Cowboy Summer

Shouldn't balmy April weather be called Cowboy Summer if unusually hot autumn weather is Indian Summer?

Anyhoo ... a combination of this gorgeous summery day (hittin' weather, eh Cholly?), a planned day off from work and the fact we had no obligations tonight placed Christine and I in front of the TV for the Phillies game to just watch and vege. Christine noted that it felt like the first normal game of the season.

Joe Blanton seemed to oblige in the first inning, looking dominant against the Nationals. But he quickly imploded. Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez (Elvis who?) saved the day with grand slams in the 5th and 8th innings, covering up for what's turning out to be a glaring hole in this team: pitching.

Funny, Todd Zolecki in this morning's blog suggested that the Phillies pitching could be righted against the Nationals. Oops.

Red Sox: They can't stop winning. It's now 11 straight with a 3-1 win over the Indians. I'm starting to get nervous that they're peaking too soon. Tim Wakefield's complete game streak ended at two. He's got to do better: seven innings, no runs with four walks and a hit.

Stolen series: I got to watch the Red Sox-Yankees game Sunday, and I'm still amazed at what I saw. After watching the Yankees intentionally walk the bases loaded for J.D. Drew, he swung through the first pitch. I stared at the ESPN ticker trying to figure out why their scoreboard had the count at 1-0. I kept staring at it as Andy Pettitte began to pitch. Then, I couldn't figure out why the crowd was getting louder as he completed his motion, which seemed to be in slow motion. Then, Jacoby Ellsbury streaked home as the pitch arrived.

Unbelievable.

Christine was grumbling because she had stepped out of the room for a second and missed it. Pettitte, perhaps in a bit of roid rage, was grumbling even more. He was rattled and gave up a double to Drew to put the Sox up 4-1, which is how the game and three-game sweep ended.