Closing time

A few nights ago, Christine asked if we should officially kill this blog. I didn't answer.

Last night, I was glad I didn't when I saw that the Phillies agreed on a four-year $50 million contract with Jonathan Papelbon who, pending a physical, will be the biggest SoxandPhil since Curt Schilling.

I don't understand why the Phillies didn't stand pat with Ryan Madson - I'd welcome him to Boston. Christine's not happy with her early Christmas present. She has always been particularly irritated by Papelbon. Trent wasn't impressed when we told him over his Cheerios this morning.

I just can't wait to see what happens when Carl Crawford steps in against Pap in the bottom of the 9th of Game 7 of the 2012 World Series. I'd wager that night ends for Papelbon like his last night as a Red Sox.

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.

The Phillies need a better scheduler

An ad caught my eye in the Phillies program I bought last week. It was for a sports card and memorabilia show. It's odd because the featured athletes are Curt Schilling and Joe Blanton. (Another current Phillie, Ben Francisco, is also listed.) Fine, you can theme Schilling and Blanton as two rotund pitchers with Phillies connections, but the date is the odd part. The show runs Sept. 24 through Sept. 26.

That's the dates of the Phillies last home series of the year. It's against the Mets, who I'm sure would love to play spoiler against the team that has ruined their recent seasons.

I thought maybe someone made sure the show didn't conflict with games, but nope. Friday's show runs from 5 to 9 p.m. when there's a 7 p.m. game. While Saturday's game time hasn't been announced, it's hard to imagine one not conflicting with a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. show. And there's no way a player can participate in a 1:35 p.m. game Sunday and a show that runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

I think somebody screwed up. I went to the show's site to investigate further and found out that the appearance times for everyone, even former Phils like Curt, Darren Daulton and Geoff Jenkins, are listed as TBD. And there are additional current Phillies booked for the show: Placido Polanco and Ryan Madson.

Christine won't be happy if the Mets beat the Phillies that weekend with a quarter of the team signing cards with Curt Schilling.

Speaking of members of the 2004 Red Sox: Manny Ramirez is leaving the Dodgers, who start a series with the Phillies today, and joins the White Sox, who play the Red Sox on Friday and seven times until the end of the season. As if the end of this season won't be annoying enough.

Tonight's games: The Red Sox are off. The Phillies play late in Los Angeles. I had a nice day with Trent, but I'm pooped and won't attempt to get the beginning of the game into this post.

Our first game back

Yesterday was our first game back to Citizens Bank Park since we became parents. Lots of things were different - bootleg vendors sold ponchos instead of pretzels, the sax guy wasn't playing, and they now have a trivia game outside of Bull's BBQ.

But one major thing didn't change - it rained. We sat through it. We got wet. I got grumpy but hung in there.

Despite the hour and 45 minute rain delay - including a scary moment when I dozed off and thought I was blind because I could see only the white of the tarp on the field - it was a pretty good game. Roy Oswalt shut down the Nationals, giving up five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts over seven innings in the 6-0 win. The lack of runs was impressive because he let the leadoff guy on in the first four innings. And in each of those innings, someone got in scoring position, including the first inning when Oswalt struck out Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman after letting the leadoff guy get to third with one out. Roy also went 2-3 with a run and came close to an extra-base hit in his final at-bat.

But he might not have been the player of the game. That award could be claimed by Christine's favorite, Carlos Ruiz, whose only hit was a meaningless single in the 4th and whose fielding was marred with a throwing error and three stolen bases.

Despite those feats, Chooch set up the big two-run 6th inning, which iced the game. With two outs and runners on second and third, the Nationals elected to walk the fearsome Chooch, who's actually been intentionally walked 33 times in his career (nearly all in front of the pitcher), to get to Wilson Valdez.

Valdez, filling in for a resting Chase Utley, was never so insulted in his life and stroked a two-run single to put the Phils up 4-0. Raul Ibanez hit a two-run home after the rain delay in the 7th.

