The Flyers lost Game Two by the same score as they lost Game One, 4-2, but Sunday's contest was a completely different story in terms of effort. In Game One, the Flyers looked flat-footed and played most of the game back on their heels, while in Game Two they showed more of the effort and intensity that we have grown accustomed to seeing in this playoff run. The Flyers simply took too many penalties that allowed the Penguins to get their offense going and couldn't generate enough offense of their own.

The night started off terrible for the Flyers when Braydon Coburn took a puck to the nose and collapsed to the ice.

There were several questionable calls made by the refs throughout the game that went against both teams.

Click the link for much more on the game, including highlights.

The usually reliable bullpen came up short today for the Phillies, failing to protect a one run lead in the later innings. Adam Eaton started the game and had major control issues, walking 5 batters in 5 innings, but he managed to keep most of the damage off the scoreboard, holding the Giants to just two runs. With the Phillies up 3-2 in the sixth inning, the game was turned over to the bullpen that has been lights out all season. It wasn't the case tonight. Chad Durbin pitched a scoreless sixth but J.C. Romero, who entered the game with a 0.60 ERA, gave up a two-run home run to Giants rookie Steve Holm (who??). That was all the runs the Giants needed and they went on to win the game 4-3.

Click the link for more, including highlights of Ryan Howard's fourth career triple!

The Live Blog is back! After missing Game One, a tough loss for the Flyers, the Live Blog will be back on tonight at 7:15 for Game Two. Come and discuss the game as it happens with fellow Flyer fans as Philly looks to even up the series before heading home.

Click the link for the Live Blog.

If no one watched it, did the Phillies really lose? In a game that was blacked out across the country, the Phillies fell to the Giants 8-2. It was the first time since June 2006 that the Phillies game wasn't on, and it wasn't a bad game to have missed.

The Giants young ace Tim Lincecum shut down the Phillies lineup, going 8 innings and giving up only four hits. He did give up two runs on solo homers by Ryan Howard and Chris Coste, but other than that the Phillies never really challenged Lincecum, who also struck out 8 batters. The only other Phillie hits were singles by Greg Dobbs and Geoff Jenkins.

Jamie Moyer started the game for the Phillies and was out-dueled by a pitcher nearly half his age. Moyer went 4 innings and was shelled for 9 hits and 6 runs. The weak Giants lineup managed two home runs off Moyer, including one by former Phillie Aaron Rowand.

Besides Howard hitting a home run, there wasn't much to see here for Phillies fans. Howard also didn't strike out today, so maybe the game that no one saw ends up being the game that turns his season around.

Click the link for video highlights of the game you couldn't watch.

The Flyers simply don't like to win the first game of a series. For the third time in a row, the Flyers lost a Game One, this time in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-2. Philly had previously dropped the first games in the Captials and Canadiens series and we all know how those turned out, so there is no reason to think the season is over.

But, if the Flyers let the Penguins play the way they did yesterday, this series could be over quickly. The Penguins stars, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, both scored goals and flashed their speed and ability throughout the game. Malkin was easily the best player on the ice, finishing with two backbreaking goals, one with 7 seconds left in the first period to give the Penguins a lead and the other coming 5 minutes later while shorthanded. If Kimmo Timonen was able to play, his assignment would have been to shadow Malkin and try to slow him down. With the way Malkin played tonight there might not have been much he could have done.

Click the link for much more, including video highlights of the game.

The MVP is back! Jimmy Rollins made a successful return to the top of the Phillies lineup tonight against the San Francisco Giants. Rollins started off the game looking a little shaky in the field but finished off strong at the plate, going 3 for 5, including a 2 run homer in the 5th inning. Rollins cut the Giants early lead down from 3 runs to 1 run and gave the Phillies offense a spark when it was struggling to get anything going off Giants starter Pat Misch. The MVP later added another RBI in the 8th inning on a double and the Phillies went on to beat the Giants 7-4. It's great to have another big threat at the top of the lineup, the Phillies finally feel like a complete team again.

