-1 World Series lead

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For a few innings, the Cole Hamels from 2008 was back. Unfortunately, one bad call in the 4th inning and the ugly 2009 version of Hamels reared its ugly head. The Yankees capitalized on Hamels' turn as they downed the Phillies 8-5 and took a 2-1 World Series lead.

Hamels was brilliant through 3 innings, not giving up a single hit while mixing up his fastball and change-up. Then, in the 4th inning, while facing Mark Teixeira, Hamels threw a 3-2 pitch that was in the strike zone but was inexplicably called ball 4. Hamels was rattled from that point forward, giving up a "home run" (more on this later) to the very next batter, Alex Rodriguez, then 3 more runs in the 5th inning as he played around with his curveball. What started out so promising for Hamels went south in a hurry as he was yanked from the game after allowing 5 runs in 4 and a third innings.

Of course, there was some controversy in that "home run" by A-Rod. Rodriguez hit a shot to right field that hit a camera that was positioned just over the fence and in the field of play. The hit was originally called a double but after going to the replay, the umpires decided it was a home run. It's difficult to really tell if the ball would have cleared the fence if the camera wasn't there, so I'm not quite sure how the umps had conclusive evidence that it was a home run.

As for the Phillies offense, it was pretty well neutralized by Andy Pettitte on the night. Pettitte gave up 3 early runs but then settled in and allowed only one run after that. He was particularly effective against the Phillie lefties like Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez, who went a combined 0 for 12 on the night with 7 strikeouts against Pettitte and the Yankee relievers. The one hitter who was on tonight was Jayson Werth, who continued his hot playoff hitting by bashing two solo home runs.

The Phillies now find themselves in a position they haven't been in for a few years: behind in a series. They have a tough challenge tomorrow as they face Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia in a must-win game, but there is plenty of reason to still have faith. Sabathia isn't unbeatable, as the Phillies have beaten him twice in the last two years in the playoffs, and he is going on only three days rest. The Phillies will be using Joe Blanton, who won Game 4 of the World Series last year, so hopefully he can repeat that performance on Sunday.

Game 3 was a tough loss for a Phillies team that isn't used to trailing in a series. It proved once and for all that the 2008 Cole Hamels is dead and won't be resurrected for 2009. Winning Game 4 now becomes critical as the Phillies will now look to extend the series back to New York. Don't worry, Phillies fans, there is still plenty of fight left in this team.