The Phillies continue to toil with our delicate emotions, first getting swept in an embarrassing fashion and then turning around and winning their next three series. After playing like a Single-A winterball team against the Dodgers in LA, the Phillies managed to take two out of three against both the Padres and Nationals. (In reality they should have swept both those last place teams but we’ll take series wins however they come at this point.) Then the Dodgers came to town for another four game set and so far the Phillies have shut them down, winning the first three games. Sunday night’s game was won in dramatic fashion off the recently mended bat of Pedro Feliz, who tied the game up in the 9th inning and then hit a walk-off home run in the 11th.

The Phillies continue to receive spectacular pitching from their starting rotation, including Jamie Moyer’s league leading 14th game in a row without allowing more than three runs in a game. They continue to keep the Phils in every game, giving the offense at least a chance to pull out the victory, which it has started to do this weekend against the Dodgers.

To help matters the Mets have hit a skid and have allowed the Phillies to crawl back within a half game of first place. A Phillies win and a Mets loss puts the Phillies back into the top spot in the NL East.

In football news, the Eagles continue to develop and impressed during their game Friday against the New England Patriots despite being without top receiver Kevin Curtis, who is out with a sports hernia injury and could miss a significant amount of time this season. This has led to speculation about whether the Eagles will sign free agent Joe Horn or trade for Cardinals’ disgruntled receiver Anquan Boldin. In other injury news, veteran safety Brian Dawkins expects to be ready to start in the first game of the season against St. Louis.

In basketball news, the Sixers have found a replacement for center Jason Smith, who will miss the entire upcoming season with a torn ACL by signing Theo Ratfliff to a one year deal.

This week the Phillies look to close out the Dodgers and then make serious strides towards first place as the Mets come to town for a two game mini-series. They then head to Chicago to face the first place Cubs for yet another tough four game series.

The Eagles face off against the New York Jets on Thursday in their first matchup against Brett Favre with his new team.

Stay tuned to Hot Stove Philly as we bring you the latest game day stories, trade rumors, and insightful commentary you have come to expect.