Philadelphia Phillies: Just Another Reason to Rauuuuuuuul!

Finally…time for a blog about something other than the Phillies’ struggles. It’s like a long awaited warm summer breeze. Okay, maybe it’s not that refreshing, but it’s better than hearing, “Mom, the cat puked again…”

Trust me on this.

There’s nothing like ending a 30-inning losing streak to make you feel a little gratitude.

But we had to wait yet another rain delay and four innings before Raul Ibanez hit a blazing line drive that beat speed demon Cameron Maybin to deep center to drive home a flying Ryan Howard.

Cheers sounded the world over, and all the Phils had done was score a run.

Then they tied it at two in the fifth, and pulled ahead by one in the seventh. But like Charlie Manuel says, “We play 27 outs,” and there were six more that had to be snagged before the game was officially a long-awaited win.

Since Chad Durbinator one-two-three’d ‘em in the seventh, Charlie took a risk on schizophrenic Danys Baez. With Danys we just never know who’s gonna show. Now I’m onto him. He has to be brought in at the beginning of an inning, and only play one. Charlie’s onto him too. And it was a plan that worked.

Three batters later, Charlie looked to interim closer, Jose Contreras. He hadn’t faced a professional hitter in a week, and hadn’t seen his team win one in a five-game skid.

It’s possible the sweat that leaked down his cheeks was caused by more than the heat.

M. Night Shyamalan can’t write suspense like this.

“No Way” Jose took the mound and struck out the first batter on a 95 mph fast ball like he had a .63 ERA for a reason. But then the ghost of 2009 Brad Lidge possessed his mind. He allowed back-to-back singles to Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla—the hitters who make up the Marlins padded middle. And just to show they were serious, Fredi Gonzalez put Brian Barden in to pinch run.

Fingers crossed, toes crossed. I even crossed my cat’s paws.

Gulp. Cody Ross was up. He’s your average stud. He’ll not only foil hits in right field, I’ve even seen him come in to pitch. But he must have been dreaming of his conquests when he was caught window shopping on a 1-2 count. Then Ronny Paulino had no reason to swing on a 2-1 count but he did. He lofted a gift to Shane Victorino, and Jose hoisted his arms in the air.

Phillies 3, Marlins 2.

A one-run win never felt so good.

I think I need a cigarette.

With the region ecstatic over the Flyers feats of strength to get to the Stanley Cup finals all it took was a broken bad streak to lift the dread that preempted last night’s game.

Then the crème de la crème. The Milwaukee Brewers ceased the Mets march of shutouts with a walk-off two-run home run by the Brewers poster child, Corey Hart.

It just can’t get any better than this.

I’m so happy I’m even gracious for Jayson Werth’s new look, and the fact that I only got a glimpse of him for an inning. At first I thought he was on the bench with a bad beard day but then I heard that Charlie thought he needed a break at the plate because he was jumping at the ball.

Here’s an idea. “Jayson, I’m the ball…”

Hey, a girl can dream.

Lao Tzu once said, “Clay is shaped into a vessel, yet it is the emptiness within that makes it useful.”

That same thing has been said about my head.

And now that I’m out of thoughts, I’m outta here.

And I’m high hoping. Go Flyers! Go Phillies!

See you at the ballpark.

 

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