Stop believing

Things are going so well for the SoxandPhils that the local scribes seem to think the year is over. Tony Massarotti tips his hat to Theo Epstein and the Sox, while Todd Zolecki notes the Phils have a lead so big that the Mets couldn't blow it. (Christine is still trying to stay in denial that the Phillies have it wrapped up.)

Things have been going swell, but I have spotted trouble ahead. No, I'm not talking about the fact that J.A. Happ was yanked tonight after three innings in his comeback start or that Jason Bay caught the swine flu from Shane Victorino. (Christine wants me to say that Shane-O is still having tummy issues, but I don't know that to be fact.) Carlos Ruiz also left with a wrist injury.

But the real trouble ahead is if the Phillies match up against the Dodgers - they will have no chance because Los Angeles has hijacked the power of Journey from Jayson Werth.

Steve Perry, a Giants fan, isn't happy:

"It tweaks me to know they're using the song as a rally song," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I really wish [the Giants] had hijacked it first. I think the song is about hope and power, and it's working for [the Dodgers], damn it."

I'm worried. Werth likes Journey (although we haven't heard him use Separate Ways in a while). Christine and I don't like Journey, but I have had Don't Stop stuck in my head since Monday.

This can't bode well if there's a rematch of last year's NLCS.

Tonight's games: The Red Sox continue to try to put themselves in a position in which next weekend's series in the Bronx means something. Clay Buchholz won again - the Sox haven't lost in his last seven starts (five wins and two no-decisions). He gave up one run in six innings before the bullpen shut the door in the 3-1 win over the Orioles.

The Phillies, behind two Ryan Howard homers and insurance blasts from Jimmy Rollins and Ben Francisco, beat the Braves 9-4. Before Howard's first, they showed he was hitting .231 with one home run in September. I gave him the choking sign. Christine got mad. Howard homered. Mission accomplished.

Tyler Walker, who Christine earlier in the week proclaimed the unsung Phillie of 2009, gave up two runs in the 8th inning, but she's blaming that on the Daily News for writing about him, not her proclamation.

Before he left - whether because of precaution or reinjury - Happ looked a bit shaky. Kyle Kendrick tossed four shutout innings. Hmm ... so maybe the playoff rotation will be Pedro Martinez, Kyle Kendrick, Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee.

Extended Journey: Christine remembered that the 2005 Chicago White Sox had used the ballad. While looking for a link, I found Timoney's YouTube video of Perry jamming with the White Sox during their victory parade. It's odd. The crowd is dead. Give me the world effin' champions or a bunch of duck boats any day. Judge for yourself:

Gag me with a spoon

Don't do it.

Don't even think of it.

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK.

(This is so awful that I will not mention the author nor the title even though it's probably costing me blog hits.)

There are millions of struggling legitimate writers out there. Support them, not this pompous ass. He already has a much larger platform than he deserves. We have to listen to him every night, and that's not enough for him.

By the way, you know this is bad. We've bought books written by Gary Matthews, Chris Coste and even the Phanatic. But even we, as authors of a blog half dedicated to the Phillies, cannot do this one.

Argh.

This reviewer, who sounds an awful lot like Sarge, says it all.

Thankfully, the Phillies are off tonight, so I don't have to hear him. Actually, it is good the Phillies are off, so we can savor Pedro Martinez's performance for one more night. It was so reminiscent of the vintage Pedro who pretty much single-handedly made the Red Sox respectable in the late '90s.

I also had flashbacks of 2003 when Grady Little left him in too long. Last night, I was screaming at the TV when Charlie Manuel let him come out for the 8th inning. I was yelling again when he left him in after visiting the mound.

But then, reading Scott Lauber this morning changed my mind:

Last night, Pedro went eight innings and threw 130 pitches. He hadn't pitched so deep into a regular-season game since May 31, 2006, when he shut out the Arizona for eight innings, and he hadn't thrown so many pitches in a non-playoff game since May 1, 2001, his prime with the Red Sox, when he reached back and fired 136 against Seattle. At one point, a friend from Boston sent me a note on Twitter (@scottlauber) that asked, essentially, if Manuel had never heard of Grady Little, the former Sox manager who ultimately was fired for sticking with Pedro for too long in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, forever known in New England as "The Aaron Boone Game."