Cole Hamels looked dominant early on but the Giants eventually got to him, picking up 4 runs in the 7 innings he pitched. Hamels left the game with a 3 run lead and the bullpen locked things down from there. Tom Gordon got through the 8th despite struggling with his command and Brad Lidge mowed down the Giants in the 9th to pick up his ninth save of the season.

Click the link for more on the game....

With Kimmo Timonen likely out for the remainder of the playoffs, the Flyers have to face the reality of playing an offensive juggernaut like the Penguins without their best defensive player. In Timonen's absence, the Flyers have completely re-shuffled their defensive pairs. Derian Hatcher, who has played well recently, will move up to the top pairing with Braydon Coburn, causing every pairing to be altered. Jason Smith will now be paired with Randy Jones and Jaroslav Modry is back in the lineup in the third pairing with Lasse Kukkonen. On the powerplay, Randy Jones expects to get most of the time in Timonen's spot on the top grouping.

Completely changing all of your defensive pairings at this time of the year is usually not a good thing, but in this case it was necessary. There is no getting around the huge void that Timonen leaves on this team. He was the one player that was irreplaceable in an already thin defensive unit. If any one forward goes down, the Flyers have several options that can step right in, but there is no one with the all-around skill level of Timonen that can step into the back six.

Click the link for more.....

The Phillies were dominated by the best pitcher in baseball, Brandon Webb, in Thursday's 8-3 loss to the Diamondbacks. Webb pitched a complete game, giving up six hits, to improve his record to 8-0 on the season. The Phillies were shut down most of the way but managed to scrape out two runs in the ninth to make the game seem a little closer than it was.

There is no shame in getting stymied by a pitcher like Webb. He needed 104 pitches to complete the game, and although he only registered 4 strikeouts, he was in control the entire way. Webb is on pace for 37 wins this season, a ridiculous pace, but it is also ridiculous that he nearly has double digits wins at this point of the season.

The Phillies will get a boost on their road trip with the return of NL MVP Jimmy Rollins. Rollins will re-join the team in San Francisco on Friday, although the Phils are unsure as to when he will actually play. He needs to test out his ankle with the team trainers, but if everything checks out, we will see him thrust back to the top of the line-up ASAP. As Charlie Manuel so eloquently put it: "He's the MVP. He's the shortstop. He helps us, man." Well said, Charlie.

Click the link for much more on Jimmy Rollins' return and the Phillies upcoming series with the Giants....

The Flyers hopes to get past the Penguins and into the Stanley Cup Finals took a huge blow today when their best defenseman, Kimmo Timonen, was diagnosed with a blood clot in his ankle, effectively ending his season. Timonen's ankle felt sore ever since he was hit by a shot during the series with the Canadiens, so he went in for an exam today and the blood clot was discovered.

This is a big setback for the Flyers. Timonen and Braydon Coburn have done an excellent job neutralizing their oppositions best offensive players throughout the playoffs. It's the worst timing possible with the Flyers preparing to play a team with the offensive firepower that the Penguins feature. Expect more playing time for Randy Jones and Derian Hatcher and for Jaroslav Modry to get back on the ice after missing most of the last series.

Click the link for more.....

The Phillies made a move today to get another left handed reliever, acquiring Stephen Randolph from the Houston Astros for a player to be named later. The Phillies have been searching for a second southpaw to compliment J.C. Romero since the season began, but I am not sure Randolph is the answer. Randolph has been putting up good numbers for Houston's Triple A club in Round Rock, posting a 1.23 ERA, but he is 34 years old and has not been very successful at the major league level. Randolph has spent parts of three seasons with the Astros and Diamondbacks and has a career ERA of 5.52 in 109 major league appearances. My guess is that Randolph will be going to Lehigh Valley and will battle with Steve Kline, who has been a disappointment since he was signed in April, to be the second lefty in the bullpen down the road. This is a typical Pat Gillick move, acquiring a relatively unknown veteran player who could have a minor role with the club down the stretch.

