Phils Win, Red Sox don't...

The Phillies finally got their 1st win of the season, winning in Florida against the Marlins, 8-2. 74 yr.old SP Jamie Moyer stymied the Marlin bats with his 74 MPH fastball, allowing only 2 ER in 6 2/3 innings. RF Shane Victorino (.308 batting avg.) and C Carlos Ruiz (.417) each went 2 for 4, and the Phillies took advantage of 2 Marlin errors to score 4 unearned runs.

But the Star of the Game was definitely LF Pat Burrell. He went 2 for 4 with 4 RBI, 3 of which came on a HR that pretty much put the game away. Even better, that 3 run blast came immediately after 1B Ryan Howard was intentionally walked. Patrick Brian also made a superb defensive play. He is now hitting .400, with an OPS over 1.2. Is it time to stop booing him yet, people?

The Red Sox didn't do as well, being shut down by the Texas Rangers and Robinson Tejeda, 2-0. Former Phillies Pal Tejeda, threw 77 pitches (45 for strikes), and had his name mispronounced by Sox announcers 77 times. (The Colorado Rockies announcers also mispronounced it a couple times- perhaps I am the one mispronouncing it?- but I'm pretty sure it isn't prounounced the same way as Orioles SS Miguel.) Tejeda has a history of wildness, but it didn't seem that the Sox took enough pitches to take advantage of that. They only had 3 hits in the game, only one of which, a Coco Crisp double, went for extra bases. Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield's fine effort (6 IP, 3H, 2R, 1 ER) was wasted. 2B/Hobbit Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 3, dropping his avg. to .385, and made a costly error that resulted in an unearned run. Sammy Sosa knocked in the eventual game-winning run with a 1st inning single, on an ugly checked-swing blooper. It was an ugly game for Sox and their fans.

On Saturday, the Phillies and ace Brett Myers face the Marlins and their ace, Dontrelle Willis.
The Sox will send Batshit Tavarez to the mound against the Rangers' #1, Kevin Millwood (another former Phillie). I expect that Brett and Batshit will each get their 1st W of the season .