But what my friend failed to understand is what Pedro explained late last night in the Phillies' clubhouse. He insisted he feels better than he has since 1998, 1999 or early 2000, and with his unexpected health has come an equally surprising level of effectiveness.

I told Christine I was believing in Pedro again. I wish my T-shirt still fit. I wish I could get Don't Stop Believing out of my head.

Tonight: The Red Sox and the Phillies are off.

Jayson Werth goes soft

Jayson Werth has traded in headbangers in leather for pulsating keyboards and sleeveless T-shirts. We noticed that he switched his intro music from Sammy Hagar's Heavy Metal to Journey's Separate Ways when we attended our first game of the year on Saturday.

It took us a minute to identify the new song. Actually, I had no shot, but it came to Christine in dribs. She pictured the video - Steve Perry in a sleeveless shirt, something like a dockyard and the woman walking. The music played in her head, and then she finally remembered the lyrics. She told me to write down Separate Ways to check when we got home. She was right.

I don't know whether Werth is a huge Journey fan or whether he's going through some marital trouble. I will assume it's the former and have taken the liberty to check the band's tour dates to see when J-Dub can check them out this summer. I saw two possibilities: Aug. 31 in Uniondale, N.Y. (the Phillies are off in between games at New York and Pittsburgh) and Sept. 13 in Wallingford, Ct. (the Phillies play the Mets at home in the afternoon, but are off the following day before hosting the Nationals).

Unfortunately, the Phillies are in Houston when Journey plays in Atlantic City, and they have a night game when the band plays in Reading.

If the schedule doesn't work out, Werth always can always hit YouTube, where unfortunately all the Separate Ways videos don't have embeddable links.

Tonight: Rain pushed the Red Sox game in New York to 9:30; they're up 1-0 in the 1st. The central time zone pushed the Phillies back to 8 p.m.; they're up 6-1 in the 5th.

Christine was watching Ryan Howard bat with the bases loaded in the top of the 5th.

"Is he going to do it?" I said.

"I don't know," Christine said with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Uh-oh," I said when Howard made contact, which is my pre-home run call, good or bad.

Then, the camera pans to Howard's dad and a woman in the stands cheering the grand slam.

"I bet that's Jayson Werth's mom," Christine said.

Tom McCarthy confirmed it was shortly after.

[Image: Austin Chronicle]

Walking off with a win at our first game

After attending a World Series clincher, it was a little tough to get amped for a game in early May, especially when starters Oliver Perez and Jamie Moyer were awful.

But by the time Shane Victorino drew a bases-loaded walk on a 3-2 count to force in the winning run in the 10th inning, it felt just a notch below playoff atmosphere.

The game started off ugly. Oliver Perez was toast after 2 1/3 innings - four earned on six walks and five hits. Before walking in the final run, Victorino scored the first run after a lead-off triple. Raul Ibanez drove him in with a sacrifice fly.

Both teams muddled through the middle innings until the floodgates opened in the 6th. After Jamie Moyer retired the first two, Christine and I started debating whether they would try to squeeze one more inning out of him to save the bullpen, even though his pitch count was in the 90s. Before the discussion got too far, Daniel Murphy crushed one out to right. Raul Castro followed with even a bigger blast to center. Former World Champion Alex Cora scored a run after tripling to give the Mets a 5-4 lead, which was erased in the bottom of the inning by a rocket by Ibanez. Things quieted down except for a few nervous innings by Ryan Madson, Brad Lidge and Jack Taschner.

But the game really got good in the 10th against Sean Green (while Frankie Rodriguez stayed in the pen). After Jimmy Rollins grounded out, Pedro Feliz hit a slow little nubber that David Wright couldn't make a play on (Pete Happy would have made the play). Anticipation of a game-ender built as pinch-hit homer extraordinaire Matt Stairs lumbered to the plate. Green, obviously terrified of the big lug, hit him with a pitch. The next pinch hitters, Greg Dobbs and Chris Coste, flew out and walked to load them up for Victorino's game-ending walk. What a thrill.

