Two lefties with 281 combined wins pitch well

We missed much of the action today - having lunch with friends and then putting a new coat of stain on the deck and front porch.

We missed two struggling lefties pitch like they did in 2008.

Jaimie Moyer finally got the monkey off his back with career victory No. 250. (He celebrated with some champagne Armand de Brignac, promoted by Jay-Z.) He gave up one run over six innings on three hits and four strikeouts.

Listening on the radio, one of the announcers said he got the sense that the Phillies felt pressure not to blow it for the old man. Despite a run given up by Clay Condrey, which made it a one-run game in the 7th, the Phillies held on for the 4-2 win to wrap up the sweep against the Nationals. Brad Lidge pitched well again for another save. He's now gone 3 2/3 innings over four games without giving up a run. I'm in trouble for jinxing it when he coughs one up tomorrow.

Red Sox: Although he has a ways to go to catch Moyer's career W-L record, Jon Lester matched him for the season, 4-5, with a dominant 8-2 win over the Blue Jays. He now has 31 career wins. This was a good one: one run over six innings on three hits and three walks. He struck out 12!

The heart of the order - Kevin Youkilis, Jason Bay and Mike Lowell - all had two hits. Surprise leadoff man Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run homer; Youkilis (twice) and J-Bay also homered. David Ortiz got a hit. 1-5. He's now three for his last 36 (.083).

[Photo credit: Scott Lauber]

How to make six or four equal five

Both of our teams have pitching decisions in front of them.

The Phillies, seemingly keeping trade options on the back burner, are deciding among their own minor leaguers to get the first shot at replacing Brett Myers. The two favorites seem to be Kyle Kendrick and Antonio Bastardo.

Why is no one mentioning Adam Eaton? He won't cost anything beyond what the Phillies already pay him.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, have to fend off questions about a six-man rotation, which leads me to wonder: Why is a team with such a stacked rotation looking up at the Yankees, who were written off weeks ago?

Red Sox: They blew a second straight game against the Blue Jays, 5-3. Wasn't it last week we started them on a nine-game skid that crushed their early-season hopes? Possible Phillie Brad Penny scattered 10 hits over six innings giving up three runs (two earned). The news of the game wasn't another 0-fer for David Ortiz, but that the loss went to Ramon Ramirez, who gave up two runs in one inning - doubling his total for the year.

After the game, Terry Francona said:

It's one of the first tough innings we've seen. He just looked like he was having a hard time. Just looking at his body language, he looked like he was out of sync.

Papi, meanwhile, is now on a 2-31 stretch (.064).

Phillies: A big game for the big man, Ryan Howard hit two home runs, including a monstrous grand slam. Not such a big game for the Phillies big man on the mound. Except for hitting an RBI double, Cole Hamels had a rough night - six earned in six innings on eight hits and a walk. But the Phillies won in the end, beating the Nationals 9-6. Brad Lidge had his second straight save.

Etc.: I bought a new bike today. One of the store employees who saw my hat said "Yeah, Bosox," and had me bump his fist. He wasn't the guy handling my sale, so he wasn't buttering me up for a bigger commission.

Update 10:41: As soon as we posted this, Comcast SportsNet reported that Bastardo will be called up and will start on Tuesday.

SoxandPhils swap?

With young Clay Buchholz dominating AAA and another farmhand named John Smoltz beginning to make a case for a promotion, there's been a lot of talk about the Red Sox trading Brad Penny.

With Brett Myers' injury - which will require surgery, likely ending his season and perhaps his Phillies career - and the poor Phillies starting pitching for most of the season, there's been a lot of talk about the Phillies trading for a starting pitcher.

Is there a match?

Buster Olney muses about a Penny for Jason Donald deal. While part of me pines for the first SoxandPhils transaction since 2004, I don't want this deal to happen.

1. Christine would blame me every time Penny gave the fans in right field a souvenir or Donald appeared in highlights on MLB Network.


2. I'd love to dump Penny, who despite a pretty 5-1 record has an ERA of nearly 6 and a WHIP of nearly 1.6, so this would be a steal for the Sox unless Donald's injury is more than a sore hamstring.


3. See No. 1.

I think the Phillies will make a deal, but I don't think it will be this one.

Irony: In a week dominated by the news of Myers' injury, the Phillies had a curious "injury update" in Sports Weekly that I've never seen before: "The Phillies had no injuries to report." C'mon, every team has some strain or muscle pull to talk about. This jinxed Brett.

Tonight's games: Brad Lidge may be back. Before he entered, Christine said she thought he would have a good night. She even went so far as to say it would be pain-free, but she wasn't too confident about that after he nearly hit the leadoff hitter. J.A. Happ got the win in the 5-4 defeat of the Nationals. Shane Victorino had four hits. For some reason, Jayson Werth started using Sammy Hagar's Heavy Metal for his intro music again. It's about time. ... Red Sox lost to the Jays 6-3. Tim Wakefield had his worst outing of the year. David Ortiz was the only Red Sox without a hit.

Busy day in 10 clicks

Since I last posted:

• The Red Sox tied a record last night for wild pitches, and Tim Wakefield wasn't even pitching.


• Brett Myers wasn't pulled from last night's game for ineffectiveness, but for a hip injury that he's had for awhile. He may need surgery, which could end his Phillies career.


• Harry Kalas will be inducted to the Wall of Fame. It's such a no-brainer, but I hadn't thought about it before.


• Pedro Feliz might get his 2010 option picked up.


• This afternoon, the Red Sox beat the Twins 3-1 behind a good performance by Josh Beckett and switch-hit home runs by Jason Varitek, who managed the feat before getting ejected along with Terry Francona and two Twins.


• Someone with a vested interest read my book report post. More Roger Clemens posts can be found here. {Hi Rusty Hardin & Associates!}


• Our observation, not previously mentioned on the blog, that Charlie Manuel has lost weight has been confirmed.

Funny, this morning I thought that with an off-day for the Phillies and an afternoon tilt for the Red Sox that I would just write tonight about Todd Zolecki's Random stuff post. I still will.

Like many of our SoxandPhils readers, Zo says he is a fan of intro music. He noted that when Brad Lidge last pitched, he came out to the silly music for a scoreboard bobblehead race instead of Soldiers. I had wondered if they would keep playing that tune if his struggles persist. Lidge might have a similar thought:

"I was coming in to some circus music," Lidge said. "That's about right."

Another favorite silly Phillies thing for Christine and me is Sarge. Especially his hats. He's not only a fashion plate, but also a shrewd salesman:

Gary Matthews' hat collection is available at the Majestic Clubhouse Store, but I told him yesterday that I could not pull off the Sarge hat look. I just don't think I have the cool factor to do it. Sarge assured me that I did, which I thought was nice of him to say.

But then I remembered he's trying to sell hats. Why I oughta (shaking my fist in the air) ...

Final note: I'm always bummed when the Phillies aren't on, especially after a long bad day at work. But the Spelling Bee finals will substitute nicely tonight.

