There was news last night

Christine questioned if I was neglectful of my blogging duties last night. When I drafted last night's post, I told her there was no SoxandPhils news for the day. And there wasn't. But by the time she had a minute to edit my post, David Murphy had this sad news about Jamie Moyer:

Dionisio Soldevila, a journalist in the Dominican Republic, reported via Twitter that Moyer left a game today with pain in the elbow. Moyer has been pitching for Escogido in winter league ball in the Dominican in an attempt at preparing himself for spring training, when he hopes to compete for a starting job somewhere in the majors. Moyer, who joined the Phillies midway through the 2006 season, was unlikely to return as a free agent.

Soldevila said that Escogido general manager Moises Alou told him that Moyer's injury is probably career-ending. Soldevila also said that Moyer is scheduled to visit Dr. Lewis Yocum in California. That's all the information I have at the moment. Moyer turns 48 on Nov. 18.

I wish there really weren't any news last night because this is a downer.

I have nothing to add, other than this irony first noted by Christine: The guy giving the prognosis on the end of J-Moy's remarkable career debuted four years after Moyer and had a solid 17-year career before retiring in 2008 at the age of 41.

Forget Game 2, we have old guy news

Game 2 is overshadowed tonight by news involving the elder statesmen of the SoxandPhils - although one of the tidbits could be the beginning of the end for a legitimate SoxandPhil.

A true champion, Tim Wakefield, won the Roberto Clemente award. Without a rooting interest in the series, that's the best baseball news I heard today.

On a sadder note, Jamie Moyer, a true SoxandPhil and champion, filed for free agency. Do you think he'll sign early to set the price for Cliff Lee? Let the bidding begin.

Left out

MLB Network is previewing the playoffs. I can't say I don't feel a little left out. I guess that's sort of what Kyle Kendrick, Paul Hoover, Danys Baez, David Herndon and Jamie Moyer are feeling because they didn't make the Phillies first round roster, but they're traveling with the team.

I guess that means there's a chance that any one of them could wind up playing if the Phillies advance to the NLCS. I bet Jamie Moyer is lobbying to start the series against the Braves or Giants.

Meanwhile, they announced the starting times for the rest of the playoff games in the first round. I heard it on WFAN. Don't worry, Yankees fans - besides Thursday's 6 p.m. start, every game starts at either 8 p.m. or 8:30 p.m.

Yankees suck.

First-round predictions: Me - Phillies in four, Giants, Twins and Rays. Christine - Phillies, but won't put a number on it, Giants, Twins and Rays.

Lots of things amiss

You're never happy seeing Kyle Kendrick give up a three-run home run in the first inning, but once he did, there was still a sense Sunday's game could be a classic Phillies comeback - especially when Ryan Howard came up in the bottom of the inning with two men on.

But when Howard couldn't match Prince Fielder's big blast, Christine knew the Phillies weren't going to come back.

The Phillies showed some spark at times, but the offense kept sputtering against Randy Wolf, and there were just too many things - besides Kendrick - that were amiss when we were at Citizens Bank Park yesterday.

Observations from the stands: The first sign that things were off-kilter was the fact I forgot a writing utensil and had to use the little stubby pencils for scorekeeping. Using a Trent-sized pencil wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and they accidentally gave me two scorecards in my program, so that's $2 I'll save at my next game.

Another thing askew was that there were way too many Phanatics at the park. We like the big guy, but the park was getting overrun by creatures from the Galapagos Islands as part of the Phanatic Around Town Auction (we'll have more on this later in the week).

After getting our lunch and settling in the stands, the next odd sight was Jamie Moyer on the field. It's become a running joke whether it's too soon to include a Moyer shirt in our "antiquated" listings, but the injured old-timer was on the field Sunday to award the winners of the Phillies home run derby.

