My bad

Cole Hamels, I apologize for jinxing it and saying that you would get your 10th win today. If that ball didn't slam your hand, I think you would have pitched strong and maybe the Phillies would have eked out a few runs to win the game. I won't make any predictions before your next start.

Red Sox 5, Phillies 2. Thanks David Herndon and nonexistent offense. Both better pick up the slack before the October meeting.

Early spring lessons

This week, Trent learned the most important thing about spring training: The games don't matter.

The Red Sox lost to the Phillies 2-0 on Thursday, getting only one hit in the game, off Cole Hamels, in the first - and least important - of the games the two teams will play in 2011.

We also learned that you should take advantage of nice early March weather. We took Trent to a local farm/zoo on Saturday. It was much more fun to watch Trent look at roosters, chase lizards and try to grab a fish than to watch a rare spring Red Sox broadcast. They lost to the Marlins 11-2 (see my first paragraph).

Trent needs new PJs

The baseball jammies didn't work. Yesterday's game couldn't have ended any worse - a walkoff win off of Roy Oswalt, who is scheduled to pitch Game 6* on Saturday.

Trent is back to his elephant PJs tonight as the Phillies attempt to join the 1986, 2004 and 2007 Red Sox on the short list of teams that came back from a 1-3 deficit in an LCS. (I have to remind readers that the 2004 Red Sox came back from an 0-3 deficit against the Yankees.)

Being keenly aware of two of those comebacks (and nearly another one in 2008), I feel comfortable with the Phillies' chances. Roy Halladay came to the Phillies for a situation exactly like tonight's game (he's leading 3-2 in the 6th), and then the series will swing back to Philly. I'm a bit concerned about Oswalt in Game 6 because he threw a side session before pitching in relief last night. But if the Phillies can survive that, there's no way Cole Hamels, and the vocal Phillies fans, will allow the Giants to win on Sunday.*

*if necessary

Memories II

I remembered 2008 yesterday. Today, as the NLDS heads to Cincinnati for the Queen City's first playoff game since 1995, I remember all the way back to ... July.

Actually, Christine remembered that when Trent came home, the Phillies started a four-game sweep of their first-round opponent.

And, they were all in dramatic fashion: a 12-inning game, one won with six runs in the 9th inning, an 11-inning 1-0 game, and a ho-hum 1-0 9-inning shutout.

The latter was won by Cole Hamels, who starts Sunday night. This is the game I picked the Phillies to lose. We'll see what our little Phillies good luck charm has to say about it tomorrow.

Last (home) dance a dud

The Phillies, who have the longest active playoff streak of any team in baseball, clinched their fourth straight division title tonight. But it should have happened yesterday.

For the first time in their four-year run, they were not able to wrap things up for the home crowd on Sunday. Christine and I were hoping to see our third-ever clincher (2007 division and 2008 World Series) as we attended the last regular season game of the year, but the Phillies could not survive poor performances by two pitchers who have been great all year - Cole Hamels and Ryan Madson - in the 7-3 loss to the Mets.

Here's a day-old recap of the highlights of our day at the park as the Phillies celebrate in the clubhouse.

Observations from the stands: Driving to the park, we heard Last Dance, the Phanatic's traditional song for the regular season finale, on the radio. ... The Phillies saluted both fans and staff, recognizing employees, from grounds crew to administrative personnel, and giving away prizes to fans completely randomly. (It's just a coincidence that the spring training trip always goes to someone in field level while someone in the upper deck wins two free passes to the Franklin Institute's Cleopatra exhibit.). ... All fans received a magnetic schedule, a pack of Phillies postcards of memorable events from the season and a rally towel. I think I dropped my terry cloth five minutes after we entered the park while peppering up my pulled pork sandwich.

