Philadelphia

Football Match just over at Saputo Stadium – Major League Soccer Home Team – Montreal Impact   Goals & Scorers – 90′: Blake Smith;74′: Andrew Wenger;32′: Marco Di Vaio;28′: Marco Di Vaio;2′: Marco Di Vaio;  Keeper – Troy Perkins  Midfield – Justin Mapp; Andres Romero; Patrice Bernier; Felipe Martins;  Forwards – Andrew Wenger; Marco Di [...]

Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Pedro Alvarez has now homered eight times in 2013. El Toro’s 2013 homerun tracker. APR 18: Pedro Alvarez crushed a no doubter off Julio Teheran that finally landed yesterday. Video of the estimated 454 foot no doubter. APR 19: Pedro Alvarez hit his second no doubter of the season off Atlanta’s Tim Hudson. It was a towering shot that reached 125 feet at its apex and traveled 405 feet. Video Link Pedro Alvarez second homer of the 2013 Season. The GIF A Pedro Alvarez home run is so damn unique. Power is what defines Alvarez. The first round pick out of Vanderbilt has a knack for cracking the bat with such power that it reminds us of some Pirates sluggers past. It’s a gift. This powerful gift is why he is so unique to the Pirates lineup. Nobody wearing black and yellow has the ability to change the game so quickly. A few Buccos players have power, but none have Pedro Power. Just as no two snowflakes are alike, nobody is like Pedro. That’s a rather basic statement – one we learn in grade school – but just like our grade school teacher told us, nobody controls that potential except Pedro. It’s why there was only one Willie Stargell, one Dave Parker, –and why there will be only one Pedro Alvarez. We got some great help with the GIFs which were created by Davidson Teacher. [Follow him on Twitter by clicking that link.] Here is the bigger GIF of the second homer. Pedro Alvarez GIF APR 22: Pedro Alvarez crushed an 83 mph softie from rookie Jonathan Pettibone 406 feet at Philadelphia. The laser shot had an average speed off the bat of 107mph. Here is the Video Link Pedro Alvarez homers in Philly, gone in 1.5 seconds APR 24 : Alvarez hit a solo homer off Antonio Bastardo in the seventh inning and his RBI single in the fourth was the only hit off Roy Halladay all night. Video MAY1: The towering shot, 118 feet at its’ apex, tied the game at one in the second inning. It came off an 82 mile per hour Hiram Burgos delivery and traveled 412 feet coming off the bat at 102.5 mph. Video More details on the ESPN tracker. MAY 9: Alvarez crushed Latroy Hawkins changeup to tie the game against the New York Mets at Citi Field. The 433 foot bomb was smoked off the bat at a season best 108.7 mph. Video MAY 17 A little over a week after his last bomb, Alvarez connected on a two-run blast that bounced into the river. It tied the game with Houston at four and the Bucs came back to walk off the Astros in the bottom of the ninth. Pedro Alvarez hit number seven of the season a long way. Video Here is the landing spot of Pedro’s seventh bomb. MAY 19 Do you notice a pattern yet? For the third time in 2013, Alvarez has hit a bomb in back-to-back games. Pedro Alvarez hit his eighth homer of the season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Another key situation, another Pedro Alvarez home run. The Bucs and Astros were locked in a scoreless tie at PNC Park. Obviously, the key words in that sentence are ‘were locked.’ A laser of the bat of Alvarez tucked inside the left-field foul pole for the 58th homer of his career. Video Alvarez is now in fifth-place all time among Pirates third basemen. MAY 25 Alvarez had his seventh career multi-hit home run day.  It was his third against the Brewers.  Both home runs were well, ridiculous. The first was a rocket.  Just an absolute rocket.  Video 459 feet.  Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!  Partiers in Milwaukee might want to walk carefully tonight, we aren’t sure this has landed yet.  Video Pedro Alvarez homerun number 10 on the season at Miller Park

Montreal Impact ( 5 – 3 ) Philadelphia Union , United States of America on The 26th of May, 2013 at two Podcast:

