Put on my Ryan Howard Phillies T-shirt, charged my camera, and I was ready. Parked in Lincoln Financial's lot, crossed the street to Citizens Bank Park. New York Mets vs. Philadelphia Phillies.
Not knowing that the outfield gates were the only gates open before 5:30, my dad and I waited about 15 minutes in line at the first base gate.
When we finally got in the Met's were taking batting practice. We walked down to the first base foul line to watch, and waited for an autograph.
An hour and a half later, my ticket remained unsigned. $4 for an unused pen. Inches away from getting Hamel's, Utley's and Howard's.
A scary moment happened during Met's batting practice. A little boy fell from the right field wall, a good 10+ feet drop. The Met's players in right field rushed over to him. They called over some help. The boy was down for a few minutes, and he was carted off the field. Hopefully he was OK.
Before the game started we got something to eat. With the cheesesteak lines extremely long, we went to the one with the shortest, Bull's BBQ.
We made our way up to our seats, in the upper level, on the third base side, near left field. The score was already 1-0 by the time we got up there. When we got there, we were already surrounded by Mets fans.
Actually, the ones sitting directly next to us weren't that bad. They seemed okay. However, the ones in the section directly next to us were a little more vocal.
"Let's go Mets!" chants were overshadowed by "Let's go Phillies!" chants.
The game didn't start to pretty for the Phillies. Jamie Moyer was way off. He lasted just 3 innings. It was his shortest outing since 2005 with the Seattle Mariners.
Damian Easley homered to give the Mets an early 3-0 lead. Fernando Tatis would also homer. All of sudden the Mets were somehow up 7-0. With a big lead, the Met's fans felt very comfortable.
Jamie Moyer gave up 6 ER in 3 IP. He gave up 9 hits, but didn't walk a batter. He struck out 3.
"We finally got a run!", a Phillies fan said as Shane Victorino crossed the plate on Pedro Feliz' sac fly. 7-1.
Slowly, but surely, the Phillies were starting to come back. Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard each hit a homerun, and all of a sudden the game was 7-5.
The 5 runs all of Pedro Matrinez. The Phillies still had the Met's bullpen left. A bullpen without Billy Wagner.
In the 8th inning, we moved down to the third base line. We started up, then slowly move our way down each inning.
The further we moved down, the more you could sense the growing rivalry. Some fans were trash talking each other.
In the 8th, Rollins hit an RBI single to score Carlos Ruiz. 7-6.
Pat Burrell hit a deep fly ball that would of gave the Phillies the lead. However, it was caught at the warning track. A Met's fan in front of us turned around, looked at my dad, and said "Phew!"
That "Phew!" didn't last too long.
The big hit came in the bottom of the 9th. Without anybody else to use, the Phillies would rely on Eric Bruntlett with 2 outs. Bruntlett was saved because he was the last bench player to use.
Carlos Ruiz played 3rd base for a few innings, while Chris Coste caught. Funny, because Coste has more experience at 3rd base. He played 3rd when he first got called up, and in the minors. Using those to players at once while saving Bruntlett was a good idea, but maybe Coste should of played third.
Bruntlett doubles to right center field, and Jayson Werth scored all the way from first base. If the throw was handled cleanly, Werth may have been out, but instead in bounced away from the catcher, Schnieder.
A tie game. 7 unanswered runs. 7 isn't a lucky number for the Mets. They blew a 7 game lead last year.
The game would go to extras. Both teams had all the chances in the world to score, but didn't.
The Phillies bullpen pitched a full game. 9 innings, and only 1 earned run off Clay Condrey. Condrey got a big double in the 5th to get things started.
In the 11th, a few Met's fans started cheering, "Let's go Mets!" A Met's fan in front of said in response to his own people, "Shut up. We blew a 7 run lead."
The 13th inning. 7 and 13. Superstition numbers. Victorino tripled down the right field line. With nobody left for the Phillies to use, the Met's decided to intentionally walk Werth and Bruntlett.
Brett Myers would pinch hit for Rudy Seanez. Manuel told Myers not to swing at anything, to prevent the double play.
Chris Coste would follow. Coste came in during the 8th inning. Already 3-3, Coste smacked the ball to center field. Beltran just walked back to the dugout. He didn't even go after it, or look at it.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PHILLY.COM
I high fived a bunch of Phillies fans around me, even though I never met them before. It's cool how everybody just comes together as one during a game.
On the other hand, the Mets fans just put their hands on their heads.
About 12:45 AM, the Phillies won, 8-7. A Met's fan said to my dad, "Oh well, there is always tonight."
Phillies back where they belong in first place. It must of been a long ride home up 95 North.
The final roster does not include Eric Bruntlett, Clay Condrey, or Tyler Walker. Instead, it will feature Miguel Cairo, Antonio Bastardo, and Kyle Kendrick.
