Second Guessing

Games 25 & 26 - Mets

Mets 4, Braves 3
Mets 1, Phillies 0
Record: 13-13

My friend Nick knows a lot about the Philadelphia Phillies. He does. He's been a fan since he wasn't old enough to know better. He follows them, watches them, peruses their boxes (not boxers, TJ, you perv) daily, and actually provides a good bit of insight on them.

But please . . . please don't read his post from earlier today if you want confirmation of this assessment of Nick.

It included, verily posited, the following tidbits of observation about the '09 Phils:

"The starters ERA is 6.49! The pitching staff has surrendered 46 home runs!"
"Through 24 games, the Phillies have kicked only 5 balls. 5!"
"All 132 runs surrendered by the Phillies staff are earned. That's gotta be a record, huh?"
"a defense that gives away absolutely nothing more."
"These dudes are on a tear . . . The team averages 6.49 runs a game"

"So the early line on the Phils is this: You can beat them but you're gonna need about 8 runs - all without out any help."
"enjoy scores reminiscent of a great Steelers vs. Ravens game."

Within hours of Nick's snapshot of what to expect from his ballclub, we saw this:

- The dudes on a tear getting shut out
- The Phils starter (the worst on the staff by far) throwing six scoreless innings in fine fashion
- The Philly D committing three errors, allowing an unearned run, and losing the game
- A 1-0 final score never seen in the AFC North

Uncanny. Nick does know his team and he knows this game. It was simply as if the Phillie cosmic forces attempted to say, "Yo, dude . . . you don't post for three weeks and now you come back talking all definitive-like? Get a little of this, why doncha?"

Here's all you need to know about this game. Carlos Delgado walked, then Fernando Tatis hit a dribbler to third that scored him. Oh, perhaps I should have mentioned the spazzy-mcgee throw from Pedro Feliz that went north and wide of first, then Jayson Werth quadruple-clutching before throwing home to just miss Delgado.

Nickstradamus, tell us what's going to happen tomorrow night!