Red Sox 7, Phillies 4

I was at the game and it occurred to me at one point that I've run out of words to describe my hatred for Boston. My vocabulary simply isn't big enough. I'm going to need to start making up words like Dr. Seuss. "Those Red Sox - they're frab-brabuously evil, like a Seven-beaked Zixer Zux Zax!"

Having said that, I was able to choke back my rage and avoid getting into fights with pink hat-wearing girls, and I didn't kick nine-year-olds in Ortiz jerseys in the stomach like I briefly considered doing. I can't stand Red Sox fans, but it's not their fault the Phils lost today. The guys are just in a slump, every one of them. The spark they had just two weeks ago isn't there. Bad at-bats, bad baserunning. Kendrick was awful today, and the lineup can't get anything going at all. I'm also starting to agree with Andrew that Carlos Ruiz just doesn't have it. I'd start Chris Coste at catcher every day until I found a reason not to, but that's just me.

I've chosen to believe that the really excellent Phillies of two weeks ago are the real 2008 Phillies, and right now we're just seeing a brief hiccup on the way to another division title. I hope. If they keep this stuff up, though, before long we'll be chasing the Marlins again, and that's no good. (Yeah, the Marlins. Forget the Red Sox, the Marlins are a team you can really focus some nice healthy hate on.)