This post is Overdue, please pay fine

Sorry everyone, Its been what seems like (and is) months since I posted anything on the NLEC home.  With the season approaching though, we are hoping to bring you high quality articles and links to our NLEC Brothers constantly.  In addition, the articles should pick up as Spring Training approaches and gets underway and there are more storylines.

In the immediate future, look forward to some off-season recaps of each team and possibly commentating from those team blogs.

The big news though, is in a small amount of time, we will have a major change with all the NLEC blogs which will bring us increased readership, new design and faster servers (we all know we need that!).

So sit tight NL East fans, we’ll be back soon!

Be sure to check back to NLEC or the team affiliate blog frequently!

If interested in helping the NLEC, please contact mrose@nleastchatter.com

Happ sparkles again

In Miami, the Phillies were looking for a sweep in what was originally slated to be a four game set against the Marlins.  They sent the undefeated J.A. Happ to the mound, looking for his seventh win without a loss and the team’s eighth straight win.  Happ(7-0) continued to be great, as he went seven innings only allowing five hits and walking one while giving up zero runs, lowering his season ERA to 2.68.  He got all the runs he needed in the second inning as the Phillies took a three to nothing lead on an Utley HBP and a Raul Ibanez two run double.  The Phillies added two more insurance runs throughout the game en route to a 5-0 win. Phillies Phandom has all your Phillies info.

The Marlins offense once again sputtered against the Phillies as they fell seven games back of them in the National League East.  Starter Andrew Miller(3-5) couldn’t get through three innings as he gave up six hits and four runs and walking four while also hitting a batter.  As mentioned earlier, the offense managed no runs, but Bonifacio and Cantu both had two hits each.  Check out FishGuts for more information regarding the Marlins.

Nieve decides to join the OTHER Mets team

The Mets went into Sunday’s game off a solid team effort on Saturday afternoon and with a shot to split the four game set with the rival Braves in Atlanta.  Things didn’t start well for the Mets as starter Fernando Nieve went down with what looks to be a serious right leg injury in the second inning while trying to leg out an infield hit.  Tim Redding(1-4) came in and worked three innings while giving up five runs, but only two were earned, as the Mets went on to lose 7-1.  New Met and former Brave Jeff Francouer got the only RBI for the Mets with a third inning RBI single.  The Mets offense again was silent against the Braves pitching staff.  The Mets are now nine games back of first place, and be sure to check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for all your Mets information.

The Braves got another solid start from Javier Vazquez and a break out game from Yunel Escobar.  Vazquez(7-7) went seven strong innings only giving up the single run in the third inning while allowing a total of six hits and five strike outs.  Yunel Escobar went three for four with four rbi and a run scored to lead the Braves to the three of four series victory over the Mets.  Check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more information on the Bravos.

Its rough, eh Zimm?

The last place Nationals wish they could have a streak like the first place Phils have.  The Nationals have now lost five straight and nine of their last ten, even while making many roster moves and getting a new manager.  Yesterday, the Cubs completed a four game sweep by winning 11-3 in Washington, fueled by a seven run fourth inning.  Garret Mock(0-3) who got the start for the Nats only lasted 3.1 innings but gave up eight hits and seven runs(four earned) in taking the loss.  A bright spot for the Nationals was another home run for Adam Dunn, his 24th of the season, but there wasn’t much else in this game.  Check out Centerfieldgate for more commentary on the Nats.

Rookie Jake Fox had a great game for the Cubs, going 3-5 with four RBI, two runs scored including a home run.  Soriano added another home run for the Cubs in support of starter Kevin Hart.  Kevin Hart(1-1) went five innings giving up two earned runs and five hits to get the victory.

Last night, the National League lost its 7th straight All-Star game and 12th of the last 13, including one tie in St. Louis.  While they did lose, the NL East did have a total of 10 players make appearances in the game.

