Braves Drop into Tie with Cardinals for NL Wild Card

“It's like living out a bad dream... You never expect this to happen to you."
-- Chipper Jones

The Atlanta Braves are in the middle of an absolute free fall. In fact, they're all but giving the National League Wild Card to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Derek Lowe struggled once again, surrendering five runs on five hits and exiting in the fifth inning to a chorus of boos from the home crowd at Turner Field during his team's 7-1 loss to the NL East-champion Philadelphia Phillies. Atlanta has now lost four straight and eight of 11, squandering the 8 1/2-game lead they enjoyed just three weeks ago.

Chase Utley, Hunter Pence, and Jimmy Rollins each went yard as the Phillies totally screwed up the Braves plans. They never even had a shot against Roy Oswalt, who gave up only three hits over six solid innings. Atlanta will send Tim Hudson to the mound Wednesday against Joe Blanton in an attempt to wrap up the Wild Card if they emerge victorious and the Cardinals manage to drop their final game of the season.

After rallying from a 5-0 deficit to crush the last-place Houston Astros 13-6, the Cardinals pulled even with the Braves, who had sole possession of the Wild Card lead since June 20. All good things must come to an end I suppose.

Way to Go, Placido Polanco

Placido Polanco has re-injured his surgically repaired left elbow.

The Philadelphia Phillies third baseman hyper-extended his elbow on a swing in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. Ouch. He attempted to play some defense in the bottom half of the inning, but was replaced by Wilson Valdez in the second.

"It’s just a day-to-day thing I think. When I’ve had it before, I never stopped playing. But since I had surgery, they took me out."

Go to Your Room, Charlie Manuel

Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel has been suspended for one game after making contact with an umpire. Not only was he fined an undisclosed amount, he will not be present for tonight's game at Pittsburgh against the Pirates.

Manuel was tossed in the top of the 10th inning during his team's 9-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday for arguing balls and strikes: a big no-no. Home plate ump C.B. Bucknor was apparently none-to-pleased after the skipper bumped his forehead with the brim of his cap while ranting and raving.

Half of Phillies Infield on the DL

Sucky news out of Philadelphia today: the Phillies just lost half of their starting infield to injury.

Second baseman Chase Utley and third baseman Placido Polanco have both landed on the 15-day disabled list, with a sprained right thumb and sore left elbow, respectively. They have both been sent back to Philly to get checked out and see exactly how long they'll be out of commission.

Utley jammed his thumb while trying to stretch a single into double during the fourth inning of his team's 7-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds Monday night, but remained in the game until the ninth inning, when he was replaced by a pinch hitter because his thumb was tender.

Top 10 Fantasy Hitters for 2010

10. Evan Longoria: One of the things that impressed me the most about Longoria is that he has never been caught stealing in the big leagues. Not once. I guess that would be way sweeter if he'd stolen more than 16 bases in his two-year career, but whatever. It took him only 135 games to reach his 100th career RBI, finishing his second season with 113.

9. Ryan Howard: Ryan Howard is one of the most feared hitters in the National League. He might whiff a lot (like 200 times a year) but last season he became just the third player in Major League Baseball history (joining The Babe and Sammy Sosa) to collect at least 135 RBIs and 45 home runs in four straight seasons. I'm betting he can do it again in 2010.

Continue reading and comment on this story at Fantasy Pros 911.

The Clifton & Chutley Show

Man, Chase Utley is good at hitting baseballs over fences.

Stealing the glory right out from under Cliff Lee, the Philadelphia Phillies second baseman nailed not one, but two home runs in his team's 8-6 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series.

Continue reading and comment on this story at Sports Untapped.

Chase Utley Is Pretty Good At Baseball

Not to take anything away from the entire Philadelphia Phillies rotation and lineup, but Chase Utley can really swing a bat.

In a must-win situation for his team, Chutley launched a 4-seam fastball from New York Yankees starter A.J. Burnett to the right field seats in the bottom of the first inning to give the reigning Champs a 3-1 lead. Why is this special? It marks his fourth longball of the World Series and fifth of this postseason, which is the most in MLB history for a second baseman.

That my friends, is what we like to refer to as badass.

