1988 Chef Boyardee #14 Mike Schmidt

Cardinals 5, Phillies 1
Game 94 - Wednesday Night, July 21th in St. Louis

Well I certainly picked a good week, baseball-wise, to be out of town. The Phillies didn't do anything to make me wish I had been able to watch these games.

What a complete and total steaming mess. I'm talking about the Phillies' state of play of course, and not a bowl of your favorite Chef Boyardee product. (Or am I?) After a 40-minute rain delay, the Phillies continued their march towards mediocrity with a 5-1 loss in St. Louis. Still 7 back, and 3 games above .500, they've lost 5 of 6 since the All-Star break. If not for Geovany Soto's dropped ball at home plate on Saturday, they'd be staring at a 6-game losing streak.

They had their chances in tonight's game, but Charlie Manuel made a questionable decision in the 7th that could have cost them. With the bases loaded and two outs, Manuel allowed pitcher Joe Blanton to bat for himself. Blanton struck out swinging on 3 pitches and the rally was over. Immediately afterwards, he surrendered a home run to Matt Holliday on the first pitch he threw in the bottom of the 7th, making it 2-1 Cardinals. The Phils had another chance to score in the 8th, but Jayson Werth (Mr. Anti-Clutch this year) grounded out with runners at 1st to 3rd to end the threat.

With Werth rumored to be heading out of town to Tampa Bay, could this have been his final at-bat as a Phillie? (Edit: It wasn't.)

Ending on a Positive Note: Ryan Howard's solo home run in the 5th tied the game up at 1-all and moved him into sole possession of 4th place on the Phils' all-time home run list. It was his 244th, moving him past Hall of Famer Chuck Klein and putting him within reach of Pat Burrell's 3rd place total of 251.