Cheers, boos and prayers

The Phillies bats bailed out Joe Blanton and gave the front-running Phillies fans something to cheer about. Jimmy Rollins, though, got the expected boos after ripping the fans last week. He was hitless tonight.

Jayson Werth won the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th. Phillies 5, Nationals 4. Incidentally, Jason Bergmann started for the Nats. He started for them against the Phillies on the last day of 2007. I remember because we recently popped in the DVD of that game. It made Christine sad to remember when Chase Utley could hit, J-Roll could lead and the Phillies could win.

Competitors: The Mets won; the Marlins are winning. Phils are 1.5 out.

Illness and ailments: Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski is said to be doing well after triple bypass surgery. Get well, Yaz. ... Curt Schilling's pendulum is swinging toward retirement. If that's it, I'm pleased that his last game ended with a tip of the hat in Fenway during a World Series win. ... And Josh Beckett's arm is numb. That doesn't sound good.

Games: Daisuke Matsuzaka had one of his typical high-pitch, low-inning starts but improved to 15-2 as the Red Sox beat the Orioles 7-2. It looks like all competitors will win. The Rays, White Sox and Blue Jays are in the books; Twins look like a lock with a 13-2 lead late over the A's. That means we'll stay 4.5 out of first, 1.5 up in the Wild Card.