A win is a win for all that but it sure wasn't pretty. The Phils beat the Mets in a contest of walks and missed opportunities that left this fan convinced pitching, or more to the point, a lack of it, will plague both of these houses throughout the season.
The Phils' Jamie Moyer might have been squeezed just a little on occasion by the umpire, but the home run balls he surrendered back-to-back in the sixth inning were of the no-doubt about them variety. Meanwhile, Oliver Perez might have walked himself out of the starting rotation with his six free passes though to this viewer's eyes he wasn't that far off the plate on a few pitches that cost him.
When I periodically relented and did not mute the drone of the laughably misnamed fair and balanced [sic] network's Joe Buck and Alex Karros, I could agree with the latter that the Mets don't show much fire. The most pesky of the New Yorkers, Jose Reyes, has been largely invisible in the first two games of the series. Most of the rest of his teammates seem to be sleepwalking through the games. Carlos Beltran may be having a fine season but his expression never changes no matter what the circumstances. Most of the Mets seemed grim and determined.
For the Phillies, the hero of the game was Carlos Ruiz, who held onto Jayson Werth's throw up the line and then reached back to tag a sliding Omar Santos in the eighth inning with what would have been the go-ahead run. Chris Coste would have dropped the ball, for sure. The return of Ruiz, the mainstay of this staff, will be critical if the pitching is to improve. Whatever he hits, and today he was popping up in key situations just like last season, will always be a bonus. The guy makes a huge difference behind the plate.
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