Every year, a Phillie has to address the fans. Christine's favorite, Carlos Ruiz, gave a most stirring and eloquent speech: "We love our fans. Thank you." It still gives me chills. ... The anthem was sung by the Central Bucks West High School Choir, directed by Joseph Ohrt. Not bad, but we've heard it before. And before that. Now they have a website. ... My favorite sign of the day: "Miss you Jamie" with a crying sad emoticon in the zero of Jamie Moyer's No. 50. ... Miss America Caressa Cameron sang God Bless America. ... Fans were particularly annoying, from the parents behind us who wouldn't stop their daughter from kicking Christine's chair to the drunks in front of us who couldn't understand 1) Why the stadium staff wouldn't let him wear a profane anti-Mets shirt because "I bought it outside the stadium the last time they played the Mets" and 2) Why they were getting ragged on for cheering on Hamels minutes after he was removed from the game in the middle the 5th inning. Also, nearly all fans kept cheering the Nationals scoring updates against the Braves, forgetting that the Phillies actually had to win their game to wrap up the division.

We hit a few drops of rain driving and walking into the park, but the game was played without any delay, and the sun even made an appearance in the late innings. Jimmy Rollins also made an appearance, but he grounded out meekly while swinging at the first pitch. ... Combined line for the good Phillies pitchers (Hamels and Madson): four innings, seven runs on 11 hits and four walks with two strikeouts. Combined line for the scrubby Phillies pitchers (David Herndon, Vance Worley, Chad Durbin, Jose Contreras and Danys Baez): five innings, no runs, one hit, three walks and eight strikeouts. ... The postgame celebration was subdued. The Phanatic and staff shot T-shirts to the crowd, but players stayed off the field, probably respecting the fact they lost and the division title wasn't yet sealed.

So ends the 2010 regular season at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies are guaranteed at least two more home playoff games; will we be at any?

Antiquated T-shirts: Pat Burrell, Jim Thome, Chris Coste, John Kruk, Jim Eisenreich and Cliff Lee. ... Walking out of the stadium, Christine noticed the back of a Roy Halladay jersey because although the numbers looked legit, the letters were off. Then, we noticed a 2009 World Series patch, and we all know Doc hasn't yet sniffed the Fall Classic. Finally, it hit us: Remember all those jokes about people ripping off Cliff Lee's name from their jersey and replacing it with Halladay's? This guy actually did it. Pretty tacky because Halladay wouldn't want to wear a World Series patch he didn't earn.

Today's games: Doc went the distance in an 8-0 shutout to ice the division. ... The Red Sox are winning; the Rays and Yankees lost, so the Sox may survive another day. I was starting to believe again until last night's extra inning debacle against the Yankees.

Wacky Wednesday

One of Trent's Dr. Seuss stories is Wacky Wednesday, which is about a boy who finds lots of things askew, such as a shoe on the wall, a car with no wheels and two knobs on the door to the hall.

Today felt like Wacky Wednesday looking at the SoxandPhils clips, most notably this Phil Sheridan column that calls the Cliff Lee trade logical.

Gee, all it took was Roy Halladay winning 20 games, Cole Hamels pitching like everyone expected after 2008 and Roy Oswalt pitching like an ace sniffing the playoffs after he was rescued from a morbid team.

And, it also helps that the Phillies have been the best team in baseball since July 21 and that the Eagles traded one of their stars and now have a dog killer quarterbacking.

Less wacky: There has been a lot of speculation about the Red Sox targeting Jayson Werth, so it's not that far-fetched to see a story about it. But it's a little wacky to read a Phillies-turned-Red Sox beat writer speculating about the current Phillies right fielder coming to the Fens.

I don't see it happening, but it did catch my eye this morning.

Today's games: The Braves and Phillies had a good duel. It was scoreless until the 8th when Raul Ibanez doubled in wacky Werth, who also caught the final out in the 9th. Magic number is now four; we hope it's down to one before Sunday's game. ... The Red Sox beat the Orioles 6-1. Wacky.

I forgive Manny

It takes a big man to admit his mistakes. And it takes an even bigger man to remind us that it takes a big man to admit his mistakes after admitting his obvious mistakes.

