Last time he came to town, Johnny Cueto only got two batters out and the Phillies ended up winning 22-1.  Talk about what have you done for me lately, because Cueto went 8 strong, scattering 6 hits and only allowing one run.  The Phillies got two more in the ninth, but were already up against it losing 7-3.  Kyle Kendrick was the schmuck we all secretly (or loudly..) all say he is (except for when he goes 7 strong, then he's a good young starter again).  6 runs is not going to win ballgames.  To make matters worse, that fat head Scott Rolen hit his 300th career home run.

Bright spots:

• Ryan Howard had two hits, both extra bases, a double and a triple.
• Werth and Ibanez both also had two hits, Raul knocked in 3 RBIs as well.

• Chase Utley needs an MRI on his thumb.  Not too much to worry about because he'll definitely play hurt.  But worry because he'll definitely play hurt.
• Orlando Cabrera was 3-4, while somehow only seeing 6 pitches the whole day.
• Only one Red starter (other than Cueto) didn't have a hit (Gomes).

Tonight's 11-2 victory marks Jamie Moyer's third straight win for a Phillies team that looks to be righting the ship.  The brightest silver lining about the Phillies recent slide down the standings is how good the pitching has often been.  The staff was hardly throwing shut-outs day in and day out, however they've been much better than you'd expect from a team struggling as hard as they were.  This win for Moyer combined with the previous two has lowered his ERA 0.42 after his worst outing ever (? I don't remember how epically bad it was).

This game was a beat down from the start.  Jayson Werth went 0-5 (christ.), but basically everyone else went to town.  13 hits, 11 runs, 0 home runs -- an offensive tour de force without the long ball .. who would've thunk it?  Not this guy.  Rollins, Victorino, and Francisco all had 3 hits each and were creating problems every time at the plate.

I don't want to declare the team wide slump over, because that is some bad karma that we just don't need right now.  However, it looks good.  The Phillies played the worst baseball they've played in years for nearly a month and we're only 2.5 games out, basically through June.  That leaves July, August, and September to light the NL East on fire.

The Phillies won 12-3... blah, blah, Blanton, blah, swept the Indians, blah, blah, Polanco dominating, blah:

Chase Utley: 3-3 | Jayson Werth 3-4

God damnit it is fun watching those guys produce -- we sure could use a little more of it.

Added by Benny B.

Just one small addition:

Well good for him.  Not only did Jamie Moyer go out and get the win for a struggling Phillies team, but he set a record!  Not just any record, but he tied Robin Roberts for the all-time home run record in MLB history.  Personally, I think it's great -- anytime you can set an all-time MLB record and put your name out there, you've got to do it. If you've got to give up 505 home runs to do so, so be it.

The Indians are terrible, but we're not in the business of complaining about wins these days.  Lidge got a save (amen) and Rollins made his debut (0-4...).  Would've been nice to see Jimmy make some excitement on the bases, however he's probably rusty -- we can save that for tonight.

Ryan Howard is heating up and god damnit it's about time.  He hasn't been slumping this season by any means, however we need someone to drag the team out of the dumps (a la Landon Donovan for Team USA in the World Cup) and get them back on track.  If he gets red-hot that will be the only thing the team needs to wake back up because he transform the lineup from strong to unstoppable when he's rolling.

In other news, Chuuch hit the DL and Dobbs got demoted.  Neither are particularly exciting, but both important.  Dobbs has never been a MLB quality starter, but I've always like having him on the bench, I hope he makes his way back up soon.  Chuuch is sneakily one of the more important players on the team because the pitching staff is so comfortable working with him and he's a solid defensive backstop.  Okay, he's not that important, but it hurts losing him for any amount of time.

"Somebody ought to check on the Mets if they did [complain], because their f*cking home record is out of this world and they're losing on the road," Manuel told MLB.com today. "That's a good indication sometimes, if you want to know about signs and [stuff].

"When I see somebody is 17-2 at home and 4-12 on the road I kind of get concerned about that. That kind of crosses my mind."

Thats Charlie Manuel after getting bitch-slapped by MLB for using binoculars to spy on opposing teams catchers desperately trying to rationalize that it must be the Mets that are cheating due to the discrepancy of the Mets home/away record.

Everybody and their mother knew then that Charlie's weak display was infantile at best, and trying to redirect the scent of his cheating-ass team at worst--it carried no weight regardless.  But after the Mets 7-2 road trip which featured two consecutive sweeps of the Orioles and Indians brought their road record to a respectable 15-20, it only makes Manuel look all the more stupid.

I've heard and seen all the Phillies Phans rationalizations.  No need to recount them.  However, one final observation for you Phans to think about before you cry yourselves to sleep each night:  Don't you find it interesting that the putrid brand of sub-.500 baseball the Phillies have been displaying is directly correlated with the the warning MLB issued for Binocular-gate? In other words, once you guys got caught, the losses started piling up.  Here's to hoping it continues.  Got any other theories Charlie?

I was in attendance last night, but because I got the tickets so late in the day I ended up being a little late to the game.  I walked into the stadium after the first inning and a half and I'm cursing myself for missing three runs and Ryan Howard triple.  The team hasn't been scoring much so missing a three run inning was like missing the whole game.  Wrong.

