The Phillies will defend their World Series championship this October as they won their third straight National League East division title with an 10-3 win over the Houston Astros at Citizen’s Bank Park Wednesday.

The game was started by Pedro Martinez, who threw 84 pitches through four innings, allowing three earned runs. He got into trouble early, loading the bases in the first inning. But he managed to get out of trouble relatively unscathed, only allowing one run in the inning. He was lifted after four innings as a precaution. He left his last start early with stiffness in his neck.

The biggest story of the night belonged to the bullpen, who threw a combined five scoreless innings. Kyle Kendrick replaced Martinez and continued pitching like the 2007 pitcher that went 10-4 with a 3.87 ERA. Kendrick pitched three scoreless innings, allowing just two base runners while striking out four. He continues to look like he has turned things around from a rocky 2008 and is making a case to be on the big league squad in …

Jeremiah Trotter has officially returned to the Eagles, again.

This will be the veteran linebacker’s third go around in Philly and is a surprising twist in young season already chock full of incredible twists and surprises. It’s not surprising that Trotter wants to play again, as he has always had a hard time with the idea of hanging up the cleats, but more that the Eagles actually signed him. President Joe Banner, GM Tom Heckert, and coach Andy Reid are renowned for cutting ties with players who are on the verge of being past their prime (i.e. Brian Dawkins, Duce Staley, and Trotter).

“At some points, like last year, when I was sitting at home . . . I was like, ‘Should I give it up and start doing something else?’ Something just kept telling me to work out,” Trotter said.

The Eagles signed Trotter to a one-year deal for the veteran minimum. He will wear his familiar No. 54.

Trotter underwent surgery in 2008 to cleanout his right knee, …

The Phillies announced Friday that Pedro Martinez would skip his scheduled start on Saturday, and would be replaced by right hander Kyle Kendrick.

The announcement was made before the team’s Friday night game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Martinez left his last start, last Friday in Atlanta, in the third inning with stiffness in his neck. He did not throw a bullpen session during the week, which is unusual for most pitchers, but not Martinez.

“A lot of times I don’t throw a bullpen,” he said. “I only need it if there is a pitch that I need to work on.”

His neck has not totally healed, obviously, but Martinez says that it is improving.

“It’s still sore, but it feels better,” he said.

He is expected to only miss Saturday’s start against the Brewers, and will pitch Thursday against the Houston Astros. The move appears to be more of a precautionary measure than a cause for alarm. With the Phillies likely to wrap up the division over the next couple days, manager …

In a somewhat surprising twist, the Eagles invited former linebacker Jeremiah Trotter to workout with the team on Thursday.

“We had a chance to work out Jeremiah yesterday and I just wanted to see where he was at,” coach Andy Reid said. “He had his knee taken care of after he left here, so I wanted to get him in here and see him move around a little bit, which I thought he did a good job with.

“I haven’t made any decisions on it one way or another, I wanted to make sure that I had a pulse of where he was at.”

By bringing Trotter in for a workout, it is clear that Reid and the Eagles’ coaching staff are not content with the defense’s current run-stopping capacity. After the loss of safety Brian Dawkins to the Denver Broncos this offseason and middle linebacker Stewart Bradley to a season ending injury suffered during training camp, the Eagles are looking for a veteran presence up the middle.

Trotter, who …

When the Philadelphia Eagles signed Michael Vick to a two year deal the only people who were not surprised were the Eagles front office and Vick, his agent was probably stunned. Then Roger Goodell decided suspension until week three was enough of a penalty, Tony Dungy must be a heck of a salesman. Due to those two events we’ve been steamrolling towards this weekend, when he would actually step on to the field against the Kansas City Chiefs. Given Vick’s past actions the move has garnered understandable scrutiny and speculation; it’s even produced questionable marketing opportunities. Now I can’t help you navigate the complicated moral quagmire that is getting your dog a #7 jersey, I can tell you that getting yourself a #7 Ron Mexico jersey would be freaking sweet! I can also give you some easy answers to questions you might face at your local watering hole …

Dr. Robert Watkins confirmed to Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer Thursday that Shawn Andrews’ back injury is indeed serious and is not all that uncommon for someone who underwent the kind of surgery that Andrews did last season.

“He has flared up,” the physician said in an interview with The Inquirer. “He does not have an injury to the nerve, and there is no bad sciatic, but he is real stiff, and there is a lot of pain in his back. As he is right now, he’s unable to play football because his back is hurt too badly.”

According to Brookover, Watkins confirmed that no further surgery is required, but that he plans on administering one or two more cortisone shots to Andrews in the near future.

“Then he’ll go into the rehab program that focuses on core strength,” Watkins said. “I don’t anticipate any more surgery. That’s not the current plan. He should start the rehab program by Monday.”