Observations from the stands: It was a fairly uneventful game on and off the field. A funny moment came after the rain delay when the new Nationals second baseman, Alberto Gonzalez, complained that the field was too wet. He was booed when the grounds crew came out to sop up more water. After they left, a bunch of sea gulls (you can sort of see them on the right) swarmed the field, mocking the Nats.

We weren't sitting in our usual area of seats, and it seemed much more quiet than usual. We could hear the radio broadcast floating through the stands. In fact, the crowd never really seemed to wake up until the end of the rain delay when they played Chubby Checker's Let's Twist Again, followed by the original The Twist. The crowd was really going as the Nats took the field and an usher was shown on Phanavision while Twisting.

The team honored Philadelphia native Jerry Crawford, who was umpiring his last game in the city before retiring after a 33-year career. He also umped the last game at the Vet and the first at the Bank. You can read about him in the Inky and Daily News. Instead of giving him a gold watch, the Phillies gave him a plush Phanatic. More on that later this week, but I wonder if that's why the Phillies won so easily.

Debbi Kee's Keenote Chorale did the anthem. ... WPXN's Ben Arnold did God Bless America. No one told him it was raining. He could have trimmed a few minutes off it.

Antiquated T-shirts: We didn't see that many: Cliff Lee, Jim Thome and Jacoby Ellsbury's No. 46.

Babies on the brain: Of course, when we saw the Cole Hamels lunch bag, I was upset we didn't bring Trent. (OK, I was upset we didn't bring Trent as soon as we left the house.) The several young tots we saw in the stands didn't help. There was one nearby (kind of looked like Peyton Manning) who kept staring at Christine. Of course, being the proud, responsible parents that we are, we compared every youngin to Trent. There was no contest: The cutest baby wasn't at the park. ... There were some youngsters on the field with the Phanatic in the middle of the game doing some Latin dances. I dunno why we were amused by this; probably because it's the most people we've seen involved in a Phanatic skit.

Tonight's games: The Phillies faced former mate Brett Myers. On the radio broadcast, Scott Franzke said young Brett was starting for the Phillies. I think somebody is stuck in 2009. Myers pitched well in his return to Philadelphia, but was outpitched for seven innings by Blanton. Myers left trailing 2-1, but Ryan Madson blew it in the 8th. Astros 3, Phillies 2.

Unfortunately, the big story involving a former SoxandPhil is that the Red Sox put in a waiver claim on Johnny Damon, who's considering whether to waive his no-trade clause to Boston. I hope he stays in Detroit. John Lackey was also locked in a pitcher's duel but outpitched the Mariners Doug Fister and got a well-deserved 6-3 win.

Doctor, Doctor

This is not about Roy Halladay, even though I recently learned he used to take the field as a Blue Jay to Robert Palmer's Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor).

Nope, this is about another Phillies pitcher, one who won't be toeing the rubber anytime soon. Ryan Madson, who earned his Mad Dog moniker last week by breaking his toe when he kicked a chair after his last blown save, has to go under the blade.

Semi-related: Christine recently read on a Snapple bottle that the big toe has two bones while all the other toes have three. We found that interesting.

I'm sure Mad Dog is getting quite an anatomy lesson about the human toe during this experience.

Tonight's games: The Red Sox lead the Angels 7-4 in the 6th. I can't decide which joke to use: A) Man, the Angels are worse than the Orioles, or B) I wonder how the Red Sox plan to blow this one.

The Phillies got a decent start out of Joe Blanton, but Nelson Figueroa couldn't erase the jam he inherited in the 7th, and the Cardinals lead 6-2 in the 9th. Before the game, Christine predicted a typical Joe B start - four runs in 6 innings. He gave up four runs in 6.2 innings

Jaw dropping

Today Christine and I took a day off. We thought it might be a relaxing day, but it turned into one of our trademark busy home improvement days.

We had a repairman out to tell us that a rubber gasket that came out of the dryer was not, in fact, part of the dryer. We have no idea what it's from.

