Once again, we'll do a brief review, this time of the Phillies successful but not quite successful enough weekend series against the Braves. The Phils hung a 4-spot on John Smoltz in game 1, then coasted home for a 5-1 win behind Cory Lidle, Rheal Cormier, and Billy Wagner. That had to be the easiest win over the Braves I've ever seen. Atlanta scored a run in the first, and never really challenged after that.
Game 2 was a 12-5 laugher, but only after the Phils exploded for 5 runs in the ninth. Jason Michaels was the star, making a superb diving catch and hitting a 3-run homer to put the game away. Jon Lieber was shaky, but he managed to stay in long enough to get the victory. Just as I had written, Robinson Tejeda was brought into a still undecided game to relieve Lieber, and retired the side in order. So far, so good.
Until game 3. The Phillies took a 2-1 lead into the fifth, and appeared poised to get the sweep with ace Brett Myers firing darts. Then the Braves woke up. After two quick singles, Ryan "Islets of" Langerhans hit a two-run triple to give the Braves a lead they would never relinquish. Tejeda came in in the 7th and gave up his first three runs of the season in the 8th to give the Braves a 7-2 win.
The Phillies have managed to negotiate the last 12 games vs. first or second place teams with a 7-5 record. Now, if they could have played as well against the other teams, they would be in first place themselves, but it never seems to work out that way. We're still 5 games out, still in last place, but this stretch gives us a smidgen of hope. The Braves and Marlins are not great teams, and neither appear to be capable of winning 100 games. This division can be won with a sustained run of good baseball, and with the schedule turning in our favor, the time is now.
Elsewhere in my chronologically challenged life, we went to see Revenge Of The Sith. My one-phrase review: Eh. To expand on that, the second half of the film, where Palpatine has been exposed as Darth Sidious, was excellent. It was fascinating watching Anakin slowly turn into Darth Vader, and to see all the other plot elements fall into alignment for Episode IV. Prior to that, the movie was unrelentingly dull. I think the main problem with Eps I, II, and the first half of III is that there is no established villain, at least not one who is nearly as scary as Vader, who you already know is coming. Count Dooku? Are you kidding me? I mean, the name alone sounds like a waste product. General Grievous is a droid for crying out loud. Like a droid is going to defeat a Jedi. Oh, sorry, I went over-nerd there. And the casting of Natalie Portman has got to be the biggest movie mistake since John Travolta discovered Scientology. Still, I'm glad I saw it, as if my social abilities gave me any choice.
Hope you're having some cold ones with your Navy buddies, Dad.
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