Bring on CC or Manny

After a tense 9th inning in which Christine bit my nails, the Phillies are NL East Champions for the second consecutive year. They are once again the team to beat, just as Carlos Beltran predicted in the spring.

In New York, Johan Santana tossed a gutsy shutout on short rest to keep their hopes alive for a few more hours. OK, they're now tied for the Wild Card, but after being up 3.5 games for the division on Sept. 10, this is another collapse.

Tonight's game ended with Brad Lidge, who as Harry Kalas noted has been nearly perfect this year, walking the tightrope but escaping with an unblemished save tally in the regular season. Jamie Moyer, who won last year's division clincher, tied the record for most wins in a season by a pitcher older than 45.

But what a 9th inning:

1. Strikeout. Christine thinks I'm flashing a peace sign when I hold up two fingers meaning two outs to go.
2-3. Base hit and walk. Uh-oh.
4. A little bloop between Chase Utley and Jayson Werth. A run narrowly scores, and the runners hold at first and second. Phillies still up 4-3, but I'm getting nervous about Christine's mental/emotional status if they blow this one.
5. Base hit to center - no one scores. Bases loaded with one out.
6. Ryan Zimmerman grounds one up the middle - looks like a surefire hit. I had been holding Christine's hand, and she nervously bit my thumb, forgetting that it wasn't hers. I thought Jimmy Rollins might get one out, but I didn't think the Phils had time to turn two. But they did.

The 2008 division flag was soon on the field.

Post-game notes: It was kind of sad not being at the park for the clincher after we were there last year. ... Pat Burrell brought his bulldog, Elvis, on the field - we hoped we would see him last year, but he didn't appear then. ... Werth drove Ryan Howard around the field in a golf cart with an open champagne bottle in his hand; isn't that illegal? ... Pedro Feliz and Chris Coste took some bikes from cops and rode them around the field; I'm pretty sure that's illegal, too. ... Brett Myers guaranteed the Phils will win at least one playoff game this year. ... Despite all of this, the celebration seemed a little more subdued than last year's.

Post-season notes: It's been a long, hard season that started on March 25 in Japan. Our faith wavered at times, but we never completely lost hope. We kept hanging in there to see if our teams would pull it off. The Sox couldn't win their division, but the Phillies did. And now each stands seven wins away from the 2008 SoxandPhils World Series we've been waiting for since the Phillies were swept by the Rockies last October.

We will welcome the Phillies to Fenway for Game 1, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 8 p.m. Game on.

Meantime, we have one more game - which is almost as meaningless as the March 29 exhibition game against the Blue Jays - before the playoffs. We will be rooting hard tomorrow for the Brewers and Marlins to give Shea Stadium the kind of sendoff that it deserves as the Mets complete their collapse.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]