The moment gave us a sense of deja vu. Probably because we saw this in 2008. Pat Burrell handed out the trophies then, but it was noted that J-Moy had won the home run derby in his younger days. The Phillies also played the Brewers on that day in 2008, part of the big four-game sweep that resuscitated their playoff drive. They also trailed in that game, but Howard was able to come through with a game-tying home run to set up a big Phillies comeback.

Musical entertainment: The University of Pennsylvania Glee Club, directed by Dr. C. Erik Nordgren, did the anthem. "Oh my god, they sound just like a glee club," Christine said. "And they look like it, too."

They never said who he was, but Joseph Goldberg sang God Bless America. I'm rarely a fan of GBA singers, especially when I don't know why they were selected.

Christine was miffed that for our second consecutive game the Phanatic mid-game skit consisted of a troupe of random dancers. Sunday's episode featured girls from the Dance Team from The College of New Jersey, which is our alma mater.

I'm still shocked because I thought the dancers looked like they were 12 years old.

The Phanatic's dugout dance was Minnie the Moocher, which made me happy because it's a song Trent and I like to sing.

There were lots of youngsters in the crowd to get the free Jimmy Rollins tee. We wanted to bring our little guy, but we know he's not ready for the big leagues yet.

Scoreboard glitches: The players weren't the only members of the Phillies that were off-stride on Sunday. There were several scoreboard glitches as well.

For the "Ask a Phillies" segment, they flashed the question "Do you like to cook?" but the video was asking for their first concert.

Then, in the "Who am I?" segment, they flashed Roy Halladay's name immediately after the first clue - that he was born in 1977 in Colorado.

Finally, in touting Carlos Ruiz as a star of the game, there was a bunch of jumbled, overimposed words, and we weren't able to read any facts about Chooch.

PhilsandBrews: Zack Braddock, the local kid whose family was in full force as he pitched in Philly for the first time on Saturday, did a little better in Sunday's game.

He was summoned to pitch to Chase Utley after Wolf allowed a single to Rollins in the 7th. Braddock got him out for the hold in front of his family and friends.

While we didn't have a TV, we knew his family was back for Sunday's game because we saw them and their clever "Phillies by choice, Brewers by blood" shirts as we walked back from Bull's.

Nice touch with Braddock's name and number on the back.

Funny moment of the day: Leading off the 7th inning, Chooch was robbed of a hit by a great catch by Ryan Bruan. "Chooch was robbed," Christine said, before noticing that he was standing on first base.

Chooch was out, but apparently he didn't think so.

Antiquated T-shirts: The best of the day was of the day's winning pitcher, but it was from Wolf's Phillies tenure. We also spotted Cliff Lee, Scott Rolen, Mike Lieberthal, Pat Burrell, Bobby Abreu, John Kruk, Mitch Williams, Hal McRae and Jim Thome.

Today's games: In the afternoon game, Vance Worley pitched well in his first major league start, but the Marlins' Adalberto Mendez had a more impressive big-league debut in the 7-1 Marlins win. In the nightcap, the Phillies survived a so-so Roy Oswalt start and split the double header with a 7-4 win. They are now 0.5 games behind the Braves.

The Red Sox, fielding a team of minor leagues as if they've given up on the season, beat the Rays 12-5. The miracle starts tonight.

Everybody loves Chooch

The other day, Todd Zolecki noted what a great year that our beloved Carlos Ruiz is having:

Ruiz is hitting .298 with a .395 OBP and a .443 SLG this season, all of which are career bests. Ruiz has been a regular since 2006. He hit a career-high .259 in 2007. He set career-highs with a .355 OBP and .425 SLG last season.

If Ruiz had enough plate appearances to qualify, he would rank fifth in the National League in OBP and 13th in batting.

As if that weren't heady enough, today the Daily News and Inquirer upped the ante by taking a multifaceted look at whether Carlos Ruiz is the MVP of the 2010 Phillies:

Playing on a team filled with accomplished all-stars, an argument could be made that Ruiz has been the Phillies' most valuable player through the first four months of the season. His five home runs and 27 RBIs cannot compare with the statistics of most of his fellow position players, but Ruiz's manager, teammates and coaches understand the hidden value of what their catcher does.