We had a home inspector out to reassure us that our basement isn't leaking - it's just that the windows and chimney need to be re-caulked. And we have to remove a concrete patio. Christine almost agreed to let me play with a jackhammer until my Dad convinced her it was a bad idea.

In between, we decided to mow the lawn, weed the gardens and put down a yard of mulch.

We handled all of this, but driving back from the grocery store, we were listening to Charlie Manuel on the radio tell us matter-of-factly that Ryan Madson was put on the DL after he kicked a chair and broke a toe after his latest blown save.

Christine and I looked at each other in total shock, jaws dropped.

I once broke a finger out of anger so I can relate, but I can't believe a professional athlete would be that stupid. Unless maybe he truly feels bad about how awfully he has pitched this year and wants to ensure that he doesn't blow another game anytime soon.

Tonight's games: Red Sox and Orioles are tied 4-4 in the 10th; the first-place Mets beat the {stinky} Phillies 9-1.

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.

Friday fun with flags

Earlier this week, I mentioned the huge flag that was on the field during the Opening Day pregame ceremonies. Tonight, we present our little photo essay of how the flag was 1) unfurled; 2) displayed in all its glory; and 3) refurled.

While the flag was stretched over the outfield, we wondered how they would fold it up without letting it touch the ground. We decided that they knew what they were doing.

They did - they ran as quick as possible. It did touch the ground, but surprisingly few times for a flag that size.

With this, I conclude our leftover pictures from Opening Day.

Well, there's one more, but it's not enough for a post, and I'm not sure whether it will see the light of day.

Phillies: Christine and I were driving in separate cars when Roy Halladay had his first at-bat in Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies had the bases loaded and a three-run lead. I was certain he was going to further his ever-growing legend with a big hit. He didn't. Christine booed, in joking appreciation that he is not perfect.

It didn't matter because his teammates had his back - including a three-RBI game for Juan Castro and home runs by Placido Polanco and Chase Utley, who has gone deep in four consecutive games.

I wasn't happy when they let Halladay hit in the bottom of the 7th in the pouring rain with a seven-run lead. He pitched another inning and gave up a second run before David Herndon nearly blew it, giving up four runs in the 9th and setting up a save for Ryan Madson, who did finish off the 8-6 win over the Marlins.

Red Sox: While watching the Phillies, I had a feeling that I should switch to MLB Network. My ESP was rewarded by a live look in at the Red Sox and Rays game, which was then tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 6th. David Ortiz was up with a man on, and I cringed at the thought of him making another out. He didn't. He laced a solid hit to right, but the third base coach waved home Kevin Youkilis, who was out by a mile. Arrgh.

The two teams that will likely battle for the division all summer long remain tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th before a rain delay kicked in. Nice start by Josh Beckett, one unearned run in seven innings. Jason Varitek hit a solo home run - his third homer in his second start.

Because the Captain is back, maybe we could trade Victor Martinez for an outfielder. We could use one with Jacoby Ellsbury injured and Mike Cameron recovering from kidney stones. Ouch.

Changed my mind: Here's that last picture I was saving from Opening Day. We were planning to break it out when Herndon had a bad game, so here's a shot of Herndon and his pink bag:

Closing the federal deficit

In our state, the transportation commissioner made a little stir when he mentioned the possibility of selling naming rights for rest stops on the Turnpike to help with the state's budget gap.

It even got a satirical segment on the Rachel Maddow Show.

So we were quite surprised on Opening Day to see that Congress has sold naming rights to the Capitol building to close the federal deficit. Our federal reps even slapped the name of a Philadelphia bar on the white dome, yet no one seemed to complain or object.

If a rest stop's name could be worth $1 million per year, how much did Chickie's & Pete's pay for this ad? I hope they didn't pay in cash, because after the 5th inning, Congress apparently reneged on the deal and the name was removed.

Other SoxandPhilsandJersey naming issues: Rapper and part-owner of the New Jersey Nets, Jay-Z, is suing David Ortiz, claiming infringement because Papi named his Dominican Republican night club Forty-Forty, similar to Jay-Z's 40/40 club. Poor Papi, he just can't catch a break this year.

