Eyes Wide Shut

When Jimmy Rollins slid across the plate with a self-described Karate Kid-like move that ended up being the winning run I was already deep in slumber. I do not regret staving off sleep to watch this victory. Sure, the win brought the Phillies to within 2 games of the Braves and gave them a slight margin for the NL Wild Card over the Giants, but witnessing a catastrophic Brad Lidge meltdown and Charlie Manuel managing idiotfest would have kept me awake with anger into the wee morning hours.

Roy Oswalt was in command of all of his pitches last night and dominating the Padres through 8 innings. His pitch count reached 102, and with his spot up in the order in the top of the 9th Manuel opted to pinch hit for him. Critical blunder. Oswalt is a veteran pitcher and retired the last 13 batters in a row and 17 of the last 19 he faced. He should have been given the opportunity to finish the game himself. 102 pitches is not a lot. I'm f'n sick and tired of these namby-pamby pitch counts. I know, I know, go tell that to Stephen Strasburg. But Oswalt ain't no Strasburg, he's f'n Roy Oswalt, owner of a lifetime 146-83 record with nearly 2000 innings under his belt. He could have handled another 15-20 pitches. That ball game never needed to be in the hands of Brad Lidge.

Ugh, Brad Lidge. He had been very good, actually he was great, since his last blown save. However, last night displayed in glorious high definition why he's a mental midget. How the hell do you balk in the tying run? I'll tell you how- you're confidence incompetent. No excuse.

Some more negativity- Ryan Howard has struck out in 14 of his last 21 at bats.

So, yeah, the Phils won the game, but in tragic fashion. Whatever, onward and hopefully upward.