Phillies Odometer: 9,962 On The Road To 10,000

That's the adorable component of a team which has a loaded lineup, but a pitching staff composed of question marks in the starting rotation and a bullpen with some shady suspects -- the preseason prediction from the pundits is almost always, "Well, it looks like we can expect (Team X) to win a lot of 10-8 games this season."

Except that it almost never works that way -- and definitely never for the Phillies.

That's pretty much how Phillies Milestone Loss No. 9,962 became a matter of public record this afternoon in the Mutts home opener at Shea.
The extremely mediocre John Maine -- who went 3-0 against the Phils last year -- did NOT get the win. However, the Phils usually-dependable Geoff Geary got himself into one helluva mess during the Mutts' 7-run 8th and ...

Look ... it was the Phillies' third home opener in a little more than a week and, frankly, they've gotta be tired of all the fanfare.
Before we all know it, the Phils will turn these 11-5 losses into 11-5 wins -- and the entire MLB will be running for cover.

At least 2006 NL MVP Ryan Howard went deep for the first time.
Everybody's wunderin' what's wrong with Big Fly Ry, but everybody seems to forget that, on the way to 58 HRs last year, How Hard Howard had only one HR in April.

If only he could add a few more 5-run HRs and 6-run blasts to his arsenal ...