A friend called Tuesday's loss to the Braves a "reality check" for a team that was perhaps starting to cruise. I wonder what he'll call last night's 10-4 creaming at the hands of the Braves.
Watching the Phillies morph last night into the 2007 Mets was profoundly disappointing, not to mention stunning. Luckily, the Mets were even bigger dogs against the Cubs, who don't look all that hot themselves. Before I switched to radio, I went between Comcast and ESPN, watching three head case pitchers blow things up. For the second game in a row, Brett Myers did not have it; worse he was looking like his hopeless early season self. Then there was Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs having hissy fits on the mound and acting the drama queen. Last was old Ollie 'space cadet' Perez. Given a 5-1 lead, he immediately lost focus, crumbled and let the Cubs back in. Mercifully, the Cubs finally came through with three runs in the 10th to beat the Mets 9-6. No wonder at least one Mets fan (a grown man) collapsed in tears on the shoulder of a buddy. Too funny.
Charlie Manuel was visibly unhappy with his team, who have gone from being in a "tremendous position to win" to having a chance. I assume that the players were not much happier. Scott Eyre said of the 3-run homer he gave up to pinch-hitter Chipper Jones, "If I could kick myself in the head, I would." On the bright side, if there is one, Pat Burrell showed signs of coming out of his funk and also made a great defensive play. And Brad Lidge got another day of rest.
Speaking of Chipper Jones, I must say, to my amazement, that he is one of my favorite players in baseball. I'd take Chipper on my team even now.
With a nor'easter headed up the Atlantic coast, the weather now comes into play big time. The Phillies, still 1.5 games up on the Mets in the division, are off tonight. The Mets, now tied with the Brewers for the wild card, again play the Cubs. Rain is forecast for this evening, heavy rain for tomorrow, more rain for Saturday. It could be an awful weekend of rain delays and double headers, with games still left to be made up.
All of this pales, of course, when compared with the economy and these eight 'great' years of Bush and Co. Let the boos rain down.