Alternate universe

Since the great '04, I've said rooting for the Red Sox has forever changed. I predicted a similar experience for the Phillies fans who waited decades for a championship.

But I didn't think things could change so drastically that the Philadelphia fans (I'll spare the stories of snowballs and D batteries) would be too soft on the defending World Champion first-place Phillies.

"I notice sometimes when they're talking to us around the dugout, they're always talking about last year and thanking us for winning and all that," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said before last night's 5-3 victory over the Florida Marlins. "Of course, they're enjoying the game and they love us, but ... well, maybe they should get on us a little bit."

What? Charlie Manuel, who was nearly run out of town before writing his first lineup, is asking for grief from the fans?

It's a recipe to repair the homefield oddity, to ease the manager's concerns that our newfound niceness is hurting, not helping his ballclub.

"If you notice, our fans are still into everything," said Manuel. "They fill our ballpark up. And they stay. And that's good. I want them to keep coming to the games.

"But I want our fans to start telling them, 'Hey, look: We've got to win this year, too.'"

Be careful what you wish for Charlie.

Speaking of boos, in my haste to wrap up the post and get to bed last night, I forgot to mention that there were some boos for Brad Lidge when he walked his first batter.

Tonight: Brett Myers' hot streak ended - he was removed in the 6th down 5-1 to the Marlins. ... Red Sox and Twins are scoreless in the 3rd. Daisuke Matsuzaka threw 24 pitches in one inning, Kevin Slowly threw 35 - in two innings.

Semi-completed book report

Whenever I get the chance to read during my lunch hour, I've been enjoying Jeff Pearlman's The Rocket that Fell to Earth, a birthday gift from Christine.

It's quite different from the last Roger Clemens book I read - Rocket Man: The Roger Clemens Story, written by Clemens with Peter Gammons.

In fact, a lot of the current book points out inaccuracies in Clemens' "autobiography," such as claims he was offered a D-1 scholarship and was drafted by the Twins in 1980.

The Providence Journal's Sean McAdam is quoted in the book:

He was a liar, plain and simple. Roger was as full of shit as any athlete I've ever seen in my career. He said whatever worked for him, whether it was truthful or not. Reality didn't matter for Roger Clemens in any way, shape or form.

Today I learned that Clemens named his split-finger fastball Mr. Splitty. That was pretty much the only endearing thing I read about my former idol in a 30-page span that covered a large chunk of his Red Sox career.

The other positive, besides a fascinating glimpse of the meltdown in the 1990 ALCS, was a quote by the SoxandPhils' own Ken Ryan:

Roger was Roger. As a young player, he wasn't the easiest person to approach. It's not like he wouldn't talk at all, but if you needed anything substantial or worthwhile, you first had to show that you were worthy in his eyes.

If Clemens hadn't ruined his reputation by selling himself to two devils (the Yankees and steroids), this book could be a crushing blow to the memories I have of the guy responsible for me being a Red Sox fan. But he destroyed his own image long before Jeff Pearlman documented his downfall.

I have read a lot of negative stuff I hadn't heard before. I wonder how much of that I would have known and whether it would have affected my fandom if the Internet had existed when I was young.

Clemens is a waste, but The Rocket that Fell to Earth isn't.

Non-book quotables: Shane Victorino on trying to steal second base when down by two runs in the 9th inning on Monday: "There's no excuses to the fact that I f'd up." David Ortiz's no comment today after the media learned he was dropped to sixth in tonight's lineup: "I'll talk after I go deep."

Tonight's games: Joe Blanton was moneyball tonight, giving up no runs in seven innings with a career-high 11 strikeouts in a 5-3 win over the Marlins. Victorino didn't F-up tonight, going 4-5 with a run and RBI. The 9th got a little dicey with Chad Durbin and Scott Eyre on the mound, but Brad Lidge eventually cleaned up the mess after walking his first batter. ... Papi isn't talking yet, although he has a double and a walk in his first three plate appearances. Jon Lester imploded in the 5th inning, giving up five runs. The Sox trail the Twins 5-2 in the 7th.

[Photo credit: JeffPearlman.com and Amazon.com]

Concerning pitching

Entering the year, the SoxandPhils had two of the most certain closers in baseball. Brad Lidge's struggles have since been well-documented here, and now Jonathan Papelbon is joining him.

The Sox won this afternoon, 6-5 over the Twins, but it should not have been so close. Up 6-3 in the 9th, Papelbon gave up a two-run home run to pinch-hitter Joe Mauer, which raised Papelbon's ERA to 2.57. (But it's still minuscule compared with Lidge's 9.15.)

Papelbon has been so automatic for the first few years of his career that any blip is a concern. One mitigating factor is that he needed only 14 pitches to give up a hit and a home run while still managing a strikeout. Without seeing the game, those facts make it seem that today was just a case of a great hitting beating a great pitcher, who managed to preserve his team's lead.

Other notables: The Red Sox didn't drop David Ortiz in the lineup; he was benched against lefty Francisco Liriano. Jacoby Ellsbury went 2-5, extending his hitting streak to 20 games, but he still has an OBP of .333. Mike Lowell led the way with four hits, and Dustin Pedroia had three and four others had two. Decent game for Brad Penny (5-1) who won his third in a row, giving up three runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Phillies: I have a feeling the 4th inning will sum up the night for Jamie Moyer. After pitching three scoreless innings, he walked Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu. He ran the count to 2-2 to Wes Helms before throwing a fastball right over the heart of the plate. The former Phillie was frozen, but the umpire called ball. Next pitch? Home run. J-Moy then set down the next three, but now, thanks to a bum call, he's down 3-2 in the 5th inning in another pursuit of his 250th career win.

Incidentally, no Phillies starter issued a walk against the Yankees this weekend.

At least we won three

The SoxandPhils beat the Mets and Yankees today to finish tied in this weekend's SoxandPhils-take-on-New York series.

Despite the wins, neither the Sox nor the Phils contingency of this blog is happy right now.

Cole Hamels and three other relievers nursed a 3-2 lead into the 9th inning, but Brad Lidge coughed up yet another one. In his fourth blown save of the season, he gave up a single to Robinson Cano. Pinch-runner Ramiro Pena stole second and scored on a single by Melky Cabrera, who later stole second. Miraculously, Lidge survived the inning without yielding a game-ending run. His ERA remains at 9.15.

We listened to most of the game's ending in the car after celebrating a belated birthday for a little Red Sox fan. (How has one year passed already?) We got home in time to see Clay Condrey finish his second inning, improving to 4-0 in the 4-3 win. Yankee killer Carlos Ruiz doubled in the winning run. He was 3-4 with a walk today, finishing a pretty good series - 6-8 in two games with his first home run and stolen base of the season.

But the Phillies have to figure out Brad Lidge fast. Replace him with any decent closer, and they would have swept this series. Christine said he has to swap roles with Ryan Madson until he regains his effectiveness. I don't even want him pitching the 8th inning. You wonder what will happen first - Madson starts getting save chances, Lidge admits he's injured or Lidge just suddenly fixes himself. I appreciate and haven't forgotten Lidge's 2008, but I don't think the last option is likely.

