Morning Roundup: “Someone should put one in his neck” – Phils’ announcer Larry Anderson, in reference to Jose Reyes’

Billy Wagner and Jimmy Rollins clash tonight

nymag.com

celebratory home run trot. 

Three lines on their world:

1. Three NL East Teams are in a loss-column tie for first
2. A Greek team signed a coveted basketball player away from the NBA
3. And this CC Sabathia character seems worth the hype

Three lines on ours:

1. Brett Myers’ return was terrifying to watch
2. The Westbrook watch has begun
3. and the Sixers signed a backup guard

Phillies, Birds, Sixers, Flyers and the rubber match after the jump

PHILLIES

The Phillies dropped back into a tie for first in the NL East and did not look good doing it.  Brett Myers walked five in five innings, proving once again that swagger is less important than location, and Billy Wagner stopped the Phils in a situation where the rest of the Mets’ pen could not the day before.

Charlie Manuel has proven that he can make a tough calls about Myers‘ status with the Phils’ before, and if Brett has one more start like the one he had last night it will probably be time for Charlie to make a tough call again.

The goats were Brett and Ryan Madson, who gave up a game-winning three-run homerun to Jose Reyes in the sixth.

The division lead is on the line once again tonight as Jamie Moyer (9-6, 3.90) and the Phils square off against Oliver Perez (6-6, 4.36) and the Mets.  Perez is a headcase, but has dominated the Phils this year; allowing just 11 hits in 18 and 1/3 innings against the Good Guys.  The Phillies are a miserable day-game team, so look for a repeat of the last Phils/Mets series, where Philly take a classic game one then drop the next two.  If they do, it will be the first time the Phillies are not in first place since May.

Other Notes …

• Perez has owned the Phillies top for hitters (Jimmy, Chase, Ryan and Pat).  They are a combined 4-for-29 with nine strikeouts against him this season.
• Howard is 2-for-19 with 11 strikeouts against Perez for his career.
• Perez, who is 3-1 with a 2.89 ERA in seven day starts this season
• New York is 8-4 against Philadelphia in 2008
• Jamie Moyer has never gone less than six innings at Shea
• Myers threw 29 pitches in the first inning, just nine for strikes.
• Jimmy Rollins is batting .321, with an OPS of 1.013 with runners on and only .241 with an OPS of .628 with the bases empty.
• Shane Victorino and Geoff Jenkins hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning
• Damion Easley had three infield singles
• Brett Myers is 0-6 with a 7.91 ERA in 10 starts on the road this year.

Now, who said what …

Paul Hagen writes that Myers‘ command just wasn’t there. SKIP

David Murphy’s notes look at Victorino’s increase in bunting, the new Phillies lineup, and more. READ

Todd Zolecki’s look at Taguchi’s role with the Phillies (dominate the Mets, presumably), Pat Gillick’s response to the Matt Holliday rumors (not happening), and more. READ

*if you can only skip one Bill Conlin seems to think that the fact that Maple bats are shattering in record numbers is a bad thing and cites what seems to be a comment on a blog post to do so. SKIP

EAGLES

Les Bowen attacks the Farve-to-Eagles’ rumors for being the nonsense that they are. SKIP

Bob Brookover on the parallels between the contract situations of Brian Urlacher and Brian Westbrook. SKIP

Paul Domowitch likes what he sees out of DeSean Jackson. READ

Bob Brookover reports that, even before he arrives, Brian Westbrook is the talk of the camp. SKIP

Bob Ford writes that rookie LB Joe Mays wants to start hitting. READ

Les Bowen profiles Eagles’ offensive assistant Mark Whipple. READ

In Brookover’s notes, he looks at the fullback battle and the 30 club. SKIP

Rueben Frank writes that Kevin Kolb feels ready to go. SKIP

Rueben Frank looks at rookie linemen Trevor Laws and Byran Smith’s injuries. READ

SIXERS

Phil Jasner reports that the Sixers have signed guard Royal Ivey to a two-year contract.  I see Ivey as a replacement for Kevin Ollie, and not a bad one at that.  Growing up, Ivey was one of the sickest prep school players out there, him and the Mapps used to own the summer. READ

*if you can only read one Tom Moore looks at Pat Carroll’s decision between Europe and a shot at the league, which is a bit of a hot topic these days. READ

SI’s Ian Thompson says that Thad Young, not Elton Brand, is the future of the Sixers. READ

Jawann McClellan, who had a cup of coffee with the Sixers’ summer league team, is headed to Europe. SKIP

FLYERS

Matt Gelb checks in on Ryan Parent, whose playoff performance put him on the map. READ

The Flyers’ prospects had a day out on the beach. READ

TODAY and MORE

So my drivers are fried and everything I’m write comes up in a hazy shade of purple because of it, so I think priority #1 is going to be taking care of that.  However, I shouldn’t be gone all day, so we’ll try to get back to you with some Phils/Mets thoughts and maybe even a look in on college basketball.  As always, feel free to email with any questions, suggestions, comments or complaints.  

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 8:58 am and is filed under Morning Rounds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.