Manny Ramirez is a big man (no steroid pun intended):

Manny Ramirez was at Fenway before the game was called off and told a small group of reporters (and NESN) that he regretted how his tenure with the Red Sox ended in 2008.

"I think everything was my fault," he said. "You've got to be a real man to realize when you do wrong. Hey, it was my fault, right? I'm already past that stage. I'm happy. I'm in a new team."
[...]
Ramirez said he apologized to Youkilis in June when he played a series at Fenway with the Dodgers.

"I said, 'Hey, what happened between you and me, I'm sorry. It was my fault,'" Ramirez said. "It takes a real man to go and tell a person, 'Hey, it was my fault,' and that's what I did."

Good. Now that the deplorable ending of the Manny Ramirez era has closure, can we just play this weekend's games without documenting every time he scratches himself in this big series - the second time he has come to Fenway as a visitor since his Red Sox tenure ended.

Today's games: The White and Red Sox were hurricaned out. The Phillies scored just one run for Cole Hamels, but this time, it was enough for the 1-0 win over the Brewers. Jose Contreras and Ryan Madson finished the game to give Brad Lidge a day off. The Braves lost, so the Phils are just one game out and still lead the Wild Card by 2.5 games. The Red Sox just need to make up seven games in September, so a SoxandPhils World Series is still possible.

Scoreboard watching

We always enjoy it when the scoreboard does a little something different with the players' headshot screens. For instance, the last time we saw the Nationals, we spotted advertisements on the Capitol building.

On Sunday, they used Nationals players to promote an exhibit (Late Renoir) at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Either that, or Adam Dunn has become so despondent about Stephen Strasburg's latest injury that he's going to study art history.

And it's not just the artsy folk they're targeting with scoreboard ads. They're also targeting folks whose tastes are more in line with little guys like Trent who appreciate the finer things in life such as critters and building blocks.

Yup, there's no better way to get people to come to Philadelphia Zoo's Creatures of Habitat, a "combination of birds and beasts, each intricately fashioned from thousands of LEGO bricks," than using Shane Victorino's mug.

And in some innings, the Phillies still rock it old school.

Sometimes it's real old school, like Jason Werth circa 1999. Or maybe that's Jayson Werth circa 2011 after his hairy look has been Yankee-ized.

Speaking of which, I finally got around to Sports Illustrated's piece on Jayson Werth. It's a decent read.

Thankfully, the formerly bearded Red Sox, Johnny Damon, is staying in Detroit.

Real scoreboard watching: The Red Sox and Mariners were rained out. They trail the Yankees and Rays by 5.5 games. The Yankees beat the Blue Jays, and the Rays lead the Angels.

For the Phillies, it was a typical Cole Hamels night. He pitched well but got no run support. Well, at least he won't be getting the loss as they scored two runs to force the Astros into extra innings. It's 2-2 in the 12th.

The Phillies lead the Giants by a game but trail the Braves by 2.5. The Braves are losing to the Rockies, and the Giants lead the Reds.

Oops

When I handed last night's post to Christine for her superb editing, I had written that the Dodgers were cruising to a victory. She toned it down a bit to say the Phillies were attempting a comeback, but I don't think she seriously expected them to come all the way back from an seven-run deficit in the 8th inning, even though they had scored a couple of runs by the time she posted.

I certainly didn't.

Oops ... Chooch did it again, knocking in the winning run in the best comeback of the year, in what could be the only game to rival Roy Halladay's perfect game as the Phillies game of the year.

Tonight, however, they couldn't come back from a one-run deficit. For the second time in a week, Cole Hamels pitched a gem against the Mets, but had to eat a 1-0 loss. The Phillies have been shut out in all four games they've played at Citi Field this year. Incredible.

The Red Sox and Rangers aren't participating in such a pitching duel. David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre and J.D. Drew went back-to-back-to-back in a seven-run 4th inning, but Josh Beckett couldn't keep his foot on the Rangers' neck. The Red Sox still lead, 9-8 in the 8th, but I'm not comfortable at all.