For the Phillies, Chase Utley, Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino started the game.  Utley went 0-2 but did make a nice play in the field early in the game to help the NL not get into a troublesome inning.  Raul Ibanez in his first All-Star appearance went 0-2.  Victorino was 1-2 and scored the tying run early in the game in the second inning as the NL rallied for an early lead.  Ryan Howard pinch hit in the eighth inning with runners on second and third and the NL down a run, with a chance to have them take the lead, but struck out against Joe Nathan to end the inning.  Finally, Jayson Werth came on to replace Victorino in centerfield and went 0-1 at the plate but made a nice running catch in the top of the ninth.

The Marlins had two players who got invited to the game, Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson.  Hanley Ramirez started the game and went 0-3 in his three at bats.  Josh Johnson having just pitched on Sunday, was only to be available in an emergency basis, and thus did not play in the game.

The Braves only sent one player to this year’s game, Catcher Brian McCann.  McCann pinch hit in the eighth inning and could only foul out for an out before the National League tried to mount a two-out rally.

The New York Mets had four players named to the All-Star squad, but Carlos Beltran was injured and was replaced late last week on the roster.  David Wright started the game at third base and played four innings in the field, but went 1-2 at the plate with a single and the NL’s first run scored and also a strike out.  Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for the NL and got out of it with a strikeout and nothing else with only six pitches.  Johan Santana was spared from action by Charlie Manuel as Johan had recently pitched and the Mets requested he not pitch if not necessary.

Finally, the Washington Nationals lone player, Ryan Zimmerman came on to relieve David Wright in the fifth inning at third base.  He then went 0-2 at the plate for the game.

It was a good game, too bad the NL keeps losign these, but at least this year we didn’t have to wait until early morning for a result.  Check out all the NLEC affiliates for more information on your team.

The biggest news of the day appears to be that according to many reports, including Todd Zolecki’s Twitter, that former Met Pedro Martinez is on his way to Philadelphia.  His latest news says that the physical may not be completed until tomorrow, but a deal is expected by Wednesday.

Zolecki also speaks to different Philly players who send a message to management that they want Halladay.

1st time All-Star Jayson Werth said “”I understand all that, We won last year and we pretty much have the same team this year. If you were ever going to sell the farm I think now would be the time. But that’s just me speaking who has a short window of a career. Ruben (Amaro Jr.) and those guys are going to be there for a long time. It’s a lot to leverage, I know. But I think we’re definitely in a situation where if we did go for it, it could pay off.”

Zolecki includes quotes from Charlie Manuel and Ryan Howard as well in his article.

Finally, the starting lineup is announced and it includes five NL East position players, not bad for what most(including their own fans) label as a terrible division.  It also includes Shane Victorino who Charlie Manuel chose to start for the injured Carlos Beltran in Center field.  The lineup is as follows:

Hanley Ramirez SS

Chase Utley 2B

Albert Pujols 1B

Ryan Braun RF

Raul Ibanez LF

David Wright 3B

Shane Victorino CF

Yadier Molina C

Tim Lincecum P

This should be a great weekend of National League East Baseball, please be sure to check back to NLEC or the team affiliate blog frequently!

If interested in helping the NLEC, please contact mrose@nleastchatter.com

A full NL East Series Preview with Mets and Phillies will publish tomorrow.  Since a few teams are playing series starting Thursday night though, this needs to be published.  Enjoy!

Rollins breaks out of his slump

Jimmy Rollins went 2-5 with 2RBI and a run scored last night, further breaking out of his slump while helping his Phillies win versus the New York Mets 7-2.  The Phillies got all their runs in the first three innings against Mets starter Livan Hernandez(5-4) who lost his third decision in a row and looked terrible from the start last night.  Greg Dobbs, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley each had two RBI each for Philly to move back into first place all alone in the NL East.  Rodrigo Lopez(1-0) won his first game in almost two full years pitching into the seventh inning only giving up six hits and two earned runs.  To get more info on the Phillies and their win last night, check out Phillies Phandom.

