Relief

Tonight in Washington, with the Phillies trying to snap a four game losing streak, the Fightin's held a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth. Brad Lidge was summoned despite his season of misery, and a single, dicey ground out, hit by pitch, wild pitch and walk later, he was finally, mercifully, exiled to the dugout, rather than being given the chance to escape the mess.

Ryan Madson, he of the massive ninth inning struggles, came on to face Ryan Zimmerman with the bases loaded. Despite a career record against Big Zim that's pretty brutal, Madson went right after him, and got the slugger on a three pitch strikeout. He then got ahead of Adam Dunn, ending the game with an easy ground out, and just like that, Actual Competent Ninth Inning Relief was achieved.

If you want to make excuses for Lidge, you might be alone in Philadelphia. But he has been going through some blister issues that could easily be affecting his control, and tonight's outing was notable for its utter lack of control. But more telling was how Brett Myers looked (6 batters faced, 4 outs, a hit, an error and two strikeouts) in the seventh and eighth, and how dominant Madson was in a maximum pressure situation. You could easily see Myers now taking the eighth and Madson the ninth, at least until the Phillies wrap up the division. Then, if they are lucky, they'll have a week or two to try to get the roles sorted.

Lost in the drama is Pedro Martinez's fourth win against no defeats, with a thoroughly acceptable 3.64 ERA and his usual absurd 27 to 4 strikeout to walk ratio, in just under 30 innings. With a pitcher of Pedro's tread, age and build, it's crazed to make long-term plans, but when he's looking this good, with this kind of defense and offense behind him, it's not hard to see a Jamie Moyer-esque revival to pump up the career numbers. Tonight was Win Number 218, which gets him to 77th all-time; another half dozen gets him up to 68th. (Andy Pettite, having quite a renaissance year for the Yanks, is now at 228, and might be the last best hope another 300-game winner in this lifetime.) And more importantly for the team's chances to repeat as World Series champions is the fact that Raul Ibanez, who was a borderline MVP candidate earlier in the season before an injury, went yard twice and looked like his early season self.

A reliable closer and a fully firing offense; it's all a little heady for a win against a no longer terrible, but certainly far from good, Nationals team. But that's the dream, and tonight, the magic number dropped to 20. There really isn't time to wait for Brad Lidge anymore.