Nothing much happening tonight

A day after I cited Jayson Stark's report on how Jimmy Rollins was having a historically significant defensive season, he made two errors tonight to blow it all.

Plus, Joe Blanton had his worst outing of the year, giving up eight earned runs on seven hits and four walks. It's the first time Country Joe has given up more than four earned runs in a start since June 18. Adam Eaton anyone? He's available; so is Rodrigo Lopez.

In the 7th, it's Nationals 8, Phillies 2. Sounds like a no-stress time for Brad Lidge, eh Charlie?

"I don't see us using him in the seventh or eighth inning," Manuel said. "I look at him as a closer. That's kind of where he fits. I see him pitching once he needs work. If we're behind in the game or we're ahead or something by a good margin we'll get him to make sure he pitches live in the game. He needs to get work where he can command his pitches and he feels good about himself. I agree that he needs work like that. That's kind of what he wants. I don't know how much work like that from here to the end of the season we can get him."

Like she did in Game 4 of last year's NLCS, Christine sounds like she's on the verge of giving up on her Phillies despite their favorable standing. {I'm not. I just want them to win, now.}

Up two games in the Wild Card standings with 23 to play, the Red Sox had a day off. They have only one more day off after this one.

Slammin' Adam Joseph

****Cycle correction****

Today, while celebrating Christine's mom's birthday, talk turned to the weather as the Phillies were attempting to come back against the Cardinals in the 6th inning.

Her mother, who is a big Adam Joseph fan, offered to turn to Channel 6 to check the weather. Christine asked her to wait until we knew whether the Phillies scored. She waited - until Greg Dobbs walked to load the bases - before switching the channel to the weather report.

It didn't seem like that much time had passed, but when the game was turned back on, Jimmy Rollins was in the dugout getting congratulated for his grand slam, which gave the Phillies a 7-4 lead. They scored seven more to beat the Cardinals 14-6.

So in one week, Christine missed a grand slam and a cycle by Rollins. J-Roll to Christine: Please don't watch my at-bats anymore.

Rodrigo "Why do they need Pedro Martinez or Roy Halladay?" Lopez gave up four runs (three earned) over six innings. That's his worst start of the year.

Christine's mom didn't like hearing that she was going to be the subject of tonight's blog.

In other news: The game was delayed several times as some dolt in the stands kept shining a laser pointer on Cardinals batters. And we were quite surprised to see Steven Register on the mound. We had never heard of him before. If this bullpen mess doesn't end soon, The Pen's casting credits will take 10 minutes to roll.

Red Sox: Jon Lester is pitching well; the Red Sox lead the Orioles 5-2 in the 8th.

All-Star voting has jumped the shark

A question and a note before starting tonight's post:

1) Has "jumped the shark" jumped the shark? It probably has, but how long ago? {Probably around 1998.}

2) The following post may be hypercritical coming from a guy who writes a blog that artificially links two unrelated baseball teams.

But here it goes:

Last night Christine told me that certain players have been linked in All-Star voting, such as Los Angeles-based Chone Figgins with Matt Kemp. Last year, fans voted for White Sox Jermaine Dye and former White Sox Aaron Rowand.

It seems that now everyone has to have a running mate, and today Bran-Torino was unveiled, linking Shane Victorino with the Tigers Brandon Inge. Now, these happen to be my choices for the final spots, but what do the Tigers and Phillies have in common? Nothing. Nada. Zip. This is getting stupid.

Especially because other than for a fleeting moment last night, Shane-O can't seem to get past Pablo Sandoval - who, truth be told, is having a better season. Christine will probably object {yes, I do}, but I will remind her that he's just living up to the lofty expectations she placed on him by picking him for Rookie of the Year. {He can be Rookie of the Year after the All-Star game, not during it.}

Tonight's games: All-Star Tim Wakefield has given up just one run in six innings and leads the A's 4-1 in the 7th behind home runs by David Ortiz and J.D. Drew. The Phillies Rodrigo Lopez' second straight solid performance ended after five innings because of a sore shoulder. The Phillies and Reds are tied 2-2 in the 7th.