"He gets the tempo of the game moving the right way," leftfielder Raul Ibanez said. "He stands up back there and you see him punch his fist into his mitt and he's barking and showing his intensity. He's the guy who is facing us. We're all looking at him. A lot of times if a guy is dead back there, it's human nature to imitate what you see. But when you see all that intensity back there, I think it rubs off on the rest of us in a positive way."

There's lots of love for Chooch from Rich Dubee, Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick and, especially, Jamie Moyer, the Chooch Whisperer, who was credited for Ruiz's development:

"I don't want to take credit and I don't think I can," the 47-year-old said. "But when he first came here, I would talk to him about some basic things I saw in catchers when I was a younger player. I know the game has changed a little bit from that time to now. But, for me, the catching part hasn't."

Too bad the MVP couldn't help Kendrick tonight. Kendrick was so bad that Chooch was double-switched out of the game in the 4th inning. In the 9th, Dodgers 15, Phillies 7. ... Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez couldn't keep Daisuke Matzusaka's recent magic going. Dice-K was knocked around a bit, but the Sox hung in there and beat the Blue Jays 7-5.

Not a good week for SoxandPhils old goats

First, there were the reports that Pedro Martinez will not pitch this year. He hasn't retired, but I doubt he will be able to come back again.

Then, Jamie Moyer left Tuesday's start with an injury. There's a good chance he'll need Tommy John surgery. If any 47-year-old can return from Tommy John surgery, it's J-Moy. And, he's hopeful that he can pitch again this year. But you can't help but think that this is the end of a remarkable career.

Then, Moyer's former teammate, Tim Wakefield, who is a Sox, but never been a Phil, was sent to the bullpen as Josh Beckett came back.

Finally, as I was typing this, we watched former SoxandPhil and now Brave Billy Wagner blow a save against the Marlins. So it's not all bad tonight, especially because the Phillies beat the Rockies 6-0. The Red Sox and the Mariners are tied at 1-1 in the 4th.

Pitching questions

So the Phillies suddenly sent Kyle Kendrick to the minors and recalled Andrew Carpenter. But Kendrick might not be down there for long because Jamie Moyer left today's game with an elbow sprain. Further complicating matters is that David Murphy suggests J.A. Happ is on his way back and Matt Gelb suggests that Ruben Amaro may have an ace, or some kind of pitcher, up his sleeve:

Ruben Amaro Jr. wore one of those patented smug looks on his face. The Phillies general manager had just demoted his fifth starter without listing a replacement in the rotation for him.

"I think we know exactly what we're going to do," Amaro said. "I just choose not to tell you."
[...]
That means a trade could be imminent. Amaro did nothing to dissuade that notion, saying Saturday's starter could come from outside the organization.

"We have other balls in the air," Amaro said.

{Happ was pulled early from tonight's minor league game. So, does that mean he's starting Saturday, or could he be part of an upcoming trade?}

They could have used the help tonight. In the 9th, Cardinals 7, Phillies 1. The Red Sox lead the A's 2-0 in the 2nd.

A rare E-C

Christine and I had to run a couple of errands in Philadelphia today. It felt weird driving over the Walt Whitman Bridge for non-baseball purposes on a Sunday afternoon with the Phillies in town. It felt almost as weird as the Phillies batting in the top half of the innings in Citizens Bank Park.

When we were leaving a store, I spotted a TV that had the game on and asked Christine if she wanted to check the score. She walked over and I thought she smiled after getting a look at the screen. I gave her a thumb's up. Thumb's down, she replied from across the room.

"Four nothing Blue Jays, and Jamie Moyer has the bases loaded with one out," she said when she returned.

But in the car, we heard that the Phillies were beating, not trailing, the Blue Jays 4-0.