Red Sox: A 12-5 win today prevented a Mets sweep of the Red Sox. The lopsided score allowed the Red Sox to finish up with B-list closer Takashi Saito instead of Jonathan Papelbon. I'm not complaining.

If I had time to update the blog this morning, the headline for Saturday's game would have been "Papelbon apes Lidge, then goes ape----." Remember how I said the Red Sox and Phillies sometimes eerily mirror each other? Papelbon had to prove my point on Saturday. The same day Brad Lidge blew a 4-2 lead against the Yankees, Papelbon blew a 2-1 lead against the Mets - on a little Green Monster pop by backup catcher Omir Santos. It was initially ruled a double, but instant replay showed the ball clearly hit the top of the Monster.

Cue a SoxandPhils quote from Charlie Manuel:

I saw Papelbon go through the heart of the Tampa Bay Rays order the other night and he blows the save against the Mets backup catcher yesterday. But Brad’s stuff is good. He just needs to get them out one more time.

Lidge, however, doesn't blow his cool like Papelbon did in the bottom of the 9th Saturday. He felt the Red Sox got hosed on a call at second base and actually left the dugout to protest. I never saw that before. We're kind of surprised there's no talk of suspension.

Josh Beckett pitched a real nice game, giving up just one unearned run in eight innings with five hits, one walk and five strikeouts.

Today's game was all offense, which was needed to withstand a rare poor outing by Tim Wakefield (five runs in six innings). The bottom four (J.D Drew, Mike Lowell, George Kottares and Nick Green) combined to go 12-15. Every starter had a hit, run and reached base twice. Every starter except David Ortiz, who went 0-5 and is back under the Mendoza line. Cue the "Sox may drop Ortiz in lineup" speculation.

Lights out on Lidge

The other day I compared Brad Lidge with Keith Foulke. I don't remember when exactly in 2005 the fans turned on the 2004 playoff hero, but I have the feeling that today will go down as the date for Brad Lide.

As he was blowing a 4-2 lead to the Yankees (ruining J.A. Happ's first start of the year and John Mayberry Jr.'s first big league home run), Christine said, "Methinks Ryan Madson should be closing."

She is a pretty patient die-hard, so I can assume we will soon hear boos when Lidge's siren sounds at Citizens Bank Park.

Today was going perfectly. Christine and I lingered over a nice plate of grilled ribs while taking in the game. Happ pitched well, two runs in six innings. Mayberry, a surprise call-up, homered and stretched what should have been just a single into a double.

The day's only problem was when Fox racistly picked a random black guy in the fans and dubbed him Mayberry's father. They soon found the real John Mayberry Sr. Is it that hard to spot the correct former major leaguer?

Raul Ibanez even hit his major league-leading 17th home run. (Is he due for a test?)

But then the Phillies summoned Bard Lidge in the 9th. Christine noted that he lowered his ERA to below 8. It is now 9.15.

Here are the ugly details: Johnny Damon walked, then stole second. Mark Teixeira struck out. Alex Rodriguez (test him now) tied it up with a home run. Robinson Cano singled and stole second, scoring on a Melky Cabrera hit. Steroids 5, Champions 4.

I don't know how much longer they will keep running Brad Lidge out there. I guess they could always try Madson, but would they do that to the guy who was perfect last year? I don't think they'll seek help from outside the organization, but if they do, Adam Eaton is available.

Red Sox: The Red Sox attempt to even up the SoxandPhils vs. New York series with Josh Beckett against Mike Pelfrey. We'll be watching on MLB Network. Unfortunately, the Sox are losing 1-0 in the 1st. {Speak for yourself. Like I want to watch any more baseball today and the "highlights" of the Phillies debacle all night.}

SoxandPhils 1, New York 1

You would think Christine would root for the Red Sox because that would be like rooting for me, as I root for the Phillies because that's like rooting for her.

You would be mistaken.

She doesn't root for my team at all - except in rare interleague instances when they play the Mets. Because the Phillies play the Yankees in the Bronx while the Sox host the Mets this weekend, Christine said the Phillies would take care of business if the Sox did the same.

Brett Myers held up his end of the bargain - giving up three runs on eight hits with no walks and five strikeouts over eight innings in the 7-3 win. He actually pitched better than his line indicated because all three runs came on solo home runs later in the game.

With a matchup of each league's top home run teams in a joke of a ballpark, everyone expected a home run barrage. They weren't disappointed as the champions and roiders combined for seven: Jimmy Rollins, Raul Ibanez, Jayson Werth, Carlos Ruiz (you know a park is messed up if Chooch hits one out), Deter Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Alex Roidriguez (isn't he due for a test?).

Hopefully, that's the first of five wins for the SoxandPhils against New York. It can't be six because the Sox lost 5-3 to an an injury-depleted Mets team. Hey, it's still May, and we know the Mets are a very strong team in May.

The Red Sox could only muster three runs (two earned) off Johan Santana while Daisuke Matsuzaka looked like he hasn't missed a beat in his first start since coming off the DL. He was typical Dice-K: five innings, four earned on five hits and two walks. He needed only 80 pitches, which is sort of efficient for him.

Both games are on national TV tomorrow: Phils on Fox, Sox on MLB. I'll be rooting for a sweep. Begrudgingly, Christine will too.

Papi homered - cancel the gold watch and rocking chair

Mike Schmidt topped a recent David Ortiz-inspired list of great ball players who suddenly lost it. Christine and I were discussing this yesterday, wondering whether Big Papi could follow Michael Jack's path and abruptly retire amid early season struggles.

I don't know if retirement ever entered his thoughts, but Ortiz has considered drastic steps:

"I was about to hit righthanded," he admitted.

But last night he hit his first home run of 2009 as part of a 2-4 night that increased his OPS to a whopping .645.

"I feel like I got my confidence back," Ortiz said after the game. "I feel like a real hitter, not like the punch and judy hitter I've been the first 40 games ... swing like a man."

I hope so. The Greatest Clutch Hitter in Red Sox history, a very proud and amicable man, deserves to leave the game on his own terms (provided he has been clean).

Interestingly, this marks the 20th anniversary of Mike Schmidt's retirement. The Daily News has marked the occasion with the 1989 retirement story, a Rich Ashburn column led off by a Harry Kalas home run call and an interesting look back.

As a 12-year-old in North Jersey, I was surprised by the announcement, but I never knew the move surprised everyone, perhaps even Schmidt:

Mike Schmidt was 39 years old, in a slump, playing for a Phillies team destined for another last-place finish.

Nobody had a clue that within a week he would stun even those closest to him by abruptly announcing his retirement.

Six days later, standing near third base at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, he was about to make one of the biggest decisions of his baseball life. It was a sun-splashed Memorial Day weekend Sunday. All he needed was an omen.

[...]

Then, just like in the movies, it happened.