Afternoon games: The Phillies bullpen decided to honor Brad Lidge, who was in town because the 2009 NL Champs got their rings today, by blowing a lead to the Nationals.

Danys Baez lost it in the 8th, coughing up the lead on a two-run pinch-hit home run by Ryan Zimmerman, making his first appearance of the series. Ryan Madson didn't help things by allowing two more runs in the 9th in the 7-5 loss.

The Red Sox just got whupped 8-0 by the Twins. Tim Wakefield got shelled, and Dustin Pedroia had three of the team's six hits. But it's only April 15.

D-Fence and the new-look Red Sox

It's quite clear by now that Theo Epstein thought the best way to improve the Red Sox was via leather and pitching. Run prevention is the new catch phrase in Boston.

So Jason Bay was banished to New York, and Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek were sent to the bench, and Jacoby Ellsbury was sent to left field.

What?

Interestingly, I was looking at defensive stats this morning in The Bill James Handbook and was surprised to see that, defying conventional wisdom, both Ellsbury and Shane Victorino rank among the worst center fielders in the game. So although I was surprised when news broke this afternoon that the Red Sox will play Mike Cameron in center, I wasn't completely shocked.

I'm really psyched for the new-look defensive Red Sox, even though I'm sure some, like this moron particpating in a Rob Neyer chat, will question Theo's logic:

Steve (NYC)
Rob, do you think the Sox are putting too many eggs in the UZR basket? They've improved their defense, but from a distance it also looks like they've added mediocre bats to 1/3 of their lineup. Are we really so confident in the relative value of defense to offense that these "WAR" numbers are gospel? I guess we'll find out, but I personally find the Sox a lot less scary than in previous seasons.

Rob Neyer (12:10 PM)
Cameron has been an above-average hitter in each of the last 11 seasons; Beltre has been above average in four of the last six seasons. So, no.

Thanks, Rob.

A little longer defense of the Red Sox D-Fence comes from Dave Cameron:

Beltre isn't just a good defender. He is in the conversation of the best defensive third baseman of all time.
[...]
It isn't just the numbers, either. When you watch Beltre play third base, you are amazed at the things he can do. He has perfected the charge on a bunt – no one in baseball comes in on the ball as well as he does. His lateral range is hilarious at times, as he regularly fields balls that are hit directly at the shortstop, just because he can. He has a great arm, often throwing lasers across the field without transferring his weight, showing pure arm strength.

Nuggets gleaned today from Bill James: Chase Utley was the best base-running second baseman in 2009 and was second only to Michael Bourn among all players. Mike Lowell was the worst base runner at third base - another reason the Adrian Beltre signing makes sense. Although he's not an excellent base runner, at least Beltre is on the positive side of the ledger, unlike the guy he is replacing.

Brad Lidge had the worst OPS (.912) among relievers with at least 50 games. He was also tied with the second worst save percentage (74 percent).

Ryan Madson tied for second with 29 appearances in which he pitched on the previous day. But with all the talk about not using the injured Lidge on consecutive days, the closer did have 21 such appearances.

[Photo credit: HuggingHaroldReynolds.com]

Monday morning recap

I didn't make it.

Greg fell asleep sometime after 12:30 this morning, but I was determined to watch the whole game. (We are both off today but had various early appointments, so while the game time was not ideal, it wasn't as bad as if we were working today.) I warned Greg that I was not responsible if my cheering or booing woke him up. He was willing to take that chance. [She was surprisingly quiet.]

But by the time the Phillies were ending their failed 8th inning rally, I was conking out. The injury to Scott Eyre and Ryan Madson's subsequent warming up in the 7th had really slowed down the pace of the game. And then Madson completely killed the timing - I never realized until last night how slowly he works, especially with men on base, and especially compared with the speedy Joe Blanton a few innings earlier.

So I turned off the TV not knowing the result of game 3 of the NLDS. Honestly, I was reluctant to find out the score this morning. I couldn't believe that Madson was pitching in the 7th inning - who was going to pitch late in the game if it were a save situation? The last thing I wanted to hear is that Brad Lidge blew yet another game.