Long day

It started with Trent's first batch of shots. It was a big batch - lots of pricking for such a little pin cushion. But he took them like a champ.

Then, I left Christine and Grandmom to deal with some of the vaccines' side effects while I learned that a 50-mile bike ride isn't as easy as it was a month ago. Go figure.

When I returned, the Red Sox seemed ready to cruise to a victory against the Yankees, but John Lackey lost it in the 5th and CC Sabathia shut down the Sox after they got an early two-run lead in the 2nd inning. Yankees 5, Red Sox 2. Funny - when this series started, everyone thought the Red Sox had the edge in pitching matchups in every game except this one. I thought that meant we would wind up losing three of four with today's mismatch the exception.

This evening, Johan Santana and Cole Hamels. Cole was a tad better - six hits and 11 strikeouts in seven innings compared with Johan's five hits, three walks and six strikeouts. The difference? One of the hits Hamels gave up was a home run, and Johan didn't give up any runs. It seemed like a game destined for Trent's comeback magic, especially when the Phillies knocked out Santana in the 8th and loaded the bases against Francisco Rodriguez. But the little guy's still not completely over the shots. Mets 1, Phillies 0.

The Red Sox signed Carlos Delgado. Thrilling.

SoxandPhils involved in blockbuster trade

Well, not quite.

But what a coincidence that Dan Haren made his Angels debut Monday against the Red Sox and Joe Saunders, the other established major leaguer in the blockbuster deal, will debut for the Diamondbacks on Thursday against the Phillies.

In other pitching quirks, John Lackey starts against the Angels tonight while the Phillies faced their former mate Rodrigo Lopez.

The first game went well, despite struggles from Cole Hamels. Phillies 9, D-Backs 5.

The Red Sox and Halos are scoreless in the 2nd.

Fool one night, genius the next

Last night I couldn't believe Charlie Manuel left Joe Blanton in to hit with the bases loaded in the 7th inning of a 1-1 game. It was no shocker that the move backfired and cost the Phillies the game. I knew Blanton should have been lifted without knowing he had such dramatic splits this year: an OPS of about .700 for his first 75 pitches, but nearly 1.200 after that.

Somewhere, Grady Little would be proud. In a completely unrelated note, Pedro Martinez will not pitch in 2010 but has not retired.

Given the Blanton experience, I was a little surprised to see Cole Hamels lifted after throwing 97 pitches in eight shutout innings today. (I was at work and not watching the game, so I didn't know it was very hot in St. Louis.) But no worries this time: The Phillies bullpen finished the one-hitter and the bats finally scored two runs in the 11th inning to beat the Cardinals 2-0, averting the sweep.

In the 2nd, the Red Sox and Mariners are scoreless.

Breaking news: Milt Thompson has been fired as hitting coach.

I can't believe we sat through that

We were at the park today as the Phillies played a sloppy first inning and fell behind the Twins 3-0.

"This is going to be an ugly one, huh?" I asked Christine.

"These aren't the Phillies of last week," Christine said confidently.

Turns out, we were both right. Hitting season continued in earnest, and the Phils knocked out Twins starter Kevin Slowey in the 2nd inning with seven runs and two of the five home runs they would hit today. Cole Hamels overcame his rocky start to set down 13 in a row from the 1st to 5th inning.

It was a beautiful day at the park, and everything was perfect until Jim Thome came up with one man on in the 9th inning against Jose Contreras, who was trying to protect the 9-4 lead. Stupid Phillies fans cheered Thome before and even after he hit a two-run homer, giving the Twinkies life. That was bad karma that caused the Phils to cough up a five-run lead in the 9th inning for the first time since July 16, 2000. Brad Lidge also participated in the fun. Both teams volleyed until the 11th when Danys Baez, officially Christine's least favorite Phillie, gave up three runs. Twins 13, Phillies 10. {I am really not happy about this game. It seems just as bad as, if not worse than, last week's debacles against the Red Sox.}

At least the Red Sox, who blew a lead in the 7th inning, came back to win in the bottom of the 9th against the Dodgers.