Do you get the feeling that the asking price for Roy Halladay just went up?

Happy Fourth

It's been a hectic holiday weekend - baseball has taken a backseat the past few days to visiting family, riding my bike, watching fireworks (last night and tonight), barbecuing and watching the annual Nathan's hot dog eating contest.

Yup, if you count that as sport, then the bulk of my sports-watching the last two days has been seeing people shove hot dogs and soggy rolls down their gullets. Joey Chestnut won again; I'm bummed.

Last night, I see that Rodrigo Lopez bailed out the Phillies, helping them to get a rare win at home. Christine and I debated whether it's a sign that the champs have righted the ship or that they're just taking advantage of playing an even more dreadful team (the Mets).

The Red Sox battled back to tie the Mariners, but wound up losing in 11 innings. I tried to listen while sitting in my truck waiting for the fireworks to start. Reception was decent, but not clear enough to hear over the din of the crowd waiting for the show.

Later this afternoon, the Phillies and Jamie Moyer host Ferando Nieve and the Mets. The Red Sox (Brad Penny) and Mariners (Garrett Olson) have already started. The Sox are up 2-0 in the 2nd.

We're curious who will read Lou Gehrig's speech for the Phillies and Red Sox. I like this idea to honor him this way.

At least today started better than yesterday ended

Long-time SoxandPhils readers may have noticed that this year we post a lot more often before games end. Last year, Christine thought I would jinx Phillies wins if I posted mid-game, but this year I have to wake up earlier in the mornings, so I don't wait for games to end.

Last night, I knew it was dicey starting to write when the Phils trailed 3-2 in the 7th. I thought the Red Sox were safe with a 9-1 lead. But I woke up today to terse e-mails from my Red Sox mailing list that said things like "Ugh" and "&*($@$&." Translation: biggest Orioles comeback in team's history. The vaunted Red Sox bullpen gave up five runs in each the 7th and 8th inning to lose 11-10. Entering the game, the Red Sox pen led the majors with a 2.89 ERA. It now trails the Rays with a 3.34 ERA.

Today, Josh Beckett took the hill in a matinee. I figured the ugly loss would be the beginning of a skid for the Sox or that Beckett would be the stopper to will the team past the debacle. Neither happened. Beckett was hit early - five runs in four innings - but managed to tough it out through the 7th to help preserve a depleted bullpen.

But the Sox got some revenge against the Orioles, scoring four in the 9th and ultimately winning in the 11th, 6-5. Ugly one-game losing streak over.

The Phillies ugliness continued. Cole Hamels wasn't a stopper either. He was knocked out after giving up seven runs in four innings. But he can't take all the blame - the Phillies didn't have a hit until Paul Bako singled with two outs in the 7th. Braves 11, Phillies 1. Unfriggin' real. This is supposed to be a world-class offense, yet they're nearly no-hit every other day. I know they're missing their MVP, Raul Ibanez, who had a setback.

Other news: This morning I told Christine I had a feeling that Rodrigo Lopez would get Friday's start because his name has come up all of a sudden, and the major argument against him is that he's out of options. I didn't think that would be a deal breaker because either he pitches well and is up for the season, or he stinks and the Phillies lose minor-league filler. Neither option is particularly bad. Well, guess who's getting the start.

Better news: This should cinch a spot for Tim Wakefield on the All-Star team.

The battle of the Phillies beat writers continues

The other day, the Inquirer's new guy, Andy Martino, reported the Phillies made an offer to Will Ohman, which was promptly shot down by MLB's Todd Zolecki, who reported the rumor was probably just Ohman's agent trying to drum up interest.

Today, the Phillies did sign a lefty who once pitched for the Padres, but it wasn't Will Ohman. It was Rodrigo Lopez. Both scribes had the news, but Zolecki got the big scoop first, posting the move at 3:23 p.m. Martino had it up at 3:32 p.m.

In today's more substantial news: Kyle Kendrick took a step back in his quest for redemption. Josh Bard hit 100 mph during a game today. And Alex Rodriguez's hip injury is worse than expected and could miss months. I won't mention steroids.