Turns out, he tried to blow it, but the Phillies held on. Phillies 6, Rockies 5. It wasn't pretty, but they got it done.

Game 4 tonight, at a very reasonable 6:07 p.m. I expect we'll both be watching the end of this one.

Exciting endings

After a complicated night in our real lives and a general blah-ish feeling about our teams, I'm keeping it short tonight.

We woke up and learned that no matter how awful our teams play this week, there will be at least one extra SoxandPhils game this year because the Angels beat the Rangers last night, guaranteeing the Red Sox at least a tie for the Wild Card - and what would be a one-game sudden-death play-in game on Monday, if necessary.

If the Phillies survive this week, we won't be seeing them in the playoffs. We got our notification that we didn't win the lottery for the opportunity to purchase playoff tickets for the NLDS. After years of getting suckered into buying tickets during the near-misses of the early 2000s, we finally got to see playoff baseball in 2007. We saw three games last year - thankfully, Christine didn't listen to me when I said not to buy tickets because the Phillies were four games out in September and looked like they weren't going to make it. We'll be watching from home this year.

Tonight's games: The Phillies woke up and Ryan Madson looked like Brad Lidge ... Brad Lidge circa 2008 but with the ability to go two innings. The Phillies beat the Astros 7-4 and are also assured of at least a tie for a playoff slot because the Marlins just beat the Braves. Magic number, 1. Christine should be less cranky tomorrow.

The Red Sox came close with their own exciting ending, but couldn't close the deal. Clay Buchholz didn't have it tonight, but the Red Sox scored five in the 8th to pull within a run. They had the potential tying run on second base (speedster Jacoby Ellsbury), but Kevin Youkilis struck out looking to end it. Blue Jays 8, Red Sox 7. Maybe the Angels will finish what they started last night and eliminate the Rangers for us (Halos up 1-0 in the 2nd).

Lord knows our teams can't take care of their own business right now.

Weekend wrap-up

Yesterday ended really ugly for the Phillies, but if they can polish off the Mets tonight - which would officially eliminate the Mets from playoff contention about three weeks earlier than usual - then it would be a pretty good weekend capped off with a pair of SoxandPhils doubleheader sweeps.

Saturday: We ventured into Yankees and Mets territory to visit the family. We saw the Mets take a 4-0 lead on Jamie Moyer, yet Christine remained calm, even as my 9-year-old niece needled her. We were out to dinner for most of the game, but heard on the car ride back from the restaurant that the Phillies were threatening to score more in the 8th. We got inside to see Ryan Howard strike out with the bases load.

Then, Ryan Madson came in to close it out after Brett Myers had given up three runs in 1/3 of an inning. Mad Dog was no better, doing his best Brad Lidge impression by giving up a two-run home run to David Wright. Game over, after we endured Francisco Rodriguez strutting around after getting the save. Mets 10, Phillies 9.

Christine kept grumbling the whole ride down the Turnpike.

The Red Sox won a five-inning rain-shortened game 9-1 against the Rays. Josh Beckett had a 78-pitch complete game.

Today (Red Sox): In the afternoon game, Clay Buchholz pitched well again - one run in seven innings - but did not get the win because the Red Sox couldn't score the go-ahead run in the 3-1 game until the 8th when Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run home run.

In the nightcap, Jon Lester, who game up three hits in 1/3 of an inning in Friday's start that was washed out, gave up just two hits and three walks in eight innings, pitching on short rest. I love this guy.

Today (Phillies): They won the opener 5-4 behind a pair of pitchers looking to redeem themselves. Kyle Kendrick was quite a surprise: two runs on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings. Even more of a surprise was Brad Lidge getting the ball in the 9th. It was nerve-wracking as he pitched as poorly as he could without blowing another one. He let the Mets chip away and score two runs on three hits before freezing Angel Pagan with his second strikeout of the inning.

