Philly is a Baseball Town
By Kevin K

Every person in America grows up with the game of baseball. It is truly America's pastime. Every kid dreams of hitting a home-run, or making a diving catch, or striking out the best player in the league, Philly is no exception.

Every true fan grows up with baseball on their mind. The first thing boys write about when they are asked "what do you want to be when you grow up", the answer is a baseball player,

We all look up to them and want to be them. We cherish every moment they give us, while condemning the bad ones, we celebrate the good ones. Lately, all the Phillies have done is give us good memories.

You can't walk down the street now without seeing something Phillies red. The craziness continues to grow as the Phillies sold out of season tickets for the entire 2010 season.

With over 45,000 devoted fans attending every game for the Phillies and even traveling to away games just to catch a glimpse of our childhood dreams.

The Phillies bring that dream to life, especially this team. This team is one for the Philadelphia record books, as there are so many lovable players on the team. Phillies fans will always remember the players on this team throughout their lives (along with the 1950, 1980, and 1993 teams).

As a child you also heard one voice announce every Phillies game, Harry Kalas. Harry continued, up to his abrupt passing, to remind us of our childhood dreams. When Harry passed, every person in Philadelphia had a tear in their eye.

It's the sound, the smell, the feel of the Phillies that makes this town love them so much.

Philadelphians love their Phillies and will forever remember the joy that this team brings to our living rooms everyday.

That is why Philly is a baseball town ....

My Fellow Phans,

I will not bother you with intricate details of each pitcher this week in my preview. I will just post the starters and provide a brief commentary on what I see in these next three games for the Phillies in Cincy.

Pitching Matchups:

Monday: Kyle Kendrick (4-2) vs. Johnny Cueto (7-2)
Tuesday: Joe Blanton (3-5) vs. Mike Leake (5-1)
Wednesday: Roy Halladay (9-6) vs. Aaron Harang (6-7)

Synopsis: Although this is a winnable series for the Phillies, it is going to be a very tough one indeed. The first two games they will be met by good young pitchers who are thriving at the right time to keep the Reds afloat in the National League Central. Harang, who will pitch the 3rd game is always tough on the Phillies so this will not be easy.

The Reds boast one of the best 1-2 offensive punches with possible (and my current) NL MVP, Joey Votto and a guy Phillies fans aren't too fond of, Scott Rolen. Both are playing well and both are All-Stars. Along with young Brandon Phillips, the Reds are flying high and battling for the NL Central lead with the Cardinals. Don't forget about outfielder Johnny Gomes, who is having an exceptionally yet unknown strong season for the Reds.

The Phillies have been playing well. Lets hope they can keep it up on the road.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies!

- Johnny S.

Home Sweet Road
By Kevin K

The Phillies and Jays ended their Inter-league battle on Sunday with an 11-2 victory for the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies ended up winning the away series at home today as it looks as if Jimmy Rollins is getting back in the swing of things.

Jimmy has begun getting the bat off his shoulder and continues to hit the ball well and play strong defense. The best thing of all though is that the Phillies are finally playing as a team again. They are finally doing the little things right. On Sunday there were no Home Runs hit by the Phillies in an 11 run game. The closest one to a Home Run was Ben Francisco, who was killing the ball (mostly foul) and smoked one off the wall in left field.

The Phillies also had errors on their side though. The Blue Jays played sloppy ball versus the Phillies on Sunday and that caused them a lot of trouble as the game went on.

The Phillies have now won 5 of their last 6 games (9 of 13) and now are 2.5 games behind the sliding Braves.

If the Phillies continue playing the way they have, they will be in first place by the end of the week.

Friday June 25: Phillies 9, Blue Jays 0
WP: Roy Halladay (9-6) LP Litsch (0-2)

Saturday June 26: Phillies 1, Blue Jays 5
WP:  Marcum (7-3) LP Hamels (6-6)

Sunday June 27: Phillies 11, Blue Jays 2
WP Moyer 9-6 LP Cecil (7-5)

Moyer made history again on Sunday by allowing his 506th HR on Sunday giving him the most in MLB history.

Next Up for the Phillies, the Reds.

Keep it up Phillies !

Phillies/Blue Jays Preview
By Kevin K

The Phillies are coming off of a sweep of the Indians when pitching their 3, 4, and 5 starting pitchers. Jamie Moyer continues to be impressive this season as he had another good outing on Tuesday. Kyle Kendrick got roughed up a bit but suffered a no decision as Jimmy Rollins hit a walk off two run home run to lift the Phillies to a win on Wednesday. Joe Blanton seems to finally have his pitches down as he pitched very well on Thursday, storm and all. Phillies swept the Indians after a 12-3 victory on Thursday.

