July 5 -- STUFF HAPP-ENS

So, with everything that transpired at the Bank last night -- the Phillies' sixth-inning rally against The Johan, Chad Durbin's imitation of Nolan Ryan and Shane Victorino's walk-off single in the ninth -- J.A. Happ's return engagement to the majors regrettably was pushed toward the bottom of the game story. But I'd like to take some time here to discuss how Happ fared in his first start as a temporary fill-in for Brett Myers.

It started inauspiciously enough. Happ walked the electric Jose Reyes on five pitches, initial wildness that he attributed to big-league jitters. "I think 45,000 people probably had something to do with it," he said. But he retired 12 of the next 13 batters and impressively cruised through four innings, matching zeroes with Johan Santana.

Happ's control wavered in the fifth. He gave up back-to-back hits to Damion Easley and Ramon Castro, then walked just-recalled Chris Aguila. Yet he nearly got out of the mess. Santana popped out to Chris Coste, and Reyes narrowly beat Jimmy Rollins' relay throw to first on a potential double play, allowing Easley to score from third. Happ walked Endy Chavez to re-load the bases (one of four walks he allowed, but the one he said he most regretted), and with no cooperation from home-plate umpire Ron Kulpa, he walked David Wright to force home a run. (Happ's close 0-2 breaking pitch to Wright was deemed high and inside). That marked the end of Happ's night, as Charlie Manuel summoned Durbin, who struck out six of the next seven batters to keep the deficit at 2-0.

But the reviews of Happ were largely positive.

From Manuel: "Happ has improved a lot since last year. He had a better fastball tonight. I think, with a little more seasoning, his command will get a lot better."

And, from Ryan Howard: "I think when 'Happie' got called up he knew the situation and how big this series was coming in. They made the call on the right guy to come up."

What did you think?

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Good hitting finally beat good pitching, as Martin Frank writes. And in New York today, they're wondering why Santana was lifted before the ninth inning, before his pitch count reached 100. Good question.