We'll do a full recap of today's game in SoxandPhils style tomorrow. Warning: There will be a lot of discussion about Twins fans. I never knew there were so many. {And that they could be so annoying.}

Philly's on the board

Thanks to ace Roy, err, Cole Hamels, the Phillies averted the sweep in Boston today.

It was a good, spirited 5-3 game that ended with the potential tying run at the plate after a 9th inning rally. After two embarrassing blowouts, this was the type of game we expected to see all series. And it's the type of game we expect to see seven times when the Red Sox and Phillies hook up again in October and November.

Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge are really reverting to their 2008 forms. Hamels shut down one of the best offenses in the game - one run in seven innings on five hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. Lidge allowed an inherited runner to score, but he held on for the save.

Tim Wakefield, who joined SoxandPhil Jamie Moyer (and Andy Pettitte) in the 3,000-inning club, battled for 7 1/3, giving up four runs on seven hits and a walk.

Now that the SoxandPhils are once again allies until the World Series, I hope we can look back at this series as a turning point for both teams. At a minimum, there's a new folk hero in Boston, Daniel Nava, who has supplanted Darnell McDonald as the best story on the Red Sox. He followed up yesterday's grand slam debut by going 2-4, including a double and an RBI.

Not everyone gets dealt a winner

Crazier than a Red Sox fan who was raised a Yankees fan and is now married to a Phillies fan is the fact that we have a friend who is a Nationals fan despite no connections to Montreal or Washington.

This week, as he often claims, is the highlight of his time as a Nats/Expos fan. The Nats drafted Bryce Harper tonight, and tomorrow, their uber draft pick from last year, Stephen Strasburg, makes his much anticipated debut.

When your teams have been as good as the Red Sox and Phillies in recent years, sometimes you forget what it's like to scrap for any sort of moral victory, such as the hope of draft picks or a 4-3 11-inning win over a vaunted division foe. Nick Cafardo reminded us of that in writing about how Sunday's win was so important for the Orioles:

In the grand scheme of things, what did yesterday's 4-3 loss to the Orioles mean to the Red Sox? Nothing more than one loss to a bad team snapping a 10-game losing streak, giving their new manager his first win. It didn't mean a darn thing to the people who follow the Red Sox, except those who feel they should clobber the Orioles every time they play them.

To the Orioles, it was more than that. It was a day when self-respect came back. Maybe it's fleeting because after the Sox left town, the Yankees are paying a visit starting tomorrow.

This was a great snapshot of the psychology of sport. The Orioles are a downtrodden team that had been buried the last two weeks, and been clobbered, 19-2, in the first two games against the Red Sox. They have been made fun of, called horrible things, and ridiculed. But yesterday, under very tough conditions — rain, heat, humidity — Juan Samuel's troops hung in there enough and beat one of the best teams in baseball in 11 innings.

I love that dig at Red Sox fans who act like Yankees fans and expect to go 173-0 every year.

Sometimes, as John Lackey pointed out, the cliche is true: It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, it's more important how you play the game:

And yet the Sox couldn't pull it out, ending a seven-game road winning streak. Not that anyone in the visitors' clubhouse was concerned. It was one loss in a long season.

"I don't think it's a big deal," Lackey said. "It's always disappointing to lose a game, but we're playing good baseball and we played good baseball today. Just came up a little bit short."

That's right. Just make sure that one game doesn't become more tonight (joking).

Happy Birthday: Officially sponsored SoxandPhil Heathcliff Slocumb turned 44 today. In honor of the occasion, and because the Red Sox and Phillies square off this weekend, I thought I'd post his numbers as a Phillie against the Red Sox and vice versa, but his Phillies tenure ended two years before interleague play was created in 1997. He was still a Red Sox for half of that season, but did not appear in the inaugural SoxandPhils series.