The score was tied at three in the bottom of the fourth. The Giants had runners on first and second with two outs when Robby Thompson hit a grounder right at third, the kind of play Schmidt had made countless times on his way to winning 10 Gold Gloves.

Except this time, the ball went through his legs for an error to load the bases. Mike Maddux relieved starter Ken Howell. And the next batter, Will Clark, hit a grand slam.

"And I'm thinking, 'I'm really getting nothing out of this. We're not a very good team. I'm not playing near to the level that I'm comfortable with. What do I do now?'" Schmidt said.

Hopefully last night signaled a better omen for Big Papi.

Catching up: Papi's home run and two by Jason Varitek helped Brad Penny beat the Jays 8-3, setting up a chance for a sweep tonight. (Behind Jon Lester, they're up 4-0 in the 4th.) Phillies couldn't come back last night, losing 5-1 to the Reds. They finished the series this afternoon with a 12-5 win. The top of the order - Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez - went 9-15. Utley, Ibanez, Ryan Howard and Greg Dobbs homered. Joe Blanton pitched well until the 5th, when he gave up all five runs the Reds scored; Chan Ho Park walked two in a scoreless inning, his first appearance as a Phillies reliever.

[Photo credit: Philadelphia Inquirer or Daily News file photo]

A baseball god in '04, a bear in '09

I've been meaning to compare Brad Lidge's struggles to those experienced by Keith Foulke a few years ago.

In 2004, Keith Foulke had a pretty good first season for the Red Sox before taking it up a notch in the playoffs. He probably sacrificed his career with the heavy workload during the playoffs - 14 innings in 11 out of 14 games the Red Sox played. He should have been the World Series MVP - yes, I said that even when I still loved Manny Ramirez.

In 2008, Brad Lidge had an unprecedented regular season. He wasn't needed as much during the Phillies' championship run as Foulke was needed for the Red Sox, but some argued that he was the MVP for the Phillies during the regular season.

The year after was different for each pitcher. Keith Foulke's 2005 began with a loss against the Yankees and went downhill from there. He finished with a 5.91 ERA in 43 games. The next year, he was supplanted by Jonathan Papelbon and out of baseball in 2007.

Similarly, Brad Lidge has pitched poorly the year after a stellar 2008. He has pitched a bit better lately, but even though he has stopped hemorrhaging runs, his saves are still nerve-wracking. His ERA is 7.85 - the lowest mark in two weeks. Both pitchers had knee injuries, and although Lidge's numbers are uglier than Foulke's in 2005, there's a feeling that it won't be permanent.

I decided to write this today because the Globe has an update on Foulke. He's actually pitching in New Jersey. He had a nice comeback year for the A's in 2008, but couldn't get a major league job this year. I don't think Lidge will wind up on the Camden Riversharks by 2013, but it does show you how quickly someone can go from a World Series hero to a Newark Bear.

Here are the highlights of the piece:

• "Do I think I should have been MVP?" says Foulke. "Absolutely. I mean, 'cause I did everything humanly possible that I could've done."


• Interviewing Foulke is difficult. By his own description, he's "a wise-ass." He says, "I don't care," a lot. At best, he's candid. At worst, getting the truth out of him is tedious.


• Foulke says his initial reception from the fans did not go well.
  "It was pretty bad," he says. "One guy of our seven people here said, 'Red Sox suck.' I don't care."


• Foulke made more than $33 million in an 11-year career that included stops in San Francisco, Chicago, Oakland (twice), and Boston. Now he's making $3,000 a month.
  "I'm losing money here," he says.
  Asked whether he needs the money, Foulke smiles. If worse comes to worst, he says, he can sell his game-used World Series memorabilia.


• "That's one thing that wore on me really bad," he says. "You're a Red Sox 24-7. I'm in a restaurant and everybody comes up and says, 'I hate to bother you, but ...' Being classic me, I'd say, 'I hate that you're bothering me, too.' I'm like, 'You hate it and I hate it, so why are we doing it?' "


• Foulke says he doesn't want to compare himself with Curt Schilling, who accepted $8 million from the Sox last year and never pitched an inning because of shoulder problems.
  "He's got to wake up and look himself in the mirror every day," says Foulke.

Last night's games: Good job by Tim Wakefield in the 2-1 win. Cole Hamels started out like gangbusters before struggling a bit as the Phillies held on to the 4-3 win.

Tonight's games: The Red Sox lead the Blue Jays 3-0 in the 5th on two home runs by Jason Varitek and a double by Dustin Pedroia. The Phillies and the struggling Jamie Moyer are losing to the Reds 3-1 in the 5th.

[Photo credit: Boston Globe]

New kids on the block

Last year, the baseball world waited for the Tampa Bay Rays to fall apart so that the Red Sox and Yankees could assume their customary spots in the AL playoffs.

I wasn't so dismissive of the Rays (I knew they were a tough opponent capable of knocking out the Yankees), but I was confident the Red Sox would prevail. I was wrong.

This year, the Blue Jays have been leading the AL East. They have a 3.5-game lead over the Red Sox as the two teams square off for the first time tonight. Everyone expected the East to be a three-team battle among the Rays, Red Sox and Yankees. But we should have seen the Jays lurking.

Since Cito Gaston began his second stint as Blue Jays manager last year, the team has gone 78-51. That's on pace for 98 wins over a full season, which is one game better than the Rays finished in 2008.

Like the Rays last year, I don't think it's a fluke. Tony Massarotti did a tale of the tape on the division: Among the four teams, the Jays have the best starting pitching, offense and defense. The bullpen is just a tick behind Boston's.

I still have faith the Red Sox will improve their play and catch the Jays in the end, but it's not going to be easy.

Greg's personal trivia: Between cementing my disdain for the Yankees and deciding on the Red Sox, I tried out several teams. I was strong on the Blue Jays for awhile. I even had a hat.

NKOTB (Phillies rotation version): As strongly suggested this week, J.A. Happ is trading roles with Chan Ho Park. His first start is Saturday in the Evil Empire's empty new stadium.

OKOTB: Chris Wheeler likened a hitting or pitching coach to the senior member of a broadcast team. Tom McCarthy asked him how that was working out for him. "Not good," Wheeler said.

Well, don't stick around on our behalf. I hate Wheels.

Tonight's games: The Red Sox-Blue Jays rivalry looks to be off to a good start with a pitching duel, 2-1 in the 8th. The Phillies are up 4-3 over the Reds in the 7th.

Pitchers' Civil War

One of the more interesting "Did we see the last start of Chan Ho Park's Phillies career?" stories was Jim Salisbury's column that suggests Park and the other struggling starters should be nervous about the fine season J.A. Happ is having.

He even likens Happ to a cattle prod to impose some urgency on the underperforming rotation.

He should have taken it a step further: The bullpen should be downright pissy with the starting rotation. And this could apply to both SoxandPhils.

