Collision Course

It didn't look that great for the Phillies in the 8th inning. Trailing 6-2, they hadn't been able to get their offense untracked. Their opponents, the Milwaukee Brewers, have been battling the AL Juggernaut from Boston for MLB Winning Percentage Supremacy. Milwaukee was 21-0 when leading after seven innings this season, thanks to an extremely effective bullpen staffed with gaudy stats, but somewhat devoid of household names.

Now the Brewers are 21-1, when leading after seven innings this season. The first two batters reached for the Phils against ex-Sox P Brian Shouse, and the Brewers called in Derrick Turnbow to snuff out the rally. Turnbow entered the game sporting a 1.76 ERA and a WHIP under 1. (Why can't the Phillies get guys like this? Correction: Why can't the Phillies protect guys like this after drafting them, and not lose them in the Rule 5 Draft?) NINE Phillie batters later (Yes, still in the 8th inning, folks), the score was 8-6 Phillies, and Turnbow's ERA had ballooned to 3.94. Brett Myers came on in the 9th and pitched a clean inning for his fourth save in as many opportunities. The Phillies have now won 4 of 5, and are only 2 games under .500. With 124 regular season games left to play, the Phillies, by my calculations, are on pace for a 119 win season.

The Red Sox faced off against Detroit, owners of a 23-13 record. Daisuke Matsuzaka had a 4.80 ERA as he took the mound, but was coming off a strong outing in Toronto. This outing was even stronger- a complete game effort with only one run (Curtis Granderson HR) and five hits (0 walks!) allowed. He threw 86 of his 124 pitches for strikes, and improved his record to 5-2, with a 4.17 ERA. The Sox made Tigers starter Nate Robertson work, getting 11 hits and 3 runs off the goggled southpaw in the first five innings. Robertson threw an astounding 115 pitches in his five inning outing. Boston tacked on another four runs in the 8th inning (My teams scored a total of TEN 8th inning runs tonight!), for a final score of 7-1. The Red sox now have a 3 game winning streak, and a snazzy 26-11 record.

The is usually the paragraph where I speak of RemDawg shenanigans, and Gary Matthews Sr's tendency to make me want to remove my ears with the closest available object. But I've got nuthin'. I had the Phillies on my computer, located right next to the Sox in NESN HD, as per usual. But I also was watching 24 at the same time (only 2 hrs. left- next Monday!), and Enterprise (Damn Xindi!), so I missed some of the hilarious and/or idiotic dialogue in the two broadcasts. Sorry, folk(s).

I did watch some of the Sox pre-game though, in hopes of seeing Amalie Benjamin, and not seeing Ken Macha. There was no Ken (Dave McCarty tonight), but no Amalie reports either. (I think she performs in a comedy club somewhere in Newton on Mondays.) Nick Cafardo did a very strong job handling the Extra Bases blog in Amalie's absence. Frequent updates (even not counting his double and triple posts), a concluding post, and a Tim VanEgmond reference- well done Nick! The Red Sox writers were as good tonight as the Red Sox players. I'm sure Amalie had a lights-out performance on stage, but she needs to follow Nick's example when it comes to the blogging.

The Phillies and Red Sox both continue rolling towards a 1915 World Series rematch Tuesday night. The Sox send Tim Wakefield (4-3, 1.79 ERA) up against Tigers ace Justin Verlander (3-1, 2.83 ERA). Quite an intriguing pitching matchup. The Phillies have Adam Eaton and his 7.43 ERA (for a low, low price of only $8 million/year!) slated to face Brewers RHP Claudio Vargas. Not quite as intriguing.