Last night’s game was my last regular-season game of the year. I hope it won’t be my last game whatsoever of the year! It was an exciting game—but only for four innings. Brett Myers pitched poorly from the start, and the Phillies were lucky to give up only three runs through the first four innings. In fact, Myers—late of the minor leagues, where he surely belongs and will inevitably return next season—gave up an incredible 10 hits in four-and-a-third innings. Still, after four, the Braves and Phillies were tied, 3-3.
The fifth inning was the undoing of Myers and the Phillies. Myers walked one of the Braves and gave up a double to another, prompting manager Charlie Manuel to go to the bullpen. Soon enough, reliever Scott Eyre was giving up a three-run homer to Chipper Jones, the next holder of the League’s batting title. (Jones, still suffering from shoulder problems, didn’t come into the game until the fifth inning. To have a shoulder injury and be so powerful! He’s amazing, darn it.)
The Braves scored six runs in the decisive fifth inning, and the game was effectively over. The final score: 10-4.
After the top of the fifth, my attention—and the attention of 40,000 other Phillies fans—immediately turned to the scoreboard. We watched as the Mets squandered a grand slam by Carlos Delgado and then managed to lose the game altogether in the tenth inning.
It would be better, of course, if the Phillies—who held onto a one-and-a-half game lead over the Mets—forcefully took the Division title. But we’re not too proud to have the Mets hand the title to us, believe me.