The teams that are supposed to meet in the 2009 World Series (after the Rays botched the matchup in 2008) have two of the three worst starting staffs in baseball. Red Sox starters are 28th with a 5.76 ERA while the Phillies are dead last with a 6.35 ERA. (Each is more than a run worse than baseball's average; the Phillies are approaching two runs higher.)

But their bullpens have been pretty good. Red Sox relievers have been dominant - third with a 3.02 ERA while the Phillies are 12th with a 3.97 ERA. (Baseball's average is slightly less than 4.50.) And if you replaced Brad Lidge's awful line with an average reliever's - not even one of an elite closer - the Phillies' bullpen ERA would drop to 3.44.

Overall, the Red Sox are 21st with a 4.77 ERA (slightly worse than baseball's average) while the Phillies are 27th with a 5.39 ERA - almost a run higher than average.

Both teams expect to go far in the playoffs, but it's going to be hard with the starters pitching so poorly - especially when on paper each staff should be doing so much better.

Oops: Reading the box score yesterday, I didn't understand why Ramon Ramirez's run was unearned. The scorer has reversed it, so his ERA did rise to 0.86.

Mixed bag

If I said Ramon Ramirez and Brad Lidge would each pitch 2/3 of an inning and one would get a save and the other a loss, who would have tabbed Ramirez (ERA less than 1.00) as the loser and Lidge (ERA more than 8.00) with a two-pitch save?

Baseball's funny that way.

The Phillies completed a four-game sweep of the Nationals, 8-6, despite Chan Ho Park reverting to his early-season struggles. He was knocked out in the 2nd inning. Sergio Escalona (the surprise call-up to take Andrew Carpentar's roster spot) got the win in his major league debut.

Luckily, the Phillies were playing weak competition and were able to withstand Park's poor outing in a back-and-forth game fueled by the Nationals (then up 6-5) botching a sacrifice bunt by Pedro Feliz in the 8th. The pitcher threw it away, allowing two runs to score. Feliz later scored on an Eric Bruntlett double.

In the 9th, Charlie Manuel let Scott Eyre pitch to two lefties before bringing in Lidge with one out and one on. On his second pitch, Josh Willingham grounded into a double play.

Funny, I started my day watching the DVR of Brad Lidge getting a double play against the Nationals with the bases loaded to clinch the 2008 NL East. Unfortunately, that game was on Fox, so I was stuck with Tim McCarver saying Carlos Roo-is, instead of listening to Harry Kalas' joy.

Red Sox: No joy today. Mariners 3, Red Sox 2. Justin Masterson pitched well in what probably will be his last start because Daisuke Matsuzaka is expected to return from the DL. A 2-2 game on the road isn't very comforting, but I felt good knowing Ramirez was pitching the 9th with Jonathan Papelbon still in the pen.

Alas, for the second time this year, Ramirez allowed a run. It was unearned, and his ERA stands at 0.43. He got the first two men out before allowing an infield hit to Yuniesky Betancourt, who went to second on a throwing error. An intentional walk and then a base hit ended the game.

There's no guarantee the run wouldn't have scored without the error. It was a tough loss, but I cannot blame Ramirez; he's pitched too well this year.

Bright Sunday morning

I woke up to rain and clouds, but the outlook is good for the SoxandPhils after a Saturday in which everything went right. The Phillies swept a doubleheader against the Nationals, and Brad Lidge recorded a save with a rare 2009 scoreless appearance. Then, the nightcap ended in the 6th inning, preserving a bullpen that was needed early and is already overtaxed after Friday's extra innings.

Josh Beckett threw his best game since opening day to beat the Mariners 5-3, ending the Red Sox three-game losing streak. David Ortiz is expected to remain on the bench through today's game.

The end?

Preface: I have a gut feeling, beyond just a fan's hope, that this post will soon be outdated.

I wrote that more than a year ago on a post about David Ortiz's early struggles in 2008. He looked pained after every at-bat, knowing he was hurting the team. I had faith he would snap out of it. He did for parts of last year, but now I don't have the same faith, as Chad Finn wrote this week:

More than any player in franchise history, David Ortiz taught even the most cynical Red Sox fans that refusing to give up sometimes results in the sweetest
rewards.

So the inclination is to resist giving up on him. The man deserves that much, at least under normal circumstances.

Of course, there's a particularly cruel catch here: The circumstances are no longer normal; they are dire.

Is Papi done? Is his body breaking down? Will we find out that the magical combination he formed with Manny Ramirez was propped up by drugs? I hate thinking that about a guy who seemed so pure in spirit as he led the Red Sox to two World Championships, but after Manny, who knows who's next?

On Thursday, the guy who used to be automatic in clutch spots went 0-7 and left 12 men on, most notably weakly grounding out to end the 12th inning with the bases loaded.

In the aftermath, a dejected Ortiz said the words that many of us feel guilty for thinking:

"I'm sorry, guys. I just don't feel like talking right now," he told the media. "Just put down,'Papi stinks.'"

You could hear the pain through the printed words and my stomach turned. I'm hoping with nothing but hope that this is just an particularly bad slump and by the All-Star break he'll have 20 home runs, the Red Sox will be in first place by five games and all of this will be forgotten.

But I have a feeling that the more likely scenario is that the Sox will spend July looking for a successor to Big Papi.

Last night: With Papi on the bench, the Red Sox blew a 4-0 lead, losing to the Mariners 5-4. Next Saturday, I might have to write about Jon Lester's 2009 woes.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]

Mr. Manuel goes to Washington (with the Phils)

The Phillies took their final bow for 2008, spending the afternoon at the White House.

Charlie Manuel was quite entertaining when recapping the visit on the radio pregame show. He said President Barack Obama is very pleasing to look at and gives you a warm feeling inside.

(Is that why Cholly still hasn't proposed to his long-time companion?)

The Phils skipper said he has now met four presidents, but didn't clarify.

Obama also lauded the Phillies for their off-field endeavors and as an example of racial progress:

"Chase [Utley] works on behalf of pediatric hospitals. Brad [Lidge] supports our wounded warriors. Cole [Hamels] helps those suffering with HIV/AIDS in Africa. Ryan Howard is a national face for the Boys and Girls Clubs, participates in the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and takes an active role in mentoring inner-city students."

While honoring the Phillies for their achievements on the field, Obama made time to highlight the problems of race that persist both in the United States and in baseball. As inequalities in education, housing and other services plague society, baseball struggles to with its own lack of diversity.

According to a study conducted by Univ. of Central Florida Institute for Diversity & Ethics in Sport, blacks comprised only 10.2 percent of all major leaguers in 2008. The statistic recently provoked Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Orlando Hudson to say that Jackie Robinson "would probably turn over in his grave."

"As the number of African American kids taking up baseball is in severe decline, the impact of having role models like Ryan and Jimmy to look up to just can't be measured," Obama said.

Now, if only the president could help their awful starting pitching.

Tonight's games: The Phillies should have stayed in the Rose Garden. Ryan Howard crushed one to dead center for a three-run home run, giving the Phillies a 6-4 lead in the 7th against the Nationals. But Brad Lidge, who has gone from Lights Out to Blown Save Brad, coughed it up. Even worse, the game remains tied in the 12th with J.A. Happ (who was supposed to start one of the games in tomorrow's double header) on the mound.

