June 19: POSTGAME -- Phillies 4, Yankees 2

I was struck by two things I heard tonight after the Phillies' win:

1. Jimmy Rollins related a story that tells us something about Bretty Myers' psyche. Rollins was in the clubhouse, preparing for his second at-bat, when he heard the announcers on the ESPN broadcast talking about a conversation between Steve Carlton about Randy Johnson. It had to do with the greatness of a pitcher being measured by how often he can keep his team close in games he starts.

Myers also was in the clubhouse, heard the discussion and admitted later that he drew some motivation from it. Over the years, Johnson has kept his team in games, and that's what Myers strives to do each time he pitches.

2. Charlie Manuel got a little chippy in his postgame news conference when he was asked about why he didn't pinch-hit Ryan Howard or Bobby Abreu for David Bell with the bases loaded in the eighth inning. Manuel said he was trying to prevent the Yankees from bringing in Mike Myers, one of the toughest lefty relievers in baseball.

That's a fair point. Lefties are only 7-for-34 (.206) against Myers. Problem is, I don't recall Myers warming in the bullpen.

Regardless, Bell struck out but reached first base anyway after the ball skipped by Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, allowing a run to score for the final 4-2 margin.