Phillies-Mets 2 of 19

It’s often said it is better to lose a blowout game than a close one because you can forget the blowouts more quickly while the close ones linger.  Well, hopefully that expression is a half-truth.  The Mets sure didn’t waste any time recovering from their devastating 5-4 loss on Tuesday and answered with a 13-4 walloping of the Phils last night.  Skipper Charlie Manuel said, "We just have to throw this one out the window and bounce back tomorrow."  Indeed.

One thing that will be hard to simply forget is the defense of Ryan Howard.  Last night he increased his league leading error total to 6.  I’ve mentioned this too many times already in the past two weeks but Ryno must improve his defensive ability and decision-making, otherwise he will continually counteract all his offensive greatness.  Although he did hit a homerun last night, he also committed two costly errors that kept the Mets early-inning rallies alive.  For his part, Cory Lidle also contributed with a bonehead gaffe throwing the ball from first to third attempting to pick off a runner after a groundout and completely missing David Bell.  Throughout the Phillies’ 9-game winning streak, the team tallied just 5 errors, last night alone there were 4.  As last week’s analysis pointed out

, this is not shaping up to be the great defensive team of last season and it could really cost them this year.

Some quick notes on Phillies players:  Carlos Ruiz, for all his hype, is just 1-20 since being called up.  I admit he’s fresh off the boat, but come’on Carlos, this job is yours for the taking…take it!  The Chris Booker reign in Philadelphia is over as he was claimed off waivers by the Kansas City Royals. T-minus 34 hours until the Cole Hamels era beings…