Walk-Off Win In Philadelphia

Phillies Fans, that was a great game right? Other baseball fans, if you have not heard the news, there was a huge rally in Philadelphia today as the Phillies beat the Astros 5-4. Opening Day in Philadelphia was a somewhat "gray" day, but was full of excitement. Roy Halladay got the start for the Phillies and now has 9 consecutive Opening Day starts, beating Roy Oswalt's streak of 8 (which ended today). Halladay started in his true fashion by retiring the first 8 batters, and then Brett Myers made contact for an infield single (I know?!). Through 6-innings, Halladay posted 1 earned run, 5 hits, and 6 strikeouts. As I anticipated, Brett Myers dominated the Phillies, and did just what he said he would in 2009 and "Stick it to the Phillies." But after a long time in the dugout, Myers came out stiff and gave up two runs. And by the way, Myers has an average of 1.000 while Michael Bourn has an average of .250, c'mon Bourn, step up your game. Charlie Manuel commented on Myers great performance, "I think that his days of throwing 95 [mph] have come and gone, I think that's he's a better pitcher now. He mixes up his pitches. He threw some hooks, cutters, fastballs. He threw a few changeups. He kept us off balance. He made us make outs. It wasn't like he was overpowering. He pitched." Which is 100% true, this is the fourth time in five years the Brett Myers started at Citizens Bank Park. In the bottom of the 9th, Brandon Lyon was sent in to retired the Phillies 1, 2, 3, just as his duty of a closer entails. Some background information about Lyon against the Phillies, his ERA was 7.71, before today. His ERA after today for the 2011 season is 84, go figure. Lyon allowed 6 straight singles, and only recorded one out. John Mayberry Jr. hit the 6th single on a 2-2 count to win the game for the Phillies. And this has not been the only walk-off win in the past 24 hours. The Reds won against the Brewers on a walk-off 3-run homerun by Ramon Hernandez, and the Royals won against the Angels on a walk-off homerun by Kila Ka'aihue. Talk about some Hawaiian Punch! And incase you did not know, Ka'aihue is from Hawaii. Regardless of those to wins, the Phillies walk-off win is closer to home. I cheered and watched in amazement as the Phillies won. As Jimmy Rollins said, only 99 or 115 more to go. Good luck Phillies on your race to 100 or to beat the Mariners season record of 116 wins.

(Gotta show some love for Brett Myers)