Now the Phillies are set to play an away series versus Toronto starting tonight at Citizens Bank Park due to the g20 Summit in Toronto. Blue Jays fans were clearly upset over the move of stadium because it would have brought the Doc back in town. Instead Doc Halladay starts Game One of the Series versus his former team.

Probables: Friday, June 25: Roy Halladay (8-6) vs Jesse Litsch (0-1). The clear advantage goes to Halladay, the problem is that the Phillies bats haven't supported Halladay in any way shape or form in the past five starts. Lets hope their bats come off their shoulders today and start scoring runs for the Doc, especially because he faces the team that drafted him.

Saturday June 26: Cole Hamels (6-5) vs Shaun Marcum (6-3). Marcum is going to be a tough challenge for the Phillies with a 3.24 ERA, he is a solid pitcher. He goes against Cole Hamels who has surprised a lot of Phillies Fans (not me) this season, after a horrific 2009. Kid Cole seems to be back on track and ready to take on the Jays.

Sunday June 27: Jamie Moyer (8-6) vs TBD. The Jays have yet to announce a starter for Sunday's game versus the Phillies as Moyer looks to continue his winning ways with another good start for the Phillies.

Remember, this series is run by AL rules. There will be a DH in the game and the Phillies will be wearing their Road Grays and Batting First against the Blue Jays this series. I know it is a little confusing but it should be fun to watch!

Manuel States "Lidge is Our Closer"
By Kevin K

Sports Radio 610 Host, Howard Eskin should not be allowed in Manuel's Press Conferences anymore. In 2007, Eskin provoked Manuel in a heated argument that lead to one of the great "I've been growed up" moments in Phillies history. Now Eskin is back at it.

I will give you the background information first. Last night in the ninth inning, Manuel brought in left handed reliever JC Romero in a 2-1 game against the Indians weaker hitters. That lead to Eskin provoking Charlie again.

Charlie sticks with his guns this time saying, "Lidge is our closer, so Howard let's leave it ok. Lidge is our closer, in my mind he is our closer and that's what matters".

In 2007, Eskin got a lot of press on the heated argument with Charlie Manuel. It looks as if he may have been trying to do it again to rise his deflating ratings.

watch the video here http://phlsportsfan.cmatt.org/2010/06/23/damn-you-eskin-lidge-is-the-closer/

Thanks to our friend at PHLSportsFan for the video

Rollins Active, Ruiz to DL and More!
By Kevin K

The Phillies have activated shortstop Jimmy Rollins. With that move the Phillies also announce that Carlos Ruiz has been placed on the 15 Day DL

The big news from the Phillies, however, is that Greg Dobbs has been Designated for Assignment. Dobbs has had a miserable last two seasons and was batting .152 when designated for assignment.

With that the Phillies recalled left handed relief pitcher, Mike Zagurski and moved Scott Mathieson to Lehigh Valley. Bringing up Zagurski over Mathieson shows signs that the Phillies lack confidence in JC Romero as the only lefty in the bullpen

Phillies Fall to Twins in Embarrassing Style ..... J'Roll Set to Return
By Kevin K

It seemed as if after the Yankees series the Phillies were doing everything right. They were scoring runners by doing the little things. Bunts down, base hits, not relying on the long ball, all things winning teams do ..... and then came the Twins.

The Phillies had a good outing on Friday, with a 9-5 victory, scoring 8 runs in the first two innings. Then Saturday came along and it looked like the Phillies were ready to cruise to another victory. The Phillies were up 5 runs in the ninth inning, a lead that fell fast. With Jose Contrares on the mound he gave up a home run (standing ovation) to Jim Thome.

Then Brad Lidge comes in and looks like the Lidge of 2009, failing to close out the game, the Twins tied it. The Twins then took a lead in the tenth that was tied quickly by a Ross Gload home run.

Then Danny Baez came in and spoiled the game for the Phillies as they lost 13-10.

Sunday wasn't much better as the Phillies bats fell dead. Carl Pavano 4-hit the Phillies in a Twins 4-1 victory that made the Phillies look desperate. Behind another outing for Halladay, the Phillies bats were silent (reminds me of all the spoiled starts Hamels had in 2008).

Now the Phillies look to refocus against the Indians in a series that welcomes back the Phillies leader, Jimmy Rollins. Rumor has it that Rollins is set to return to action on Tuesday night as the Phillies look to wake up from an embarrassing weekend.

