Farewell Feliz, and A-Gon is gone

Christine and I were finishing dinner after a busy but enjoyable Sunday.

"Oh shoot, the blog," I said, remembering that I didn't have a post and that I'm not yet accustomed to the fact I can no longer just rely on game action.

"Don't worry, maybe something happened today," Christine said.

"Well, we didn't get a chance to answer Matty's question about Pedro Feliz, maybe I'll just make that the post," I said.

"Unless the Phillies have already announced a decision on his option," Christine said.

We both decided there was little chance of that happening on a Sunday. Oops: Phils decline Feliz option.

So, here's how we would have answered Matty's question whether we would pick up the $5.5 million option.

Christine is a definite yes because his defense compensates for his weak bat.

I don't mind Feliz at $5.5 million - that is what he is worth. But I probably would have taken the Phillies' tact: cut him loose and see if you can find a better option in what should be a deflated market with the economy. Besides, remember how Feliz became a Phillie? Nobody else wanted him. So if the Phillies don't find a good deal for a better third baseman, they can always go back to Feliz.

I think that's what GM Ruben Amaro has in mind:

"This doesn't preclude us from bringing Pedro back next season," Amaro said in a statement. "While this allows us to explore other opportunities, we will continue to keep the lines of communication open with Pedro and his representative."

The Red Sox also declined an option on an infielder today, casting aside Alex Gonzalez. They too may bring back Gonzalez at a lesser deal.

Playoff baseball has arrived

Last night felt like playoff baseball - hoping not only for a win, but for an ending so I could go to sleep.

Somehow I was able to fall asleep even after all the craziness and excitement of the 9th inning in which the Red Sox stole a 9-8 walkoff win from the Angels.

Despite the playoff feel, the game never seemed comfortable other than the five-run 6th inning in which the Red Sox took a 5-3 lead. They coughed it right up and entered the bottom of the 9th facing Brian Fuentes trailing 8-7.

The Red Sox had a 23 percent chance of winning at that point, which dropped to 5 percent after two quick flyouts. Then things got crazy. David Ortiz worked a walk. J.D. Drew hit an infield single. Jed Lowrie, making his first plate appearance in more than a month, pinch hit and got another infield single. Actually, this could have been a game-tying double if Chone Figgins didn't knock it down.

Then, a nine-pitch walk by pinch-hitter Nick Green swung the odds in the Red Sox favor. I admit, Green, who looked awful and later said he had a dead leg, should have been punched out at least twice. Once on a checked swing on which he clearly swung and on the final pitch, which looked to be a perfect strike.

I'll let Mike Scioscia and Fuentes do the griping. I don't want to be fined by the commissioner's office.

Nonetheless, in baseball, spit happens, like Alex Gonzalez's little duck snort to left to win it and put the Red Sox comfortably ahead of the Rangers by 6.5 games and still within hope (6.5 games) of catching the Yankees.

Tonight's games: Both games were on TV again tonight, but we decided to rely on the channel return button instead of watching in separate rooms - especially the breath-taking 9th innings that ended without a Red Sox comeback, but a Brad Lidge save in a blemished outing.

Both our teams' aces went eight innings tonight. Josh Beckett gave up three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts in the 4-3 loss to the Angels. Billy Wagner blew it for him in the 8th.

Cole Hamels was better than Beckett. He took a perfect game into the 6th. Christine blames me for getting up from the computer for breaking the streak. Hey, I finished prewriting the blog all I could and I was going to have to use the facilities. Jeez, it's not like I needed a substitution like Shane Victorino.

Cole finished with a run on five hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts. Brad Lidge gave up a run in the 9th, but he held on to preserve the 4-2 win over the Nationals.

Thus ended a successful 13-2 homestand for the SoxandPhils. They're cruising toward their October/November showdown.

Catching up with SoxandPhils keystone combos

I've read a few interesting tidbits about our teams' midfielders in the past couple days.

Everyone knows Chase Utley is real good and has been the best second baseman in baseball the past few years. This FanGraphs blogger, however, suggests he has been nearly Albert Pujols good, but has largely been ignored by MVP voters. Ironically, this Chase Utley admirer, Erik Manning, covers not the Phillies, but the Cardinals. He notes that Chase hasn't yet cinched a spot in the Hall of Fame, but he's got a good shot at being an all-time upper pantheon type of player.

While checking Utley's Baseball-Reference page to see how close he is to being a Hall of Famer, I noticed some interesting friends and foes in his player comps: David Wright, Victor Martinez, Matt Holliday, Jason Bay, Marcus Giles and Carlton Fisk.

