Phillies@Yankees

Game 1: Roy Halladay has great career numbers against the Yankees. It seemed like he would the perfect one to open up this series in a rematch of the 2009 WS. The Phillies were facing a familiar foe in CC Sabathia. Yeah, Halladay got roughed up and by roughed up I mean he gave a 2-run broken bat homerun to Nick Swisher and a first row homerun to left field to Mark Teixeira. I don't want to sound lie a whiner, because I know CBP has it's share of cheap homers (see Jayson Werth against Padres' Garland), but Mark Teixeira's homerun is a flyout at the Bank. That's all I'm saying. In all he gave up 6 ER in 6 innings while striking out 5 and walking 2. The offense scored 3 runs in the 4th inning against CC and that would be it for them for the night. Antonio Bastardo gave up 2 runs to seal the victory for the Yankees. Bad start to this series. Yankees 8-3

Game 2: I mentioned this on twitter after Moyer's last start against the Red Sox and I still stand by it but I also give Jamie Moyer all the credit in the world. He was fabulous. He was sensational. He was masterful. He was all of the above. I do feel that everytime he pitches badly, people will worry that he's too old and all that nonsense. Against a potent Yankees offense, he held them to 3 hits and 2 runs in 8 innings. He kept them off balanced and he got a lot of groundballs, which is a good thing when pitching in new Yankee Stadium. The offense got to A.J. Burnett early. They scored 4 in the 2nd inning with the big blow being a triple by Shane Victorino with the bases loaded. They scored 2 in the 4th inning when back-to-back solo homeruns from Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth. That would be all the scoring and all that Jamie Moyer would need. Brad Lidge pitched the 9th inning in a 4-run game. He did allow one run but he struck out 3, which was good to see. Solid win. Phils 6-3

Game 3: In the finale of a series and the "rubber match" Kyle Kendrick wouldn't be the guy I'd want out there, except on this night he was. He shut down the Yankees and allowed just 1 run in 7 strong innings. He got out of the inning on a spectacular catch from Placido Polanco. The offense went down in order through the first 3 innings but an error by the Yankees allowed them to take a 1-0 lead on a Ryan Howard single. They would extend the lead in the next inning because of a Shane Victorino 2-run shot. It stayed that way until Kendrick got into some trouble in the 6th. He retired the first 2 batters of the inning. He then allowed a walk, a single and a single to put the Yankees on the board and cut the deficit to 2. That's when Polly made the aforementioned catch on the tarp to get Kendrick out of any more trouble. Jose Contreras pitched the 8th and made an unbelievable behind the back catch on a ball hit by Curtis Granderson. The offense in the 9th was swoon-worthy. Against Joba Chamberlain they scored 3 runs--2 came on sac flys, and another on a 2-out RBI double by Raul Ibanez. It made a close game, a bloodbath and a sigh of relief. It was good to win a series against a good team like the Yankees and even better after seeing Roy Halladay lose the first game. Phils 7-1

This is not how I imagined the series unfolding, but I'll definitely take it. I would never have guessed that Jamie Moyer and Kyle would shut down the Yankees on consecutive nights. Everyone wants to say that the Phils are back, but I just think we have to let the games play out before we crown them World Series champions or "out of it" in June. Things are obviously clicking right now so I am cautiously optimistic. It's good to see them win this series especially after dropping the first one, but they're still 3.5 behind the Braves and 3 behind the Mets. More wins, please!

Golden Girls Quote of the Day:
Rose: We really enjoyed your lecture on modern sculpture.
Laszlo: I didn't think anyone was paying attention.
Rose: Oh, we sure were, especially Dorothy. She even talked about taking up sculpting.
Laszlo: Really?
Dorothy: [laughing] Oh no, I didn't.
Rose: Yes you did! You said you'd like to help him mold his clay or buff his marble anytime!
Dorothy: Rose is such a kidder!