The Red Sox are off to a decent start, up 4-0 in the 4th against the Mariners.

Update: As Greg was writing this, the offense finally came through. Phillies 10, Nationals 6.

[Photo credit: Philadelphia Inquirer]

Extra double disappointment

Both teams had early games; both lost in extra innings.

If I told you the Phillies would play into the 10th inning after being down 3-1 in the bottom of the 9th, you'd be happy. Until, I told you:

• The two runs they scored in the bottom of the 9th wouldn't have been needed if Brad Lidge hadn't given the Dodgers an insurance run in the top of the inning. That's five consecutive appearances without a scoreless inning for the formerly perfect closer.
• Cole Hamels had a dominant outing - giving up two runs (only one earned) over seven with nine strikeouts.
• The offense, although facing a quality starter in Chad Billingsley, could only muster five hits in the 5-3 loss.

Christine was disappointed earlier this week when she saw this was an afternoon game. I'm not too disappointed I didn't have to sit through it with her. She wouldn't have taken it too well.

Red Sox: No going to sleep wondering what will happen tonight. In fact, thanks to MLB Network's constant updates, I got to see most of the game-ending high, err, lowlights.

In the 11th, Jonathan Papelbon put two runners in scoring position with two outs, but pitched out of it. In the top of the 12th, the Red Sox loaded them up with one out for Dustin MVPedroia and the ultra-clutch David Ortiz. This was a surefire lead until Pedroia meekly struck out and Papi looked even meeker checking his swing and hitting a little dribbler to end the inning. The Sox were put out of their misery in the bottom of the inning. Angels 5, Red Sox 4.

It's eerie how our teams' fates sometimes seem intertwined. It's kind of neat when they're winning, not so much on days like this.

West Coast mystery

One of the joys of playing on the West Coast is that anything can happen in the game while you sleep.

When I turned in last night, it was a 1-1 game in the early innings. I woke up to learn that the Red Sox scored three runs in the 8th and 9th innings to beat the Angels 4-3. J.D. Drew scored the winning run from first on a Jason Varitek double.

Tonight, the Sox are up 4-0 in the 2nd. I wonder what result I will wake up to tomorrow.

It has felt as if the Red Sox really haven't gotten rolling yet. But today I heard WFAN's Mike Francesa rant at the Yankees poor start. And he said he didn't want to hear injuries as an excuse because the Red Sox are 21-12 and have been playing without Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Daisuke Matsuzaka. And, he said, that's not considering the struggles of Josh Beckett and Jon Lester.

Phillies: A day after Jayson Werth and the Phillies ran circles around the Dodgers, they were flat tonight, losing 9-2. Jamie Moyer struggled again (seven runs in less than five innings). Christine is officially worried about the venerable champion. I've previously likened him to Tim Wakefield in that if he struggles, he's the type of player you feel bad for personally and don't care as much about whether he's hurting the team.

Human interest stories

The effects of Jose Offerman's attack are still being felt by former independent leaguer John Nathans. He was the catcher Offerman hit with a bat while charging the mound against former Phillie Matt Beech. I didn't realize he was so severely injured until reading this account of how the incident has changed Nathans' life:

"He's still in the game, playing baseball. I have not been allowed to live my life the way it was intended. My life is changed forever."

Nathans probably wouldn't have made the majors even if this attack didn't occurred, but you get the sense he wouldn't have given up his dream and would still be playing ball somewhere, not rehabbing from the concussion.

He'd be a player like Matt Stairs, milking all that he could out of whatever natural ability he had. If you're saddened by Nathans' story, take heart in the story of the Wonder Hamster, a true player of the people:

"As a player, the biggest thing is don't give fans an excuse not to like you. That's the biggest thing. But it is nice when you hit that big home run and the fans say, 'Hey, he's just like us. He's not one of those guys who hits it and showboats. He's very humble about it.'"

Funny, this story, centered on the fact Stairs tries to hit only homers, comes a day after Christine remarked: "They should have a home run derby just with guys like Stairs who hit only home runs." I said, "Yeah, the type of guys who would never back out of a derby."

Tonight's games: The Red Sox are on the road against the Angels (after my bedtime). The Phillies beat the Dodgers 5-3. Chan Ho Park pitched a quality game, getting his first win of the season. Brad Lidge gave up a run, but managed the save.

The real story, of course, was Jayson Werth. He had four stolen bases, including one of home. I can't believe both of our teams have had steals of home this year. Werth's came when the catcher was tossing the ball back to the pitcher - I can't remember seeing one like that before.

Cleaning up yesterday's Tasch

In yesterday's post recapping our conversation about Jack Taschner's crappy performance and lack of a nickname, I forgot to say that it started with Christine lamenting, "Where's J.C. Romero?" when things started to turn bad.

"I dunno, off doing steroids," I snarkily replied.

Well, turns out Christine wasn't the only one missing J.C. for Sunday's game. While most reporters obsessed about moving Jimmy Rollins out of the leadoff spot, Scott Lauber focused on the Phillies playing a tight game without their best reliever of the past three seasons.

"That would have been J.C.'s role if he was here, definitely, without a doubt," Manuel said later, standing outside his office in Citizens Bank Park. "That's how we did it last year. That's what got us through to [closer Brad] Lidge."

[...]

"I gave up three base hits, and not one of them did I consider to be well struck," Taschner said. "It's just the way the game goes. I'm the one to blame for this one."

Somewhere, Romero must've felt responsible, too.

Red Sox: Dan Duquette defended his regime against the steroid accusations leveled by Lou Merloni. Their stories aren't entirely dissimilar; it's just a matter of interpreting whether the doctors were purely educating about the risks of steroids or how to do them safely. I don't want to be dismissive, but I'd be more concerned if it involved the current ownership.

I didn't like one answer because it's more implication of Manny Ramirez's Red Sox years:

On whether he was surprised by Manny Ramirez's suspension:

Duquette: "I was disappointed. I wasn't surprised."

Last night's game: I struggled to stay up as Jonathan Papelbon struck out the side to preserve the 4-3 win after starting the inning with a walk and a hit. Other than the time (and an injury to Dustin Pedroia, who wasn't playing shortstop, as first reported by the Globe), it was a pretty good game - solid start by Josh Beckett and another late clutch hit for Jason Bay.

Pat Burrell jumped out of the box when the crowd erupted in reaction to the Celtics playoff win.

With Hideki Okajima on the mound, much of the crowd started applauding for no reason that was evident on the field. Burrell, in fact, was confused enough that he stepped out of the batter's box and looked around.

Glen Davis's jumper at the buzzer had just gone in, and the Celtics had evened their series with Orlando.

"I didn't know if there was a big fight going on or did somebody run on the field," Burrell said. "Definitely, it was time to get out of the box. No idea.

