The march toward 600 begins ...

Finally, that's over with.

Manny Ramirez has become the first Red Sox since Ted Williams to hit 500 home runs.

Congrats, Manny.

I don't always approve of your antics, but I know you're the greatest Red Sox left fielder. (Of my generation, anyway).

The Splendid Splinter and Carl Yastrzemski are waiting for you in Cooperstown.

Overshadowed by the Manny show, the Red Sox beat the Orioles 6-3.

Before Manny hit No. 500 tonight, Ken Griffey Jr. hit No. 599 this afternoon. Christine is hoping 600 comes tomorrow because on Monday the Reds come to Philly, and she doesn't want to spend the rest of the season watching Griffey's milestone homer fly out of Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies return to first place was short-lived as Cole Hamels is trying to become the most worrisome member of the Phillies rotation now that it appears Brett Myers and Adam Eaton are pitching decently. Marlins 7, Phillies 3. Christine is kicking herself for not talking a walk to reverse jinx a big inning.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]

Brett buries the Marlins

Things weren't looking so hot in the 1st inning tonight. Brett Myers was pitching poorly, a fly ball was misplayed by Pat Burrell, all balls in the air were carrying strangely because of the wind.

So what did the Phillies do? Have a seven-run 2nd inning en route to a 12-3 win over the Marlins. Chris Coste, Chase Utely and Ryan Howard all had home runs. Myers settled down nicely after a sloppy start to the game and ended up pitching eight innings with 11 strikeouts.

I know everyone is saying it and writing about it, but this team is just on right now. It's not often that good pitching and good hitting align for the Phils. This week has been fun baseball, and now the team stands in first place, with the opportunity to do some real damage in the division this weekend.

Manny Ramirez doesn't care about sending me to bed on time; Red Sox and Orioles tied at two in the 13th. Daisuke Matsuzaka was DL'd today; sucks losing an 8-0 pitcher, but we've got Justin Masterson (1-0, 1.46 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP) ready to fill in.

As soon as I finished that graf, the Red Sox scored after a certain player with 499 career homers started a rally with a double. They're now up 5-2. Here's hoping they can hold the lead.

Catching up on yesterday's news ...

Daisuke Matsuzaka remains undefeated, as the Red Sox waited until the bottom of the 9th to lose against the Mariners. Dice was long gone by then; apparently his shoulder has finally fallen apart from all the pitches he throws. Funny, he logged only 65 in four innings last night - pretty efficient for him.

The game was not without drama, however. Manny, as promised, hit No. 499 to build excitement for No. 500. I'm certainly thrilled and hope it comes when the team continues to struggle on the road.

Question: It looks like the Red Sox may be well represented at the All-Star game. Will they play like the awful road team they are or the dominant home team? I've considered Yankee Stadium their home away from home since 2004, so look for them to trump the NL and have the World Series open at Fenway.

I will admit it would be embarrassing to see so many Sox on the squad. Kevin Youkilis deserves it; Dustin Pedroia isn't undeserving, but you could easily pick someone else, and David Ortiz, Jason Varitek and Manny Ramirez also aren't undeserving, but their history factors in a lot. Oh well, these things even out over time - remember when Scoot Cooper was our only selection?

{Greg is so obnoxious. Sounds just like a Yankees fan.}

The NL released their vote tallies today. The Phillies' moms need to learn from Chase Utley's how to stuff the ballot box.

Today's milestones: Congratulations. A whole-hearted congratulations on this significant accomplishment - Adam Eaton's first win of 2008. He actually pitched six solid innings in the Phillies 6-1 win over the Rockies tonight. ... ESPN is showing all of Manny's at-bats as he tries for 500. So far, he's 0 for 1. No score in the 3rd. ... Finally, congrats to Wally the Green Monster, who was named by Maxim as the baseball mascot most deserving of a punch to the groin.

Also tonight, we stepped out for a walk and to get some dinner. What did I miss? The Phils' five-run 5th inning. Oh well, as long as they keep winning - I can always watch the highlights later.