Update: Holy crap. Utley has tied Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson's record for most longballs in a World Series, giving the Phils a 7-2 lead when he jacked a 3-2 fastball from Yanks reliever Phil Coke with nobody out in the seventh. Five bombs in four games for Chutley. Wow.

You Can’t Catch Johnny Damon!

A day after the New York Yankees came back to win Game 3, Johnny Damon became the difference-maker with a two-out, ninth-inning, game-saving performance.

The Yankees took a 3-1 World Series lead with a 7-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies just after the reigning champs had started a rally in the seventh inning. Chase Utley took CC Sabathia’s 107th pitch of the evening into the right-field bleachers to make it a one-run game on his third bomb of the Series.

Continue reading and comment on this story at Sports Untapped.

2009: The Year of the Comeback

I'm not sure how many more late-inning comebacks I can take. But man, they sure are exciting.

The Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for two runs in the eighth inning of Game 2 of the NLCS against the reigning Champion Philadelphia Phillies, coming away with a 2-1 victory Friday night.

Giants vs. Phillies: What a Game

Pitcher's duels are so great.

Picture this... youngster Tim Lincecum: verified strike-out machine and freak of nature vs. Pedro Martinez: future Hall of Famer in vintage form. That's exactly what the world got Thursday night.

Pedro tossed seven impressive innings, fanning a season-high nine batters in his fifth start since signing with the Philadelphia Phillies during the All-Star break. The old school righty surrendered one run and five hits, didn't walk a soul, and threw just 87 pitches in his longest outing since last August with the New York Mets.

Put It Away, Chutley

Chase Utley's third home run in two nights came on a 1-0 fastball from Bobby Parnell to lead off the 11th inning and aid the Philadelphia Phillies in their 5-4 win over the New York Mets.

It was also his 15th bomb of the season, giving him a .303 average and 41 RBIs.

The Real Top Ten Hottest Players In Baseball

I'm a woman who has been accused of being more passionate about baseball than I am about boyfriends.

That may be true, but it doesn't mean I'm unable to spot a smokin' hot baseball player when I see one.

An unidentified Fox Sports analyst has recently come up with a list of the Top 10 Hottest Baseball Players, in slideshow format. What the requirements were to land on this list, I have no idea. It's so incredibly wrong in so many ways, I felt the need to speak out about it.

Jimmy Rollins, Barry Zito and Ichiro Suzuki as your top three? Umm, no.

Continue reading this story at Fantasy Pros 911.

Get Well Soon Chutley

I've been searching for an excuse to post this delicious picture of Chase Utley, so we're just gonna go ahead and talk about his right hip. It turns out the three-time All-Star is doing very well after his November surgery.

The Philadelphia Phillies second baseman just recently started taking swings off a tee and hitting soft tosses, but docs say he's far ahead of the original 4-6 month prognosis.

Utley, 30, played through pain for most of the 2008 season, but ended up batting .292 with 104 RBIs and a career-high 33 bombs. You can tell about where it started to hurt the most, seeing as how he hit .352 in April with his average dropping to .279 over the last five months. He belted 21 homers in the first 59 games, but nailed just 12 in the last 103.

When asked what his favorite World Series moment was, he responded, "It’s a blur. I’d have to say the last pitch. There’s so many... I tend to remember other people’s plays before I remember mine."

Modest, too.

[Rotoworld] | [Phightin' Phils] | [Phollowing the Phillies]

Matt Stairs is Old School

Remember the Montreal Expos? Matt Stairs does. He started his career with them in 1992.

Stairs busted out some all-too-familiar Philly-style heroics Monday night during Game 4 of the NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After Shane Victorino tied it up at 5 a-piece with a two-run bomb in the eighth off Cory Wade for his 11th RBI of the postseason, the beefy, 40-year-old pinch-hitter nailed a 3-1, 95 mph fastball served up by Jonathan Broxton to help the Phillies come from behind for the third time this series. Watch the video here and read Stairs' kinda lame quote here.

Live Blogs Are Badass

In case you missed me live-blogging Game 1 of the ALCS between the reigning champ Boston Red Sox and the newly-awesome Tampa Bay Rays over at Walkoff Walk (best baseball blog not written by women) you'll get another chance to play along on Monday night for Game 4 of the NLCS.

