Walking off with a win at our first game

After attending a World Series clincher, it was a little tough to get amped for a game in early May, especially when starters Oliver Perez and Jamie Moyer were awful.

But by the time Shane Victorino drew a bases-loaded walk on a 3-2 count to force in the winning run in the 10th inning, it felt just a notch below playoff atmosphere.

The game started off ugly. Oliver Perez was toast after 2 1/3 innings - four earned on six walks and five hits. Before walking in the final run, Victorino scored the first run after a lead-off triple. Raul Ibanez drove him in with a sacrifice fly.

Both teams muddled through the middle innings until the floodgates opened in the 6th. After Jamie Moyer retired the first two, Christine and I started debating whether they would try to squeeze one more inning out of him to save the bullpen, even though his pitch count was in the 90s. Before the discussion got too far, Daniel Murphy crushed one out to right. Raul Castro followed with even a bigger blast to center. Former World Champion Alex Cora scored a run after tripling to give the Mets a 5-4 lead, which was erased in the bottom of the inning by a rocket by Ibanez. Things quieted down except for a few nervous innings by Ryan Madson, Brad Lidge and Jack Taschner.

But the game really got good in the 10th against Sean Green (while Frankie Rodriguez stayed in the pen). After Jimmy Rollins grounded out, Pedro Feliz hit a slow little nubber that David Wright couldn't make a play on (Pete Happy would have made the play). Anticipation of a game-ender built as pinch-hit homer extraordinaire Matt Stairs lumbered to the plate. Green, obviously terrified of the big lug, hit him with a pitch. The next pinch hitters, Greg Dobbs and Chris Coste, flew out and walked to load them up for Victorino's game-ending walk. What a thrill.

Mets-Phillies rivalry: I did a double take when I saw someone wearing a Phillies hat and Mets shirt. But then I saw what was printed on the back (pictured on the left). There was also an '07 version. ... Another good shirt had a Mets fan burying his face in his hands. "It must be September in Queens" it said on the back. ... Some stupid Mets fans dressed a Build-A-Phanatic in a Mets uniform. A) That's a waste of $50. B) Mascot envy?

Outdated player shirts: Aaron Rowand, Jim Thome, Edgardo Alfonzo, Mike Piazza, Pat Burrell (including one who put a "Who?" over the five), Lenny Dykstra (Mets), Randy Johnson (Yankees), Dwight Gooden and Scott Rolen.

Game notes: Feliz made a great snare of a liner by Jose Reyes in the 5th - pure instinct. ... In the 7th, Ibanez made a nice play to rob Fernando Tatis. ... In the bottom of the inning, Feliz hit another little nubber that rolled down the third-base line. Wright could only hope it would roll foul. It didn't. ... Of course the play of the game came in the 8th with the Mets threatening to take the lead. With runners on first and second, Carlos Beltran hit a single to right. The Mets sent Omir Santos home, but Jayson Werth nailed him. After the inning-ending out, a pumped-up Ruiz spiked the ball and ran off the field. He led off the next inning but popped out.

Weird lineup today: Victorino, Ibanez, Werth, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins (fifth?!?), Feliz, Eric Bruntlett, Ruiz (we didn't even know he was activated) and Moyer.

Game notes: Gotta love this guy's "World F*cking Champions" sticker. ... The national anthem was performed by the Peabody Veterans Memorial High School Chorale. I was too distracted by my scorecard (I'll explain later) to remember how they did. ... Victorino has a new Hawaiian Punch graphic featuring Punchy. ... Werth changed his intro song. We're not happy. Now, he comes out to Journey's Separate Ways. This is the worst intro music decision since Pat the Bat ditched Dio. ... The roaming vendors seem to offer more selection this year. ... There was an annoying girlie brigade behind us, very loud, but at least they didn't dump anything on us. ... The PA played Home Sweet Home after Jamie Moyer walked with the bases loaded in the 3rd. ... I got my ice cream shuffle mojo back and also picked the winning Septa train and bobblehead bouncer on the scoreboard.

Walking into the park, we saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hanging out at the gate. We also saw Christine's second-favorite mascot, the Geiko gecko. Later, the Turtles came out to help the Phanatic save a Phillies helmet from an evil ninja. It was probably the worst Phanatic skit I've ever seen.

Early in the game, Christine noted the "Raul" cheers sound like a howling dog. After Ibanez homered, they played Werewolves of London. ... The Ask-a-Phillies segment asked for their favorite day of the year. We don't think the crowd got the reference when Chase Utley named Halloween. Christine thinks he should have said f*cking Halloween. ... Before the 10th inning, they did the Kiss Cam. Inappropriate. That's for the middle innings of a blowout, not when you're playing your hated rival in extra innings.

OUTRAGE: When I sat down to fill out my scorecard, I noticed the sheet with the roster and "newsy notes" was missing. I went back to the stand, and the clerk told me they're not doing that anymore because the Phillies felt it was a waste of paper. There is other waste the Phillies could have gutted before that useful piece of recyclable paper, such as page 2 in the program that lists every nominal staffer in the organization. And I really could have used a roster when the Mets brought in Ken Takahashi. I had never even heard of him and had no chance at spelling his name correctly. {Uh, scoreboard?} The Phillies win one World Championship, and they think they can just dump on their fans. BOO!

Oh, getting back to Ask-a-Phillie, they kept Harry Kalas in the rotation. He got big cheers when he said Opening Day. And after the excitement of the win started to subside, they played him singing High Hopes on the scoreboard.

It was a very nice mint at the end of a great meal.

Red Sox: They played another ugly one, but salvaged one from the Rays. They won 10-6.