Question: Has a reigning World Champion with a decent chance to repeat ever gone to the season's last three weeks looking for its closer?

Tonight: Pedro Martinez is trying for the fourth SoxandPhils win today. He's up 1-0 in the 5th against his former team.

Stupid rain

So, we're just two games up on the Wild Card with little more than three weeks left in the season. It's raining. Our best pitcher is scheduled to start. What do you do? Start the game, or wait and hope it stops raining?

I'd go with Option B; unfortunately, Option A was what happened. And it was even worse than I imagined. The game was delayed in the first inning after the Rays loaded the bases against Jon Lester with one out.

Fortunately, they canceled this game and will try to play a doubleheader on Sunday. But that means that coming down this tight stretch run, we're going to have one fewer start from Lester.

Oh well, we've overcome worse.

Tonight's completed game: The Phillies actually won one, 4-2 over the Mets, behind a strong Cole Hamels outing: one run in 6 1/3 innings. Shane Victorino was 3-3 with with two walks and a run.

But the only thing that matters these days is who's on tap to close. Tonight it was Ryan Madson. We don't understand why they didn't leave Brett Myers out there because he needed just six pitches to set the Mets down in the 8th. Madson gave up a run, but got out of a jam with the help of a double play.

We miss Harry: In the bottom of the 8th, Chris Wheeler blathered about the Phillies doing something to the team behind them so that they'll be a little bit "closer to a happy ending." I wonder if he knows what he said.

Breaking point

All weekend, I've had to talk Christine off the figurative ledge - as if her team was the one in a scrape for the Wild Card, not the one with a six-game lead in a division with marginal competition.

But this morning I learned that her frustration is nothing compared with Charlie Manuel's, who let loose what reporters have depicted as his biggest can of whoop-ass the players have ever seen from him. The Daily News had the best headline, Snarly Manuel (I would have gone with Snarly Charlie). Scott Lauber had the complete transcript, with some censorship:

[Expletive] the last couple years. That don't mean [crap]. We're playing today. Last year is dead and gone. Having to win? No, I don't get that. I think when you have a lead, you're sitting better than you are when you absolutely have to win a game that day. I think having a lead's got to be better than that. I'll take the lead. That's what I'm trying to say. Last year, what happened in the past, that's gone. We played tremendous baseball last year the last five, six weeks. Best baseball we've ever played. I'm not going to give our lead up and say, 'We'll start here.' No, I'm not going to do that because I don't know if we can come through or not. I like our chances better where we're at, but at the same time, we have to win some games. That's what I'm trying to say.

I wonder if being on the receiving end of a Cholly riff is like when your grandmother expresses disappointment in you. It's just got to feel bad.

How'd it work? So far, so good (except for Brad Lidge - who was pulled and could be done as the Phillies closer this year). The Phillies had five solo home runs - two by Raul Ibanez and one each by Chase Utley, Jayson Werth and Carlos Ruiz - to beat the Nationals 5-3.

With their blasts, Ibanez and Utley joined Ryan Howard and Werth with 30 home runs this season. Three home runs came in the 7th. For the formerly ancient Mariner, that's three home runs in his last two games after he had gone nearly 80 plate appearances without one. Is RAAAUUULLL!!!! BAAACCCKKK????

Definitely not back is Lidge. He was removed mid-inning after loading the bases. Closer-in-waiting Brett Myers had already pitched 1 1/3 innings, so it was Ryan Madson who got the call and pitched out of Lidge's jam without allowing a run.

This is the night that Cholly officially acknowledged what the fans have known: Brad Lidge is broken.

Fortunately, he did not spoil another strong start by Pedro Martinez. When he signed with the Phillies, he had 99 career losses. Christine anticipated that the round number would come in his first appearance. He's managed to avoid it through six starts. He pitched well again: three earned runs in six innings. Despite throwing 105 pitches through six, they sent him out for the 7th. I thought it was a mistake. He got two outs before giving up a solo home run.

