SoxandPhils series starts

I love the morning of a SoxandPhils series. There's something weird but pleasing about reading Phillies coverage in the Boston papers and Red Sox coverage in the Philly papers.

The Phillies writers, who never appreciated the talent of Terry Francona, obviously focused on the Red Sox troubles:

"Right now," conceded manager Terry Francona, the team's bald, bespectacled Job, "we're being tested a lot."

But the two-time champion is continuing to guide the Sox with a steady hand amid troubled waters:

Asked to assume, for a moment, the perspective of a fan viewing a team that seems increasingly dysfunctional, Francona showed an instinct for self-preservation.

"If I speak like a fan," he said, "I'm going to be a fan pretty soon."

The Red Sox writers, however, are in awe of the Phillies and are speculating about Jayson Werth:

The Sox-Phillies series should be interesting if only because it'll be a chance to see Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Roy Halladay and future Sox star Jayson Werth. There are a few too many interleague games and the integrity of the schedule is damaged, but the games are still fun.

Still, it's a bit ridiculous that the Red Sox get the Phillies six times and the Yankees get the F Troop Mets six times.

SoxandPhils writer Scott Lauber checked in with some similar SoxandPhils players, such as Ryan Howard offering support for David Ortiz:

Ortiz texted Howard last month to congratulate him on his new contract. Howard responded by offering Ortiz encouragement through a text message. His advice: Just be yourself.

"Everybody knows that you're going to have ups and downs. Everybody knows that you're not going to get off to a good start every year," Howard said. "You being you, doing what you do, your numbers are going to be where your numbers are pretty much every year.

"As far as (Ortiz) is concerned, I think people make a big deal out of it. It's like, if he doesn't get off to the start that everybody thinks he should get off to, all of a sudden he's struggling and this and that. You've just got to let the man play, let him do what he does."

Tonight's game: It was Ryan Howard homering tonight in the 4th inning to tie the game 1-1. We learned - and can't believe we didn't know this before - that fans who catch Phillies home run balls get to have it signed by the player who hit it. It had been a nice pitching duel between John Lackey and Cole Hamels until the 4th, but then Shane Victorino singled in another run, and in the next inning, "future Sox" Werth hit a two-run home run.

Howard later poked one to the opposite field, against the shift, to drive in another run.

The Red Sox loaded the bases in the 9th, but Papi flew out to end it 5-1. Christine rubbed it in by wearing her Phillies pajama pants and a Phillies T-shirt. She claims it's because I wore my Red Sox shorts, but I wear them on most nights.

Uh-oh: Jimmy Rollins, making his return to the leadoff spot, was removed from the game. It looks like something is wrong with his leg again. Good thing Wilson Valdez cleared waivers today.

And by the end of the game, Victor Martinez's first inning home run was long forgotten.