Phillies draw first blood

In the first game of the 2008 World Series prequel, there was about five minutes all night when it seemed like the champs would win in Philly. Then the Phillies soundly beat the Red Sox, 8-2.

Before Bartolo Colon could say cheesesteak, Jimmy Rollins hit a lead-off homer. Then Ryan Howard squared off against fat Bart in what may be the heaviest matchup in baseball history - more than a quarter ton combined. Ryan Howard won the battle of the bulge, creaming a two-run homer. He made it 4-0 with a solo shot in the 4th. Colon was lifted after four with back spasms.

In the bottom of the 5th, the Sox showed some life with solo home runs from Dustin Pedroia, who snapped out of a slump tonight and was a triple shy of the cycle, and J.D. Drew, who is still so beloved in Philly that all the fans go "Dreeeeewwwww!" whenever he bats. {I think Greg needs to get his hearing checked. They were saying Boo-urns.}

But then things got ugly in the 6th when Terry Francona called upon Mike Timlin, an unsung hero for several Red Sox postseasons. He didn't have it tonight: He recorded two outs, but gave up four runs. It was painful. Timlin's been a warrior for us, but maybe he's done. His ERA is now 7.06, although a fellow Red Sox fan points out that in 19 games between his first four disastrous outings and tonight, he has posted a 2.89 ERA. When Francona removed Timlin, for some reason the fans again started their J.D. Drew cheer for the former Phillies manager.

Individual stars: Cole Hamels shut down the champs for 7-plus innings. He also showed great hustle, almost beating out a ground-out to first. He did get a hit in his fourth at-bat. ... Howard, 3-5 with two homers and a triple. Yes, a triple. Jacoby Ellsbury misplayed it. ... Rollins, 3-5 with a homer and three RBI. ... Pat Burrell, 2-2 with two walks and a triple. Yes, a triple. (See Ryan Howard's.)
The plastic Red Sox helmet the Phanatic smashed put up more of a fight tonight than my team.

Observations from the stands: Our seats were 12 rows higher than our normal seats. We couldn't believe what a difference that made. Then again, we were only one row from the top of the stadium. ... Worst heckle of Manny Ramirez: "Get a haircut." ... They played "Feliz" from Feliz Navidad again after a nice defensive play in the 5th. ... Colon striking out feebly in his two plate appearances was hysterical - he lost his helmet on one swing. ... Hamels made a nice snare on a liner hit by Jason Varitek. ... The crowd was actually civil for a Sox-Phils game. I didn't get heckled, and there really didn't seem to be any ugliness. ... Time of game: 2:42.

Musicians at Citizens Bank Park: Jimmy Buffett and his Parrotheads left the field a mess. It looked worse in person than it does in the picture. The grass was yellowed all over the outfield. Thankfully, it seems mostly cosmetic, and no one got injured. Hooters frontmen Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian were more respectful of the playing surface when singing the National Anthem tonight. {Amusingly, they played the beginning of "And We Danced" before kicking into the anthem.}