Brett Myers continued to make the most of his second chance, punishing the Nationals for his first complete-game shutout in four years. He's 3-1 with a 1.94 ERA since his minor league demotion. Credit the Phillies for making these next-day summaries easy. This one was all Myers, who threw 82 of 119 pitches for strikes, whirling a nasty deuce to the tune of nine strikeouts. This is the best Myers we've seen since he was closing games a year ago:... more...

Among followers of the Phillies farm system, many opinions have changed in the weeks following the 2008 draft. The club managed to sign an impressive 28 of their first 31 picks and 35 overall, paying above slot for several highly regarded players. [Link] When the Phillies beat the clock by signing 38th-round pick Jarred Cosart an hour before last Thursday's signing deadline, they rounded out an impressive, aggressive negotiation period with the players they selected in June's entry level draft.... more...

Third baseman Pedro Feliz returns from the 15-day disabled list tonight when the two sides square off at 7:05 ET. To make room, left-hander Les Walrond was designated for assignment. Feliz, who has been sidelined with lower back inflammation since July 29, is not in tonight's starting lineup; Greg Dobbs gets the start instead. Feliz is hitting .256/.304/.424 with 12 home runs, his best numbers coming off left-handed pitching. Walrond departs to the tune of a 7.11 ERA in 6... more...

Jayson Werth's tiebreaking home run lifted the Phillies over the Nationals 5-4 on a night when half of Citizens Bank Park showed Jimmy Rollins that carrying last year's playoff team on his back can't buy their affection. Werth smoked a hanging Steven Shell curveball into left-center for his 17th homer of the season, a new career-best. Werth's shot completed a modest comeback, crawling back from a 4-1 fifth-inning deficit following another shaky start from Joe Blanton (5 IP, 8 H,... more...

Joe Blanton (1-0, 4.00) goes for his second win as a Phillie when his new club returns to Citizens Bank Park to face Jason Bergmann (2-9, 4.51) and the Nationals. First pitch is 7:05 ET. The Phils trail the Mets by 1.5 games in the standings, while the 44-81 Nationals have lost 10-straight games. Lineups are posted: Jayson Werth starts in right field and bats second. Shane Victorino slides to the sixth spot, followed by Greg Dobbs and Chris Coste. more...

Should we boo? Cheer? Here's what we do: Hope for a lead-off homer in the home half of the first to neuter the groundswell of displaced frustration being dumped on Jimmy Rollins. "They're front-runners." There it is, gusting along like a storm cloud, gaining strength by accumulating a week's worth of hype. But tonight, baseball gets in a way of a good story. The first pitch will be thrown and it will blow all that garbage out toward the ocean,... more...

David Ross, 31, was hitting .231/.381/.366 with three homers in 173 plate appearances before he was released by the Reds. He's played parts of seven seasons with four clubs and has been with Cincinnati for the last three. Beerleaguer: The Phillies have a history of adding cheap catching depth after the non-waiver trade deadline. Remember they added Pete LaForest, a quad-A journeyman, at the end of last season. Although he wields a garden-variety bat for a backup, it would still... more...

Third baseman Pedro Feliz has been on the disabled list since July 29 and is hoping to be activated Wednesday. Feliz was hitting .256/.304/.424 with 12 HR before going on the DL with lower back inflammation, an injury he had been suffering through for weeks. Feliz took the field for Single-A Clearwater yesterday and went 0-for-3 with a walk. Reading hosts Trenton beginning at 7:05 ET tonight. Beerleaguer: In the last three seasons, the Phillies overcame a fire sale and... more...

Cole Hamels was as good as ever, picking up his first win since July 3 by holding the Padres to one run on seven hits in last night's 2-1 victory in San Diego. This is an easy summary. Pitching was the obvious story for the Phils this weekend, two-thirds good, the other third not so good. Hamels and Jamie Moyer, who pitched Friday night's shutout, threw gems, but credit also goes to closer Brad Lidge, who earned a pair of... more...

We're opening the board today to discuss last night's game and tonight's 8 p.m. showdown on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Around 10 p.m., be sure to flip on ESPN2 to see where I'll be spending the day. Tonight, Cole Hamels (9-8, 3.32) takes the mound in his home town seeking his first win since July 3 when the Phillies and Padres conclude their series in San Diego. Right-hander Cha Seung Baek (4-6, 5.12) skins it for the Padres. more...

Kyle Kendrick (10-6, 4.74) tries to rebound from one of the worst starts of his career when the Phillies try to mount an attack against San Diego's Chad Reineke, who's making his Major League debut. First pitch is 10:05. Meanwhile, reliever Rudy Seanez has returned from the 15-day disabled list. To make room, Mike Cervenak was optioned back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Lineups have been posted: Charlie Manuel shuffles the deck against the right-hander, with a 6-7-8 that goes Shane... more...

Jamie Moyer outdueled Greg Maddux to collect his team-leading 11th victory of the season, blanking the Padres over seven, three-hit innings in the Phillies' 1-0 win over San Diego. After an awful series in LA, the Phils finally gave us a chance to decompress, discuss a win and appreciate how good the starting pitching's been. Moyer, who's carried the team as much as anyone, ran his streak to 13 straight starts with three earned runs or less. Aside from Pat... more...

Hoping to snap a four-game skid out West, the Phillies visit the brutal 47-74 Padres for the first of three at Petco Park. Jamie Moyer (10-7, 3.81) and Greg Maddux (6-8, 4.12) have the ball at 10:05 ET. Best of the press notes: Things have gotten so bad that even the Phillies' pre-game press notes have taken on a somber tone by acknowledging the team's two-month-long offensive slump. According to the notes, in their last eight games, the Phils are... more...

It's hardly worth the effort to launch Typepad and bang out a blog. The great start by Brett Myers went to waste, of course. Bad swings outnumbered base hits 25-to-1 against Hiroki Kuroda, and the only thing I can say echos what I wrote last night. The worst thing the Phils can do is sit back and do nothing. It's past the point where it's just a slump. It's a defective, desperate offense, and it's reached the point where the... more...

Brett Myers (5-9, 5.09) and Hiroki Kuroda (6-8, 4.02) toe the rubber when the Phillies and Dodgers finish their four-game set at Chavez Ravine. Lineups are posted. Shane Victorino is scratched for the second straight game. Following his 2-for-5 night with a two-run homer, Greg Dobbs sits against the right-hander. Eric Bruntlett, who has three hits in August, backs up Myers on the left side. Chris Coste does the catching. Kuroda is coming off two terrific starts and makes his... more...