Smooth sailing for the Phils, not so much for the Sox

The Phillies held off the Reds 5-4 tonight, keeping their hold on first place. Kyle Kendrick didn't pitch particularly well, but the bullpen kept the game in check. Another great game all around for the 2008 MVP Chase Utley. Even Harry Kalas doesn't know how to handle it. After Utley ended the game with a diving catch, Harry revived his "Chase Utley, you are the man," but it sounded forced. Tom Gordon pitched a clean 8th without a chat with Jimmy Rollins.

Things weren't as smooth for the World Champs tonight, as they finished their series with the Orioles before beginning their big showdown with the first-place Rays. For the second time in a row, they wasted a great Tim Wakefield start. Tonight's culprit was Hideki Okajima (four runs in two-thirds of an inning). He's been in my fantasy team's doghouse, but I started him this week.

More importantly, with our best pitcher already on the DL, David Ortiz could be out for a month, or even the whole season. Not good.

Manny trivia: Guess which pitcher has been most victimized by the newest member of the 500-homer club? Jamie Moyer. Christine points out that J-Moy is 45. When Manny Ramirez is 45, Moyer will be 54 and more likely than Manny to still be playing then.

The march toward 600 begins ...

Finally, that's over with.

Manny Ramirez has become the first Red Sox since Ted Williams to hit 500 home runs.

Congrats, Manny.

I don't always approve of your antics, but I know you're the greatest Red Sox left fielder. (Of my generation, anyway).

The Splendid Splinter and Carl Yastrzemski are waiting for you in Cooperstown.

Overshadowed by the Manny show, the Red Sox beat the Orioles 6-3.

Before Manny hit No. 500 tonight, Ken Griffey Jr. hit No. 599 this afternoon. Christine is hoping 600 comes tomorrow because on Monday the Reds come to Philly, and she doesn't want to spend the rest of the season watching Griffey's milestone homer fly out of Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies return to first place was short-lived as Cole Hamels is trying to become the most worrisome member of the Phillies rotation now that it appears Brett Myers and Adam Eaton are pitching decently. Marlins 7, Phillies 3. Christine is kicking herself for not talking a walk to reverse jinx a big inning.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]

You ask, we try to answer

Since the Red Sox and Phillies are off to rest up before pushing the Florida teams out of first place, we're going to answer some of the questions we've received since starting this blog.

1) Is Jayson Werth married? Pat Burrell? Werth is married with two children, but he doesn't list their names in the Phillies media guide. Burrell is married to Michelle Fonseca with a bulldog named Elvis, who gave his owner a stiff neck this week. It's unconfirmed whether there's a second bulldog named Priscilla.

2) Who was the guy who painted a birthday portrait of the Phanatic this month? He's Dan Dunn, a Paint Jam Artist.

3) What does Daisuke Matsuzaka's Japanese stamp look like? Here's the Dice-K that sends mail (found at the Japanese site Garbage News):


4) When was the Phillies last no-hitter? Kevin Millwood, 1-0 against the Giants, April 27, 2003. The last current Phillie to be involved in a no-hitter is Brad Lidge, who combined with five Astros to blank the Yankees 8-0 on June 11, 2003. (We were vacationing in Hawaii at the time.)

5) What is the intro song for (fill in the name of just about any ballplayer)? This is the most recent list we could find, but some are dubious. Burrell used to rock to Dio's Holy Diver, but now comes out to Don Henley's Dirty Laundry.

Manny being Manny: While the Red Sox dropped a 1-0 game to the anemic Mariners last night to fall 1.5 games behind the Rays, Manny was glad he didn't hold up the team and media with a post-game press conference for his 500th homer.

The press conference would be too late and it would delay us getting into Baltimore.

Great, that's much more important than tying or taking a lead in a game against the worst team in baseball.

Catching up on yesterday's news ...

Daisuke Matsuzaka remains undefeated, as the Red Sox waited until the bottom of the 9th to lose against the Mariners. Dice was long gone by then; apparently his shoulder has finally fallen apart from all the pitches he throws. Funny, he logged only 65 in four innings last night - pretty efficient for him.

The game was not without drama, however. Manny, as promised, hit No. 499 to build excitement for No. 500. I'm certainly thrilled and hope it comes when the team continues to struggle on the road.