Christine immediately realized her mistake - she assumed the 0 applied to the home team, forgetting that in this weird case, the Blue Jays were the home team. Christine rarely makes a mistake like this (usually it's me), so we had a few good-natured laughs on the way home, especially every time an announcer talked about the "home" team.

"Stop rubbing it in," she'd scold the radio.

Today's games, or SoxandPhils lefties old and young: Jamie Moyer set a record for most home runs given up and also became the 40th pitcher to log 4,000 major league innings as the Phillies beat the Jays 11-2. The win of the "road" series gave the Phils a 10-8 interleague record this year.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, who are dropping like flies (Dustin Pedroia, Clay Buchholz and Victor Martinez suffered injuries of various degrees this weekend) got a dominating performance out of Jon Lester - nine strikeouts in the 5-1 complete game over the Giants. Tim Lincecum didn't hold up his end of the bargain as he was gone after three innings.

We have a busy week coming up, so posts will be light, but we'll do our best to keep our Cal Ripken streak (not one day missed since Jan. 1, 2008) intact.

J-Roll and Fattie whack Dobbs

The other day, when we wrote about the surprise recall of Scott Mathieson, whose return to the big leagues lasted one game, we remembered to check on the progress of Mike Zagurski, who we affectionately call Fattie. "He's pitching well in AAA, so maybe we'll see him join Mathieson again," I wrote last week. I was half right. Fattie's in the bigs, but Mathieson is back in AAA.

Also making his return to the Phillies is a forgotten infielder, Jimmy Rollins. To make room for them, the Phillies DL'd Carlos Ruiz - not a surprise because he was hit in the head by a broken bat on Friday - and designated Greg Dobbs for assignment. That's a bit of a surprise because he was so good as a pinch-hitter in 2008, but hasn't done squat since. Ruben Amaro didn't make the move lightly:

"Dobber has been a very, very productive player for us over the last several years," Amaro said. "He helped us win a World Series and he helped us get back to the World Series and it's hard. That role is not an easy role and it's a bit of a rollercoaster ride. I've lived it myself, so I have some empathy about how difficult that job is."

For the record, in 128 games in 2008, Dobbs hit .301/.333/.491, and in 139 games in 2009 and 2010, he hit .218/.274/.341. Does anyone need a crappy pinch-hitter, or is Dobbs going to be an IronPig?

Tonight's games: Jamie Moyer had another good start and has just about supplanted Roy Halladay as the Phillies' ace. Tonight, the old man went eight innings, giving up a run on just two hits and a walk with five strikeouts. Unfortunately, he needed 107 pitches (his season high is 111), so he had to yield to the bullpen.

J.C. Romero started the 9th (platoon splits) and got one out, but then put two men on, creating an awkward save situation for Brad Lidge, who hasn't been lights out lately. But he was tonight, striking out two to earn the save in a 2-1 win over the Indians. That's win No. 266 for J-Moy.

The Red Sox returned to the scene of their last World Series victory. Jon Lester pitched the 2007 clincher in Colorado, and he's opening tonight's series against the Rockies. So far, it's 0-0 in the 3rd.

Former Red Sox slugger returns to Fenway

Lost in the shuffle of the NL West portion of the Red Sox' interleague schedule is the return of a former Red Sox whose exemplary character and offensive contributions are still missed long after he was traded to the National League.

I speak not of Manny Ramirez, whose Dodgers play in Boston this weekend, but of Adam LaRoche, who had an interesting nine-game stint as a Red Sox last year:

The first baseman spent little more than a week in a Red Sox uniform last year, acquired on July 22 and then traded nine days later.

In between, he managed to homer in his first game, stroke a big double to help beat the A's in his third, and move in with teammate and fellow hunting enthusiast J.D. Drew. The arrival of Victor Martinez made LaRoche expendable, so he was traded to the Braves at the deadline for fellow first baseman Casey Kotchman.