Tonight's games: The Red Sox lead the Indians 4-1 in the 9th. Has Daisuke Matsuzaka (no runs, four hits, two walks and five strikeouts) turned a corner? ... Cole Hamels took a no-hitter into the 7th, but lost it on back-to-back homers. The Phillies bats wasted his eight-inning, two-run, three-hit, two-walk, six-strikeout performance in the 3-1 loss to the Padres.

Page turners

A month ago, I was starting to get concerned that the Red Sox were going to spend the season battling the birds in the cellar of the AL East and Christine enjoyed watching the Phillies as they dispatched the Mets to reclaim their rightful place atop the NL East.

My, how things change.

As David Ortiz - who was pretty much written out of the league - kept saying during the Red Sox awful 11-12 April, they would turn the page. The Red Sox did, improving to 18-11 in May, and so did Big Papi, as FanGraphs noted:

We should just stop writing off David Ortiz until he retires.

Ortiz in April: .143/.238/.286, routinely booed, talk of being released
Ortiz in May: .363/.424/.788, best hitter (non-Morneau division) in baseball

The Phillies also surged in May, building a five-game lead by May 17, but everyone knows the bottom has fallen out over the past two weeks:

The Phillies had a season-high five-game lead in the NL East following a 12-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 17. They had the second-best offense in baseball at the time, averaging 5.73 runs per game. Only the New York Yankees (5.76) had averaged more.

But entering tonight's game against the Braves, the Phillies rank 12th in baseball, averaging 4.69 runs per game.

Quite a fall.

Todd Zolecki didn't have to note that the Phillies are now back in second place (unless they beat the Braves tonight).

Point is, the Red Sox may not be as good as they played in May, but they're definitely not as bad as they played in April. The same is true for the Phillies. It's a long season, and eventually the Phillies will turn the page and begin to play like champions again. If they can ever hit another home run - 63 innings and counting entering tonight's game.

Today's games: Rain. Both teams had rain delays, but the Phillies' delay came in the middle of the 1st inning, forcing an early exit for Cole Hamels, although the Braves sent Tim Hudson back out there. Perhaps hindered by the rain (Game 5 of the 2008 World Series not withstanding), Cole gave up a three-run homer in his two-thirds of an inning. In the 3rd, Braves 5, Phillies 0.

The Red Sox had to wait only a half hour before starting their game, so John Lackey has no excuse for the two-run homer he gave up. Or the 11 hits and a walk. In the 6th, A's 4, Red Sox 3.

Congrats: Roy Halladay was named player of the week. Ryan Howard (4-25), Jayson Werth (1-20) and Chase Utley (3-27) demand recounts.

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.

Mother's Day

I spent this afternoon wrestling with a prickly shrub because my mother-in-law wanted it removed from her yard, so we missed much of the Phillies game.

It appears that Cole Hamels struggled with the Braves as much as I struggled with the hedge. We both, however, were victorious in our endeavors. I deposited the shrub in a dumpster, and the Phillies trashed the Braves 5-3. Most notable was Brad Lidge's eight-pitch 1-2-3 9th inning to record his first save of the season. Maybe ... nah, I won't say anything.

With their moms in the park, Chad Durbin (who I learned today was delivered by the same doctor who delivered J.A. Happ) and Jose Contreras bridged the three innings between Hamels and Lidge. They were perfect with five strikeouts. Maybe ... nah, I won't say anything.

A great Mother's Day story: The A's Dallas Braden pitched today, and his grandmother, who raised him, was in the park. He pitched a perfect game, the 19th in baseball history, against the Rays. Previously, he was most famous for calling out Alex Rodriguez, who had responded by suggesting that Braden was a nobody. Now, he's in the record books, and his grandmama had some choice words for Slappy (we love this story but question whether it will prove to be urban legend):

After Sunday's game, Braden's grandmother said: "Stick it, A-Rod," according to multiple reporters on the scene.

