Drafting a core

OK, I didn't want to get sucked into the hype, but man, Stephen Strasburg's pitches have some movement to them. I don't think Christine is going to like watching him square off against the Phillies for the next decade.

But it's nice to see the Nationals have some real hope for the first time in a long time. Because the Red Sox and Phillies continue to be successful, they won't have the chance for such a highly touted draft pick as Strasburg, but they each seemed to do well with their first pitching pick last night.

With the 27th pick, the Phillies took a local kid, Jesse Biddle, who is excited to be a Phillie and is being compared by scouting director Marti Wolever to the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw:

"They're about the same size. Jesse's arm might work a little easier, quite frankly, than Clayton's did. But I think ceiling-wise and stuff-wise they're very comparable. We think Jesse has a chance to be that guy in the big leagues."

With the 39th pick, their third of the draft, the Red Sox took a moose of a pitcher, a Jersey guy, Anthony Ranaudo. That was after they selected and have nearly signed two decent bats:

"That was as excited as we've been in the draft room since I got here," general manager Theo Epstein said. "We felt the draft broke our way. Hopefully in five years we can look back and still feel as good about this draft."

This is from a guy who in 2005 drafted Clay Buchholz, Jacoby Ellsbury and Michael Bowden.

While we wait for this year's crop of draft picks to hit the bigs, here's how the current big leaguers are doing:

Red Sox: Behind a good Tim Wakefield (Pirates draft of '88), the Red Sox lead the Indians 3-2 in the 8th.

Phillies: Kyle Kendrick (Phillies draft of '03) struggled, but the bats are actually battling tonight and lead the Marlins 7-6 in the 7th. For the first time in weeks, the Phillies have multiple home runs - Shane Victorino (Dodgers draft of '99) and Ryan Howard (Phillies draft of '01).

Strasburg: Wow. The phenom (Nationals draft of '09) lived up to the hype tonight - seven innings, two runs, four hits, no walks and 14 strikeouts. Oh, and he needed just 94 pitches to accomplish that gaudy line. Thanks to homers by Ryan Zimmerman (Nationals draft of '05), Adam Dunn (Reds draft of '98) and Josh Willingham (Marlins draft of '00), he left with a 4-2 lead.

Not everyone gets dealt a winner

Crazier than a Red Sox fan who was raised a Yankees fan and is now married to a Phillies fan is the fact that we have a friend who is a Nationals fan despite no connections to Montreal or Washington.

This week, as he often claims, is the highlight of his time as a Nats/Expos fan. The Nats drafted Bryce Harper tonight, and tomorrow, their uber draft pick from last year, Stephen Strasburg, makes his much anticipated debut.

When your teams have been as good as the Red Sox and Phillies in recent years, sometimes you forget what it's like to scrap for any sort of moral victory, such as the hope of draft picks or a 4-3 11-inning win over a vaunted division foe. Nick Cafardo reminded us of that in writing about how Sunday's win was so important for the Orioles:

In the grand scheme of things, what did yesterday's 4-3 loss to the Orioles mean to the Red Sox? Nothing more than one loss to a bad team snapping a 10-game losing streak, giving their new manager his first win. It didn't mean a darn thing to the people who follow the Red Sox, except those who feel they should clobber the Orioles every time they play them.

To the Orioles, it was more than that. It was a day when self-respect came back. Maybe it's fleeting because after the Sox left town, the Yankees are paying a visit starting tomorrow.

This was a great snapshot of the psychology of sport. The Orioles are a downtrodden team that had been buried the last two weeks, and been clobbered, 19-2, in the first two games against the Red Sox. They have been made fun of, called horrible things, and ridiculed. But yesterday, under very tough conditions — rain, heat, humidity — Juan Samuel's troops hung in there enough and beat one of the best teams in baseball in 11 innings.

I love that dig at Red Sox fans who act like Yankees fans and expect to go 173-0 every year.

Sometimes, as John Lackey pointed out, the cliche is true: It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, it's more important how you play the game:

And yet the Sox couldn't pull it out, ending a seven-game road winning streak. Not that anyone in the visitors' clubhouse was concerned. It was one loss in a long season.

"I don't think it's a big deal," Lackey said. "It's always disappointing to lose a game, but we're playing good baseball and we played good baseball today. Just came up a little bit short."

That's right. Just make sure that one game doesn't become more tonight (joking).