WR Damaris Johnson could be more involved in the return game and in Chip Kelly’s space-oriented offense in 2013 I picked a relatively good week to miss, but I am still behind on Eagles news. Here’s my take on what happened these past few days: Ron Jaworski concluded that Chip Kelly’s offense will not translate to the NFL after intensive tape study. Plenty of knowledgeable analysts would disagree with him and nobody knows exactly how similar the Eagles’ offense will look to Oregon’s. Top-notch defenses like Stanford and LSU gave Chip Kelly’s offenses immense trouble, though, and Kelly will have to win without a distinct talent advantage at the pro level. The Eagles offense is a complete wild card at this point, and we will only know whether or not it works once the season starts. WR Damaris Johnson stated that he is running as the first-team kick returner. Brandon Boykin was nothing special in 2012, and Johnson was an electric returner in college and took a punt to the house as a rookie. He could carve out a nice niche as a return specialist and gadget player on offense. TE coach Ted Williams envisions rookie Zach Ertz as an in-line blocker as opposed to a slot receiver/James Casey-type. Together, they are focusing on Ertz’ blocking skills. This is an indication that Ertz will eventually replace Celek, perhaps before the end of the 2013 season. Right now, though, Celek remains the far superior blocker. While defensive coordinator Billy Davis insists that Trent Cole and Brandon Graham are transitioning to the OLB position seamlessly, the Philadelphia Inquirer calls Cole “a fish out of water.” While Davis certainly isn’t a reliable source and would never throw his own players under the bus, it’s tough to tell how Cole and Graham will adjust to their new roles before the pads even go on. TE James Casey underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and will be out until training camp. Add him to the increasingly long list of Eagles with potential injury concerns heading into the season. Don’t expect the surgery to become a major concern, but practice time is valuable in a new system. Casey will be the team’s starting “move” tight end and could catch upwards of 50 passes if he stays healthy. On Monday, Nick Foles took more first team reps than Michael Vick. Vick is the most talented quarterback on the roster and the best fit for the scheme, but Chip Kelly does appear to be giving Foles a fair shot at winning the job. The odds for the week 1 starting QB are still heavily stacked in Vick’s favor. CSN Philly pegs DE Damion Square as the likeliest rookie free agent to make the team. The Eagles need more talent along the defensive line, but Square must beat out the likes of Vinny Curry, Clifton Geathers, and Antonio Dixon for a roster spot. Square is undersized and a mediocre athlete, but is regarded as an excellent technician and productive interior pass rusher. ILB Jake Knott, C Kyle Quinn, and P Brad Wing are all better bets to make the team, although Square has a legitimate shot at the final 53 as well. Cedric Thornton is the team’s projected starter at DE across from Fletcher Cox. An undrafted free agent in 2011, Thornton took his game to a new level as a second-year player and has starter potential. He has a great frame for the 5-technique position (6’4″, 309) and is continuing to improve as a player. He still has a ways to go, but fans should be excited about Thornton’s development. C Jason Kelce still isn’t 100 percent. He wasn’t expected to return until training camp, so fans shouldn’t be too worried. However, he remains a question mark until he is able to suit up, and the Eagles don’t have very appealing options should he be unavailable into the regular season.

Thanks once again to tipster all-timer @ChickPhilA, who is in Ocean City this weekend and saw these ugly-ass caps on the boardwalk. I might be able to get away with this one if I was Jimmy Buffett and going on stage somewhere in the area but I don’t even think Shane Victorino would wear this monstrosity. Okay, maybe it’s kind of cool but I think if I’m going to wear it once for a laugh someone else is going to have to buy it. This looks like Jeff Loria designed it. If I had Jeff Loria money I wouldn’t buy this.

