J.A. Happ threw seven shut-out innings of four-hit ball, Ryan Howard belted a two-run homer to dead center in the 1st, Gregg Dobbs made a fab (and maybe lucky) play in left, and the Phillies went on to sweep the Padres in a 5-1 win. The sole run came off of J.C. Romero, making his first appearance of the season. On the down side, Shane Victorino left in the 6th with a hip strain. Uh-oh.
For the record, in pitcher-friendly Petco Park the Phillies hit six homers in three games. Of Howard's dead-center homers, Jimmy Rollins said that short of the Grand Canyon no park could hold the dude. Raul Ibanez's two homers on Tuesday night were the 200th and 201st of his career. He now has more homers on the road than at the park in Philadelphia.
Thanks to a stomach flu I was at home, rather than in New York, watching Kyle Drabek on TV make his double-A debut, against the 1st-place Akron Aeros. He overcame a somewhat shaky 1st to go seven shut-out innings, giving up three hits, walking three and hitting one. He looked tentative early against lefthanded hitters but improved as the game went along. All in all, a good debut by the young Drabek.
A cold rain was falling for much of the game and few fans braved the weather. Ruben Amaro Jr. sat throughout it all behind home plate and later said his trip to Reading had been scheduled to see veteran catcher Paul Bako, recently acquired by the Phillies. It impresses me that Paul Bako or Miguel Cairo or any of a number of mid-30's former major leaguers will still put up with the minor-league lifestyle for another chance.
