Results tagged “washingtonnationals”

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What's new and/or interesting on TV this week.

What long, strange game it was at RFK last night. What matters most is the results: after 14 innings, the Phillies topped the Washington Nationals, 8-7 in 14 innings.

Another not so hot night for the Phils. They failed to capitalize on those little things called “base runners,” and fell to the Washington Nationals, 4-3.

It was like a tennis match: Astros up, Phillies up, Astros up, Phillies up. But when the innings ran out, the Astros held onto the lead to beat the Phils, 5-4, dropping the Phils into a first place tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As we feared would happen, Philadelphia-based Comcast's proposed merger with Adelphia Communications won approval Thursday from the Federal Communications Commission without forcing Comcast to make CN8 and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia channels available to customers of satellite TV and non-Comcast cable systems.

by Jonathan Tannenwald

The Philadelphia Phillies entered their weekend series needing a sweep of the Washington Nationals to keep hope alive in their Wild Card chase. They got their sweep, but unfortunately, they needed something else: the Cubs to take three of four from the Houston Astros in Texas. While the Cubs were able to take the first two games from the Astros, they dropped the last two games, sending the Phillies home for the winter.

The Philadelphia Phillies will start their final series of the regular series tonight when Corey Lidle takes the mound against the Washington Nationals. The Phillies must sweep the series if they have any hope of making the playoffs. Even if they do that, the Phillies need some help: the Astros have three games remaining at home against the Cubs. If the Phils sweep, the Astros need to lose two of their next three in order for the Phillies to tie. The Astros lost to the Cubs last night, 3-2, pulling the Phillies to within 2 games of the Wild Card leaders.

The Philadelphia Phillies lost to the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park last night, 3 - 2. While the Phillies are not mathematically eliminated from the playoff hunt, their chances are now very slim. They sit 2.5 games back of the Wild Card leading Houston Astros, who beat the St. Louis Cardinals last night, 3 - 1.

The Houston Astros lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates last night, 7 - 0 at PNC Park. No no, this isn't suddenly Pittsburghist. We're interested in this game because the Astros were sitting a game and a half ahead of the Phillies heading into last night's action. After the loss, the Astros find themselves only one game ahead of the Phillies, sure to make the eventual Phillies collapse that much more heartbreaking.

Much maligned Phillies third baseman has been able to stave off the critics a bit this week. The other night, Bell's two-RBI single helped the Phillies to a much-needed win over the Mets. Last night, Bell stepped up with the bases loaded and two out and hit a grand slam, launching the Phils to a 7-1 win over the Washington Nationals. The win left the Phillies four games behind the NL East leading Atlanta Braves. The Phillies sit one-half game over the Houston Astros in the National League Wild Card chase.

While the Phillies were busy losing game two of a day-night doubleheader to the Washington Nationals, Michael Marcavage, the face of Repent America, was busy pissing off fans in the 300 level of Citizens Bank Park. Marcavage was on-hand to protest Gay Day, the third annual night for gays to celebrate in groups at a Phillies game. The game has always been a center of controversy, including when the homophobic Todd Jones made his debut as a Phillie the day after making homophobic remarks in the Phils' locker room.

Sometimes there is a dramatic difference between a first and a last place team - just look what happened when the Phillies played the Red Sox. Other times, there are subtle differences that differentiate the two. Last night’s game was a perfect illustration of the latter. The game was not a blowout, but the Washington Nationals displayed the well-tuned playing style that keeps them in first place. The Phils showed the sloppy playing style that holds them in last. The Phils’ usually-competent rookie starter Robinson Tejeda had a very rough outing. He lasted only 3 1/3 innings and gave up 5 earned runs. This was clearly his worst start as a major leaguer. It seemed that Washington knew exactly how to play him: they saw that he was getting frustrated and just kept taking pitches, forcing Tejeda to get behind in the count. The thing that lost this game for the Phils was a series of small mistakes that stacked into a mountain. Their catching deficiencies were once again obvious as they blew a play-at-the-plate – a mistake they make routinely – that cost them a run, a run that would be the difference in the ballgame. In addition to player errors, there were also management mistakes that cost them big. For example, the Phillies waved Pat Burrell around third toward home plate where he would get gunned down by a perfect throw. Everyone knows that Burrell is not a fast runner, yet they sent him anyway. The Phils also got David Bell caught in a run down between third and home when they used the contact play - the contact play is when the runners are told to run as soon as the bat makes contact with the ball, regardless of where the ball goes; it's usually used in 2-out situations - on an infield grounder. Washington, on the other hand, did what they do best: close games. They brought out their all-start closer Chad Cordero and shut the Phillies down. There was a brief moment in the ninth when it looked like Ryan Howard had hit the game-tying homer, but it was caught at the fence by Brad Wilkerson. Howard (and just about everyone watching) thought that the ball was going to leave the park. Wilkerson later joked, "Probably in our ballpark it would have been 20 or 30 feet short," which is a jab at Philadelphia's hitters paradise, Citizens Bank Park. On a side note, relief pitcher Geoff Geary fouled a ball off home plate that bounced up and struck him in the eye. Geary left the game and was taken to Wills’ Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. We will try to get a follow-up on Geary’s condition. The Phillies should look at the Nationals as a model of what they could be (or even be better than) if they tuned their game. If any of the Phils’ aforementioned mistakes were avoided, they could have won this game. Instead, the errors – mostly the management errors - grew into a large handicap that cost Philadelphia this game. Can we please have a new manger now?

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