Last dance, extended version

They're not saying "booooo," they're saying "Hoooove," in anticipation of Paul Hoover's walk-off hit.

I said that before Paul Hoover ended the game with a single in the 10th inning - a game that, with the Phillies playoff position cemented, felt like a spring training exhibition.

The only real drama was whether Jayson Werth - the only regular in the lineup for the Reading, err, Philadelphia Phillies - would get hits 100th RBI, hence the crowd's reaction when Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez played the game like it mattered in the 10th inning, opting to walk Werth with a base empty and a man in scoring position.

It didn't matter for the outcome. Hoover lined a single off the glove of former Phillie Wes Helms to end the Phillies last game of the regular season as reigning 2008 World Champions, 7-6.

As I said, this game was played like an exhibition. Charlie Manuel was auditioning pitchers for the playoff roster. He churned through eight of them - two more than an official Phillies scorecard can hold.

J.A. Happ started and was taken out after two innings. He was relieved by Kyle Kendrick, who pitched OK. He went 2 1/3 innings of hitless ball before walking pitcher Josh Johnson, which led to a two-run inning.

Brett Myers, possibly making his last appearance ever as a Phillie, started the 6th. He struck out the leadoff hitter, but was removed when he walked the next guy.

Sergio Escalona also pitched well in his last-minute push to make the playoff roster with just 14 major league games under his belt.

Phillies offense: They couldn't muster a hit off Josh Johnson until Miguel Cairo (Chase who?) led off the 4th with a home run. I was trying to convince Christine to root for the no-no because I really want to see one, and this one would have an asterisk because the Phillies didn't field a competent lineup.

(We've seen Johnson pitch twice this year - the same amount we've seen Jamie Moyer. We've seen Happ, Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton and Antonio Bastardo each start once.)

Cairo later tripled in the 8th and scored on an overthrow to tie the game. ... Stat-minded Werth stole two bases in the 4th, giving him 20 for the season. ... Stat-minded Ben Francisco was caught stealing three times today. Maybe he's not so stat-minded.

Observations from the stands: The anthem was sung by the Central Bucks West High School Choir, directed by Joseph Ohrt. Not bad, but we've heard it before. ... The crowd was so indifferent early on that Helms wasn't booed during introductions. Only one guy yelled "Phillies reject" when he came to bat. Also during introductions, they played "Under the Sea" for the Marlins. ... Like Lou Marson on last year's Fan Appreciation Day, they played Pat Burrell's old Holy Diver, this time for Andy Tracy's intro music.

The Phanatic rehashed his streaking skit when it was announced that his jersey was one of many giveaways on Fan Appreciation Day. ... Kudos to the Phillies: They seemed to give out a larger number of prizes this year and did a much better job of spreading them around to the upper sections (it seemed like every section in the 400 level won something, except ours). ... Comcast SportsNet employee Josh Schrager sang God Bless America.

A guy in front of me at the newsstand, wearing a Pat Burrell jersey, jorts and Phillies socks, bought Chris Wheeler's book. I probably shouldn't comment beyond noting my observations.

Before heading off to see whether the new 2009 flag will hang with the 2008 and 1980 World Champions, 1983 and 1993 League Champions, or relegated to mere division champs such as 2007, 1981 and 1976-1978, a couple of Phillies players (Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins) helped the Phanatic toss T-shirts and balls into the stands after the game, in further appreciation of us. We moved down and came close to some of the throws, but walked away with nothing but our memories ... and this picture someone took for us after asking us to take a picture of her.

I like it, but I'm biased.

Antiquated Phillies jerseys: We sat in the last row of the whole stadium and didn't see too many, but we made up for it in obscurity with David Bell and Robinson Tejeda. We also saw the obligatory Burrell, Jim Thome, Scott Rolen and Aaron Rowand.

Red Sox: In the last game before Jon Lester opens the ALDS in Anaheim, the Red Sox beat the Indians 12-7. Clay Buchholz gave up six runs in three innings, adding to my concern about the state of our pitching entering the playoffs, which don't start for me until Thursday. That's in a friggin' week. And I haven't mentioned that they're starting West Coast time, not Greg time.

Christine's not happy either. Her first two games are at 2:30 p.m. on weekdays, and her third will also be geared toward the West Coast.

We'll save the playoff rants for tomorrow while we watch the Twins and Tigers battle it out for the right to issue the Yankees an embarrassing first-round exit.

Mixed bag

If I said Ramon Ramirez and Brad Lidge would each pitch 2/3 of an inning and one would get a save and the other a loss, who would have tabbed Ramirez (ERA less than 1.00) as the loser and Lidge (ERA more than 8.00) with a two-pitch save?

Baseball's funny that way.

The Phillies completed a four-game sweep of the Nationals, 8-6, despite Chan Ho Park reverting to his early-season struggles. He was knocked out in the 2nd inning. Sergio Escalona (the surprise call-up to take Andrew Carpentar's roster spot) got the win in his major league debut.

Luckily, the Phillies were playing weak competition and were able to withstand Park's poor outing in a back-and-forth game fueled by the Nationals (then up 6-5) botching a sacrifice bunt by Pedro Feliz in the 8th. The pitcher threw it away, allowing two runs to score. Feliz later scored on an Eric Bruntlett double.

In the 9th, Charlie Manuel let Scott Eyre pitch to two lefties before bringing in Lidge with one out and one on. On his second pitch, Josh Willingham grounded into a double play.

Funny, I started my day watching the DVR of Brad Lidge getting a double play against the Nationals with the bases loaded to clinch the 2008 NL East. Unfortunately, that game was on Fox, so I was stuck with Tim McCarver saying Carlos Roo-is, instead of listening to Harry Kalas' joy.

Red Sox: No joy today. Mariners 3, Red Sox 2. Justin Masterson pitched well in what probably will be his last start because Daisuke Matsuzaka is expected to return from the DL. A 2-2 game on the road isn't very comforting, but I felt good knowing Ramirez was pitching the 9th with Jonathan Papelbon still in the pen.

Alas, for the second time this year, Ramirez allowed a run. It was unearned, and his ERA stands at 0.43. He got the first two men out before allowing an infield hit to Yuniesky Betancourt, who went to second on a throwing error. An intentional walk and then a base hit ended the game.

There's no guarantee the run wouldn't have scored without the error. It was a tough loss, but I cannot blame Ramirez; he's pitched too well this year.