It's hard to believe Utley hasn't finished higher than seventh in MVP voting. Maybe he should try to raise his profile by garnering attention by doing something - say, cursing on a national broadcast.

Or, he could ask the SoxandPhils middle infield MVPs - Jimmy Rollins and Dustin Pedroia - for advice.

Speaking of J-Roll, everyone knows he's having a down year at the plate, but he may be having a historically good season in the field. Jayson Stark reports he could become the first NL shortstop to handle more than 600 chances with three errors or fewer:

When a player is in the midst of a historic offensive season, the world catches on to it by now. But how come, when a guy is chasing a historic defensive season, it's a bigger secret than Dick Cheney's cholesterol count?

The Red Sox MVP second baseman is starting to power up for the stretch run. He weathered a 183 at-bat homerless stretch in the middle of the season and had his first multi-homer game last night:

And as far as the numbers taking care of themselves, he's three homers shy of the 15 he hit a year ago.

"You get more at-bats throughout the year, and it all evens out," Pedroia said. "It's not like I'm going to hit 30 home runs in a year or anything like that. But I'm definitely going to hit some."

And his new double-play mate has a strange season going. I swear I noticed this days ago, but Alex Gonzalez is hitting .289 - that's good. But he's only getting on-base at a .289 clip - that's not good. How does someone go 84 at bats without a walk?

Today's games: Both of our teams are in tight ones against less than top-notch competition. The Red Sox have blown a lead in a game started by Paul Byrd (Manny Delcarman's the culprit of the blown lead) and trail the Orioles 4-3 in the 6th.

When I started updating the scores, the Phillies were starting the 8th tied at four after Cliff Lee gave up a run in the 7th, but the red-hot (Christine swears he's not juiced) Jayson Werth hit another home run, followed by Pedro Feliz. In the 8th, Phillies 6, Nationals 4.

I wonder who gets the ball if it stays close in the 9th.

Phillies' reign as Philly's top team is secure

Slow news day in Philly, huh?

We couldn't believe when we heard last night that the Eagles signed Michael Vick. {Actually, I wasn't shocked by it. Greg had on, ugh, Mike and Mike on Thursday morning, and some reporter mentioned that Vick could land with the Eagles.}

What would Chase and Jen Utley think?

What were the Eagles thinking? Did they say, the Phillies got lots of good press for signing Pedro and no one mentioned his cock fighting controversy?

Did Andy Reid think this would distract people from the next crime one of his sons commits?

Why go through all this bad PR for a guy who's not going to do much for your team?

After the initial shock wore off, we started hearing the outcry from the Eagles fans who denounced the organization and swore they will sell their season tickets and burn their Eagles gear. Sal Paolantonio reported fans were crying leaving the Eagles' first preseason game (a loss).

I'm planning to go to my first NFL game on Nov. 1 to see the Giants play in Philly. Tickets should be dirt cheap if everyone follows through with their promises to dump them.

We're pretty big animal lovers - in fact, we just hung a print of a bull dog chewing a baseball we bought in Savannah - but we can't help being confused by this reaction. Where is the outrage over athletes who have committed crimes against humans?

In the end, the Phillies should send a thank you note to the Eagles because this moves ensures that their spot as Philadelphia's favorite sports team, earned last fall, is going to be more than a fleeting fancy. The Eagles have demonstrated why the Phillies are the class of Philadelphia - even with a pitcher who has participated in cock fights, another who has been suspended under baseball's drug policy and a third who has been accused of domestic violence.

Today's baseball news: The Red Sox traded for Alex Gonzalez to help with their shortstop problems - not the retired former Phillie Alex Gonzalez, but the current and former Red Sox Alex Gonzalez.

And, Pedro Martinez is officially no longer a Met.

Today's games: The Phillies beat the Braves 3-2. Ryan Howard hit a home run in the 9th to put them ahead. Brad Lidge actually got a save. Joe Blanton had a no decision, but had another strong outing. The rest of the offense came on a two-run homer by Utley, which I'm sure was dedicated to abused doggies.

The Red Sox trail Kevin Millwood and the Rangers 3-2 in the 7th. Our new shortstop isn't playing. David Ortiz has been dropped to 7th in the order. Tony Massarotti suggests the Red Sox best lineup may be Gonzalez at short, Kevin Youkilis at third and Mike Lowell at DH. I wonder if the trade is with the thought of benching Papi. He did hit a two-run home run tonight.

[Photo credit: Philadelphia Magazine via 700level.com]