LaRoche, now on the Diamondbacks, could be bitter about having been moved around so much, but he's not:

"I see it as a pretty classy gesture on the Red Sox' part," LaRoche said. "When they got Victor in that trade, they easily could have forgotten about me and not tried to trade me. I could have stayed here and been a platoon guy and played a couple of times a week.

"But I remember Tito (manager Terry Francona) calling me into his office and saying, 'We feel bad we got you and now we've got Victor and there's going to be this big circle of guys playing third and first. We’re doing everything we can to get you moved before the deadline.'"

Classy remarks on his part.

The phenom starts again: Yes, Stephen Strasburg makes his third major league start on Friday (another national broadcast, of course), but I'm more interested in Felix Doubront getting his first call-up to make a spot start for injured Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Today's games: Things went well tonight for the Phillies in New York on the 24th anniversary of Jamie Moyer's big league debut. J-Moy didn't pitch well that night, but the young Cubbie was able to beat Steve Carlton and the Phils. Gary Matthews went 2-4.

That was win No. 1. Tonight was No. 265, as Moyer went eight innings in the 6-3 win. (Only two were his; Brad Lidge struggled but allowed only the one run.) Tonight was win No. 700 for Charlie Manuel. I felt good when the Phillies scored six runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings, including their first back-to-back homers of the season (Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard). But I was worried that they didn't keep piling up runs. Baby steps, I know, but you need to be relentless to beat the Empire.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, kept it closer than they should have against former Phillie Rodrigo Lopez and the D-Backs, but they won 6-2 behind seven solid innings from Jon Lester.

LaRoche, who was 1-4 last night, went 1-4 again tonight.

The less said, the better

This wasn't the nail-biter I was expecting. Let's put it this way - both managers were taking out position players in the middle of the game.

I'm pleased with my team's effort, but for the sake of my marriage, there's no need to go blow by blow of a game in which Jamie Moyer gave up nine runs in 1+ innings.

One day the Phillies will get some revenge on the Red Sox, who have clearly owned them, but I hope it happens tomorrow and Sunday and not in the next matchup between the Sox and Phils this fall.

Although, it might just be a matter of two teams that respond very differently to interleague play:

Including two home losses to the Red Sox earlier this season, the Phillies' all-time record in interleague play is 97-123, a .441 winning percentage. Only San Diego and Pittsburgh have worse interleague winning percentages among National League teams.

Even as manager Charlie Manuel's teams won consecutive National League pennants and a World Series title in the previous two seasons, the Phillies were still hideous in interleague play, going a major-league-worst 9-27 in that two-year stretch.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, have done a bit better against the other league:

The Sox are 129-103 in interleague games over the years, 64-29 over the last five seasons. They have outscored National League teams by 147 runs in the last 93 meetings. The Sox took two of three from the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park last month. Inexplicably, they are natural rivals in interleague play and play twice.

Terry Francona is 16-5 against Philadelphia as the Red Sox manager. The Phillies fired him after the 2000 season.

Hopefully tonight's game (12-2 in the 9th) rejuvenates the Sox, coming off a middling 4-3 road trip through Cleveland and Baltimore, while also serving as the wake-up call that finally jolts the slumping Phillies out of their slumber.

What did I just hear? I'm disappointed with the sportsmanship exhibited in Fenway right now. There's no need to chant "Beat L.A! Beat L.A!" It's not like Larry Andersen forced the Red Sox to trade away Jeff Bagwell for him in 1990.

By the way, I got sucked into the Flyers, but have no interest in basketball and don't care that the Celtics and Lakers are tied at 2 in the NBA Finals.

Perfect prediction

As I predicted earlier this week, the Phillies won a close game behind Roy Halladay on Friday and then their offense exploded tonight.

OK, I envisioned a little more than six runs, but they did have 10 hits and were starting to take some Phillies-esque swings. As starting pitcher Jamie Moyer said, they're starting to look comfortable. I sense hittin' season is coming real soon.

