Whining

There's been a lot of whining lately:

*The Red Sox, mostly Dustin Pedroia, whined about the umpires yesterday, even though they had a point about Dale Scott's strike zone.

*The Mets Jeff Francoeur whined about the Phillies getting three extra home games. They're not home games. They will bat first and use a DH. Sounds like an American League game to us. Seriously, we know it's not the best situation, but what else could be done? It's a safety issue. If the Mets have a problem with it, they can simply win more games than the Phillies.

*Phillies bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer was reprimanded by baseball for using binoculars in the bullpen after the Rockies whined that the Phillies are cheating. The Mets and Dodgers have similarly whined in the past. And Charlie Manuel whined that the Dodgers are poor losers and that the Mets must be cheating or else their home and road records wouldn't be so different.

*Rays manager Joe Maddon didn't whine, but he had the best defense of Billmeyer, his former colleague:

"Are you sure he was looking at the other catcher's signs?" Maddon asked the St. Petersburg Times. "I hate to throw [Billmeyer] under the bus, but I would check something else first and then I would accuse him of stealing signs maybe third or fourth or fifth. Knowing him, I don't believe it was anything to do with stealing signs. I would actually bet on that. And I can say that because he's still a single guy."

OK, I get that he's a horn dog. But what else could be on the list before sign stealing?

Today's games: Both teams are off. Tomorrow they start series against the Central: Phillies at Brewers, Red Sox at Tigers. I hope there's less whining and more winning.

Gift wrapped

Today was a day when the drama on the field seemed too-well scripted for the scribes in search of an angle.

Here's our account:

Christine and I had to run quickly to a store this afternoon.

"What's your prediction?" Christine asked.

"You win, but Pedro pitches poorly. Yours?"

"Pedro pitches into the 7th."

After leaving the store, we were surprised to hear that the game was still in the first inning. Even better was when the announcers said that Pedro Martinez could bat before taking the mound against his old team. Things kept looking up as Carlos Ruiz homered (the second three-run blast of the inning) and then when Oliver Perez was yanked (in the middle of an at-bat!) after throwing three straight balls to Pedro.

We hit some red lights and heard Pedro give up an inside-the-park home run to Angel Pagan on a ball that was stuck in the wall but not ruled dead.

The Phillies scored three more, but never seemed to put the Mets away. Pedro was out of the game after the 6th.

Eric Bruntlett, playing because Chase Utley got a day off, had three hits. He had 11 coming into the game.

"Charlie Manuel's having one of his hunches by playing him today," Christine said.

Bruntlett seemed poised for another hit when, in the 9th with the Phillies up 9-6, he hit a ball to right. It was initially ruled a trap by Jeff Francoeur and a triple for Bruntlett. But upon review, perhaps with illegal assistance from the replay on the scoreboard, the umpires ruled it a clean catch. Charlie Manuel was ejected arguing the call, and the game remained a save situation for Brad Lidge, who actually converted one cleanly the night before.

It started ugly. Ryan Howard couldn't handle a grounder by Pagan, who wound up on third. Luis Castillo then hit one to second, which was booted by Bruntlett, allowing the run to score. Then, Daniel Murphy hit a smash up the middle that was ruled a hit, but could have been handled been Bruntlett.

"Charlie's hunch, huh?" I said sarcastically.

"I totally absolve Lidge of this one," Christine said, expecting another bright blown save for Lights Out.

Francoeur (remember him from the trap?) was up. Smash up the middle that seemed destined to be another blow for Lidge, but Bruntlett snared it, touched second and tagged Murphy, who had been running with the pitch. I couldn't decide whose jaw was more agape: Francoeur's or Christine's.

We're still in shock.

That's just the 15th unassisted triple play in baseball history and just the second to end a game. There's already some confusion about that last bit of trivia, but the Pirates lost the 1925 game in which Glenn Wright turned the trick in the 9th inning.

So, in a nutshell, my prediction was correct. Christine redeemed herself with the Bruntlett prediction. Pedro is 2-0 but hasn't pitched well. Ollie P's last two starts against the Phillies have been classic meltdowns. The Phillies still own the Mets. And I'm predicting that this freaky 9th inning will be what jolts Lidge out of his season-long slump.

Ace high: We'll take a breath before two behemoths, CC Sabathia (physically) and Josh Beckett (ability), battle tonight. It's their first matchup since Beckett turned the tables on the Indians in the 2007 ALCS. Tonight's winner could get a huge boost to their Cy Young chances. Hopefully, it's a 5-0 win by Beckett that's done by 10:20 p.m. Yeah, right!