Joe Blanton pitches tonight.

The baseball adage that good pitching beats good hitting took a beating Sunday night during the national showdown between the Mets and Phillies on ESPN. The Mets’ Johan Santana gave up four home runs, including a grand slam to Shane Victorino as the Phillies scored nine runs in the fourth inning and handed the Mets an 11-5 defeat. It was Santana’s worst game ever, and only the second time he gave up four home runs in a game; the last time he did it was also against the Phillies.
The Phillies had been in a batting slump and when the Mets first arrived Friday night, the signs were not good after Kyle Kendrick had another horrible outing and the Phillies lost 9-1, giving the Mets a 1.5 game lead in the division. The Mets came into the series confident after winning seven games in a row and taking the division lead.
Like my fellow Phillies fans, I was distraught after the game Friday and figured it might be an ugly weekend since Jamie Moyer was pitching Sunday against Santana, although I figured we would win Saturday afternoon with Roy Halladay pitching.
Well, after giving up those nine runs, Halladay not only pitched a complete game shutout, the Phillies bats woke up in the 10-0 victory. Then came Sunday night, with Moyer giving up a three-run homer to David Wright to start the game, then a two run homer to Phillies killer Ron Barajas. However, a 5-2 deficit turned into an 11-5 win when the Phillies plated those nine runs in the fourth.
The Mets wanted to see where they stood against the Phillies; I guess they know where they stand now.
The Fightins will try to keep the bats going as they take on St. Louis and Albert Pujols for the first time this season tonight, with Joe Blanton, just back from the disabled list, on the mound.

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

This is a sad day for those of us who grew up on Absecon Island and remember a great family restaurant in Atlantic City, Sabatini’s. Clare Sabatini, the matriarch of the Sabatini family, who later became famous for her “eminent domain” battle with Donald Trump, has passed away. While I remember going to the restaurant with my family, what I remember more is growing up in the same Ventnor neighborhood, playing touch football with Charlie Sabatini — who was incredibly fast — and having Anna Marie Sabatini tell me about the “birds and the bees” in graphic detail. Mrs. Sabatini was a sweet woman that I saw in passing over the decades at various events around town. She was a true pillar of the community, a community that has now lost a great friend. My sympathy goes out to the Sabatini family for their loss.

Chicago Flights Coming in 2011
There is good news and bad news from Atlantic City International Airport. First the bad news: as of May 9, there will no longer be a daily flight to Toronto as the service did not do as much business as hoped. I’m really sorry to hear that, since I was considering flying to the Toronto Film Festival instead of driving.

On a brighter note, Spirit Airlines has announced that it will add flights between Chicago and Atlantic City starting in the spring of next year. Currently, business at ACY is on an upswing. The airport served more passengers in March of this year than in any month in its history. In addition, ridership in the first three months of 2010 has been 20 percent above the totals for the first quarter of 2009. (more…)

Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or my on-going battle to lose weight in our fast food world. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly

Fox Television is happy. They have the Yankees in the World Series, which means ratings will be up. The Phillies franchise and their fans are happy. They get to go head to head with the most storied and successful franchise in the history of the game.

There are so many storylines in this series. The last times the two teams met on this stage, in the 1950 World Series, the Phillies Whiz Kids with Whitey Ashburn and Robin Roberts were swept in four close games by a Joe DiMaggio-Yogi Berra-led Yankees team.

Ryan Howard

Once they were the Whiz Kids; this Phillies club features the Wallop Kids vs. the Bronx Bombers. We have two offensive juggernauts led by two RBI-producing machines, Ryan Howard and Alex Rodriguez. These teams led their respective leagues in home runs and runs scored, and they both play in cozy, hitter friendly parks, the new Yankee Stadium and Citizens Bank Park.

Still, pitching wins in the World Series, and tonight’s opening night showdown should be a low scoring game that will make Cleveland Indian fans tear their hair out in frustration. Cliff Lee for the Phillies, and C.C. Sabathia for the Yanks are both Cy Young Award winners and former members of the Indians.

Vegas has listed the Yankees as 2 to 1 favorites, a bit high considering the Phils are the defending champs. Between those Vegas odds and the Victorino-in-a-skirt picture on the cover of the New York Post, the Phils have plenty of blackboard material. Meanwhile the Yankees can ponder the confidence of Jimmy Rollins predicting the Phillies in five on The Jay Leno Show.
Here is how the series shapes up.

(more…)

It was an incredible game last night, the thriller in Dodger-land with knockdowns and counter punches. There are so many storylines, from Carlos Ruiz as the principle Dodger killer with his three-run blast, Ryan Howard’s two run double off a spooked Clayton Kershaw and Raaauuuul’s three run blast off the Dodger’s lefty specialist, George Sherrill. There was Chan Ho Park looking like a true shutdown pitcher and Ryan Madsen looking out of sorts, followed by Brad “Dim-the-Lights” Lidge getting a Mitch Williams-like save with a couple of hard hit balls and a gift double-play.

However, there is one storyline that really bothers me, and that was Cole Hamels showing up his teammates after Jimmy Rollins had trouble getting a double play grounder out of his glove, which resulted in a hurried throw by Chase Utley that went into the dugout. Hamels threw his hands up in disgust, and then served up three straight change ups to Manny Ramirez, who hit the third one for a two-run homer.

(more…)

The Phillies are playoff tested as they head into a second straight National League Championship series with the Dodgers beginning Thursday.
To get there they had to endure a heavyweight brawl with the Colorado Rockies. After a knockdown blow by the Rockies in last night’s eight inning, it looking grim for the Fightins. I had visions of Cole Hamels pitching in a chilly Citizens Bank Park tonight. Admit it, even when Jimmy Rollins got a one-out hit and Shane Victorino hustled to keep from turning his grounder into a double play, you thought it was over. However, in the Phillies dugout, the mindset was different. Ryan Howard told his teammates, “Get me to the plate boys.”
When Chase Utley worked a walk and brought the big fella to the plate, he made good on those words, smacking a majestic double that tied the score at 4-4. Then, when Jayson Werth fought off a couple of pitches to gently flair the ball into right center, Ryan rumbled around the bases to score the eventual winning run.
To make the comeback complete and show the world that the Phils are serious about being the defending World F#@%$&% Champions, Brad Lidge struck out Troy Tulowitzki with two men on to preserve the victory and the series win.
If last year’s version of Lidge is really back, and the Phillies keep hitting like this, the Dodgers will have their hands full.
Red October is back baby and if the Phillies keep it up it will be Red November as well.