Happy Birthday: Officially sponsored SoxandPhil Heathcliff Slocumb turned 44 today. In honor of the occasion, and because the Red Sox and Phillies square off this weekend, I thought I'd post his numbers as a Phillie against the Red Sox and vice versa, but his Phillies tenure ended two years before interleague play was created in 1997. He was still a Red Sox for half of that season, but did not appear in the inaugural SoxandPhils series.

Tonight's games: The Red Sox lead the Indians 4-1 in the 9th. Has Daisuke Matsuzaka (no runs, four hits, two walks and five strikeouts) turned a corner? ... Cole Hamels took a no-hitter into the 7th, but lost it on back-to-back homers. The Phillies bats wasted his eight-inning, two-run, three-hit, two-walk, six-strikeout performance in the 3-1 loss to the Padres.

Looking ahead

Christine and I know we've been spoiled by a good run of baseball for both of our teams in recent years. A lot of their continued success has been attributed to the farm systems. Each team has a nucleus of players who are young or in their prime: Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard for the Phils, Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester and Jacoby Ellsbury for the Sox.

We know fans of other teams have not been as fortunate and look at days like tomorrow - MLB draft day - as their hope for the future. We don't follow college baseball, so we'll leave it to Joe Wolf's Vertical Jump, who loves everything college sports and draft-related, to preview tomorrow's action. (He's a Nationals fan who will be very nervous until he hears that Scott Boras and Stephen Strasburg have agreed on a deal with the team.)

As for me, I like reading the stories behind draft strategies. For instance, I've long known how several teams undervalued Dustin Pedroia in the 2004 draft. I didn't know the Red Sox were torn between him and Kurt Suzuki, both of whom they thought would be long gone by the time they made the draft's 65th selection.

Jim Salisbury has a good read today about the scouts who lay the foundation for teams' drafts. It prominently features Eric Valent - a notable draft pick himself. He was selected by the Phillies 42nd in 1998 as compensation for J.D. Drew not signing the year before. We were at Valent's debut - a SoxandPhils game in Fenway. (There's always a SoxandPhils connection.)

Sports Illustrated is already featuring someone expected to be a top pick in a future draft: high schooler Bryce Harper. After reading the piece, I am convinced his story will end in tragedy.

Stars of today: Christine plans to stuff the ballot box when we're at Saturday's SoxandPhils game to try to get as many Phillies as possible to start in the All-Star game. Despite his .220-ish batting average, she even plans on punching out for Jimmy Rollins. If his new lead holds up, he would be the least deserving All-Star selection since ... Jason Varitek last year. Raul Ibanez has taken a deserving lead among outfielders, while Shane Victorino is making a run at Manny Ramirez, but Christine will probably have to punch a few hundred thousand ballots for Victorino to to reach the third outfield slot.

Today's games: None. Both teams get a needed respite before each takes on their New York rivals before this weekend's SoxandPhils series in Philadelphia.

Phils lick Braves; Sox lick their wounds

Christine was a little cranky tonight as Chris Coste popped up his first pitch in the 9th with the tying run on second and two outs in a 2-1 game.

"When Jamie Moyer gives up two runs, the Phillies should not be losing the game," she said earlier.

But Braves 2B Kelly Johnson dropped the pop-up, allowing the tying run to score; Pedro Feliz, trying to score the go-ahead run, was thrown out at home.

The Phils survived Tom Gordon's scary 9th inning and scored two in the 10th inning, highlighted by Shane Victorino's second triple of the game. The bottom of the 10th was also scary for Christine - who was blaming me for confidently starting a "Phillies win" post - as Brad Lidge put two on. Another hit seemed like it would tie the game, but Shane-O gunned out the tying run at home. Phils win, 4-3.

Will the Gordons match the Griffeys?: One of Gordon's sons, Devaris Strange-Gordon, was drafted by the Dodgers.

In Looneyville: The Sox lost an 8-0 drubbing to the Mariners, ending their 13-game home winning streak. Bartolo Colon had his first poor outing. Only three of his six runs were earned, but he can only blame himself for making two errors.

Suspensions have been handed down for yesterday's fight. Red Sox: Coco Crisp, 7 games; Jon Lester, 5 games; and Sean Casey, 3 games. Rays: James Shields, 6 games; Jonny Gomes, 5 games; Edwin Jackson, 5 games; Carl Crawford, 4 games; and Akinori Iwamura, 3 games.

Manny and Kevin Youkilis patched things up, but still no strong indication what that dust-up was about. They say Jacoby Ellsbury is day-to-day.

