Bouncing Back?

Phillies take two straight from Pirates to win the series



Brett Myers had arguably his best start of the season on Saturday night and did something you never do in sports; show up your coach.

In a season where you have your reigning MVP questioning the authority of the manager and then this display on Saturday night it doesn't bode well for the structure inside the clubhouse.

The bottom line is these things can be masked when a team is winning and the Phillies rebounded with a pair of wins over the weekend after a horrific 23 inning drought which saw them get shut out for two straight games, for the first time since 1999.

The Phillies head to the west coast to take on the Dodgers and Padres, two teams they should do well against. The Dodgers' pitching staff isn't anything special and they won't have to face Peavy in San Diego.

These west coast trips are never easy and the next seven days will tell us a lot about this Phillies team. It seemed that they would break out of this two-month long slump many times and then go back to losing three in a row after winning four straight.

After the rebound this weekend they very well could win six of seven or dare I say it implode. Nothing is out of the question at this point.

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Eagles Camp Report

I took in training camp yesterday and was lucky enough to score some VIP passes. Nothing beats being right in the middle of the action during camp.

A few things I noticed. Hank Baskett and L.J. Smith were catching just about everything thrown to them and looked like they were being utilized in downfield drills.

Now, how that translates into the regular season is all speculation. Word is that Baskett will be used a lot in the red zone this year, particularly on fade routes. McNabb never really threw a fade before because he's not a touch passer, but they have made a concerted effort to get that down.

And, L.J. Smith looked like a million bucks out there-or five million if you count his salary. He looks like a completely different player this year and maybe this will be the year he breaks out.

The major thing we saw yesterday is Asante Samuel's return to the practice field for the first time. They were busting his chops before he stepped onto the field, but he took it in stride. And, Lito Sheppard looked like Deoin Sanders out there in one-on-one drills.