PHILLIES-
The Phillies beat Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers last night, 4-3. Kershaw was sailing along with a 2-0 shut-out in the 6th inning when Aaron Altherr crushed a grand slam home run into the left field scoreboard porch. It was the first grand slam ever allowed by Kershaw.
Kershaw is a great pitcher, a hall of Famer for sure when he retires, the winner of three Cy Young Awards already ( with a fourth possible this year).. But he is now only 3-5 against the Phillies in his career, one of three teams he has a losing record with.
The battle between Kershaw and Rhys Hoskins was fascinating. Power vd. power. Hoskins got him for a hard single and a walk. Unless Kershaw ends up with the Phils after the 2018 season (Kershaw is a free agent after next season) expect that duel often in the years to come.
Kershaw is now 17-4 despite missing about a month with a bad back. He is still only 29-years-old. He's as close to Sandy Koufax as you will get. He's exactly the kind of anchor the Philadelphia rotation needs when the team gets good.
* The Dodgers hit a lead-off inside-the-park homer last night. The Phils' opponents have hit four inside-the parkers this summer, a record amount since 1958. Why? Bad luck? Bad caroms? Poor defense? Too many hard-hit balls?
As expected, tons of Dodger fans in the stands. Being a Dodger fan is different however. It's more than being a front-runner. Dodger fans go way back, even before their move to Los Angeles. Even though the St. Louis Cardinals have more championships in the National League, the Dodgers have always been the Yankees of the NL.
They do have a great history, a iconic stadium, Dodger Dogs, great logo and cap, and a certain magical lure, from Jackie Robinson to Koufax and Drysdale, to Garvey. The Dodgers rarely finish last. They have always had a good farm system which keeps them competitive. Pitching has been the Dodgers' trademark, with Newcombe, Valenzuela and Hershier joining the great 60's pitchers.
Von Scully and Tinseltown. The celebrities sitting in the Dodger Stadium stands, the late night West Coast games, the high pitching mound at Dodger Stadium- all play into the mystique. Whenthe Dodgers come to town, it's special. Beating the Dodgers feels special, and the Phils have had a history with Brooklyn/LA over the years. From Black Friday in 1977 to finally beating LA in the 1983 NL Championship series, for teams that are so far apart geographically, the Pihllies and Dodgers always add up to interesting baseball.
* Chase Utley returned last night, batting 7th and playing second base. He got a nice hand, a standing ovation ( as he probably will each time during this 4-game series). Pretty amazing, seeing how it's been two years already since he was a Phillie. It will be interesting to se eif he retires after this season, or whether he will play in 2018 for LA. Wall of Fame night in the future will be a Chase Utley love fest. It already is, every time Utley comes back home.
* The Phils inch closer to avoiding 100 losses with each victory. 12 games remain in the season. The team needs to only win 4 games, with 9 of 12 at Citizens Bank Park.
EAGLES-
* Coach Doug Pederson had his normal post-game news conference yesterday. What he said wasn't so normal.
Pederson took the blame for the loss, saying he had to do a better job with his play-calling and needing to run the ball more. Fans and the media have cried out for running the ball more since last season. And Pederson's play-calling has been an issue.
I give Pederson credit for admitting his flaws, but he also said "I'm still learning..." which wasn't a good thing to admit.
Being head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, a billion dollar business with the most passionate fans in the NFL isn't a learn-on-the-job experience. What must owner Jeffery Lurie think, that his coach is still "learning"? It's yet another example of Pederson being over-matched. Worse yet, if he thinks he is over-matched that's even worse.
* With the Giants falling to 0-2 and looking awful, and with Dallas losing big at Denver and dropping to 1-1 ( with Philly and Washington), there's a clear path for the Birds to step up in the next few weeks and take control of the NFC East.
The New Yorkers are fighting between themselves, a mess with their poor offensive line and Odell Beckham Jr. literally being on a play-to-play status. The Cowboys are also in-fighting, with Zeke Elliot's six-game suspension looming. Dallas has another tough road game on tap this Sunday at Arizona ( who always seems to handle Dallas), while the Giants come to the Linc for the Eagles' home opener.
It's still way too early but a win on Sunday would go a long way to the Eagles making the playoffs. Two division wins while their rivals are scuffling . Time to step on the gas and crush New York while they are down.
My prediction for Eagles-Giants comes up later in the week.
SPORTS RELATED-
So Philly.com was doing a special deal a few weeks ago. I enjoy reading the sports page on Philly.com every morning. Sometimes I don't get he hard-copy newspaper and rely on getting my sports news on-line.It used to be free, but recently philly.com has blocked you form reading their articles from The Inquirer and Daily News unless you subscribe. So I did.
I didn't think 99 cents for the first month was a bad deal. I probably would've continued it. Problem is, even with approximately two weeks to go into my subscription, the site has blocked me from reading anymore articles, saying i have "reached my monthly limit."
Even before that, there were some articles which would not download. It's a very hit-and-miss site, not worth the aggregation. So I canceled my subscription and will just pick up the newspaper as needed.
I get it why they suddenly started charging for on-line readers. But the site is Mickey Mouse-amateur stuff, especially for a major city. Instead of jacking up the prices for your on-line subscribers and for your newspapers, spend some money on a reliable site first.
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