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Christine and I, and her Mom, spent a brutally hot day at the ballpark watching the local nine. The Phillies were in Atlanta, so we went real local: the York Revolution and the Camden Riversharks squaring off in unaffiliated baseball at Campbell's Field.

Instead of Cole, Chase and J-Roll, we had Jason Phillips, Aaron Myette and Josh Rabe. Instead of the Phanatic, we had Finley - the friendliest shark we know. Instead of statues of Mike Schmidt, Richie Ashburn and Steve Carlton, there were tributes to the legendary Campbell's kids. And every time a ball was fouled off, a cow mooed. (Foul - or is it fowl? - balls are sponsored by Chik-fil-A.)

We should probably go see the local team more often, but going to a game in the beginning of June is becoming an annual thing for us and the Riversharks. Through work, Christine's Mom gets tickets for the picnic area. Minor league baseball can be entertaining if there's a highly touted prospect or an amusing has-been in the game. This one had neither.

We split in the 7th because of the heat. We had to wait until Myette gave up a hit, which he did in the 5th with one out. Phillips, the be-goggled former Met, Dodger and Blue Jay, followed that hit with an RBI double. It was 5-1 when we left, and when it ended, "the hometown Riversharks were outplayed Sunday to the tune of 9-4," according to the team's press release.

Still undetermined is whether we get free pizza out of the game. They have a promotion where if a pre-selected visiting player strikes out, you get a free slice. If it happens, twice you get two slices. Three times gets a whole pie. Last year, our guy struck out twice, but when we tried to cash in, the pizza place wouldn't honor the tickets because it was eight days after the game. That caveat, that the tickets had to be redeemed with a week of the strikeouts, wasn't mentioned or printed anywhere. I complained to the Riversharks GM, who apologized and offered a free meal at the park. I didn't collect but appreciated the gesture. Today's strikeout player, C Luis Taveras, the older brother of Rockies CF Willy Taveras, was 1-3 with a groundout and flyout by the time we left. He would have gotten another at-bat, but I can't find a box score anywhere.


Phillies: We got home in time to watch the Phillies win (yawn) another close game late against the Braves. Adam Eaton, who leads the Phillies in quality starts, got another one today, but he didn't get his third straight win because the game stayed tied at three until the Phillies scored three times in the 9th. That's now four straight for the Phillies, who distanced themselves from Atlanta with the sweep and could put some more space between them and the Marlins in Florida over the next three games. If so, it'll be at the point where we wonder if the Phillies will just cruise. Christine hopes they learned a lesson from the Mets last year and don't think the division is won until it's clinched.

Red Sox: The Red Sox won again (yawn, again) at home. This time, it was a crisp 2-1 game over the Mariners. J.D. Drew, who's quietly redeeming himself after last year, hit the go-ahead homer in the 6th. Justin Masterson won again (three in four starts). He's now 3-0 with a 2.59 ERA. You have to love young, homegrown pitchers. Not every team can be like the Phillies and get into June using only five starters.

Sox-Phils interleague history, 2000: Phillies swept a home series; two games went more than 11 innings. We didn't go to any games. The opener ended in the 11th when Alex Arias doubled off of John Wadsin, scoring Brian Hunter. The middle game was a 9-3 blowout behind another strong Randy Wolf start. And the finale went 12 innings before Rheal Cormier (then a Sox) gave up a double to Kevin Jordon, scoring Brian Hunter again. Other winners: Jeff Brantley and Steve Schrenk. Other loser: Tim Wakefield.

On second thought, while we searched for ticket stubs to the 2005 Sox-Phils series, we found one from 2000. It was the finale. Curt Schilling gave up five runs in 7.1 innings against Jeff Fassero. Derek Lowe, then a reliever, blew it, causing the extra innings. Pat Burrell played 1B. We don't remember a lick.

The kicker: We can't find any memorabilia from 2005 and can't remember which games we went to. Yeah, we're getting old.