Tuesday 7:05: Jamie Moyer (7-6) versus Mitch Talbot (7-5). In an equally matched pitching match-up, the Phillies need to put some bats behind Moyer, who is coming off a very impressive pitching performance versus the Yankees. Moyer has been inconsistent this season, but has shown glimpses of greatness throughout the year.

Wednesday 7:05 Kyle Kendrick (4-2) versus Jake Westbrook (4-4). Another evenly matched pitching matchup, however, Kendrick has pitched well lately. This will be his second start off of his bad performance versus the Marlins and if my theory is correct, Kendrick should pitch very well in this one.

Thursday 1:05 Joe Blanton (2-5) versus Fausto Carmona (6-5). Blanton has worried Phillies fans this season, as he has looked terrible, besides his two wins. Blanton looks to rebound from a terrible season as he needs to make his case to stay in the rotation as JA Happ is nearing a return.

Key to the Series: Jimmy Rollins. With the return of the Phillies emotional leader, J Roll is the key for the Phillies offense to wake up. No one knows how healthy Jimmy is as of yet, but he has had plenty of time to heal his calf and should return as the Phillies leader for the rest of the season.

My Fellow Phans,

I would like to apologize for the bad title. It sounded better in my head before I put it down on paper. Anyways, the Phillies will be entertaining the American League Central leading Minnesota Twins this weekend at Citizens Bank Park. The pitching matchups are as follows:

Today 6/18: Twins (Blackburn, 6-3) @ Phillies (Blanton, 1-5), 7:05 pm

Saturday 6/19: Twins (Slowey, 7-4) @ Phillies (Hamels, 6-5), 4:10 pm

Sunday 6/20: Twins (Pavano, 7-6) @ Phillies (Halladay, 8-5), 1:35 pm

On paper, the Twins appear to be throwing three quality starters out against us this weekend. There is no reason why the Phillies cannot win this series. Hamels and Halladay are both pitching this weekend and both have been pitching relatively well recently (knock on wood). The offense showed some sign of life back in New York so lets hope they can continue to take steps forward in the hitting department. I will not make any predictions about this series except to say that the Phillies will need to be on their game to compete with the Twins, who are a very good team.

Let's hope they can keep up their winning ways.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies!

- Johnny S.

Phillies Win a World Series Rematch
By Kevin K

In a rematch of the 2009 World Series, the Phillies come out on top, too bad it is just regular season. If I were to tell you that the Phillies were going to lose game one with Roy Halladay on the mound and win the next two you would have laughed in my face, but it happened.

Behind great pitching and timely hitting the Phillies were able to defeat the Yankees in two of the three games they played, and the Phillies have won three of the last four games.

The immortal 47 year old Jamie Moyer shut down the Yankees on Wednesday to become the oldest pitcher ever to beat the Yankees. Lets face it, now when you are asked who was the oldest pitcher to (insert accomplishment here), it's Jamie Moyer. Moyer was completely shut down against the Yankees after pitching his worst game in his career on Friday against the Red Sox.

Kyle Kendrick pitched on Thursday and once again my theory stands correct. Kendrick pitches three good games and then lays an egg. Another good game was pitched yesterday for Kendrick after throwing a bad game last week against the Marlins. KK continues to be a solid pitcher for the Phillies and is now putting pressure on Charlie Manuel on what to do when JA Happ comes back, or if the Phillies sign Pedro Martinez.

The Phillies also had timely hitting and seem to be breaking out of their slump. It has been a while since the Phillies have scored over 6 runs in back-to-back games, and that is exactly what they did to the Yankees.

Phillies bats seem to have waken up over the past few games and the Phillies hope they can keep it going.

Notes: First Base Coach Davey Lopes hinted that Chase Utley has been dealing with a knee injury this season

Pedro in Talks
By Kevin K

Earlier this Spring, the Ruben Amaro Jr admitted to keeping in contact with SP Pedro Martinez. We explored the possibility then and we still do now. Back then Ruben was on with 97.5 the Fanatic host Mike Missanelli and he said that he has talked and will continue to talk to Pedro throughout the season. Ruben also mentioned that Pedro was just then starting to get in baseball shape again for a possible return to MLB, even if it wasn't for the Phillies

ESPN is now reporting that the Phillies have contacted Pedro about a possible return.

Now the question remains where Pedro would fit in the Phillies rotation. With the return of Happ around the corner and Moyer and Kendick pitching pretty well this season you have to wonder where Pedro is going to fit. Pedro could fit in the bullpen for the Phillies as a possible long reliever.

Pedro went 5-1, 3.63 ERA for the Phillies last season.

We will keep you updated on all things Pedro and the Phillies