We have posted another round of results from our in-progress 2013 fantasy football dynasty mock draft. Here are the results from Round 8: 8.01 - Dan Yanotchko (Team 3): Daryl Richardson, RB, St. Louis Rams Of the Rams running backs, I would prefer Pead and/or Stacy over Richardson. Pead was already off the board in this mock, but Stacy is still available. Richardson averaged 4.8 yards per carry on the season, but he had only 24 rushing yards on 16 carries in five games in the month of December. Going forward, I would expect him to be used mostly as a change-of-pace back. 8.02 - Kevin Hanson (Team 3): Vernon Davis, TE, San Francisco 49ers Davis had a relatively mediocre regular season sandwiched by a pair of spectacular postseasons. In other words, Davis was as productive in five playoff games over the past two years (546 yards and five touchdowns) as he was in 16 regular-season games last year (548 yards and five touchdowns). With Michael Crabtree expected to be sidelined at least for half of the season with a torn Achilles injury, however, Davis should be a more consistently-targeted player through the regular season. 8.03 - Brendan Donahue (Team 3): Johnathan Franklin, RB, Green Bay Packers Unfortunately for Franklin (and Eddie Lacy as well), the presence of both talented backs reduces the short-term fantasy value of the other. Taking a longer-term perspective, some/many feel that Franklin is a better value than Lacy. Although he's not as big of a back as Lacy, Franklin has the ability to do it all including running in between the tackles. As a senior, he set the Bruins' single-season rushing record with 1,734 yards, caught 33 passes for 323 yards and scored a total of 15 touchdowns. 8.04 - Sean Beazley (Team 3): Justin Hunter, WR, Tennessee Titans While he has plenty of upside, Hunter needs to improve his focus (reduce his drops). The lanky receiver (6-foot-4 with 33 1/4-inch arms) is an explosive athlete (4.44 forty, 39.5-inch vertical, 11-4 broad jump). Hunter may not have a huge impact with the Titans as a rookie, but Kenny Britt is in the final year of his rookie contract and there is a strong possibility that the talented-but-troubled receiver won't be back after 2013. In addition to the presence of Kendall Wright, Britt and Nate Washington, the inaccuracy of the team's starting quarterback limits Hunter rookie-season upside. [Related: See which quarterback I've mocked to the Titans in my 2014 NFL Mock Draft.] 8.05 - Sean Beazley (Team 2): Reggie Wayne, WR, Indianapolis Colts While he is nearing the end of his career as a 34-year-old receiver, Wayne had a bounce-back season playing with rookie quarterback Andrew Luck, the No. 1 overall pick in 2012. He finished with 106 receptions and 1,355 yards, both of which were the second-most of his career, and five touchdowns. Including Wayne, only four players have ever finished with 1,300-plus receiving yards at age 34 or older. Both Terrell Owens and ex-teammate Marvin Harrison reached that mark at 34 years old and Irving Fryar was the only to do that when he was older than 34. 8.06 - Kevin Hanson (Team 2): Tony Romo, QB, Dallas Cowboys Perhaps I could have waited even longer to select my quarterback, and I certainly recommend waiting on a quarterback in any format (re-draft or dynasty), Romo has the ability and weapons on the roster to exceed his draft slot here as the 11th quarterback off the board. Throwing for a career-high 4,903 yards, the third-most in the NFL last year, Romo finished eighth among quarterbacks in fantasy points last season. Over the past six seasons, Romo has a 16-game average of 4,402 yards and 30 touchdowns. 8.07 - Brendan Donahue (Team 2): Jeremy Maclin, WR, Philadelphia Eagles Despite being a good route-runner with excellent speed, Maclin has failed to live up to expectations since being drafted in the middle of the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. In four seasons with the Eagles, Maclin has yet to exceed 70 recept

Philadelphia Phillies (23-25) at Washington Nationals (25-23) Jonathan Pettibone (3-0, 3.00) vs. Dan Haren (4-5, 5.54) TIME: 7:15, Nationals Park TV: FOX Weather: 50′s, partly cloudy Media: Twitter and Facebook The season of ups and downs continues.  The Phillies have been playing their best baseball of the year as of late, but they dropped last night’s game to the Washington Nationals.  The Phillies have yet to build a significant winning streak, but it would be great to start one this Memorial Day weekend. Jonathan Pettibone will attempt to put the Phillies back into the win column.  Since being called up, Pettibone has done better than the Phillies could have asked.  He’s been consistent and has yet to toss a bad outing.  In each of his six starts, Pettibone has had a quality start or better.  He will look to continue his success tonight in D.C. Dan Haren has a pretty good resume, but he has struggled thus far this season.  He has yet to earn the $13 million that he will make in 2013, as his ERA is well over five.  He is coming off his worst start of the season, in which  he allowed seven runs to the always weak-hitting San Diego Padres. Lineup: Your Gameday Beer: Victory Hop Devil Ale, suggested by Gary J. via Facebook GO PHILLIES!

