Joe Blanton

When Joe Blanton takes the mound for the first time in Angel Stadium with his new team, fans who have been oblivious to his career since he left the Phils may be a little surprised. Blanton, who signed with the Halos as a free agent in December, is about 30 pounds lighter than his normal 260. "I never looked at it like I needed to lose weight," Blanton said. "It just kind of happened. " Chipper Jones putting on pinstripes? The banged-up New York Yankees would love to have him. General manager Brian Cashman even said so Monday, expressing interest in the retired Atlanta Braves star.

LOS ANGELES - The dream, impossible as it may seem, is to make this baseball season interesting again. Win series after series after series and see whether it's enough to get into the playoffs come October. You may not believe it can happen, but the Phillies have to believe. The only way they will add converts is by beating good teams, a mission they rarely have accomplished this season. On Monday night, for only the 19th time in 55 games, the Phillies beat a team that currently has a record of .500 or better.

1. Raul Ibanez has to start hitting. 2. Joe Blanton must return to his winning form. 3. J.A. Happ has to get healthy and contribute. 4. A healthy Chase Utley would do the trick.

Lost Monday in the shuffle of a cold offense, two tie games blown by a shaky bullpen, and 12 innings of baseball was Joe Blanton's rebound. The Phillies' fifth starter was more effective than he had been in his first two outings. In seven innings, he pitched in and out of trouble and allowed only two earned runs on seven hits. He struck out four. More important, with runners on base, Blanton was improved. Milwaukee had the leadoff man on in five of Blanton's seven innings.

When he wasn't dealt by Tuesday's non-waiver trade deadline, righthander Joe Blanton thought he might be with the Phillies for the rest of the season. So when he heard Friday afternoon that he had been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named or cash, he had a natural reaction. "I was pretty shocked," Blanton said, talking to reporters in the Phillies dugout moments after hearing the news. The trade was made after the Dodgers claimed Blanton off waivers.

National League Championship Series Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Best of seven Phillies lead series, 2-0 TV: Fox29. Radio: WPHT (1210-AM), ESPN (950-AM) WUBA (1480-AM) Spanish GAME 1: THURSDAY Phillies 3, Dodgers 2 WP: Hamels (2-0) LP: Lowe (1-1) HR: Burrell, Utley GAME 2: YESTERDAY Phillies 8, Dodgers 5 WP: Myers (2-0) LP: Billingsley (1-1) HR: Ramirez GAME 3: TOMORROW, 8:22 P.M. Phillies (Jamie Moyer, 0-1)

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel revamped his lineup in hopes of shaking up a struggling offense, and, at least for one night, he received the desired results. With Jimmy Rollins returning to the leadoff spot for the first time this season and contributing a two-run double, the Phillies defeated the Chicago Cubs, 5-2, on Saturday at chilly Citizens Bank Park. Manuel said before the game the move wasn't made specifically for Rollins, but more because he wanted to get others in the lineup.

Joe Blanton's first start in a Phillies uniform came in the not-so-friendly confines of Shea Stadium. The Phillies won that game against the New York Mets, scoring a slew of runs in the ninth, but Blanton, a midseason acquisition from Oakland, did not figure in the decision. On that late July evening, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel called Blanton's effort "pretty good. " Two-and-a-half months later, Blanton is slated to pitch what could be the Phils' most important game in 15 years - since 1993, when they last played in the National League Championship Series.

WHEN Joe Blanton is right, there are innings in which you fear for the safety of the men who play behind him. Balls scald the infield, come at you as if shot from the hot-dog gun, force you to play every pitch with your glove up around your chest, the way you were taught as a kid. Again, this is when he is right, when he is not bothered by a bad biceps, an ornery oblique, a back that limited him to eight starts last season and made him just...

The difference between the Mets and the Phillies in the National League East standings is one game, but what separated Joe Blanton from a strong debut for the Phils last night was the slightest turn - or lack thereof - by Carlos Delgado's wrists. The Phillies won, 8-6, churning the bases for six runs in the ninth, but when the newly acquired Blanton left the game after the sixth, they were trailing, 5-1. Blanton had not pitched in two weeks. "I thought Blanton did pretty good," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who was ejected in the third inning and watched from the clubhouse.