The Phillies were out-hit 13 to 7 by the Diamondbacks but they were able to make their hits count in a 5-4 win in Arizona. Pedro Feliz hit a two-run shot in the 7th inning and Chase Utley drove in the game winning run on a single in the 8th inning. On the pitching side, Kyle Kendrick gave up 10 hits in six innings but managed to only give up 3 runs. The bullpen was the story again tonight with J.C. Romero, Tom Gordon and Brad Lidge combining for 2 2/3rds innings of shutout ball after Ryan Madsen allowed a run in the 7th. Lidge picked up his 8th save and has still yet to allow an earned run on the season in 16 innings of work.

Those of you worried about Ryan Howard won't like his line tonight: 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. He is now on pace for 231 strikeouts. Howard also made some boneheaded plays in the field, including a ball he dropped on a double play attempt. Maybe Howard needs a 15 day vacation to get his mind off baseball for a while. His confidence has to be shot right now.

There was a scary moment in tonight's game. In the 8th inning, Shane Victorino struck out and Arizona catcher Chris Snyder dropped the ball, so Victorino took off for first. Snyder made a throw that D-backs first baseman Conor Jackson had to lunge forward for, forcing him to collide head to head with Victorino. Jackson took the worst of the hit and had to leave the game while Victorino shook it off and continued playing.

Click the link to watch "highlights" of the collision.

The wait is killing me. After only a day between the first and second rounds of the playoffs, the Flyers will end up going a full six days between games when they finally start their series with the Penguins. The Pens will have also been off for five days, so neither team will be carrying much momentum with them into Game One. I understand why the NHL wants to wait until the weekend to start the series, but they are really ruining the flow of the playoffs. Flyers fans have been salivating about a match-up with the team that ducked them at the onset of the playoffs for almost a month now and they are ready to get it started. We are still two days away from the start of the series, but it's time to take a closer look at what we are going to see when they finally drop the puck on Friday.

Click the link for an in-depth analysis.

Eagles rookie DeSean Jackson has been selected for the cover of NCAA Football 09 for the Playstation 2. Apparently EA picked a different cover athlete for each version of the game. Darren McFadden will be on the cover of the XBox 360 version, Matt Ryan will be on the Playstation 3 box. It's an honor for Jackson for sure, but too bad he was chosen for the Playstation 2. No one plays that anymore!

The Phillies lost to the Diamondbacks 6-4 tonight thanks to a bad pitching performance by Adam Eaton. Eaton gave up six runs in four innings, but no run was worse than the one he gave up when he walked Randy Johnson on four straight pitches with the bases loaded in the fourth inning. Johnson's lifetime batting average: .167.

Click the link to watch the entire embarrassing sequence.

The best part of the clip is watching Charlie Manuel's disgusted reaction to Eaton's crappiness and then seeing D-backs manager Bob Melvin cracking a smile in the opposing dugout.

Former Phillie pitching prospect Gavin Floyd was always known as a guy full of potential and great stuff, but he was never able to put it all together on the mound. After suffering through a terrible 2006 season where he started 11 games for the Phillies and posted an ERA of 7.29, Floyd was shipped to the White Sox in the deal that brought Freddy Garcia to the Phils. Floyd looked like his usual terrible self for most of last season, but he looks like he may have finally harnessed his ability in 2008.

Floyd entered tonight's game against the Minnesota Twins with a 2-1 record and an ERA of 2.61 and proceeded to flash the potential we all waited for in Philadelphia. He pitched the best game of his career, no-hitting the Twins through 8 1/3 innings. He didn't exactly dominate the game as he walked three batters and even allowed a run in the 4th inning on a sacrifice fly, but he still looked quite impressive. Floyd left the game in the ninth inning after giving up his first hit of the game to Joe Mauer, but the White Sox held on to beat the Twins 7-1.

Gavin Floyd might be a guy the Phillies want back especially given the way Freddy Garcia's Phillies career went. Of course, he could just as easily slip back into the bad habits and mind-numbingly frustrating performances he displayed as a Phillie.