See you there!

[Game 1]

Tell Us How You Really Feel

Chase Utley, who I was rather disappointed in Monday night but still love unconditionally, reacts in the video below after being booed at Yankee Stadium (by Mets fans?) during the Home Run Derby, in which he hit only 5 longballs and did not advance to the second round.

Voodoo Sabermetrics: Chase Utley

Welcome to our eighth edition of Voodoo Sabermetrics. This week we tackle one of the hottest bats in baseball, Philadelphia Phillies second baseman, Chase Utley. We generally polish off our Voodoo posts with Jon Pyle (see Hotness and SMI) but we have a special treat for you today, instead.

Sooze, Babes Love Baseball
Jolliness - Chase Utley's jollity sparked the moment his first big league hit went yard for a grand salami. He's enjoyed a steady .300 career batting average ever since, not to mention a hot start to the 2008 season, nailing 23 homers and 66 RBIs to date. He's jovial in a young Joe Morgan way. Plus, he rocks those rosy cheeks sometimes, which tips the scale of jolliness just toward Santa Claus. But naturally, Chase Utley gets a Soft Little Puppy on the Jollity Scale.

When I think of people who name their kid Chase, I think of yuppies. And when I think of yuppies, I think of California. When I think of California, for some reason I get that Joni Mitchell song stuck in my head. But just the unbearably high parts. Which brings me to this theme song... even though I should have probably chosen this one.

Chase Utley is the Best at Everything

Chase Utley and his hot bat have helped swing the Philadelphia Phillies up into first place in the NL East.

The smoking hot second baseman nailed his major league-leading 18th homer of the season Friday, aiding in the 12-3 win over the division rival Florida Marlins. The left-handed hitting Utley has seen 50% of his dingers come off left handed-pitching, which is also best in the bigs. Just another reason why he leads all NL players in All Star tallies this year... by 100,000 votes.

Ryan Howard and Chris Coste also had a hand in the victory, each smoking three-run shots for the Phils, who won their fifth straight game.

This last win comes partly in thanks to Mark Hendrickson, who unraveled a seven-run second inning before the four-run fourth chased him off the hill completely. Brett Myers earned his first win in six weeks for Philadelphia, surrendering three runs on six hits over eight innings with a season-best eleven strikeouts.

"It’s ridiculous," Myers said. "I feel bad for anybody that has to pitch against us right now."

[Mr. Thursday's Curious Mechanism]

Utley, Moyer Enjoy Career Nights

Chase Utley enjoyed a career night Monday, going 3-for-6 with 6 RBIs in the Philadelphia Phillies 20-5 rout of the Colorado Rockies.

The Phils tallied their most runs in close to a decade behind veteran pitcher (and oldest active player) Jamie Moyer, who finally completed his check list of 30 teams to beat by notching the Rockies in his 45-year-old belt.

Moyer had a season-high seven strikeouts, allowing four runs on six hits over seven innings for his 235th career victory. That makes him just one shy of tying Whitey Ford and Clark Griffith for 56th all-time.


[AP]

Hard Lumber: Players of the Month

Chase Utley is on pace to hit like, 70 bombs this season.

The Philadelphia Phillies second baseman was honored as the National League Player of the Month on Saturday after batting .360 with a major league-best 11 homers and 23 RBIs in the month of April. He's kicked off May in a good way too, by raising his average to .369 and hammering two more homers for 3 more RBIs.

There's pretty much no stopping him right now. The two-time All-Star has jacked 10 homers over his last 16 games (that's nuts) and tied a franchise record by hitting a longball in five consecutive games from April 17th-21st. My goodness.

Josh Hamilton is swinging a hot bat, as well. The Texas Rangers outfielder was recognized as the American League's Player of the Month for April, marking the first time he's received the award.

"It's exciting to win the [award], but I'd trade it for a better start for our team," he said.

Hamms finished April batting .330 and leading the majors with 32 RBIs, which was six more than any other player. He also led all AL players with 38 hits, 17 extra base hits and tied for third with ten doubles.

[The Sideline Pass]