Why can't the Red Sox play the Orioles every week? They're now 12-2 against the AL East cellar dwellers with tonight's 10-0 win. Clay Buchholz went seven innings, giving up three hits and a walk with five strikeouts. Big night for Dustin Pedroia: 2-3 with two runs, three RBIs, two home runs and a walk.

Cheery thoughts for a holiday weekend

Phillies bullpen.

OK, not so cheery.

Two weeks ago, Scott Lauber and Paul Hagen wrote about interim closer Ryan Madson's seemingly good fortunes. That night he blew his first save, prompting me to question whether Lauber, Hagen or I had jinxed him.

This week, Lauber finally wondered whether his feature had jinxed Mad Dog, who has lately pitched like a peaceful puppy.

Today, he's got all the bullpen numbers; you can click here for them, but it's not a read for the faint of heart:

Lidge is 0-3 with a 7.57 ERA and six blown saves in 20 chances. Madson, meanwhile, after getting off to a great start, is 0-3 with a 10.80 ERA and three blown saves since June 16.

That's worth repeating: Between them, Madson-post June 16 and Lidge all season are 0-6 with nine -- nine! -- blown saves.

Incredible. Lauber also noted that last year the Phillies were 65-9 when leading after seven innings and as everyone is aware of, 79-0 when leading after eight. The Brad Lidge bullpen is no longer perfect this year: 29-6 when leading after seven, 31-6 when leading after eight.

Hopefully, things can begin to settle down a bit for the bullpen and the Phillies can conquer their home woes when the open a series against the Mets, who thanks to the Phillies are still in the NL East race, along with the Braves and Marlins. Jason Bay will play his first game as an American in Fenway against the Mariners.

A new American for Independence Day

Just in time for the Fourth of July, Jason Bay has become an American citizen.

He joined David Ortiz (last year) and the druggie and quitter Manny Ramirez (2004) as sluggers who converted to American while playing for the Red Sox in recent years.

The Red Sox are off tonight, but I hope he shows some token of support for his new country when the Red Sox take the field against the Mariners tomorrow.

Like always, J-Bay said all the right things:

Bay said "it's a pretty proud day for me." He said his wife and daughters are Americans.

The British Columbia native is the first Red Sox player to be naturalized since Dominican Republic-born David Ortiz was sworn in last summer in Fenway Park.

Bay said he's not denouncing being Canadian, "but I'm definitely proud to be an American."

Christine thinks he got married just for his green card. I'm pretty sure she was joking.

Tonight's game: J.A. Happ's great night was ruined by one inning from Ryan Madson. Happ gave up two runs in seven innings; Madson gave up three in one. Braves 5, Phillies 2.

When Madson was called upon to fill in for Brad Lidge earlier this year, I think he took the assignment literally and has been doing his best to match Lidge's 2009 performance. It's getting bad.

On a positive note, Happ got his first major-league hit, snapping an 0-20 mark. And that wasn't the biggest hitless streak erased by a Phillie tonight - Jimmy Rollins actually got two hits, boosting his season average to .209.

On a negative note, the Phillies' divisional lead is now mere percentage points over the idle Marlins. The Mets and Braves are also within two games of the Phillies. They open a series at home against the Mets tomorrow night.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]

Mohawks

Sometimes you learn the darnedest things while watching baseball games.

Tonight, for instance, we learned that mohawks are back in style. I'm not talking about the stupid hairdos sported by the Rays during last year's playoffs, nor the travesty that is the remaking of The A-Team into a movie.

Nope, just honest to goodness mohawks.

During a screen shot tonight, they showed a fan with a spiky mohawk. Gary Matthews said they're back in style. Tom McCarthy didn't believe him. I didn't know who to believe, but was probably more aligned with T-Mack than Sarge in this one particular instance.

"Which one's on crack?" I asked Christine.

"Probably McCarthy," she said. "Sarge is up on style."

Ah, so Mohawks are indeed back in style.