Sox-Phils interleague history, 1998: Phillies swept two in Boston, then split two at home. I can't believe they played four games home and away without a day off. I don't remember interleague play being set up like that. I digress. I had come down to Trenton from North Jersey for a school function, so Christine and I caught the Wednesday night game at Veterans Stadium. It was our first major league game together; we had been to a couple of minor league Trenton Thunder games previously (when they were an affiliate of the Red Sox, not the Yankees).

What a treat. Steve Avery was knocked out in the third after giving up seven runs. The Sox chipped away at Carlton Lower, but could only manage a not-as-close-as-it-looks 11-8 loss. Gregg Jefferies was the star of the game for the Phils. A general admission ticket cost $5. Other winners in that series were Wayne Gomes, Mark Portugal and Bret Saberhagen. Other losers were Tom Gordon (then a starter), Derek Lowe and Matt Beech, who in subsequent years would be part of a more infamous footnote in SoxandPhils lore.

What the *&^%$?????

You would expect that the mid-game benching of reigning MVP Jimmy Rollins for not hustling would be the story tonight on a blog dedicated to all things Red Sox and Phillies.

Unfortunately, it isn't.

The Red Sox couldn't just quietly finish their sweep of the second-place Rays, who were looking for blood after some questionable plays last night. (I haven't seen them; I can only go by Globe accounts, so I make no judgement.) Coco Crisp accused Rays shortstop Jason Bartlett of a shady block of second base in the 6th inning on Wednesday. He took revenge with a hard slide into 2B Akinori Iwamura in the 8th.

Tonight, James Shields beaned Dustin Pedroia in the 1st. In the 2nd, he nailed Crisp, igniting what looks to be (from Globe photos) a great brawl. Crisp, Shields and Jonny Gomes (who pummeled Crisp when he was held down by C Dioner Navarro) got ejected.

Things got worse from there: Jacoby Ellsbury sprained his wrist in the 4th inning; it bent backward and rolled up like the ground tarp. Then, Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis got into some sort of shoving match; it looked like Manny threw a punch. I'm not the biggest believer in intangibles anymore, but I wonder if David Ortiz's injury has contributed to the Sox losing their cool all around.

Oh yeah, Manny left the game in the 7th with a tweaked hamstring. Great.

But the Sox held on for a 7-1 win, sweeping the Rays, who now trail by 1.5 games. It looks like we have a new spirited rivalry brewing. (I'm still rooting for Tampa Bay to keep the Empire out of the playoffs.)

I thought this would be the quirky news of the day: A matinee 5-0 shutout by Cole Hamels was overshadowed by the fact that J-Roll was removed from the game for not hustling. He popped up to short left field. The shortstop dropped the ball, but J-Roll wasn't hustling and remained on first instead of second. Charlie Manuel is getting props; the star shortstop is saying the right things.

There is no explanation. I just didn't do it. It happens every once in a while. Sometimes the manager gets you. It shouldn't happen. I'm not disappointed in myself. I know better. Just go out there and make sure I don't do it again. Nothing to get disappointed about. Something you learn from. Don't do it again.

Draft day: The Red Sox took high school SS Casey Kelly. I once interviewed his dad. The Phillies also took a high schooler, Anthony Hewitt, with their top pick.

Sox-Phils series: We're days away from the Red Sox-Phillies series. It'll be the first time since 2001 that we've gone to the entire series and probably the first time ever both teams have squared off as legitimate World Series contenders. With Red Sox fans grating on people more than ever and Phillies fans emboldened by last year's division crown yet still frustrated by the championship drought, things could get ugly in Philly when the Red Sox come to town.

We thought we'd take a look back at the on-field history of these teams that are sometimes linked as interleague rivals but always linked by me and Christine.

1997: This was "pre-C" (pre-computer with decent Internet and pre-Christine). So to me, this series was probably just a box score in a Yankee-covering newspaper, no different from games against the Twins or Mariners. In a June series featuring two teams more than 15 games out, the Sox swept at home. Winning pitchers were John "Way Back" Wadsin, Aaron Sele and Jeff Suppan. Losers were Ricky Bottalico, Scott Ruffcorn and Curt Schilling. The Red Sox won the first game in the 10th inning when Ricky Bo hit Troy O'Leary with the bases loaded. Attendance ranged from 25,000 to 27,500.

[Photo credit: Boston Globe]