Playoff tix

Our playoff ticket order form arrived today. The Phillies beat the Dodgers 8-1. Coincidence? Probably, but here's my crazy conspiracy theory: The Phillies brass knew season ticket holders would be getting their orders today, so they threatened to withhold the team's paychecks unless they started hitting, raising the fans' playoff hopes again. Voila. Ten hits in an easy win.

Kyle Kendrick pitched decently - one earned on three hits and two walks with three strikeouts - to beat Greg Maddux, who was making his first start as a Dodger since 2006.

Ryan Howard, Chris Coste and Chase Utley homered.

Competitors: The Mets won (again), the Marlins are losing, and the Phils are still stuck 2.5 games out.

Red Sox: They beat the Blue Jays 8-4. Druggie Paul Byrd got his first Red Sox win. Christine's not happy that Shaun Marcum got beat badly because he's on our SoxandPhils fantasy team. Five RBIs came from the top spots in the lineup - Jacoby (slump's over) Ellsbury and Dustin (what's a slump?) Pedroia. Jason Varitek, who may also be rebounding a bit, was 2-3 with a homer.

Unfortunately, we may be a man down in the outfield for the rest of the season. All-Star Game MVP J.D. Drew has a herniated disc. He hopes to avoid the DL. I haven't seen a team so ravaged by injuries since the great 2008 Yankees.

Competitors: The Rays are winning (again) against the White Sox, the Twins are scoreless in the early innings, and the Yankees won.

Werth carries the load

When I got into my car after stopping at the grocery store, I was surprised to hear the Phillies were up 4-0. I zoned out, but snapped out of it when I heard Jayson Werth hit a grand slam, his second homer of the game, and the announcers say that he had seven RBIs so far. He hit one more later, topping off his eight-RBI night, but couldn't become the 16th player with a four homer game. Instead, he and the Phillies had to settle for a 10-3 win over the Blue Jays.

And Ryan Howard got another hit. As I predicted, he's starting to heat up. He has hit in nine straight, boosting his average from .163 to .188. He's hitting a whopping .218 in May.

Even more incredible, however, is that the Red Sox, after dropping four straight, have gone two days without a loss - thanks to a rainout at home.

Pitching match-up: Our game Sunday pits Shaun Marcum against Kyle Kendrick. I just picked up Marcum for my fantasy team. He's a nice third starter behind Dan Haren and the undefeated Brandon Webb, who might now have more than a 0.2 percent chance of winning 30 games.

{Hopefully the fantasy team will have a commanding lead by Sunday, the last day of the fantasy week, so it won't matter when the Phils smack around Marcum.}