Amen, never argue with a grandmother.

Tonight: I'm watching Sunday night baseball between the Red Sox and Yankees, but I'm not planning on staying up late to see how it ends. In the 4th, Red Sox 6, Yankees 2.

Philly phans

It's official: The Phillies have overtaken the Eagles as Philadelphia's favorite.

The Daily News conducted a survey to determine that 54 percent of the area's fans favor the Phillies compared with 30 percent who prefer the Eagles. The fans also gave 74 percent approval ratings to Citizens Bank Park and Charlie Manuel.

I know it's a combination of the Phillies recent championship run and the Eagles long-running championship futility, but I can't believe how times have changed since I first became acquainted with Philadelphia sports 15 years ago. The Eagles seemed like they would dominate the scene forever. Congrats to the Phightins'.

The most favored Philly sports traditions? Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" at Flyers games, the E-A-G-L-E-S chant and the Big 5. I'm surprised the Phanatic's antics didn't crack the top three. Booing came in 7th.

Coming in 9th: running onto the field and getting tasered.

OK, I made up that last one.

I'm just glad, and I know Christine is, that this episode has not devolved into another indictment of Philadelphia fans. Public opinion seems to view this as an isolated case of stupidity that was properly handled by the police.

Tonight's games: Marquee pitching duels.

You couldn't ask for much more out of Cole Hamels or Adam Wainwright. In the 10th, the Cardinals and Phillies are tied 1-1. Another dolt (why couldn't he be an Eagles fan?) ran on the field in the 9th as Hamels tried to finish a 1-0 shutout before giving up consecutive doubles. Not fair.

{Update: Carlos Ruiz just ended the game with a home run in the bottom of the 10th. Choooooch!}

Ervin Santana and Jon Lester were just as good, but in the 9th it's now Red Sox 5, Angels 1.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]

Game of the year

I know we're just a sixth of the way through the season and April games are often forgotten in the long run, but this one might have staying power.

I was anxious for the matchup of Cole Hamels and Tim Lincecum after reading all the game stories contrasting the careers of the young pitchers. This passage stuck in my head all day:

Once upon a time, people thought Cole Hamels would enter 2010 coming off back-to-back Cy Young victories. His opponent today, Giants righthander Tim Lincecum, has that honor.

Matt Gelb remembered that Lincecum made his major league debut against Hamels in 2007, although the game was in San Francisco, not Philadelphia, as Gelb reported. (I think Philadelphia newspaper reporters can be forgiven today for making an error like that.)

Anyway, I was looking forward to this game and was a little jealous when I first checked the score at work and saw a scoreless duel with just two hits for the Giants. Hamels scuffled a bit, giving up four runs in six innings, but each pitcher struck out more than 10, which hasn't happened since 2008, according to the Phillies announcers.

I listened to the game on the ride home. I knew the Phillies would win after the Giants yanked Lincecum, whose pitch count was a reasonable 106, after he walked a batter with one out in the 9th and a 4-1 lead.

The Phillies rallied against closer Brian Wilson, and when Ryan Howard walked to load the bases, I figured I had time to run inside to watch the next at-bat instead of sitting in my car like an idiot. When I got inside, Christine didn't have the game on - she got distracted and thought it was over because Daily News Live did a promo that seemed like the post-game show. She was surprised to see Jayson Werth battling with the bases loaded before dunking one down the right field line to clear the bases.

Ryan Madson, playing the role of Brad Lidge circa 2009, blew the save in the 10th inning, but the Phillies scored two more in the 11th, setting up Nelson Figueroa's first major league save. Of course, the real save came on a play at the plate in which Brian Schneider made an incredible swiping tag to prevent the potential game-tying run.

What a game. Phillies 7, Giants 6.

Red Sox: Brett Cecil and Jon Lester are trying to give a suitable encore to the Lincecum and Hamels show. They were scoreless until the 6th. Now, it's 1-0 Red Sox ahead of the Blue Jays. Welcome back, Jon.