Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Philly Sports 101 |
| Posted: 12 Aug 2009 08:08 PM PDT  The Phillies blew the Cubs away 12-5 in Pedro Martinez's first start as a Phillie. Pedro threw 5 innings at the not-so-friendly confines. He gave up 3 runs on 7 hits. He struck out 5 and walked 1. Not a bad start for a guy making his first of this season. Pedro's stuff looked good. His fastball reached 94 MPH, but didn't hit that number consistently. But who knows, maybe after some more work Pedro will be able to be more consistent with his velocity. He had a lot of movement on his pitches. His cutter was cutting. His slider was sliding. And his curve ball was curving. The Phillies offense has woken up from its slumber. Sure, maybe it was against a young pitcher making his first start, but this game could give the hitters more confidence. 
|
| Posted: 12 Aug 2009 03:03 PM PDT The United States soccer team has lost another game in Stadio Azteca. Mexico beat the U.S. 2-1 today in a World Cup qualifying game. The high altitude and heat in Mexico City really wore down the Americans, who lost control of the game in the second half. The U.S. opened the scoring, with a goal by Charlie Davies in the 9th minute. A great ball from Landon Donovan put Davies on a breakaway between him and the goalie. Later in the first half, when Israel Castro put a beautiful shot into corner of the net. In the second half, things starting getting testy between the two squads. Davies was on the ground in pain, and he didn't like how three Mexican players were helping him up. U.S. players came over to defend Davies and pushing ensued. Miguel Sabah scored the winning goal for the Mexicans in the 82nd minute when he hit the roof of the net. It was an unspectacular goal but a very pivotal one in the game. The referees let this game get out of hand in the second half when the brawl occurred. It's no secret that these teams don't like each other, so the refs should have been prepared for it. They didn't red card any Mexican players, even though they were the instigators in the altercations. Why couldn't this game be broadcast in English. I had to watch the Spanish broadcast on Telemundo. ESPN has shown most of the U.S. World qualifying matches. Why couldn't they show the biggest one of the year? 0-23-1 in Mexico City is not a good record for the U.S. but the team is improving. I thought they would win this game and show that this U.S. team was better than the previous squads. Even with the loss, I believe the U.S. may be set for a World Cup run. 
|
| Posted: 11 Aug 2009 09:40 PM PDT Brad Lidge's ability as a closer was on display tonight at Wrigley Field. Brad gave up a 1-run lead in the ninth inning after walking the lead off batter. Lidge was perfect last season but has been anything but this year. His 7.29 ERA would hint at that. While the Phillies did win tonight's game 4-3 in 12 innings, they should have won in the regulation 9. Lidge has blown 7 saves this season. The Phillies could have a bigger lead in the division if he had saved maybe 5 of those. Lidge should be relegated to mop-up duty. I don't want to see him in a close game. Even in the lest pressure situations, Lidge is assured to give up his usual run or two. That won't fly in the playoffs. We can only hope that another reliever steps up in Lidge's place. I don't know who that could be at the moment. Ryan Madson didn't do good in his last try as closer. Hey, there's always Tyler Walker. 
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Philly Sports 101 To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 Comments:
Post a Comment