I hate the Mets, their fans, their uniforms, everything except for this hot chick with long braided pigtails at the game on Sunday. She was gorgeous. Call me: 267-828-0112.

Jose Reyes was the difference maker in this series. He was absent during the collapse. But against the Phillies he played great. Tonight he got on base in each of the first 3 innings, scoring twice. That's what you are supposed to get from the leadoff hitter.

I just wish after beating out the infield single in the 3rd and he did his happy dance at first, Howard would have pile driven him into the ground. Act like a major leaguer and not a 6th grader on a girl?s softball team.

Here are some thoughts from the game:

1. Phillies fans (part 1)--I hate Mets fans. But for some reason Phillies fans irked me all weekend. Stupid etiquette things mostly, leaving your seat when Ryan Howard is up with men on base. And my new pet peeve. My season ticket crew didn't make tonight's game. So I had 3 empty seats around me. 2 of which became the ottomans for the people sitting behind me. Look I get it... you want to "stretch out", but I don't want your frigging feet in my face. I had to put my arms out and hug either chair to get people to learn.
2. steMs -- Mets fans were less annoying tonight than yesterday. Not sure why? Did they feel sorry for us?
3. Blue -- I know a lot of posters thought Manuel should have pulled Eaton sooner. The first inning was not Eaton's fault; he should have been out of that inning, with the blown call on Endy Chavez. He gets out of that inning with just one run scored instead of two. Difference in the ball game?
4. Dobbs play at third -- The throw on Chavez' bunt was way offline, but it was an excellent bunt that just died on the grass. I'm not sure if Dobbs had any shot to get Chavez. The other two hot shots past Dobbs, might have been picked by Feliz. But I can't guarantee that. He dived to make it look closer, but he really had no shot at either. Feliz is usually positioned better, so maybe. As for the Buckner error. That was the reason why Dobbs can't play every day at third. Attributing 4 runs to Dobbs is harsh.
5. Hidden Play -- Speaking of defensive positioning. In the first inning, with Chavez on 3rd and Easley at the plate, the Phillies were playing Easley up the middle. Utley was a few feet from Second base. There was a GIANT hole between Howard and himself. Easley just slapped the single in the hole and plated the 2nd run, which is the run that shouldn't have happened, and may have been the difference maker. Later in the 4th inning, again the Phillies were playing Easley up the middle AGAIN. Easley again slaps a ball in the hole. I'm not sure what the book is on him, but the Phillies either aren't reading it, or Easley has great bat control.
5. RJ Swindle -- Beerleaguer Favorite was forced into action early and had the misfortune to face David Wright who is playing for Internet favoritism. When Swindle threw the first 55MPH curve there was a great reaction from the crowd. It was almost the opposite reaction of when The Rat hit 100 mph for the first time at CBP. The problem Swindle had in that at bat was showing Wright the curve early. Wright sat on it and somehow powered it to the corner of the stadium. Good piece of hitting by Wright. Poor pitch selection by Swindle. In that at bat, they had Swindle throwing a cutter. It was switched to a Change up later. I thought to myself: does he have 5 pitches? It should be just: Fastball, change, slider and the Swindler. [I was going to call it the Swindle Phlutter] The jury is still out on him. As a Loogy, I think he would be very successful. I think he can get out right-handers with proper pitch selection and command. I'm impressed that they stuck with him for 3 innings. That has to be a great confidence boost. That is why Cholly is Cholly. Giving up the winning run to Pedro is a killer... but I'm going to look fondly at Swindle after tonight.
6. The Homer -- Was it a homer or not? I can't be 100% sure. When Manuel went out to argue with the 2nd base umpire a second time, I knew the ump had to "make it up" by at LEAST getting help from the rest of the crew. They talked for a while. The length of time, made me believe that they were going to overturn the call. From my vantage point, it was clearly fan interference. The question was whether it would have gone out regardless. To me it was inconclusive. I'm not sure replay would have helped. I do know this; Pat Burrell is often right on these calls. He immediately signaled homer and told Manuel to ask for help.
7. Ryan Howard -- On my blog today, I put Howard "On Notice" to steal from Colbert for a second. Mostly it was for the lack of performance, going 0 for 3 after the rain delay. He responded with a 2 for 4 with a 13 pitch walk, that was probably his best at bat of the season. He's staying on notice for now. Maybe the Cards will breathe some life in to him.
8. Phillies fans (part 2) -- The hardcore Phans who stuck it out tonight were incredibly loud during the late inning rallies. It was great to see some life from the crowd which seems to have been missing despite all these sellouts recently. Hopefully that can carry over to the next series.

As disappointing as losing 3 of 4 to the Mets, the games were close, and didn't smell of a collapse to me. Maybe my half full glass is cloudy. Let?s right the ship with the Cards.

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