Phillies hit (with Christine watching)

The Phillies scored seven runs in the first two innings, dispelling my theory from yesterday that their offensive explosions coincide with Christine being unable to watch. Funny, tonight was the first time in a long time where we could watch the whole game, but then the skies opened up and delayed the game in the 8th. After a rain delay of almost an hour and a half, the Phils finally beat the Rockies 7-4. Every starter except for Carlos Ruiz and Kyle Kendrick had a hit.

In Seattle, the Red Sox trail the Mariners 3-0 in the 5th with the undefeated (entering the game anyway) Daisuke Matsuzaka pitching.

Speaking of aces, I'm starting to drink the Kool-Aid on Bartolo Colon after last night's win.

We need excuses for Christine to leave the house

I'm on a Red Sox e-mail list. In the great '04, I forgot how it all started, but it was decided that one woman was the Red Sox good luck charm by watching syndicated episodes of Becker. It was an unspoken bond between between her and the Sox; they would win as long as she wouldn't watch them.

This week, there have been three instances where the Phillies scored big when Christine wasn't watching: On Wednesday, they scored seven runs when we went out for ice cream; yesterday, they beat the Astros 15-6 when the cable was out; and tonight, we took a half-hour walk and missed the bulk of the six-run 4th inning that ignited a 20-5 rout of the Colorado Rockies. (Jamie Moyer now has a win against all 30 teams.)

I guess we're going on many walks and trips for ice cream this summer.

Oh, and yesterday's cable outage? Turns out we did cut a wire. Don't know how or where.

RIP: Geremi, or Jeremi, Gonzalez died after being struck by lightning. He was one of the many pitchers the Red Sox used in 2005 to try to replace Bronson Arroyo who was traded because we had too much pitching. I wish I had a better memory of Gonzalez.

Win a friggin' road game: In the 5th, Red Sox are up 1-0 in Seattle, where Bartolo Colon is trying to end the Sox three-game losing streak and keep pace with the first-place Tampa Bay Rays.

Another long day-night

Remember yesterday's marathon day of yard work? Well, we repeated it today, but at Christine's mom's house. And the cable went out when the Phillies and Astros were tied at 6 in the sixth. We thought we cut the cable while planting bushes. Christine's mom just called to say she contacted the cable company and found out they were doing work in the neighborhood, but we're still nervous.

Point is, after the TV crapped out, Christine never bothered to bring a radio outside, thinking we wouldn't be out there as long as we were and that the cable would come back on. So when we headed home, we were quite surprised to hear: Phillies 15, Astros 6. The Fightins certainly seem to do better when Christine can't watch 'em. Maybe they get nervous.

Jon Lester didn't have a strong follow-up to his no-hitter. Cue the "It's because he threw 130 pitches in the no-hitter" hysteria. Bottom line, the Red Sox were swept by the A's, are out of first place again and have some serious home-road splits happening: They're a major league best 21-5 at home, but 10-17 on the road.

Phils' bats, and fat Bart, pitch in

We were surprised to see the Phillies score a couple of runs early. We were confident that they wouldn't blow it, so we went out for ice cream mid-game. It was 4-0 when we entered the shop, 11-0 when we returned to our car.

The Phillies offense returned tonight against the Nationals. Hopefully, it's not a one-night engagement. Ryan Howard had a big night (three hits, four RBI, 10 TB and one BB), pushing up his averages to .195/.300/.443. Clay Condrey pitched three innings to save the 12-2 game.

Meanwhile, back in the Fens, where young hungry pitchers rule supreme, it was an old and (literally) hungry Bartolo Colon having a respectable debut, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks in five innings, striking out four. I've been thinking this week that we have an excess of quality starting pitching. But then I remember the last time we had an excess of quality starting pitching, we traded Bronson Arroyo for Wily Mo Pena.

Meanwhile, Manny Ramirez didn't hit two home runs tonight, meaning he's one game without two home runs away from fulfilling his promise of not hitting his 500th on this homestand:

There's something I've been meaning to tell you about the 500 home runs. I don't want to hit 500 right now. I want to wait a little while. No one is talking about it. No one's excited about it. I want to wait until everyone's excited about it.

Great, Manny, go ask Jon Lester if the fans get excited about a significant achievement.