"And then as soon as I thought about it, I said, 'Oh, it's probably hockey.' The home plate umpire said, 'I think it's basketball.'"

Nickname for blown game?

As we watched Jack Taschner turn Brett Myers' 2-1 lead into a 3-2 deficit in the 7th inning, Christine decided he needs a nickname.

J.T. is too obvious, and we know already know a J.T.

I suggested Traschman.

She said he's not cleaning up other people's messes, but creating his own.

I said it's more that he's pitching like garbage.

My next suggestion, Tasch-hole, just drew a glare.

Any suggestions?

The Phillies wound up losing 4-2 - Brad Lidge gave up the final run - spoiling a solid outing from Myers. With hope, the Red Sox will fare better in their nationally televised game against the Rays tonight. Matt Garza vs. Josh Beckett.

It's got to be an error, but the Globe has Dustin Pedroia playing short tonight.

We'll be watching and hoping to report on a win tomorrow.

Oh, heard on ESPN radio this morning: "The Mets, like a drunk on a bar stool, woke up in first place this morning. The only question is how long before they fall off."

And, Javier Lopez is no more. Welcome up, Daniel Bard. Funny, I was playing Baseball Mogul the other day, and they had a picture of the old Braves catcher Javy Lopez instead of our now former reliever. Christine always gets the two J-Lo's confused too, along with every other Javier or Lopez who ever played Major League Baseball. {Sorry, some weird mental block from watching Javy for all those years on TBS and playing against the Phils.}

Not a good day

I thought the Red Sox were on MLB's Saturday night game today. I got home and was surprised to see I was wrong and they had already played. (I got confused because they are playing tomorrow on ESPN.) I didn't miss much - they lost to the Rays 14-5. Jon Lester was beat like a pinata: eight earned in 4 1/3 innings on 10 hits and a walk. What happened to the 2008 vintage?

Evan Longoria hit his 11th home run and upped his RBI total to 44. But, hey, that's only 23 against teams other than the Red Sox. This is embarrassing. We've finally become the Yankees' daddy, but the Rays are now our daddy.

We were busy today and couldn't sit down and watch the Phillies this afternoon. Like the Red Sox, we didn't miss much. They lost 6-2 to the Braves. Javier Vazquez dominated them into the 8th inning. Joe Blanton went eight innings, but gave up six runs.

I hope both teams fare better on national TV tomorrow (Phils on TBS, Sox on ESPN).

Farewell Little Professor

We take a break from the stupidity of modern athletes to mourn one of the all-time great Red Sox: Dom DiMaggio.

Connected to and overshadowed by both premier outfielders of his generation, teammate Ted Williams and brother Joe DiMaggio, he had a stellar, yet underrated, career.

From his Boston Globe obituary:

The author David Halberstam described Mr. DiMaggio as "probably the most underrated player of his day." Playing in the shadow of the era's two biggest superstars made that inevitable, perhaps. But neither of his great contemporaries failed to appreciate Mr. DiMaggio's talents. Williams considered him "the best leadoff man in the American League," and his older brother called him "the best defensive outfielder I've ever seen."

Bill James' 2001 Baseball Abstract rated him the 24th best centerfielder of all time.

And I'm pretty sure he was 100 percent clean.

For some reason, this death makes me madder about the drug-infested era we're living through. It's also sad that there's only one left of the Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky trio.

I have a nice picture of them somewhere. I should go find it. (It's too big to scan in for the blog.)

And didn't mention yesterday because of Manny Ramirez and lack of sentimental attachment, but former Phillies manager Danny Ozark died.

J-Roll's an idiot: First Jimmy Rollins said he was retired from the prediction business. Then, he predicted a .400 month. (Although it's an improvement over April's .207, May's .222 is a far cry from Ted Williams.) Now, we learn he had predicted a Phillies-Yankees World Series. I guess hitting isn't the only thing J-Roll is struggling with this year.

Phillies: We bumped into a friend at the grocery store and talked for a while, so we were later than usual coming home. The Phillies were already three innings in when we tuned in the car radio, just in time to hear Cole Hamels give up his first hit, and to hear Larry Andersen say he's not into "Spacebook or Myface" when Scott Franzke asked if he Twitters.

Hamels pitched his first decent game of the year: six innings, two runs on three hits and two walks. Seven strikeouts. Things got a bit dicey in the 9th when Brad Lidge, who hadn't pitched since Tuesday, was summoned to protect a seven-run lead. He did, but gave up three runs in the 10-6 win over the Braves.

Red Sox: Brad Penny pitched into the 7th (two decent starts in a row) in a 7-3 win over the Rays (finally!). Jonathan Papelbon needed 11 pitches to quickly end the game in his non-save situation.

[Photo: Boston Globe files]

Disappointing

If we ranked the roiders, the fourth biggest name on the list would be the newest addition: Manny Ramirez.

Unreal.

I first heard it from a Yankees fan. He was laughing and surprised that I wasn't. Then I heard about it from a Red Sox fan who was ecstatic and couldn't understand why I wasn't sharing in his joy.

The reason is simple. Bob Ryan nailed it:

If Manny is lying, and we discover that he's been juiced for a long time, the ramifications for Boston and the Red Sox are enormous. He was a major part of what went on in 2004 and 2007. He was, after all, the MVP of the 2004 World Series. Any implication that a juiced Manny helped end the 86 years of misery and trauma would not be good.

For some time, Christine has been convinced that one or more significant contributors of the 2004 World Champion Red Sox would turn out to be roider. Rationally, I've known it's possible, if not probable, that our championships are tainted. Emotionally, I still hope it's not true.

When it comes to roiders, the truth has been elusive. Especially with Manny's idiosyncrasies, I expect the same twists we've seen with Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. We may have seen one already in this Deadspin story that tracked drugs shipped to a Manny Ramirez in Massachusetts, but maybe not the Manny Ramirez.

If it were anybody else, I'd call it coincidence because in this climate who would be stupid enough to have drugs shipped using his real name? Perhaps Manny.

Today's games: The hopefully clean Red Sox beat the Indians 13-3 behind a good start by Tim Wakefield and a 12-run 6th inning. The hopefully clean Phillies lost their second straight game to the Mets, 7-5. J.A. Happ pitched well in relief after an early departure from Jamie Moyer. Christine got mad when I suggested he replace the old guy in his next start.

Unexpected

Any Phillies fan would have love it if I had guaranteed that the Phillies would give up just one run in tonight's game started by the struggling Chan Ho Park. And that's what happened as Park pitched six scoreless innings before Scott Eyre and Chad Durbin yielded an unearned run.

Unfortunately, Johan Santana was a tick better, pitching seven dominant innings and winning 1-0.

And if I had predicted there would be just one unearned run for both teams, who would have guessed it was caused by an error by Pedro Feliz and a misplay by Jayson Werth?

It wasn't the greatest start for the Phils in new Ebbets Field, but if it gets Park on track, I'll take it.

