NL East

Another year and another trade deadline dominated by the Philadelphia Phillies quest to acquire a starting pitcher. Last year the Phillies acquired Cliff Lee near the trade deadline, and this year they have acquired another front-line starter.

The Phillies acquired Roy Oswalt from the Houston Astros for JA Happ and minor leaguers Anthony Gose and Jonathan Villar. The Astros will pick up $11 million on Oswalt’s contract and the Phillies will not pick up Oswalt’s 2012 option, which was a sticking point for a while.

If there's anyone like me who wasn't a true fan of the move to bring in Roy Oswalt, you're probably hoarse from screaming at your TV all night long.

Oswalt was incredibly erratic in his Phillies debut as he and the team fell to the Washington Nationals, 8-1.

The Mets were looking to get revenge against the Arizona Diamondbacks after being swept by them in Arizona on the last road trip, but it didn't start out well.

Mike Pelfrey was also looking to rebound against Arizona after an awful performance on July 19 against them, a game in which he threw 51 first inning pitches.

On the homemade page-of-the-day calendar that I made my wife as a Christmas present, today's page reads as follows:

"On this date in 2006, Bobby Abreu was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees for, well, not much. Although the deal was heavily criticized at the time, the Phillies have since enjoyed the winningest period in their history, winning three division titles, making two trips to the World Series, and winning the 2008 World Championship.

A week ago today, about this time of night, rumors started flying that the Astros and Phillies were in negotiations that would send right-hander Roy Oswalt to the City of Brotherly Love.

The talks ended up fizzling as Oswalt demanded that his $16 million option for the 2012 season be picked up by whoever acquires him.

That turned the Phillies off and the talks ended up going cold.

It seems as if injuries are the storyline of the season for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Chase Utley is still a few weeks from returning from the disabled list with his surgically repaired thumb, Jimmy Rollins was benched yesterday with a foot injury, and to top it all off, outfielder Shane Victorino was pulled in the seventh inning with a strained muscle in his left side.

The Mets shockingly blasted Cardinals' ace Adam Wainwright last night, and continued to prove they have a significant home-field advantage.

The Mets have the right pitching matchups on hand over the next two days to do some damage if they can hit like last night.

Tonight, the Mets will have their ace Johan Santana on the mound, trying to win the series and give the Mets a reasonable shot to sweep on Thursday.

The Washington Nationals scratched Stephen Strasburg from his start tonight at home against the Atlanta Braves, when Strasburg couldn’t “get loose” in the bullpen before the game. 

The people in attendance at the game booed loudly when the decision to pull Strasburg was announced, which isn’t surprising when you consider that one-third of the fans likely bought tickets for that game only because Strasburg was scheduled to start.  Nonetheless, it was absolutely the right move for the Nationals to make.

If you haven’t already heard, young Marlins star Chris Coghlan may require surgery after he tore the meniscus in his left knee while applying a shaving cream pie to the face of teammate Wes Helms during a postgame TV interview.  Here’s the video .

The only thing positive you can say about this injury is that at least it isn’t a cover-up for even stupider, more reprehensible cause of injury.