Some bright spots for the Mets were that Ryan Church continued to be hot, going 3-4 with a run scored, and his one out actually was a trapped ball by Greg Dobbs.  Also, the bullpen in their second straight day of long relief, pitched five innings of one hit ball.  To get additional info on the loss, check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

The Phillies and Mets will meet up today at 4pM on the Fox game of the week, Fernando Nieve takes on Jamie Moyer.

Volstad didn't have it tonigh

Rain delays aren’t a new thing to the Marlins being in Miami, and lately the Pirates have seen their fair share too.  The Pirates went through two rain delays Thursday against the Mets and dealt with another delay during the opening game of a series in Florida last night.  After all was said and done though, former Brave Charlie Morton(1-1) pitched six innings of one hit and no run ball against a big hitting Marlin team to get the win.  Pittsburgh pitching chased Marlins starter Chris Volstad(5-8) after only three innings and 47 pitches but four earned runs and added more later against Marlin relief.  Three pirates contributed two RBI each for Pittsburgh to take the opening game of the set and knock the Marlins out of their first place tie temporarily.

The Marlins’ Hanley Ramirez ended his RBI streak at 10 games when he failed to drive any runs in during this game and actually had no hits as well.  Catcher Scott Baker contributed three RBI on two hits and had two RBI in the game to lead the fish.

The two teams match back up at 6:10 in Miami tonight.

Nice debut

Brooks Conrad who was just called up to replace the injured Kelly Johnson wasted no time in making an impact for the Bravos.  In the seventh inning of a 5-5 game between the Nats and Braves, Conrad hit a three run home run to give the Braves the lead in a game they would eventually win 8-5 over the last place Nats.  Neither starting pitcher in this game could last a full five innings, and it was up to which relief pitchers could get the job done to win it.  The Braves had the better relief pitching, but by a slim margin as Rafael Soriano gave up two runs in his save chance in the ninth to record his ninth save by one run.  Boone Logan(1-0) worked a perfect 1.2 innings to earn the win for the hot Braves, winners of 5 in a row now, and they stayed two games behind the Phillies and moved into a third place tie with the Mets.  Jesus Colome(1-1) gave up the three run home run and took the loss for the Nationals who have now lost four games in a row.  Check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more.

The Nationals continuously fought back in this game, including Christian Guzman getting two hits in four at bats and driving in three runs.  Adam Dunn hit his 21st home run as well to lead the team.  Check out CenterfieldGate for more Nats news.

The two teams continue their series at 1:05PM on Saturday afternoon.

Today at NLEC we welcome the brand new Phillies Phandom Blog(http://www.nleastchatter.com/philliesphandom), run by Matt Smith.  I encourage everyone to at least stop in, say hello and definitely inform any Phillies fans you may have of this new Phillies information source.  The RSS Link has been added to the left sidebar and I will be sure to link to his articles whenever possible.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome to Phillies Phandom Blog

Earlier this afternoon the Nationals officially completed a trade which will bring them OF Nyjer Morgan from the Pittsburgh Pirates and left handed reliever Sean Burnett.  The Nationals gave up still young, but troublesome Lastings Milledge and reliever Joel Hanrahan to get the deal done.

Morgan is having a very solid season at the age of 28 batting .277 with 18 SB, 27 RBI and 77 total hits and is playing very solid defense as well.  Burnett has been a pretty solid reliever appearing in 38 games, pitching 32.1 innings to a 3.08 ERA and should help a troubled Nats bullpen.

Milledge will now play for his third team and hope to have the luck and success everyone thought he would for years now.  He is still only 24 years old and has the potential to put up All-star numbers.  He was demoted to the minors this year after failing to produce in the leadoff spot for the Nationals.

Hanrahan has had a rough season after being named the closer in spring training.  He only recorded 5 saves before being removed from the role.  The Nationals had been using a more closer by committee type approach and it is unclear how Pittsburgh will utilize the former starter.

Weigh in on your thoughts on the trade in the comments section