Kyle Kendrick was very, very good last night, holding the Reds to one run through 6.2 innings. But the bullpen twice blew the lead, once in the 8th on a wacko play, then in the 9th. In the 12th, however, Brian Schneider hit the second walk-off homer of his career and his first as a Phillie. (His only other one, years ago, was also against the Cincinnati Reds.) This was a game filled with ugly base-running mistakes and bizarre plays, including a classic who's-on-first one in the third that gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead. In the end, they won 4-3.
Speaking again of doing yeoman work, two nights in a row Nelson Figueroa pitched two innings of scoreless ball in extra innings.
I woke early this morning to swirling rumors of an impending trade by the Yankees for Cliff Lee, which might then lead them to trade Vasquez to the Phillies for Jayson Werth. The tender Javier Vazquez has always had a no-trade clause with Philadelphia so I'm not sure that's happening, but what a double body blow those trades would be. We've all assumed that Lee would go to the highest bidder in the off-season, but couldn't the Yankees wait till then? Again, Jayson Werth has long been rumored as heading to the Yankees, but in mid-season?
In memoriam: Maje McDonald, with the Phillies in a variety of capacities for 62 years, died yesterday at his Philadelphia home, just weeks shy of his 90th birthday. He had a rich life in baseball and beyond. He got the name Maje from another nickname: Little Major Leaguer.
