1985 Topps 3D #1 Mike Schmidt

Mets 9, Phillies 1
Game 22 - Friday Night, April 30th in Philadelphia

Painful. Not enjoyable. Downright frustrating. Just not good. And I could go on. The Phils dropped the opening game in their 3-game series with the Mets, making the Mets and their starter Jon Niese look like the '27 Yankees and Cy Young, respectively. I jotted down notes throughout the game of what was going wrong:

Deep counts from Kyle Kendrick on just about every batter . . . The first 7 hits from the Mets, through 7 innings, were all extra base hits . . . Phils managed 6 singles and a walk against Niese and the Mets bullpen . . . Shane Victorino didn't run out a dropped 3rd strike in the 5th . . . Jayson Werth's single in the 7th broke a streak of 14 in a row retired, and he became the first Phillies baserunner since the 2nd inning . . . Brad Lidge, making his 2010 debut, allowed a home run to Rod Barajas on the third pitch he threw.

So what's a Phillies fan to do? Thankfully, we have several options:

1. Remind ourselves it's only April, at least for a few more hours. It's a marathon and not a sprint, and all the other normal clichés.

2. Take solace in the fact that Joe Blanton and hopefully Jimmy Rollins will be back from the disabled list soon. The line-up misses Jimmy Rollins at the top of the order.

3. Rely on Roy Halladay to turn things around tomorrow.

4. Enjoy an oddball Mike Schmidt baseball card - in stunning three dimensions! (I couldn't bring myself to post a Rod Barajas baseball card. Too depressing.)

And One More Thing: Former closer Ryan Madson was placed on the DL this afternoon with a broken toe. After blowing a save on Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco, he kicked over a metal folding chair, breaking his toe. I feel more sympathy for the folding metal chair than I do for Madson.