Speaking of the ancient (former) Mariner, I just noticed that my prediction about him pitching his second complete game of the season was missing from Thursday's post. I bet Christine accidentally deleted it. I called tonight's masterpiece. Really, I did.

Question: Before the season, would Vegas put better odds on Halladay pitching a perfect game or Moyer having two complete games?

The veteran needed just 98 pitches in the 6-2 victory over the Padres. He didn't have a three-ball count until a 9th inning walk. He also scattered seven hits. It was his 100th win as a 40-something and the 264th of his career.

Red Sox: Jon Lester pitched well - no runs in 6.1 innings - but the Red Sox bats didn't give him much breathing room. But now, in the 9th, the Red Sox are scoring again and lead the Orioles 6-0.

Today was for the children

Today was our day to cook for the families at the Ronald McDonald House. We think it went well, even if we grilled non-Mickey D's burgers at a house named after the burger icon.

With our meal preparation, there was minimal thought of baseball today, except for the Hatfield Phillies Beef Franks we served. (Yes, the brand was intentionally selected.)

Before we left, we did see that Jamie Moyer was not perfect. He pitched well, but he needed to be nearly perfect because the Phillies offense is still struggling. The Marlins beat the Phillies 1-0.

Jon Lester had another strong start in an 8-1 win over the Royals. He's going to win the Cy Young.

Sunday showdown

The Red Sox and Phillies end their series today with the venerable Tim Wakefield against the robotic Roy Halladay. On paper, it's a clear mismatch. But I have faith in Wake.

I've often linked Wakefield with the Phillies' elder statesman, Jamie Moyer, and I'm not the only the one who has noticed the similarity, especially with how they both had been demoted from the rotation during the past two seasons.

SoxandPhils writer Scott Lauber had a nice piece the other day in which J-Moy commiserated with the knuckler:

Like Wakefield, Moyer is among the select few players in the majors' over-40 set. And for the final six weeks of last season, after the Philadelphia Phillies traded for Cliff Lee and signed Pedro Martinez, Moyer was relegated to being the team's long reliever and in-case-of-emergency starter.

And, like Wakefield, Moyer wasn't happy about it.

"I had been a starter my whole career, and it's where I feel like I can benefit the most," Moyer, the 47-year-old left-hander, recalled yesterday at Citizens Bank Park. "When I say it's where I can benefit the most, that's because it's where I feel like I can help the team the most."

I always forget that these two were teammates on the 1996 Red Sox. That was 14 years ago.

The other day I heard Buster Olney talking about covering Moyer in 1995 when he was demoted from the Orioles rotation. The upstanding lefty stood before reporters and told them he thought there were some mechanical adjustments he could make to improve his pitching.

Olney said the then-32-year-old sounded earnest but wasn't convincing anyone. "I was thinking, 'Jamie, you're a nice guy, but maybe you sound hang them up.'" Some 440 starts later, he's still not ready to hang them up.

I'm disappointed we didn't get to see these two crafty veterans match up this series. I hope it happens when they play in Fenway next month.

Sunday switcheroo

Last night, as we watched Roy Halladay dominate the Pirates in a 2-1 complete game loss, Christine noted that he was on track to start Sunday against Josh Beckett.

I almost cautioned her not to count on Beckett. Unfortunately, or hopefully fortunately in the long run, I was right. Despite the Yankees protest, he is injured and has been placed on the DL, so it will be Tim Wakefield vs. Doc on Sunday. Game on.

Red Sox vs. Phillies history: Lifetime, Josh Beckett is 8-4 with a 3.98 ERA in 19 games (17 starts) against the Phillies (including his Marlins starts). He has hit them well: .222/.276/.444 in 27 at-bats, including two of his three career home runs. We were there for one of them in 2006. As a Red Sox, Beckett is 2-1 in three starts, including a debacle last year.

