Luckily, the Phillies do not play tonight.
But I know what Charlie Manuel will be doing. He’ll be cheering for the Sixers. In fact, right now, Manuel and maybe Ruben Amaro Jr. may be the Sixers’ biggest fans.
They better hope the Sixers beat the Bulls and advance in the NBA Playoffs. If they do not the Phillies suddenly become the only game in town.
And these days that would not be a good thing.
The Phils welcomed back Cliff Lee last night. And they got exactly what you would expect. Lee threw six solid innings and left with the Phils holding a 4-2 lead.
Enter Kyle Kendrick.
Kaboom!
Kendrick becomes the latest member of the Phillies' bullpen to implode, they have now blown 5 saves in the last 10 days.
For weeks all anyone talked about was the Phils' woeful offense. That's not the problem these days.
The Phils, still not exactly an offensive juggernaut, seem to be scratching out enough to win. At least enough with this starting pitching staff.
But offense is not the Phils’ only problem. They have shown an alarming tendency to be sloppy in the field, and now their bullpen, aside from closer Jonathan Papelbon, looks like a minefield.
After still another come-from-ahead loss that handed the Mets a a sweep of the series last night, Manuel had seen enough.
He closed the doors to the locker room to talk to his team, which is now four games under .500 and mired in last place in the NL East, five games behind the Nats.
You can read Ryan Lawrence’s take on the game here. He was there to see it in person, along with 43,840 paying customers who made up the team’s 233rd consecutive sellout.
The only thing missing was a ‘Let’s Go, Sixers’ chant.
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