Grey Flannel Auctions is auctioning a corked bat it says once belonged to Yankees great Mickey Mantle. Bat authenticator (his real title) John Taube said in a statement that he was examining the wood when he noticed alterations at the top of the barrel. "We had the barrel X-rayed, and it confirms that the barrel has been drilled and filled with cork. This is the first corked bat of Mantle that we have seen or heard of," he said. Did Mantle use it in a game? Was it used only in batting practice?

When Joe Blanton takes the mound for the first time in Angel Stadium with his new team, fans who have been oblivious to his career since he left the Phils may be a little surprised. Blanton, who signed with the Halos as a free agent in December, is about 30 pounds lighter than his normal 260. "I never looked at it like I needed to lose weight," Blanton said. "It just kind of happened. " Chipper Jones putting on pinstripes? The banged-up New York Yankees would love to have him. General manager Brian Cashman even said so Monday, expressing interest in the retired Atlanta Braves star.

The Los Angeles Angels added two more new arms to their retooled pitching staff by agreeing to a $15 million, two-year contract with former Phillies righthander Joe Blanton and an $8 million, two-year deal with lefthanded reliever Sean Burnett. Blanton's deal includes a team option for 2015, a person familiar with the negotiations said at the baseball winter meeting in Nashville on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical. Burnett's agreement also is pending a physical.

When he wasn't dealt by Tuesday's non-waiver trade deadline, righthander Joe Blanton thought he might be with the Phillies for the rest of the season. So when he heard Friday afternoon that he had been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named or cash, he had a natural reaction. "I was pretty shocked," Blanton said, talking to reporters in the Phillies dugout moments after hearing the news. The trade was made after the Dodgers claimed Blanton off waivers.

WASHINGTON - The gray No. 9 jersey hung in the locker closest to the door in the visitors clubhouse at Nationals Park. It was waiting for Domonic Brown, the Phillies' erstwhile top prospect, who emerged as one of Tuesday's big winners. Brown's plane from Syracuse, N.Y., was delayed, and it cost him a spot in the starting lineup Tuesday. He arrived around first pitch and pinch-hit in the eighth inning, getting a single. Starting Wednesday, he will play and he will play often. "He's going to get a chance," manager Charlie Manuel said.

Shane Victorino, clad in a Phillies T-shirt and white tights, leaned back in his chair and put his hands on his head. This was Saturday in Atlanta, after yet another Phillies loss, and the centerfielder appeared resigned to his fate. The day of reckoning is Tuesday, with the Phillies primed to make a flurry of moves before the 4 p.m. trade deadline. Monday, apparently, was the calm before the storm because the Phillies are holding out for the biggest returns possible. The trade that appeared to have the most legs Monday night was righthander Joe Blanton to the Baltimore Orioles.

Citizens Bank Park was half empty when the Phillies finally won Sunday, probably because these fans too often have seen games like this one evolve into a horror show. The nightmare fuel is a tie game, an open bullpen door, and extra innings. So there was satisfaction in the Phillies clubhouse after a 4-3, 12-inning victory over San Francisco - no matter how close to irrelevance the team stands. Above the field, where general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and his lieutenants sit, the same feeling likely existed for far different reasons.

LOS ANGELES – If the Phillies are going to make the kind of second-half run they insist is possible, they likely will need to utilize the same formula that Monday night led to a 3-2 win over the Dodgers. That means excellent starting pitching, near-flawless relief, and some timely hitting from their established stars. Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins both hit solo home runs, while Joe Blanton held the Dodgers to two runs over eight innings before turning things over to Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth as the Phillies won for the third time in four games since the All-Star break.

LOS ANGELES - The dream, impossible as it may seem, is to make this baseball season interesting again. Win series after series after series and see whether it's enough to get into the playoffs come October. You may not believe it can happen, but the Phillies have to believe. The only way they will add converts is by beating good teams, a mission they rarely have accomplished this season. On Monday night, for only the 19th time in 55 games, the Phillies beat a team that currently has a record of .500 or better.

The only type of variety seen at Citizens Bank Park these days comes from the manner in which the Phillies will fall short. Other than that, Saturday's loss felt like the one before it, or the one before that, or any one of the nine losses the team has suffered through in its last 10 games. On Saturday, the team picked a poisonous mix of an early blown lead, poor pitching, and little mistakes that weighed heavy on the shoulders of a squad that just can't catch a break. The Phillies, who now sit 12 games below .500, dropped this one, 6-3, to the Braves.