Everyone Who Hates Atlanta Raise Your Hand; Phils Beat Bravos 3-1

Any time that I purchased a pack of baseball cards when I was growing up, every damn pack I got a hold of would have a Dale Murphy card in it.  He won two MVPs, a bunch of slivers sluggers and a bunch of gold gloves.  By all accounts, he is an extremely nice, devout man, who gives a great deal of time and effort to his community.

I hate the Braves and I hate Dale Murphy.  He may be a fantastic person, but every time I got one of those cards when I was young, I threw it in the damn garbage.  He is a borderline Hall of Famer and if he makes it in, I plan of pelting the selection community with batteries.

As the years passed on, my dislike for the Braves has grew exponentially as the team has thoroughly dominated the Phillies for the better portion of my life time.  Along the way, Atlanta employed such shit faces as Deion Sanders, John Rocker and Gary Sheffield further solidifying how much I hate them.  Even in games that do not count, I want the Phillies to exterminate with extreme punishment.

The Phillies took on the Braves today, sending Joe Blanton (who was referred to as “portly right hander” by the ESPN announcers) to take on journeyman and future ex-Brave Rodrigo Lopez.

Blanton was really good today.  He went six shutout innings, scattering six hits and striking out four.  He used his change-up effectively and located all his pitches extremely well.  Joe was staked to an early lead today when Jimmy Rollins (who was in the three hole today) crushed a two run home run in the first inning.  Rollins went 2-3 today, giving Charlie another line-up option.

Luis Castillo provided something today that the Phillies line-up is seriously lacking.  A fat, over the hill second baseman who has a bad attitude you say?  No.  A batter with great plate discipline.  Castillo is well past the point in which he was an all star, but he still can take some pitches and can get on base.  He went 1-2 today with two walks.

The Phils scored another run on an RBI triple from Ryan Howard.  Howard came inches from hitting a homer to the deepest part of the park giving the Phils a 3-0 lead that was trimmed to 3-1 after an appearance from Danys Baez.

Another positive from today was John Mayberry Jr. getting a hit off a real right handed pitcher.  Mayberry singled off of Braves closer candidate Craig Kimbrel.  Kimbrel has electric stuff and Mayberry would normally flail helplessly at a pitcher like him.  I know that he’s 27 and well past the point at which we can consider him a prospect, but Mayberry may prove valuable as a bench player this season.

I hate you Dale Murphy.

Next up for the Phils split squad contests against the Tigers and Blue Jays tomorrow at 1:05.