Last night it was Raul Ibanez, making a great defensive play to nab David Wright at second, then whipping a three-run homer into the right field bullpen in the 10th to put the Phillies up 6-3. This after going 0-4. Ryan Madson came on again for the save and the Phillies took two of three in New York, going 7-3 on their road trip and pushing their road record to a sparkling 23-9. Defense too continues to be a sparkling, satisfying league-leading best.
Jamie Moyer went six and gave up three; Tim Redding went seven and gave up three. Once again the Phillies' bullpen was better. Another hit, though, for the 'pen: Scott Eyre was injured in last night's game and is likely to be out for awhile.
Ryan Madson, in a refreshingly interesting interview yesterday afternoon on Comcast's DNL, said, among other things, that when the Phillies take the field every man wants to beat the opponent playing his position, that, say, Shane Victorino goes out wanting to be the best center fielder on the field that night. That was pretty apparent in this series.
Starting tonight it's the big boys: Boston comes to town. The Phillies try to improve their 12-14 home record while facing Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Josh Beckett.
Rauuuuuuuuuuuul!
