9,974 and 9,975 (Desert Downers)

Phillies Landmark Losses Nos. 9,974 and 9,975 weren't as traumatic as they might've been because they were a pair of 1-run defeats to the D-Backs -- and the Snakes are part of that recent trend which is afoot whereby we might have every N.L. team decked out in RED.

This season, the Snakes have ditched the bluish-purplish combos of previous seasons in favor of a reddish, brick-coloured ensemble.

It's up to America to decide if The MLB has enough red.

Or not enough.

As it stands, we now have the Phillies, Reds, Cardinals, Nationals as the NL teams wearing bright red and Arizona and Houston as the teams with a southwestern, brick-red-esque motif.

Let's not forget the Bravos when they wear their Sunday red tops and the Pirates when they wear those insanely-hideous, red, roadworker-approved vests.
If only the Dodgers could incorporate something ugly to match the red numbers on the front of the uniform -- and if only the Cubs could work out something to coordinate with the red "C" on their blue caps, well ...

"HEY! The Phillies' first baseman went deep!"

If we'd yelled that last night, we'd've been talking about Greg Dobbs filling in for Ryan Howard and hitting his first Phillie HR.

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But, TONIGHT ... it was the more-traditional power source (Howard) goin' yard in a less-traditional manner (as a pinch-hitter).

"R.H. The PH" came off the bench and put a real jolt into the matchup which pitted the oldest southpaw-vs.southpaw matchup in history.

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The Snakes built that 3-0 lead against 44-year-old Jamie Moyer, but after 43-year-old Randy Johnson left the game with the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh -- after the Unit had struck out the first 6 Phillies he faced -- super-dorky Bob Melvin went to his 'pen.

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That's amusing from the standpoint that it illustrates the pussywillow nature of those delicate flowers that we call "pitchers" and those genius managers who are talked into "please don't hurt my fragile daffodil."

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Think about it: Johnson was pitchin' a shutout ... he'd thrown 101 pitches ... and he had the DANGEROUS Wes Helms. Abraham Nunez and Carlos Ruiz coming up.

What's the problem here?

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Instead, Melvin yanked his Unit ... and brought in Brandon Medders, prompting Manuel Labor to use Howard.

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Medders was facing a .198 hitter who has struggled and struggled and struggled and struggled -- but, Medders freaked out and figured, "Maybe I can sneak one of my 83 MPH Main Street, no-movement pus balls past him."

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First pitch ... GONE!

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That was a quality "all-access/inside peek" into why Bobby Melvin won all those world titles up there in Seattle after Piniella left him with that record-setting, 116-win team.

No faith in his Hall of Fame starter ... too much faith in his sack-o-crap reliever ... it looks like another 82-80 season in the desert (the first of three more before The Melv is axed and then required to arm-wrestle Manuel Labor for that K.C. Royals hitting instructor's post ...