Oswalt's debut as a Phillie was less than impressive.


If there's anyone like me who wasn't a true fan of the move to bring in Roy Oswalt, you're probably hoarse from screaming at your TV all night long.

Oswalt was incredibly erratic in his Phillies debut as he and the team fell to the Washington Nationals 8-1. Of those eight runs, Oswalt allowed four earned, five total. He also allowed seven hits, two walks, and struck out only four in six innings of work.

Is it just me, or could J.A. Happ have done that?

The Phils had better hope that Friday night was an aberration for Oswalt, and that he'll come back strong in about five days or so, because if he has another showing like that the Philly police might have to set up a border around Ruben Amaro Jr.'s home and keep watch for crazed fans.

But on a more positive note, Jayson Werth did hit a home run.

And back to the negative: the Phils' offense once again looked anemic as they were only able to muster six hits, most of them meaningless, and struck out eight times. It's tough to get too down on them after the run they've been on recently, but it's hard not to see the cycle starting again.

Especially when the guys had two errors in the field to go along with their poor showing at the plate.

Joe Blanton takes the mound for game two, so there's no telling how this game will turn out. If he gets into trouble early and starts walking guys, it's going to be a very long night. However, if he's placing his fastball, it should be fairly easy to hold down this Nationals lineup.

Oh, and if Jimmy Rollins could get a hit and stay healthy for more than a couple games at a time, that'd be great.