Carlos Carrasco faces his last batter last night. I took the photo off the TV broadcast.Car-Car looked great in an IronPigs uni and great on the mound, relaxed, confident, and composed. He started out throwing in the mid-90's, had his fastball, curve, and change-up working, threw strikes, and kept his focus despite some shoddy fielding behind him. In the end he went 6.2 innings, giving up two unearned runs on six hits. He left with a 2-1 lead to a standing ovation from the sell-out crowd of 9500+, which included Phillies Assistant-GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. and Prez Dave Montgomery. Carrasco did not figure in the 'Pigs 5-3 win. He said afterwards it was the best he had felt all season.
I listened to the Phillies in St. Louis last night while baking muffins and canning pickles, which left me almost too exhausted for the final two innings. Brett Myers went six and was impressive. Trailing 2-1 in the 8th, the Phillies tied it on a two-out RBI single by Pat Burrell, then took a 5-2 lead on a 3-run homer by Shane Victorino, in as a pinch-hitter in the 7th. In the 8th, the Cardinals got a run back and loaded the bases with one out, but Ryan Madson came in and threw one pitch for a double play. Whew. In the 9th, Troy Glaus greeted Brad Lidge with a home run to make it 5-4. Lidge then got a ground out, but in a series of bizarre events loaded the bases. That's when he bore down, striking out the next two batters to preserve the 5-4 win. The final strike left me limp and gave the Phillies a 5-1 roadtrip. They are now 32-26 on the road.
