Unsung Phillie of the year

On Sunday, Christine approached me and said in a pensive tone, "Do you remember how last year I declared Jayson Werth the Phillies unsung player of the year? Well, this year it's Tyler Walker."

That thought was lost amid my lawn mowing, bike riding and other things to do that day. Sure enough, Scott Lauber later piped in:

–Unheralded reliever Tyler Walker notched the last two outs of the eighth inning, extending his scoreless streak to a career-high 14 innings.

I swear Christine said it first.

Today, the Daily News featured him and how the closest he's come to pitching in the playoffs was 2004 when his Giants were eliminated on the last day of the season by Werth and the Dodgers.

This year, he's arguably been the Phillies best reliever. Entering tonight, he has pitched 27 innings in 23 games, giving up just five runs on six walks and 18 hits with 19 strikeouts. His ERA is 1.67, WHIP is 0.89 and K/9 is 6.3.

I don't think he has to worry about missing out on the playoffs this year - not that he's thinking about it:

"My focus has to remain really singular," Walker said. "I know it is trite and mundane, but I really have to worry about the Nationals on Tuesday. If you get ahead of yourself in this game, somebody is there to kick you right in your stomach."

I know. I just jinxed a broken arm on him or something.

Tonight's tilts: Daisuke Matsuzaka, making a last-minute push to be the Red Sox unsung hero after nearly sabotaging the season in pursuit of the stupid World Baseball Classic championship, took a no-hitter into the 5th inning. In a playoff preview against the Angels, Dice went six shutout innings, giving up three hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Best of all, he was uncharacteristically economical: 93 pitches.

In the 8th, Red Sox 2, Angels 0.

The Phillies lead the Nationals 5-0 in the 8th. Cliff Lee's struggles may be over: seven shutout innings with four hits and three walks.

Tonight's trivia: Who was the last Phillie to win the Paul Owens Award (best Phillies minor leaguer) while playing third base? Christine shot down my guess - Chase Utley. I was correct. {I didn't think he played that many games at third base because the experiment was such a bust. But he played 123 games there in 2002.}