Question: It looks like the Red Sox may be well represented at the All-Star game. Will they play like the awful road team they are or the dominant home team? I've considered Yankee Stadium their home away from home since 2004, so look for them to trump the NL and have the World Series open at Fenway.

I will admit it would be embarrassing to see so many Sox on the squad. Kevin Youkilis deserves it; Dustin Pedroia isn't undeserving, but you could easily pick someone else, and David Ortiz, Jason Varitek and Manny Ramirez also aren't undeserving, but their history factors in a lot. Oh well, these things even out over time - remember when Scoot Cooper was our only selection?

{Greg is so obnoxious. Sounds just like a Yankees fan.}

The NL released their vote tallies today. The Phillies' moms need to learn from Chase Utley's how to stuff the ballot box.

Today's milestones: Congratulations. A whole-hearted congratulations on this significant accomplishment - Adam Eaton's first win of 2008. He actually pitched six solid innings in the Phillies 6-1 win over the Rockies tonight. ... ESPN is showing all of Manny's at-bats as he tries for 500. So far, he's 0 for 1. No score in the 3rd. ... Finally, congrats to Wally the Green Monster, who was named by Maxim as the baseball mascot most deserving of a punch to the groin.

Also tonight, we stepped out for a walk and to get some dinner. What did I miss? The Phils' five-run 5th inning. Oh well, as long as they keep winning - I can always watch the highlights later.

Perfect homestand, sorta perfect Dice-K

The Red Sox won their getaway game, 11-8 over the Royals, capping a 7-0 homestand, thanks to grand slams from J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell. Daisuke Matsuzaka is now 8-0 with a 2.40 ERA, but he had another typical Dice-K start: 118 pitches in 5 2/3 innings. He walked six and had two wild pitches.

The team is cruising, but I am not without concern: Dice should be dominating, and the bullpen should be better. When you score 11 runs against the Royals, Jonathan Papelbon shouldn't be needed for a save, but he was because of shoddy middle relief (five runs in two innings from Craig Hansen and David Aardsma). Hansen's been a train wreck despite having one of the best sliders in the game. Aardsma gets a pass today because they were his first runs in a month (8 1/3 innings).

Oh well, onto the West Coast, where Manny has predicted he'll hit No. 500.

Phillies: Playing in the central time zone, the Phils beat the Astros, 7-5. Ryan Howard was 3-5 (single, double and homer) with three runs and two RBIs. Pat Burrell gave them the lead with a pinch-hit homer in the 8th. Brad Lidge was booed for every strike and cheered for every ball in the bottom of the 9th. The count went 2-0 on Kaz Matsui, and from the crowd reaction, you would have thought the Astros won the game. The anticipated match-up of Lidge vs. Lance Berkman ended after one pitch, a pop-up to So Taguchi to end the game. Lights out.

Phils' bats, and fat Bart, pitch in

We were surprised to see the Phillies score a couple of runs early. We were confident that they wouldn't blow it, so we went out for ice cream mid-game. It was 4-0 when we entered the shop, 11-0 when we returned to our car.

The Phillies offense returned tonight against the Nationals. Hopefully, it's not a one-night engagement. Ryan Howard had a big night (three hits, four RBI, 10 TB and one BB), pushing up his averages to .195/.300/.443. Clay Condrey pitched three innings to save the 12-2 game.

Meanwhile, back in the Fens, where young hungry pitchers rule supreme, it was an old and (literally) hungry Bartolo Colon having a respectable debut, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks in five innings, striking out four. I've been thinking this week that we have an excess of quality starting pitching. But then I remember the last time we had an excess of quality starting pitching, we traded Bronson Arroyo for Wily Mo Pena.

Meanwhile, Manny Ramirez didn't hit two home runs tonight, meaning he's one game without two home runs away from fulfilling his promise of not hitting his 500th on this homestand:

There's something I've been meaning to tell you about the 500 home runs. I don't want to hit 500 right now. I want to wait a little while. No one is talking about it. No one's excited about it. I want to wait until everyone's excited about it.

Great, Manny, go ask Jon Lester if the fans get excited about a significant achievement.