Not a second after I found my seat (nine row behind the visiting dugout, who knew) Chase and Ryan went back-to-back jacks.  It was just what I needed.  It's been such a shitty couple weeks of Phillies baseball and my first game in attendance since the skid, they start dropping bombs.  Howard ended up with 4 hits: 2 HRs, a triple and a double.  The big man was MURDERING Twin pitching.  It was a sight to see the team back in action and rolling offensively again.

Gotta love Joe Blanton getting the job done.  Fat Joe just went out there and got hit around but without letting up any runs until Nick Punto (!) went yard off of him.  The Twins fans in my section had a conversation in all seriousness that they weren't sure if Nick Punto had ever hit one before.  For those wondering at home, it was the 12th of his career.

The Phils are 3.5 back in the division right now, a series sweep over the Twins would be just what the doc ordered.

This Jamie Moyer season is getting ridiculous.  Most of the time he looks like he's got one foot in the baseball grave.  Then out of no where he does something like this (8 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 5 K's) and completely shuts down the Yankees.  Robinson Cano hit possibly the farthest ball he'll ever hit, but other than that it was all pop ups and ground balls for the Bronx Bombers.  Moyer became the oldest picture ever to beat the Yankees and with performances like this he apparently can pitch forever.  How you get A-Rod out with an 83 mph fastball, I will never know.

Offensively, it was a party early and with Moyer cruising it was plenty.  In the second inning, Shane Victorino came up with the bases loaded and didn't disappoint lacing a tripling into right center clearing the bases.  After that it was 4-0 (Dobbs had singled off the wall to score Raul), the only remaining scoring coming from Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth's back-to-back jacks.  Somehow this is the first time that the Phillies have done that this season.

One last note, Brad Lidge came in and got the Brad Lidge save with ease.  It may have looked wild and nerve-racking to you, however it followed completely along the blueprint: two quick strike outs, a walk, an RBI double, a single (putting the tying run at the plate), then striking him out.  It wouldn't be a Lidge save if the tying run didn't come to the plate no matter the score or situation.  Great win.  These are fun let's get some more of these.

Another day, another one dropped.  This time the Yankees opened their home to us and promptly smack the living hell out of us.  The normally stingy Doc Halladay allowed 3 homers and 6 earned -- not his best day.  The offense was decent at best, but again you can't expect to win everyday only putting up three runs against teams like the Yankees.

Not sure why Polanco batted third even though he's the only Phillies batting above .300.  I'm sure Charlie wanted to switch things up and/or fell asleep while making the lineup card.  Neither makes much sense, but I guess sometimes you make a change just for the sake of doing so.  One of these days something is going to reignite the offense, but sadly we didn't find that thing today.

The offense might not have a choice but to wake up with Moyer and Kendrick throwing the two remaining games in New York.  The Phils might need 12 in each to come out on top so somebody wake up the bats, they're going to have to be active to avoid getting swept.

And no, my picture is not from the game, it's just generic Yankees > Phillies.

For the first time in this Phillies-Red Sox series, Boston failed to score double digits runs and wouldn't you know it, the Phillies finally got a win.  Hamels did what Moyer and Blanton couldn't do before him; he went 7 strong, allowing one earned on five hits and striking out 8 -- you can't ask for much more out  of the lefty.  It's great to get an effort like that out of our young ace(ish) because while he no longer is our true ace, he's young enough where he can easily regain that role in the future and throwing like that when the team is struggling is a big part of leading a pitching staff.  And wouldn't you know it there was a Brad Lidge sighting!  One hit, one K, one save -- well done.

Offensively, production came from all around the lineup.  RBIs were sent in from the top and bottom and only Polanco had multiple hits.  Tim Wakefield threw well, but the four he allowed tonight simply were too much.  It was good to see Raul get loose on one and even better to see Jayson Werth smack a hit before him.  Those two need to wake up and we can get back to killing people again.

Well if that Red Sox series wasn't fun, in come the Yankees on Tuesday and it's Sabathia v. Halladay in game one.  Must-see TV and it should be a fun one.

I honestly couldn't tell you how tonight's game against the Red Sox played out because I joined the masses in changing the channel to something less painful and embarrassing (Men In Black was on so I actually ended up winning in the long run. Agent J, you are the man).

Obviously, after giving up a completely pathetic 12 runs in the first three innings, largely thanks to Mr. Jamie Moyer, the Phillies lost. But how they managed to earn two runs at all kind of baffles me after such awful play in the beginning (like I said, I couldn't bear to watch after the third inning). Anyone that has ever met me can tell you that I utterly hate the city of Boston and any team that comes out of it, so watching the bases continuously fill up with sahhwwwwwx playahhhhs (wow, what an atrocious accent) without any effort from our bullpen drove me absolutely insane. At least I didn't have to watch Youkilis score another home run on us with his stupid Fred Flinstone swing like he did in May, I might have ran to Boston and beat up Moyer myself.

Every year around this time I find myself in the same position: I watch the Phillies get dealt loss after embarrassing loss for a few weeks while I sit there, insulting every player that has ever stepped out in the red pinstripes. I mope around all June, complaining about how the team is falling apart and how the players need to step up and grow a pair or go join a softball league somewhere. Then the month wraps up and summer gets underway, and every year the Phillies seem to snap out of their awful funk and do work, while I try and deny the four weeks of hostility I had just experienced.

It's all pretty frustrating, but I guess it comes with being a fan. Until things pick up I'll just grind my teeth and distract myself with some fine quality World Cup Soccer. USA!