Red Sox: They got whupped by Carl Pavano and the Indians tonight, 9-2. Maybe they're just saddened by the news about Jerry Remy, who announced he has lung cancer. “I hope that disclosing my bout with cancer will reinforce the dangers of smoking to every member of Red Sox Nation, especially children,” Remy said.

Sox seem to like their new digs

Ever since that strange sight of Red Sox mimicking snow angels on the grass at Yankee Stadium after completing their historic comeback in 2004, I've always considered New York a second home for Boston baseball.

I know it's an extremely small sample size (less than two games), but the Sox are settling in nicely to their new second home.

I didn't know last night's game was on ESPN until I went to bed around 11 p.m. The rain pushed it too late for me to watch anyway, but it looked like I missed a good one. The Red Sox scored a run in each of the first four and withstood one shaky inning by Jon Lester (three runs in the 5th) and the first run given up by Ramon Ramirez this year to win 6-4. Lester finished with 10 strikeouts in seven innings. Jason Bay and Mike Lowell homered, and David Ortiz had two doubles. I have a feeling that tonight is the tonight he is going to finally put one over a fence.

Christine put the over/under for last night's game to end by 1 a.m. I said 1 a.m. give or take 10 minutes, meaning from 12:50 to 1:10. It ended at 1:13.

Things got off to a good start tonight. They scored four runs in the first inning on an RBI single by Papi and a three-run homer by Jason Bay. It's now 4-3 in the 7th. Joba Chamberlain, who might have other things on his mind, couldn't make it out of the 6th.

Phillies: They beat the Cardinals 6-1 last night and are leading 7-3 in the 5th tonight.

Injuries: Reports on Rick Ankiel are good the day after he bent his neck while crashing into the wall. Cole Hamels is still on target to start Friday, but suddenly Chase Utley's status is questionable because his foot is still injured after being nailed by Mike Pelfrey last week. Like the Phillies, the Red Sox' leading MVP candidate was scratched today with injuries sustained by beanballs. Even in a AAA rehab start, Daisuke Matsuzaka labored, and then Jacoby Ellsbury left the game early tonight because of a tight hamstring.

Jayson Werth goes soft

Jayson Werth has traded in headbangers in leather for pulsating keyboards and sleeveless T-shirts. We noticed that he switched his intro music from Sammy Hagar's Heavy Metal to Journey's Separate Ways when we attended our first game of the year on Saturday.

It took us a minute to identify the new song. Actually, I had no shot, but it came to Christine in dribs. She pictured the video - Steve Perry in a sleeveless shirt, something like a dockyard and the woman walking. The music played in her head, and then she finally remembered the lyrics. She told me to write down Separate Ways to check when we got home. She was right.

I don't know whether Werth is a huge Journey fan or whether he's going through some marital trouble. I will assume it's the former and have taken the liberty to check the band's tour dates to see when J-Dub can check them out this summer. I saw two possibilities: Aug. 31 in Uniondale, N.Y. (the Phillies are off in between games at New York and Pittsburgh) and Sept. 13 in Wallingford, Ct. (the Phillies play the Mets at home in the afternoon, but are off the following day before hosting the Nationals).

Unfortunately, the Phillies are in Houston when Journey plays in Atlantic City, and they have a night game when the band plays in Reading.

If the schedule doesn't work out, Werth always can always hit YouTube, where unfortunately all the Separate Ways videos don't have embeddable links.

Tonight: Rain pushed the Red Sox game in New York to 9:30; they're up 1-0 in the 1st. The central time zone pushed the Phillies back to 8 p.m.; they're up 6-1 in the 5th.

Christine was watching Ryan Howard bat with the bases loaded in the top of the 5th.

"Is he going to do it?" I said.

"I don't know," Christine said with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Uh-oh," I said when Howard made contact, which is my pre-home run call, good or bad.

Then, the camera pans to Howard's dad and a woman in the stands cheering the grand slam.

"I bet that's Jayson Werth's mom," Christine said.

Tom McCarthy confirmed it was shortly after.

[Image: Austin Chronicle]

Confidence

The Phillies were rained out, but the Red Sox, playing in the rainproof Tropicana Dome, were on TBS as they tried to salvage a split against Tampa.

When we left for a dinner commitment, the Sox trailed 3-1 in the 6th, but I was confident they'd come back, if for no other reason than Brad Penny was starting. If he gives up only three runs in six innings, the Sox should win.

But when we returned, it was a 5-3 Rays win, so the Sox head to their first games in Yankee Stadium closer to the third-place Yankees than the first-place Blue Jays.

David Ortiz, who hopefully takes advantage of homer-happy Yankee stadium this week, took another oh-for-three.

He spoke today, saying he is starting to relax and confident things will turn around. I hope so, because MVP or no MVP, it has to be humiliating for Big Papi to have Dustin Pedroia intentionally walked in front of him.

He's confident this is just a slump, not the end of a fabled Red Sox career: "I'll be back," he said. "Write that [expletive] down."

Confidence was a topic during Saturday's Phillies game while Brad Lidge tried to get through the 9th inning. Christine was nervous. I reminded her she was more confident in him the last time we saw him in person with the World Series clincher on the line. She said she had more confidence in the team then. {The inconsistency and playing from behind is killing me. I know that's how the Phillies played during most of 2008, but when it mattered, they buckled down and left no doubt that every game was winnable. This year, I'm not feeling that yet.}

Conversely, from the Mets' perspective, this morning I heard New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro interviewed on radio. He was asked whether he had any doubt Shane Victorino would walk to end the game.

He said he knew it was over when the Phillies had two men on and the Mets didn't bring in Francisco Rodriguez.

I guess confidence is all a matter of perspective.

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.

Losing to the rivals

Both our teams lost to their rivals tonight.

Chan Ho Park was the big goat for the Phillies in their 7-4 loss against the Mets.

Christine: How long are we going to be stuck with Chan Ho Park in the rotation?

Me: Judging by Adam Eaton, a year and a half.

He was pretty darn bad tonight: seven runs on six walks and eight hits over 4 2/3 innings. I've said since spring training he shouldn't be a starter - now I no longer have faith that he would be serviceable in the bullpen. Christine thinks he'd be fine switching spots with J.A. Happ.

In the 6th I was starting to believe in mystique and aura when the Mets over threw third base. I believed for all of two seconds until Greg Dobbs ran past second on his way to third, forcing Chris Coste to try to score when he had no chance.

Ryan Howard struck out to end the game with a poor swing at a bad pitch. "What the (insert Chase Utley's favorite word here) was that?" Christine said.

Red Sox: All I know about this 6-2 loss to the Rays is this: When flipping to MLB Network to try to find a mid-game update, they were talking about where Evan Longoria ranks among third basemen. They mentioned he hit a grand slam tonight. Ugh.

Justin Masterson pitched almost as poorly as Chan Ho Park, but Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez each pitched a scoreless inning, preserving their 0.00 ERAs.

Tomorrow: We're going to our first game. A colleague mentioned the rainy forecast. "No biggie," I said. "It won't be any worse than the last game we went to."