April 8 -- BURRELL GETS HOT

"As long as we whip 'em, we don't have to make a big deal
about it. They'll talk. We'll hit."
- Charlie Manuel on the growing Phillies-Mets rivalry

DAYTON, Ohio -- Are you ready to rumble?

Manuel is.

Good morning from Gate C14 at Dayton International. Waiting for the sun to rise -- and for my short US Air flight to La Guardia to board -- so I'll offer a few thoughts before we get in the air ...
Pat Burrell usually does his best work against the Mets, belting more home runs (41) and gathering more RBIs (102) against them than any team. This year, though, he has heated up even before getting to Shea. Burrell bashed two homers yesterday, his 17th career multi-homer game, and is batting .435 with three homers and a team-leading nine RBIs through seven games. Not bad.

Hitting is a feeling, Burrell says. And, right now, he's feeling good.

"I just tried to carry things over from last year to this year," he told me and the other beat writers after the game. "The second half and even in the playoffs, I felt like I had a pretty good approach. I spent most of spring training just trying to get that back. ... It's hard to explain, but if you consistently go to the plate and feel like you're going to take good swings, you're usually going to have good results."

*
Brad Lidge's first Phillies save was a white-knuckle experience, thanks to a two-out walk and an uncharacteristic miscue in left field by So Taguchi. But after a generous call from plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt, Lidge could laugh about it. His final strikeout victim, Reds pinch-hitter Javier Valentin, didn't think it was so funny, though.

OK, almost ready to board (hopefully). Talk to you in a few hours from Shea. Meantime, I'll ask y'all to do your best Jimmy Rollins impression and predict what will happen in the Phillies-Mets season series. Who will be the team to beat in 2008.