Tonight's games: John Smoltz, who was pitching when Mr. T still rocked the mohawk on the original A-Team, should have gotten his first win as a Red Sox tonight, but the game was delayed by rain as he warmed up for the 5th inning with the Sox up 9-1 over the Orioles. That's a shame because it looked like he pitched well: one run on three hits and a walk with two strikeouts in four innings. He threw just 52 pitches, too. The game resumed without the old-timer, and the Sox lead has been cut to 10-5 in the 7th.

The Phillies, meanwhile, took a one-run lead in the 8th on solo home runs by John Mayberry Jr. and Pedro Feliz, but Ryan Madson coughed it right up. They ended up losing to the Braves 5-4 in the 10th inning.

Unbelievable

Like a movie with a dramatic ending shot in slow motion, several sights and sounds from last night keep replaying in my head.

When flu-battling Ryan Howard stepped up to pinch hit in the 7th, I asked Christine: "Home run?" She said strikeout. "Home run or long fly ball," I replied. He crushed one out to deep center. Christine, normally the more psychic of us, was stunned at my prediction (which technically was true on both counts - try to find a longer fly ball).

That capped a five-run inning, which gave the Phillies a 5-3 lead and promise of ending their recent woes at home, in June and against the American League.

Chan Ho Park pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning with two strikeouts on 10 pitches. "I'm really starting to like Park as a reliever," said Christine, who wanted him to stay out for the 9th.

That too proved prophetic as Ryan Madson gave up two home runs, blowing his third game since taking over for DL'd Brad Lidge. No sooner did the second, lead-changing blast land did we see Ryan Madson with a shocked look of disbelief on his face. Orioles up, 6-5. The camera then showed a woman in the stands with her head down. "Do you believe this?" said Christine, who wasn't convinced even after the Howard homer that the Phils would win.

The Phillies will try to avert a sweep with Cole Hamels against the Orioles this afternoon. Yes, that's correct, the Phillies may follow a sweep by the Blue Jays with a sweep by the lowly Orioles.

The Red Sox game could not have been any different. Josh Beckett, the only guy the Phillies beat last weekend, threw a 94-pitch shutout, winning the 3-0 pitching duel I was hoping for against Derek Lowe, who got a good reception from the crowd. Although Beckett pitched a shutout against the Angels in the playoffs, this was his first regular season shutout for the Red Sox.

The Red Sox, with Tim Wakefield, try to win the series against the Braves this afternoon - a national broadcast on the Braves former station, TBS.

Dice-K: The Red Sox will skip Daisuke Matsuzaka's next start for further medical tests. Stupid World Baseball Classic. Stupid Bud Selig. Stupid Chris Wheeler.

I don't know why I threw him in there. I was on a roll. Although that reminds me, in an attempt to stop the Phillies skid yesterday, Comcast let two cameramen do the pregame introduction. Attention Comcast and the Phillies organization: Yes, two guys off the street can do a better job than Wheels.

When it rains, it pours

And I'm not just talking about the fact that it rained all day (which it did, again).

The bad news just kept coming all day for the Phillies. It started in the morning when their - and maybe the league's - MVP Raul Ibanez was placed on the DL with a strained groin.

It continued through the afternoon when another bullpen meltdown (including Clay Condrey, who should be DL'd after not retiring any of the five batters he faced) capped off the Blue Jays sweep of the Phillies in Philadelphia. Ryan Madson gave up a run in the 9th inning to lose it 8-7, so cue the "he's a set-up guy who can't close" crap.

Oh, and that run was on a pinch-hit home run by Rod Barajas, who along with Scott Rolen really did a job on their former team this week, going 10-23 with five runs, nine RBI, three homers and three walks.

Days before this series, a certain Phillies fan, who shall remain nameless, was quite excited that Roy Halladay would miss the series due to injury. He wouldn't have made a difference.

Red Sox: The score isn't too bad (they trail the Marlins 2-1 in the 5th), but so far they've mustered just one hit (1st inning home run by Kevin Youkilis) off a pitcher with an ERA over 7.00. Jon Lester, who had been on quite a roll, threw 105 pitches through five innings, giving up seven hits, including two solo home runs.