Against the Phillies, including his time with the Pirates, Wakefield is 3-1 with a 3.15 ERA in nine games (seven starts).

As a Blue Jay, Halladay is 14-14 with a 4.28 in 41 games (38 starts) against Boston.

So, give the Red Sox the edge on Sunday. C'mon, despite last night's victory, delusion is all I have right now.

Tonight's games: Jamie Moyer pitched well, but the Phillies bats are still silent. In the 7th, Cubs 2, Phillies 0.

David Ortiz hit another home run (MVP! MVP! MVP!), and the Red Sox lead the Twins 2-1 in the 6th.

Milestones

Earlier this week, Tim Wakefield got his 2,000th strikeout, joining Jamie Moyer and a couple of cruddy Yankees, roider Andy Pettitte and Javier Vazquez, as active pitchers in the 2K club.

Last night, Jamie Moyer became the second pitcher in history, behind the late Robin Roberts, to give up 500 home runs. When you've pitched as long as those guys, you are going to have good numbers and bad numbers:

"There's a lot of chances out there," Moyer said. "You can't give up 500 in 600 at-bats, can you? I've thrown a few innings in my career. You're going to give up hits, home runs, walks, strikeouts, errors. I don't really keep track of it all."

I hit a milestone myself. Less than a year after I got my new bike, the odometer hit 1,000 miles this morning. I'm proud. I just wish I knew when I actually got it. I bought it on May 30, but I forgot to note when I picked it up - probably the following weekend.

Anybody wanna bulldog? Pat Burrell's career is over - well, the Tampa portion anyway. He was designated for assignment. Charlie Manuel thinks he'll rebound: "I think Burrell can still hit," Charlie Manuel said. "I think he'll get a job. I hope he does."

Either that, or he's subtly trying to convince the Mets to sign him, knowing full well that Burrell's done. I don't think Christie would handle it well if she saw Elvis in blue and orange.

Today's games: Joe Blanton is pitching well - one hit and no runs through four. But unlike last week, he's been efficient with only 43 pitches so far. In the 5th, Phillies 2, Brewers 0. {But just as soon as I was ready to post this, Blanton gave up a home run to Prince Fielder. Phillies 2, Brewers 1.}

The Red Sox play the Tigers tonight.

Philly's revenge

There was some compelling SoxandPhils baseball tonight: Clay Buchholz pitched well against the Tigers on an MLB broadcast, and Jamie Moyer and the Phillies are wearing their retro powder blue unis to celebrate the '70s with the Brewers.

But we didn't really watch either. We were more focused on Boston vs. Philly on ice, even though Christine has grown less interested in hockey in recent years and I have never liked the sport.

But I have a soft spot in my heart for teams that make it to a seventh game after starting 0-3 in a playoff series. We haven't been watching much of the Flyers run, but we turned it on tonight. When the Bruins scored three quick goals, Christine said I jinxed it by watching.

We figured the game was over and lost track of it while we cleaned up after dinner. When we got back to it, the Fly guys tied it up at three. We watched the entire 3rd period and saw the Flyers score a goal and advance to the semifinals.

Incredible. All that was missing was a bloody sock. {Does Gagne's broken foot count?}

So, I guess the Flyers got their revenge for Jan. 1, or maybe the Bruins are only better when they play in Fenway.

Back to baseball: Buchholz pitched well - one run in 6.1 innings, and David Ortiz hit two homers and drove in four. Red Sox 7, Tigers 2.

Christine likes how they play the sound of a growling Tiger every time Detroit scores a run. I don't, except when they're playing the Yankees.

Jamie Moyer dispelled any thoughts of another shutout early, by giving up three solo homers in the 2nd. That made the score a Flyers-like 3-3, but the Phillies, catching the comeback spirit, scored three more in the 4th. In the 5th, Phillies 8, Brewers 3.

