Johan Santana is widely regarded as the best starting pitcher in baseball, last evening he proved once again why he has such recognition.  Santana held the very potent Phillies offense to just two hits and no runs thru seven innings of work enroute to his fourth victory of the season.  He struck out ten hitters in the seven frames and dazzled batters with his array of fastballs, sliders and changeups.  Santana can throw any of those pitches for a strike at any count and all are above average pitches, he is a tough guy to beat and is the primary reason why the Mets should stay in contention throughout the season.

Chan Ho Park matched Santana thru six frames as he pitched shutout baseball allowing the Mets only one hit!  Park pitched agressive in the strike zone like he did in spring training and the results were comparable.  It was definitely his best outing as a Phillie and if he can bottle that approach will easily be a double digit game winner for this team.

The Phillies could only amass three hits in total in the game as Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriquez closed out the game for the Mets.  There was only one run scored in the contest, a seventh inning unearned run scored by Dan Murphy for the New Yorkers.   Shane Victorino extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a baseknock. 

Bottom line in this one is that the Fightin’s just ran up against an extreme talent and competitor, Santana exemplifies the same bulldog approach and tenacity that the Fightin’s used to win a World Championship last season, hats off to him, sometimes you just gotta say the other guy beat ya!

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I realize the Citizen’s Bank Park is very hitter friendly but whomever laid out Citi Field went to the extreme opposite approach!  415 in the power alleys is a long way and 383 to right is crazy!  This park is a double/triple extravaganza,  Jose Reyes should have 30 freaking triples playing here!  Better have a centerfielder who can cover alot of ground in this yard else you are in trouble……….reminds me of Coors Field in Colorado without the thin air.   Watched the Met fans in the stands last night and I don’t see a distinctive difference between them and us Phillie fans, they live and die with the team and are very intuitive into the game.  Carlos Delgado was given a Bronx cheer last night when he caught a pop up, he doffed his cap to the fans……..Delgado had dropped one the night before against Atlanta!  The Phillies-Mets rivalry is a good one but I think that the fans are more intense about it than the teams, don’t get the sense that the ballplayers dislike each other like the Yanks/BoSox thing spills over, perhaps just me.

Ryan Howard is having a great year thus far with the glove, gold glove worthy!  He made a diving stop last night on a hard ground ball and a terrific flip to Park covering first but Chan Ho dropped it!  Last year I don’t think the big man would have even gotten to it, the work he did this offseason and spring with coach Sam Perlozzo has certainly paid off!

Jamie Moyer takes the hill tonight looking for career win 250, my boy Eric and his buddy are gonna be in attendance tonight in NYC!  Eric is a diehard Mets fan which goes to prove that we can coexist!

So far this season the Fightin’s have been a better road team than at home, that trend continued as the Phillies began a short four game road trip with a sweep of the Cardinals in the baseball mecca, St. Louis.   In game one of the series on Monday, May 4th big Joe Blanton delivered his best outing of the season as he pitched six effective innings giving up one run on only four hits to earn his first win of the season.  Jayson Werth belted a two run home run in the fourth inning off of former Phil Kyle Lohse.   Ryan Howard smoked a grand slam, ( his second of the season), in the fifth inning off of Lohse to end his outing abruptly!  Both taters were long ones, the defending World Champions can hit and it don’t matter if they are playing in Yellowstone……when they hit ‘em they are out of any park!   Scott Eyre, Ryan Madson and Chad Durbin each pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Blanton to close out the game, a 6 to 1 Phillies win.