Kevin Gausman throws his first major league pitch against the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre Thursday. Photo: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports Most of the faithful have established that Kevin Gausman‘s first Major League start was decent as far as it went Thursday, and a learning experience, which almost went without saying. One thing he may have learned was that when he gets in trouble, throwing his fastball harder is not the way out. It straightens out when it’s faster, and the hitter can eventually catch up to it. Hitting 99, while impressive, isn’t the be-all and end-all of pitching. He changed speeds effectively through the Toronto lineup the first time through, but the 4th and 5th innings gave him trouble, and the bullpen caved from there in a 12-6 loss. The Baltimore Orioles will give him more starts, beginning with, we presume, his next turn on Tuesday, and of course there is no way of knowing how they will work out, or how long he’ll stay with the team. Speaking of things that go without saying, if he improves, he will help solidify the rotation. Friday night, the pitching left the spotlight and the hitting seized it. It was hard to decide on a star of the show, with Manny Machado going 3 for 6 and turning in four or five gorgeous defensive plays, and Chris Davis going 3 for 4 including his major league-leading, 16th home run. He was hitting .337 and slugging .723 coming into today’s game. The 10-6 victory had a funny way of never seeming safe, as the Jays inched closer even while the Orioles added a 9th, and even a 10th run to their output. Chris Tillman gave up 10 hits and 3 runs in only 5 innings, and Brian Matusz followed by giving up 2 runs in only 2/3 of an inning of work. Then the recently reliable, and still reasonably so, Tommy Hunter gave up a homer and three other hits in his 2 2/3 inning stint. But Darren O’Day shut the door in the 9th inning. While most of Baltimore marveled at the wizardry of Machado and the power display of Davis, the Orioles braced for whatever would happen against the knuckleballing R.A. Dickey today. Machado joined Ty Cobb as the only players in history to have three hits in each of five consecutive road games before the age of 20, but he had his work cut out for him against the knuckler. Dickey and the Toronto bullpen held him hitless and kept Davis in the park. But J.J. Hardy, hitting third, singled in two first-inning runs and doubled later. Hardy is hitting .312 with 16 RBI in his last 19 games. Danny Valencia took advantage of one of his occasional starts by coming through with a 2-run homer, and Adam Jones added his third homer of the series and 9th of the year. This one may have been Jones’ hardest hit ball of the season, a bullet off the facade of the third deck at Rogers Centre. It knocked Dickey out of the game in the 7th inning.But Steve Johnson, called up to replace Pedro Strop on the roster late Friday night, relieved Freddy Garcia in the 7th, and Darren O’Day replaced Johnson in the 8th, and the result was another uneasy feeling. The Jays closed a 6-3 Oriole lead to 6-5 in the 8th, but Jim Johnson got his 15th save with a 1-2-3 ninth. Strop was put on the DL with a lower back strain, but he had been ineffective (if one is generous, or rocked, to use another word) in several recent appearances. He gave up a grand slam in the 6th inning of Thursday’s loss. Steve Johnson went through one of the most adventurous trips to Toronto any promoted minor leaguer ever had. The Orioles called him after midnight Friday night to let him know they were bringing him up, according to MASN commentator Dave Johnson, his father and a former Orioles pitcher. They called once to say they might, once to say they were not, and a third time to confirm they were doing it. They sent a car to Allentown, Pa., where Norfolk was playing the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, to pick him up about 2:30 a.m. and drive him to Philadelphia. From the

