Lee K’s Ten in 3-1 Victory

My grandfather was a Dodgers fan.  When the team moved to Los Angeles, he continued to call them Brooklyn.  This does not preclude me from hating the shit out of the Los Angeles Dodgers.  I hate watching that damn Kirk Gibson home run.  I hate watching Fernando waddling out to the mound.  I hate watching anything that has to do with Tommy Lasorda.  California and Los Angeles specifically, is loosely based around sunglasses and it sucks.

That being said, the Phillies begin their eleven game home stand by welcoming the colossal cluster-fuck of a franchise that is the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Ted Lilly, who’s full name is actually Theredore Roosevelt Lilly, was sent to the mound tasked with shutting down an offense that is struggling mightily.  Lilly pitched admirably, lasting six innings, allowing five hits and allowing two runs.  The offense continues to struggle against guys who they should not struggle against, but the performance of their starting pitcher will keep everyone quiet for now.  I really wish I was clever so I could come up with some sort of Square Deal reference based on Ted’s name, but words seem to be failing me.

We are all waiting for Cliff Lee to put a few good starts together.  Tonight was a step in the right direction.  He was fantastic tonight.  He threw seven shutout innings, striking out ten Dodgers and using his curveball to stick it to one of the league’s hottest hitters in the person of Matt Kemp.  It is frustrating when people hit Cliff because when he is on, he is nearly unhittable.  One in a number of reasons of Cliff Lee’s badassedness, is the fact that deceased Metallica bassist and Cliff share the same name; Cliff Lee.  Metallica and Cliff Lee?  You should proabably click the link here.

The Phillies scratched across two runs in the bottom of the third inning.  Placido Polanco and Ryan Howard hit RBI singles in the inning and, regrettably, the Phils did not manage too much else for the rest of the game.  They tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with a Chooch fueled RBI double.  Chooch has a habit of cramming it into the cram holes of the Dodgers.

Ryan Madson closed out another game.  He gave up a run, but in the end, he struck out Philly killer Rod Barajas and Dioner Navarro to preserve a 3-1 lead.  As Lidge’s arm starts to fall off, it makes me feel a ton better that there is a shut down reliever present in the bullpen.

Roy Oswalt goes tomorrow against rookie fireballer Rubby De La Rosa.  His name is Rubby.  Not sure what else to say here.

I also hate Juan Uribe.