On Tuesday evening Brett Myers was the starter for the Phillies and pitched 5 and 1/3 innings to earn the win albeit it was not a stellar performance.  Myers gave up five runs on nine hits and while earning the win but it was more due to the potent Phillies offense than to his effectiveness.  Shane Victorino belted a solo home run to lead off the game and Jayson Werth hit his fourth home run of the season in the fifth inning, a three run shot off of Cardinal starter Adam Wainwright.   The Cardinals hit three home runs of thier own in the game including Albert Pujol’s 10th of the season. Scott Eyre and Ryan Madson each earned holds in relief and Brad Lidge closed the game albeit a non-save situation.  Victorino had four hits in the game while Jimmie Rollins, Raul Ibanez and Pedro Feliz had two hits each.  Jayson Werth had four RBI and Shane Victorino had three.  FInal Count – Phillies 10 Cardinals 7

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The Phillies next road opponent is the not so Amazin Mets in thier new ballyard.  Chan Ho Park takes the ball in game one vs Johan Santana, a surely apparent mismatch…….. Park needs to get back his agressiveness and prove he belongs in the rotation, he is definitely on the borderline of being pulled from the spot.  Cole Hamels is being held back to Friday night vs the Atlanta Braves at home.  Chase Utley was held out in the Tuesday game as he was hit by a pitched ball on the ankle in Monday’s game, Miguel Cairo got his first start of the game at second base in his place.  Utley was not a happy camper being asked to sit out by the skipper, he is a true throwback that wants to play them all and more than willing to play thru pain…….. part of what makes him a true MVP type player!

Chan Ho Park continued his early season struggle as a starter on Friday night as he gave up seven runs and eight hits in only four and 2/3 innings of work.  Park, once again, had poor location and paid for it early as he gave up a first inning two run bomb to Dan Murphy.   The Mets scored in four of the first five frames of the game in building a lead they would never relinquish.  Chad Durbin, J.A. Happ and Clay Condrey pitched scoreless baseball in relief of Park but the hole was too deep for the Fightin’s to climb out of in this one.   

The Phillies did fight back by scoring four runs including a solo home run by Chase Utley in the seventh frame.  Pedro Feliz continued to swing a hot bat as he collected two hits, Raul Ibanez knocked in two of the four runs bringing his season RBI total to 19.    The Mets bullpen pitched as advertised in this one as Pedro Feliciano, J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriquez held the lead,  Putz was particularly impressive as he worked a perfect eighth inning.

On Saturday afternoon the two rivals were back at it as each team sent lefties to the mound.  Jamie Moyer took the hill for the Phils against the egnimatic Oliver Perez.   The Phils took an early 4 to 2 lead and knocked Perez out of the game after two and 1/3 innings, Perez has struggled mightily for the Mets thus far this season and may be on his way to Adam Eaton type affection by Met fans! Moyer lasted into the sixth inning but found trouble in that frame as he gave up three runs to relinquish the lead.    The Phillie bullpen was perfect in relief as Scott Eyre, Clay Condrey, Ryan Madson, Brad Lidge and Jack Taschner each were unscored upon.   Raul Ibanez hit his eighth home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning to retie the game.

The Phillies won the game in the bottom of the tenth on a bases loaded walk issued by Sean Green to Shane Victorino that scored Pedro Feliz.  Green was his own worst enemy as he issued two walks and a hit batter in the inning.   Feliz, Victorino and Ibanez each had two hit ballgames for the Fightins.

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Cole Hamels threw a bullpen session early Saturday and felt soreness around his ankle which may prohibit him from starting Tuesday against St. Louis.   If Hamels cannott start then J.A. Happ will take the turn.  Carlos Ruiz was activated off the D.L. on Saturday and started as the catcher.  Lou Marson was optioned back to Triple A Lehigh Valley to make room on the roster for Ruiz.   Chan Ho Park will most likely stay in the rotation at least for now.  Albeit Park has been inconsistent the injury to Hamels virtually  insures that he will get one more start, he needs to pitch like he did in spring training when he earned the spot in order to keep it.  Kyle Kendrick is 2-1 at Triple A in five starts with a 2.77 ERA so help may only be a short drive away!  Also keep an eye on Michael Stutes at Double A Reading along with Vance Worley.   The Phillies have built up some depth in the system which makes the boys on the big team a bit more accountable.