So when should we expect Andrews …

In case you were wondering how serious Brett Myers’ strained back was, see the eighth and  ninth innings of Wednesday night’s game in Florida.

Leading 6-4 coming into the eighth inning, Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel brought Ryan Madson into the game to set the table for Brad Lidge’s entry in the ninth. A year ago, this would have been a foregone conclusion with the game in the bag.

Unfortunately, this is 2009 (or perhaps 1993), not 2008.

Madson allowed a run on a Cody Ross single to left, scoring Jorge Cantu and cutting the Phillies’ lead to a tenuous one run.

Lidge entered the ninth inning having saved his previous three attempts, despite allowing at least a run in each. Unfortunately, Lidge had zero room for error, as the Phillies failed to add any insurance runs in the top of the ninth.

The formerly Lights Out Lidge started the inning by allowing a double to backup first baseman Ross Gload, who moved to third base the following at bat on a …

The results of an MRI taken Tuesday show that Phillies pitcher Brett Myers has a Grade 1 shoulder strain of the lattissimus dorsi muscle in his upper back. This puts Myers’ status for the remainder of the season into uncertainty.

Myers will not attempt to throw again until next Tuesday, which is just five days before the end of the regular season.

A hip injury was discovered in Myers in mid-may. He underwent surgery in early June and was expected to miss the rest of the season. Myers, however, rehabbed ahead of schedule and returned to the Phillies on September 5. He pitched scoreless baseball in the first four of the five outings since his return. However, in his last time out he allowed three runs in just one third of an inning.

The strain was discovered last Sunday after the series finale in Atlanta. The plan is, according to GM Ruben Amaro, to keep Myers on the shelf until he is healthy.

On the other side of the plate, …

You almost couldn’t have picked a worse time for the injury bug to hit the Phillies clubhouse. Perhaps the first week in October might have been worse.

The news came down Sunday that Brett Myers, who recently returned to the Phillies after spending most of the season on the disabled list recovering from hip surgery, might have strained his right shoulder.

“He’s got some soreness in the back of his shoulder,” GM Ruben Amaro said. “We’ve been kind of protecting him. I guess he sustained it about eight or 10 days ago. . . . He’s scheduled to see Mike Ciccotti on Tuesday to see if there is anything very serious about it. . . . [The training staff] is saying it’s a possible strain.”

The Phillies expect to learn what the diagnosis is on Tuesday, but regardless of what the technicaly prognosis is, it appears as though the idea that Myers would be able to step into the closer’s role, solidifying the back end of the bullpen, has …

As if losing 48-22 to the New Orleans Saints wasn’t bad enough, the Eagles appeared to be justified in not picking up running back Brian Westbrook’s option for the 2011 season, as he sprained his surgically repaired right ankle on Sunday.

“It was just sore,” Westbrook said. “I tried to put a little weight on it. Tried to be effective out there on the field. You don’t want to go out there and hurt the team. As far as running, I wanted to make some cuts, and I just wasn’t able to do it.”

The injury to Westbrook was just one of many problems coming out of the Eagles’ home opener. Despite a better than expected first half out of quarterback Kevin Kolb, who was making his first ever NFL start in place of the injured Donovan McNabb, things seemed to simply fall apart for the Eagles after half time.

Headed into the locker room down 17-13 at the half, the game was well within reach. Kolb looked impressive, …

Mecca in all its glory
Most of you reading this would agree that the Philadelphia Eagles are the greatest football team on the planet, ever. Unfortunately many people outside of the City of Brotherly Love have yet to learn this unquestionable truth. To that end some of us must go out amongst the heathens to teach them our West Coast Offensive ways. I’ve successfully survived outside of the Philly area for three years now. I thought it would be helpful to those of you who are planning on going out and spreading the word, or already find yourself far way from Mecca for me to give you some weekly advice based on my trials and tribulations as an Eagles fan wondering in the wilderness.

The first thing you need to do is know the schedule. Not just the weekly TV schedule the entire season schedule. Once it’s announced print that thing out! First of all, having a schedule …

The Phillies announced Thursday that reliever Chan Ho Park would miss two to three weeks with a torn right hamstring.

Assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said that Park would remain with the team for the next few days and then report to Clearwater for rehab. Proefrock said that the team is hopeful that he will be ready to return in time for the playoffs.

According to David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News, manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee are planning on talking to Tyler Walker about filling in for Park, as Brett Myers is believed to not be healthy enough to take on the long relief responsibilities.

Other candidates for Park’s long relief duties could be Jamie Moyer, and J.A. Happ come playoff time, as both pitchers can pitch several outings at a time.

Park is 3-3 with a 4.43 ERA in 45 games this year. He injured his right hamstring on the final play of the eighth inning Wednesday night against the Washington Nationals.