An NBA Draft hasn't lacked a consensus number one pick since 2008, kind of, when Chicago had to choose between Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley. Tom Ziller has a nice piece on the carousel of potential top picks in the 2013 NBA Draft. But you guys clickity-clicked Nerlens Noel to the head of the class in the first wave of voting, with Ben McLemore finishing a pretty distant second. All the other guys had support as well, so in addition to McLemore, there's a sizable contingent for Otto Porter, Victor Oladipo, and Anthony Bennett to somehow finagle their way onto the Sixers next season. Heard some cries for Alex Len and Trey Burke as well, so we'll bump it to six choices at the moment. The Top 7 really separate themselves from the rest of the pack in this crop -- it's why the Sixers find themselves in an unenviable position of drafting 11th. Anyway, vote below and be sure to make your case for your guy in the comments. And for some extracurricular reading, here's Conrad Kaczmarek of Fear the Sword on why the Cleveland Cavaliers should take Nerlens despite other fancier options. 1. Nerlens Noel (47%) Poll #2? Ben McLemore Victor Oladipo Anthony Bennett Otto Porter Alex Len Trey Burke 28 votes | Results

Washington Nationals' manager Davey Johnson told reporters before Friday night's game with the Philadelphia Phillies that the team had received some bad news about second baseman Danny Espinosa's wrist. Espinosa originally injured the wrist when he was hit by a pitch from Atlanta Braves' lefty Paul Maholm in a mid-April game in the nation's capital. When pain in the wrist continued to bother the switch-hitting infielder, the 26-year-old Espinosa saw a specialist in the Baltimore area who diagnosed a small fracture in the wrist and located a bone chip that was causing irritation. "About 25% of our lineup has really been struggling, along with some other guys at times, so seeing Lombo come in there and get three hits and drive in some runs, that was huge." - Davey Johnson on Nats' offensive woes "I looked at the films," Johnson told reporters, "and [Espinosa] has a little chip floating around in his wrist. The report I got from the trainers is if he can stand the pain it shouldn't get any worse." The plan is to let Espinosa rest and see if the discomfort goes away. The '08 3rd Round pick is already dealing with a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder. Since he figured to be out for at least a few days, Johnson explained, the Nationals had to make a move. "We're going to make a roster change," Johnson announced after the Nats' 5-2 win over the Phillies. "[Assistant GM Bryan Minniti] isn't here, but I think we're doing something with [Yunesky] Maya and [we're] calling up [Jeff] Kobernus. We're already one player short with just four men on the bench. I like to have at least five and with Espinosa down for a number of days, we can't go with three." Kobernus, 24, has moved up a level in the Nats' system in each of the five seasons since the Nationals selected him with the first pick of the second round of the 2009 Draft. Last season at Double-A Harrisburg, the San Leandro, California-born, Cal State Berkeley-educated right-handed hitting and throwing infielder/outfielder had a .282/.325/.333 line over 82 games and 366 plate appearances in which he hit ten doubles, two triples and a home run while dealing with a thumb injury. The Detroit Tigers were impressed enough with Kobernus that they selected him in this past winter's Rule 5 Draft, but returned him to the Nationals when he didn't make their Opening Day roster. In 43 games and 193 PAs with the Nationals' top affiliate this season before he was called up last night, Kobernus had a .333/.378/.420 with eight doubles, two triples and one home run. Can he help out the Nats' offense? They could use the help. The Nationals' offense produced 10 hits and five runs last night in the nation's capital, but that was a rare offensive display for a team that's been at the bottom in team average, on base percentage and slugging in the National League early this season. Steve Lombardozzi, filling in at second for Espinosa, was 3 for 4 with a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth last night. Tyler Moore got a start in left and went 1 for 3 in the win. Davey Johnson talked about his team's offensive issues with reporters after last night's game. "We haven't been getting -- early on, we got, we scored on passed ball, ground balls, or short fly balls," Johnson said. "We haven't been getting base hits. We got the first base hit I think in San Francisco with a runner on second and two outs, we drove a guy in, [Ian] Desmond did, but to see us do that... the big hit of course, Lombo, but we haven't seen much of that all year." "Our offense has really been down," Johnson continued, "About 25% of our lineup has really been struggling, along with some other guys at times, so seeing Lombo come in there and get three hits and drive in some runs, that was huge." "We just haven't been the kind of offensive club I know we're capable of being," Johnson said, "And today was a big day with Espinosa out for Lombo to do what he did and us to score five runs, we've been kind of stuck on none