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      Phillies take Game 1 vs. Rockies thanks to Lee’s gem

      October 7, 2009 /

      Phillies’ starter Cliff Lee went the distance on Wednesday in Game 1 of Philadelphia’s 5-1 victory over the Rockies in the NLDS. Lee had a shutout heading into the ninth, but Troy Tulowitzki broke it up with a two-out double to score Colorado’s lone run.

      Lee, making his postseason debut, allowed six hits in going the distance. He retired 16 consecutive batters until Garrett Atkins hit a two-out double in the seventh inning. He even became the first pitcher in Phillies history to steal a base in the postseason when he stole second base in the third inning.

      Rockies right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez cruised through four innings before he struggled with his command.

      Jimenez walked Jayson Werth to lead off the fifth inning. Raul Ibanez then ripped a 3-1 changeup into the right-field corner to score Werth to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Pedro Feliz’s fielder’s choice advanced Raul Ibanez to third, and Carlos Ruiz worked an eight-pitch at-bat, hitting a 3-2 slider for a single to give the Phils a 2-0 lead.

      Jimenez finally got out of the inning, but not until he threw 35 pitches.

      After getting to just one three-ball count in the first four innings, Jimenez had four in the fifth.

      Jimenez’s problems continued in the sixth as he allowed a single to Utley, a double to Ryan Howard and a triple to Werth to give the Phillies a 4-0 lead. Rockies manager Jim Tracy pulled Jimenez for left-hander Joe Beimel to face Ibanez, who singled to right to score Werth to make it 5-0.

      What a great addition the Phillies made at the trade deadline by acquiring Lee. He struggled a bit heading into the postseason, but he was incredible today. He has been well worth the compensation that Philadelphia had to part with to acquire him from Cleveland.

      Out of all the postseason teams, only the Twins had a worse road record (38-43) than the Rockies (41-40). So it’s no surprise to see Colorado struggle in Philadelphia to start this series.

      It’ll be interesting to see how Cole Hamels fairs tomorrow after posting a lackluster regular season in which he finished 10-11 with a 4.32 ERA. In his final outing before the playoffs, he lasted just three innings, giving up three runs and walking two in a loss. The Phillies need their former ace to give them a 2-0 advantage before this series shifts to Colorado on Saturday, where the Rockies have been practically lights out.

      MLB

      Phil Simms chats with The Scores Report

      October 7, 2009 /

      Here’s what many sports fans know about Phil Simms: He’s a Super Bowl winner, a Super Bowl MVP and now is a lead analyst for CBS’ sports team.

      But what sports fans might not know about Phil is that he’s also one hell of an interview.

      We were fortunate enough to chat with Phil recently about a host of topics, which included his work with the FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Week program, which starts every Tuesday morning throughout the NFL season and allows fans to vote for one player in each category through NFL.com/FedEX. FedEx will donate $1,000 to a local Safe Kids coalition in the name of each FedEx Air and FedEx Ground Player of the Week voted on by fans, so it’s definitely a worthy cause.

      We also couldn’t let Phil get off the phone without talking some football, which he was more than happy to do. He gave us his opinion on Brett Favre’s comeback, whether or not he would have played for a rival team (a la Favre) and what young quarterback (Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez or Matthew Stafford) he would choose to start for him if he were a GM and head coach. His answer may surprise you.

      The Scores Report: Hi, this is Anthony.

      Phil Simms: Hey Anthony, this is Phil Simms.

      TSR: Hey Phil, how are you?

      PS: Good, bud.

      TSR: Good, I appreciate your sitting down and talking with me today.

      PS: Don’t be silly – thank you.

      TSR: Talk to me about the FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Week program that you guys are doing.

      PS: Well, I’ve been doing it for three years myself – six years for FedEx – and it’s about the fans voting for their favorite air and ground players each week. The nominees for this week are pretty easy: Brett Favre, David Garrard and Peyton Manning through the air, and Ronnie Brown, Matt Forte and Rashard Mendenhall on the ground. And what fans do is they go to NFL.com/FedEx, they vote, and those votes determine the winners. The two winners get $1,000 donated by FedEx to local Safe Kid coalition in their name and it goes for pedestrian safety, so it’s a great program and I’m really happy to be a part of it.

      TSR: How did you get involved in something like this, Phil?

      PS: Well, the people from FedEx came to me and asked me if I’d do it. And I had done a few things around schools with bike safety and pedestrian safety and it worked out well. So like I said, I’m real happy to be a part of it and it’s for a very good cause.

      Continue reading »

      Interviews, NFL

      Report: Braylon Edwards didn’t throw punch

      October 7, 2009 /

      The Newark Star-Ledger reports that Braylon Edwards wasn’t the person who threw the punch at Cleveland nightclub promoter Edward Givens in an incident that occurred early Monday morning.

      Edwards appeared to reach a breaking point under the first-year Browns coach Eric Mangini. He has been fined several times by Mangini and is one of several players to have filed a grievance with the league over the fines handed down to players, according to someone with knowledge of the situation but who is not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.

