THE LAST two nights at Citizens Bank Park have been those kinds of nights -- Philadelphia summer nights, the air hot and still and drenched with humidity. I was at Tuesday's opener against the Reds, and after Kyle Kendrick walked the first batter and then loaded the bases with no outs, I feared a long, unhappy night stewing in my own sweat would follow. But Cincinnati is a bad baseball team, and Kendrick escaped having allowed just a run. The Phillies' offense then picked things up and cruised to an easy win. Last night was a different story, with the O shut down until it was too late. Jamie Moyer pitched six sparkling innings before running out of gas, and his stumbles in the seventh allowed the Reds to get going on their way to a rain-delayed, 9-6 victory.
As noted, the Reds are pretty awful -- watching them allow Carlos Ruiz to steal home Tuesday night was sufficient evidence to convince me -- and so last night's all-too-typical bullpen meltdown by the Phils proved frustrating. With the Mets disinclined to grab hold of the division, at least for now, these are games that simply must be won. But, then, there's this: The Phillies aren't so hot themselves, the weather notwithstanding. Yesterday's papers were full of praise for Kendrick and his six-plus innings, but, geez, the guy's carrying a 5.00 ERA, and if not for the patent suckiness of the Reds, he's have gotten his ass kicked Tuesday. Elsewhere on the roster, one guy is making $15 million to pull splinters out of his rear end, two closers are on the DL, the bullpen is a nightly disaster waiting to happen, and it's considered a good night when any starter not named Cole Hamels can give the Phillies five-plus innings and allow only four runs. This is not a playoff baseball team, at least not as it's currently constructed.
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