Mets-Phillies rivalry: I did a double take when I saw someone wearing a Phillies hat and Mets shirt. But then I saw what was printed on the back (pictured on the left). There was also an '07 version. ... Another good shirt had a Mets fan burying his face in his hands. "It must be September in Queens" it said on the back. ... Some stupid Mets fans dressed a Build-A-Phanatic in a Mets uniform. A) That's a waste of $50. B) Mascot envy?

Outdated player shirts: Aaron Rowand, Jim Thome, Edgardo Alfonzo, Mike Piazza, Pat Burrell (including one who put a "Who?" over the five), Lenny Dykstra (Mets), Randy Johnson (Yankees), Dwight Gooden and Scott Rolen.

Game notes: Feliz made a great snare of a liner by Jose Reyes in the 5th - pure instinct. ... In the 7th, Ibanez made a nice play to rob Fernando Tatis. ... In the bottom of the inning, Feliz hit another little nubber that rolled down the third-base line. Wright could only hope it would roll foul. It didn't. ... Of course the play of the game came in the 8th with the Mets threatening to take the lead. With runners on first and second, Carlos Beltran hit a single to right. The Mets sent Omir Santos home, but Jayson Werth nailed him. After the inning-ending out, a pumped-up Ruiz spiked the ball and ran off the field. He led off the next inning but popped out.

Weird lineup today: Victorino, Ibanez, Werth, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins (fifth?!?), Feliz, Eric Bruntlett, Ruiz (we didn't even know he was activated) and Moyer.

Game notes: Gotta love this guy's "World F*cking Champions" sticker. ... The national anthem was performed by the Peabody Veterans Memorial High School Chorale. I was too distracted by my scorecard (I'll explain later) to remember how they did. ... Victorino has a new Hawaiian Punch graphic featuring Punchy. ... Werth changed his intro song. We're not happy. Now, he comes out to Journey's Separate Ways. This is the worst intro music decision since Pat the Bat ditched Dio. ... The roaming vendors seem to offer more selection this year. ... There was an annoying girlie brigade behind us, very loud, but at least they didn't dump anything on us. ... The PA played Home Sweet Home after Jamie Moyer walked with the bases loaded in the 3rd. ... I got my ice cream shuffle mojo back and also picked the winning Septa train and bobblehead bouncer on the scoreboard.

Walking into the park, we saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hanging out at the gate. We also saw Christine's second-favorite mascot, the Geiko gecko. Later, the Turtles came out to help the Phanatic save a Phillies helmet from an evil ninja. It was probably the worst Phanatic skit I've ever seen.

Early in the game, Christine noted the "Raul" cheers sound like a howling dog. After Ibanez homered, they played Werewolves of London. ... The Ask-a-Phillies segment asked for their favorite day of the year. We don't think the crowd got the reference when Chase Utley named Halloween. Christine thinks he should have said f*cking Halloween. ... Before the 10th inning, they did the Kiss Cam. Inappropriate. That's for the middle innings of a blowout, not when you're playing your hated rival in extra innings.

OUTRAGE: When I sat down to fill out my scorecard, I noticed the sheet with the roster and "newsy notes" was missing. I went back to the stand, and the clerk told me they're not doing that anymore because the Phillies felt it was a waste of paper. There is other waste the Phillies could have gutted before that useful piece of recyclable paper, such as page 2 in the program that lists every nominal staffer in the organization. And I really could have used a roster when the Mets brought in Ken Takahashi. I had never even heard of him and had no chance at spelling his name correctly. {Uh, scoreboard?} The Phillies win one World Championship, and they think they can just dump on their fans. BOO!

Oh, getting back to Ask-a-Phillie, they kept Harry Kalas in the rotation. He got big cheers when he said Opening Day. And after the excitement of the win started to subside, they played him singing High Hopes on the scoreboard.

It was a very nice mint at the end of a great meal.

Red Sox: They played another ugly one, but salvaged one from the Rays. They won 10-6.