      Also, there’s speculation that Edwards is the player who was fined $1,701 for drinking a bottle of water in his hotel room without paying for it.

      As for the incident on Sunday, a member of Edwards’ entourage — not him — threw the punch, according to someone with knowledge of the situation but who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the incident.

      Okay, so who’s lying then? Givens said it was Edwards that specifically punched him. So unless it was a scrum and multiple punches were being thrown (which doesn’t sound like it was the case), then it would have been easy for Givens to single out Edwards as the puncher.

      That means either someone is covering up for Edwards or Givens is lying for whatever reason. (Maybe to make Edwards look bad since he’s a friend of LeBron?)

      Where are the Hardy Boys? We need a mystery solved…

      NFL

      Fantasy Quick-Hitters: Westy, Eli, Braylon and more

      October 7, 2009 /

      Westbrook and McNabb to play. It looks like LeSean McCoy will eat into Westy’s touches, but he’s still a very good start against the Bucs’ sketchy defense. This should also be an upgrade for DeSean Jackson and even David Akers, who should see more opportunities now that McNabb is back under center.

      Eli Manning sits out of practice. He’s looking like a game-time decision for Sunday. The good news is that he can’t make his foot worse by playing on it — it’s all about what kind of tolerance he has for the pain. I’d expect Manning to continue with the great season he’s having since mobility isn’t one of his strengths in the first place.

      Giants want to involve Hakeem Nicks. On three targets, Nicks caught one pass for 54 yards and a TD in Week 4, while Mario Manningham went 1-43 on eight targets. Manningham is currently getting the lion’s share of looks, but he didn’t convert very well on Sunday. His conversion rate is now down to 56%, which is just mediocre. Nicks’ rate (43%) is even worse, but the Giants still want to get him involved in the offense. The only safe start for the Giants right now is Steve Smith.

      Roy Williams (ribs) did not participate in practice on Wednesday. This an upgrade for the rest of the Cowboys’ receiving corps, and now Patrick Crayton looks like a decent start in most leagues while Sam Hurd becomes a sleeper with Williams sidelined. This hurts Tony Romo since he’ll have one fewer weapon to utilize, but he shouldn’t have trouble posting a nice fantasy line against the Chiefs. Keep an eye on Williams this week.

      Braylon Edwards to start Monday night. You’d think they’d bring him around slowly, but the Jets don’t have a lot of options at WR now that Chansi Stuckey is gone. They’re going to take their new toy out for a spin. Will Braylon suddenly discover where his hands have been hiding the last year and a half? Only time will tell.

      Fantasy Football, News

      Defensive Team By Waiver Wire (DTBWW): Week 5

      October 7, 2009 /

      The strategy behind DTBWW is that each week, you pick up a defense, preferably one playing at home against a bad offense. And each week, you get pretty good numbers out of your DT position. To see how this approach performed last season, click here.

      Last week, I recommended three DTBWW picks. Let’s see how they fared…

      #1 49ers: 0 PA (10) + 5 SK + 1 INT + 3 RET TD + 1 FR = 36 fantasy points
      #2 Bengals: 2 SK + 1 INT + 1 FR + 1 RET TD = 10 fp
      #3 Bills: 6 SK = 6 fp

      Clearly, the 49ers were an awesome pick and they no doubt won a ton of games for fantasy owners this week, whether or not they were following DTBWW. The Bengals didn’t do quite as well from a sack/turnover aspect as I thought they would, but they did have a return TD, so that made for a good day. I didn’t mention it last week, but Indianapolis was an attractive pick too, but it looked like Dwight Freeney was going to be out, so I didn’t pick the Colts over the Bills.

      Through three weeks, pick #1 has generated 14.3 fp, pick #2 has averaged 9.0 fp and pick #3 has scored 11.0 fp on average. On the whole, DTBWW has averaged 11.4 fantasy points per game. Those are DT4-type numbers.

      Let’s take a look at this week’s picks. Keep in mind that to be eligible for DTBWW, a defense must be available in at least 40% of ESPN fantasy leagues.

      Pick #1: San Francisco 49ers (vs. ATL)
      They’re the top defense in the league and they’re available in 70% of ESPN leagues. The Falcons are just a mediocre matchup for SF, but the 49ers are playing really good defense right now and they’re at home this week. If you picked them up last week, stick with them.

      Pick #2: Buffalo Bills (vs. CLE)
      The Bills were embarrassed against Miami, allowing 38 points and a ton of rushing yards. If this game were in Cleveland, I may not take the Bills here, but they always play pretty tough in Buffalo.

      Pick #3: Dallas Cowboys (@ KC)
      After a pair of goose eggs to start the season, the Cowboys have bounced back with solid efforts the last two weeks, posting 21 fantasy points against the Panthers and nine against the Broncos last week. In Week 5, they face the Chiefs, who can’t run the ball and don’t have that many options in the passing game.

      Bonus pick: Miami (vs. NYJ)

      Fantasy Football

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