This is getting depressing

There was high drama today. In the 3rd, the Phillies trailed the Angels 3-0 with Chase Utley at the plate. It was time for Chase to be Chase again. And he was, hitting a clutch two-out double to snap his 0-24 skid. A standing ovation ensued. He scored on a Ryan Howard single, but then started a new hitless streak (two strikeouts and counting). His run accounted for half the scoring the Phillies could muster against Jered Weaver and the Angels bullpen.
It was a 3-2 loss to complete the first sweep of the Phillies this year. Poor Cole Hamels lost a decent start to Weaver, a fellow beach bum first-rounder from California who pitched all right but not as good as young Cole.

Everyone is excited that the Phillies may acquire a starter midseason. I'm not terrible excited because 1) When do the Phils ever get the big name? 2) Will said "big name" make that big of a difference? 3) It's the offense that's been problematic every since they put up 20 against the Cardinals.

Case in point: today's first inning. Jimmy Rollins leads off with a single. He steals second before Greg Dobbs walks. There's no excuse for not scoring when you have two on, no outs, for Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell. But Utley flies out, and then, after a double steal, the next two strike out. You had the feeling they would be in trouble from then on.

Observations from the stands: When we returned to our usual Sunday seats after having different seats for each of the Red Sox games, there were people sitting in them. It felt like someone was squatting in our home. They then argued with us as we told them they were in the wrong section. ... Remember the Pat Burrell fan? Shocking development. He wore a Cole Hamels jersey today and barely cheered for Pat the Bat. Odd. It's like they had a falling out or something. We weren't the only ones in our section to notice. ... During pre-game warm-ups, two Angels, Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar, played along with the Phanatic's shtick where he asks them to throw him the ball. One of them did; the Phanatic missed. ... The Schuylkill Choral Society sang the national anthem - nothing to say about it.

The jumbo-tron caught one of the Angels relievers - I'm pretty sure it's Jose Arredondo - carrying the backpack o' snacks to the bullpen. I remember our first game at Citizens Bank, watching Ryan Wagner lug a Barbie bag for the Reds. ... Dale Murphy was the last Phillie (1991) to hit a grand slam in extra innings. After that trivia, we joked Pedro Feliz was going to do it today. Ha. ... One real nice thing about the three mid-week Red Sox games was no God Bless America. I wish they never started that Sunday tradition. ... Walking out I saw a true SoxandPhils fan, wearing a Red Sox hat and Chase Utley jersey. I didn't get over to him to try to pitch the blog. ... Later, around our house, I saw our neighbors' kid wearing a Phillies Curt Schilling T-shirt. It looked rather new, too.

On-field observations: When J-Roll stole second in the 1st, the catcher just dropped the ball; it looked like he threw it behind him. (No, Weaver isn't doing that either in the above picture, that's the rosin bag.) ... Casey Kotchman's 3rd inning home run was smoked, hitting the Bud sign in right. ... Carlos Ruiz picked Aybar off first in the 3rd. ... Hamels spun a nifty double play in the 4th. ... Howard actually leaped to snag a liner in the 6th. ... Reggie Willits had a web gem-caliber diving catch to rob Burrell in the 8th. ... When J-Roll came up with the tying run aboard, we challenged him to prove his MVP mettle. He was intentionally walked after Eric Bruntlett stole second. Then, it was up to So Taguchi against Francisco Rodriguez. I think you already know who won that epic battle.

Red Sox: One of our teams finally won this weekend; it just took them 13 innings to remember how to do it against the Cardinals. It was painful watching the scoreboard as one-time Sox Joel Piniero shut them down. Looks like another strong start for Jon Lester, a blown save for Jonathan Papelbon and a huge day for Kevin Youkilis - homering in the 7th to tie it at two and then a two-run blast in the 13th to win it, 5-3.