I drove out to the farms this morning, arriving at the second one just as the spelt bread was coming out of the oven. Happy timing! On the way there, I bought Romaine lettuce, mesclun, spinach, asparagus, spring onions, beets with awesome tops, and the first strawberries of the season. I also picked up a pot of yarrow and a bag of potting soil. My favorite kind of shopping trip.Last night at the homer haven named Yankee Stadium, Jimmy Rollins laced A.J. Burnett's first pitch into the rightfield stands. The Phillies never looked back, taking an early 5-0 lead.
Burnett immediately plunked Utley, up next. When Brett Myers came on in the bottom of the 1st, he wasted no time throwing behind Derek Jeter. And both teams were warned. That didn't keep Myers from pitching a great game, going eight strong and allowing just three runs, all solo homers. The first, in the 6th, was to Rodriguez and the other two, to Texeira and Jeter, in the 8th. Ibanez and Rollins combined in the first on a sparkling relay throw to Ruiz to nail Damon at the plate.
Burnett lasted six, also giving up two-run shots to Carlos Ruiz and to Jayson Werth, who clubbed a ball into the second deck. Chin-ming Wang came on in relief of Burnett and surrendered two more runs, including a mammoth solo homer to Raul Ibanez. With the Phillies up 7-3, Ryan Madson came in for a 1-2-3 ninth.
When the Phillies hit up and down the line-up as they have been doing of late, they are both fun and formidable. If the pitching rounds into 2008 shape, they could be unstoppable.
After the game, lefty reliever Sergio Escalona, who performed well in his brief debut stint, was sent down to Lehigh Valley and righthanded hitter John Mayberry Jr. was called up.
