PHILLY SPORTS CORNER

 Read my Eagles thoughts in CHIRPING BIRDS post in this blog. Meanwhile...

*  The Phillies salvaged a game in Atlanta yesterday. That's it for the road schedule. The remaining 6 games are at home vs the Nationals and  the Mets. The Phils only need to win one game to assure they won't lose 100 games this season.

* Nick Pivetta again showed why he has potential and should be  in the rotation mix in spring training. Pivetta has great stuff, but location is a problem. He gives up way too many home runs. To me, he stands out among the group of Eflin, Thompson and the other young pitchers who have been up and down this summer.

* Beatles Night at the Phillies tonight! Hopefully it won't be a "Hard Days Night" for the Fightins.

* Sixers' Joel Embiid was seen at the Eagles game on Sunday, jumping and cheering for the Birds. The Sixers' medical staff  is so super-conservative. His "minor" knee surgery was six months ago. If he's not ready to play on opening night in a few weeks, something is wrong.

With the Angels all but out of the baseball playoff race, look for Mike Trout to be at future Eagles home games, starting in two weeks against Arizona.

* Late news: RB Darren Sproles is reported to have suffered both a  broken arm and torn ACL on the same play in Sunday's Eagles-Giants game. That shelves Sproles for the season, and possibly for his career. Sproles said he only wanted to play one more year.

In the short run, the running back situation is murky. Blount will handle the short-yardage situations; Smallwood will probably be the every down guy; and expect to see more of Clement.  The club will miss Sproles as a punt returner- always dangerous- and as a combo runner/slot receiver. Rookie Darnell Pumphrey was supposed to be the younger version of Sproles, but he underachieved in the pre-season and is now injured as well.

It will be interesting to see if GM Howie Rossman picks up another back on the waiver wire this week.

* A week to go in the regular  season of major league baseball. Most races look settled. The Nats clinched NL East weeks ago. The Cubs are holding off Milwaukee and St. Louis and look to finally secure NL Central . The Dodgers have won 99 games  and await the playoffs. The wild card race in the National League is still up for grabs Arizona has one spot locked up, and will have the home game in the one-game playoff. Colorado has a one game lead over the Brewers, with the Cards right behind.

It looks like the Dodgers will play the wild card winner, with the Cubs and Nationals playing in the other series.

In the American League, Boston is close to clinching the AL East race. Cleveland has run away with the AL Central crown. Houston has long since wrapped up the AL West. The wild card race seems set with the Yankees hosting the Twins next week. The Indians will play the wild card winner, while the Astros and Red Sox tangle in a division series.

* I don't like to mix sports with politics. Sports should be fun and entertaining, a pleasant diversion form the reality of everyday life.So I won't comment on the player's kneeling, locking arms or whatever during the national Anthem. It's stupid and I really don't care.

All I can say is to each his/her own. I respect the flag and personally feel everyone should honor the flag in a respectful way. Republican, Democrat or whatever, honoring America and respecting our flag should be an issue that no one disagrees with.