By the way, months ago when we first heard about this retro night, we joked that J-Moy should get to start. We're glad it worked out that way. He looks right in this uniform.

Mowing 'em down

When I got home tonight, I realized my grass had grown six inches over the past week, and with a decent chance of rain tomorrow morning, I decided to be a responsible adult and broke out the mower instead of watching the Red Sox battle the Yankees on MLB Network.

I didn't miss much. Josh Beckett got shelled, and Phil Hughes is pitching like Josh Beckett circa 2007. In the 8th, Yankees 10, Red Sox 2. Blech.

I did miss a fun little bit of history in Philadelphia, however, as Jamie Moyer became the oldest pitcher to ever throw a complete game shutout. He was beautiful: two hits and no walks. He needed just 105 pitches (71 strikes) to finish off the Braves 7-0. In the 2nd, he needed only three pitches, and that was one of the two innings he gave up a hit. He saw 25 pitches in his four at-bats.

Jayson Stark and Rob Neyer were all a-Twitter during the game.

Charlie Manuel got so excited that he's going to have to miss tomorrow's game. Just kidding. He will miss tomorrow's game, but that was announced before Jamie Moyer made his push to catch Roy Halladay on the all-time complete game list. They're just saying non-health personal reasons. We're guessing he's finally getting hitched to his long-time companion, Melissa Martin.

C'mon Todd Zolecki, get the scoop. We're dying to know.

Music to our ears

Christine and I were busy getting the house ready for our post-walk party on Sunday, so we missed the opportunity to sit down and enjoy the best Phillies game of the year. I can say that even if they blow their 8-3 lead over the Braves. It's the best game because Scott Franzke left Atlanta because his wife is having a baby, which means Chris Wheeler got bumped to radio (our sympathy to Larry Andersen), and we get nine innings of Gary Matthews on TV. Go Sarge!

The on-field action (so far) isn't bad either. Jamie Moyer escaped after six innings without his trademark lousy inning. He even froze Braves phenom Jason Heyward in a key spot in the 6th.

Red Sox: Clay Buchholz dominated six innings - no runs and nine strikeouts - but then lost it in the 7th, giving up three runs. Folk hero Darnell McDonald had a chance to tie it in the bottom of the 7th, but grounded out. In the 9th, Rangers 3, Red Sox 0.

Elvis is bulldog non grata

The next time Elvis Burrell shows his mug in Fenway, Boss Papelbon better drill his round rump.

I think I'm forgetting my mantra to be patient early in the season after the Red Sox dropped another one. The game suspended by rain last night ended in the 12th inning tonight courtesy of a two-run home run by Pat Burrell. I blame Elvis. Christine's not happy with me right now.

But I'm really not happy with Pat the Bat: As if the first game weren't bad enough, he has three RBI in the first inning of tonight's regularly scheduled game. Clay Buchholz needed 44 pitches to escape the 1st. Rays 4, Red Sox 0.

Phillies: Even when Jamie Moyer was at his best for the Phillies, it would seem like he'd have a bad inning early in which he'd give up three runs. He would then cruise until the 6th or 7th inning without allowing another run while the Phillies would come back for the win.

This year, in an admittedly small sample size (two starts), it seems as if his bad inning has devolved from three to five runs. The Phillies were able to overcome it last time, but not tonight, losing 5-1 to the Marlins. J-Moy gave up five runs on four hits and a walk in the first inning. In his next five innings, he gave up two hits and struck out seven. Unbelievable.

Other games of note: We're following the Mets and Cardinals, scoreless in the 17th inning, and the Rockies' Ubaldo Jimenez flirtation with a no-no against the Braves.

Actually, he did it. Congrats. But we're kind of annoyed that we had to watch the end of the game via box score on the Internet. We don't know why Fox (showing the Mets-Cardinals), one of our 44 ESPN channels or MLB Network (showing Tigers-Mariners) couldn't show the last inning live. That was a disgrace.