A report from ESPN has some bad news for Philly fans. In October, Brad Lidge had surgery to remove some torn cartilage from his knee.  On his first pitch of batting practice today Lidge caught his spike and re-injured that knee. Lidge was helped off the field by team trainers who hope to know more about the extent of the injury on Sunday.

"It was my push off leg," Lidge said. "I caught my spike in the mound. I threw the pitch but it felt like I pulled something in the knee. ... It swelled up a little, but I'm optimistic that I just pulled some scar tissue loose." - SOURCE ESPN

Hopefully for the Phillies Lidge is right and the injury is a minor flare up of scar tissue. It just appears, from the outside, as if the Phillies bullpen has been cursed for about two years now. With such a competative division, one key injury to any of the three top teams (Mets, Phillies, Braves) could determine who is playing baseball in late October and who is watching the playoffs on television.