It's the start of some strange unwritten joke, but it happened this weekend.

My best friend is a Red Sox fan (what can I say, I went to college in Boston), and he came down to Philly (where I live) for the weekend. We went to a bar and watched the Phils lose to the Cards. His take on the Manny trade was 'good riddance'. I wonder if he'll be saying that come late September and (hopefully not) October.

- Phil Hughes and Carl Pavano are getting close(r). They both pitched for Single-A Charleston tonight. Hughes was particularly impressive, striking out five in 3.2 innings with one hit and one walk (and two wild pitches). The ballpark's radar gun had Hughes hitting 101 mph! That's doubtful, but the same gun did have Pavano topping out at 93 (which seems about right) in the same game, and Hughes topping out at 93 in his previous outing (which again seems about right). We probably won't know the truth until he makes it back to the Bigs.

- Part of the reason Cashman felt Kyle Farnsworth was expendable was the mending Brian Bruney, who made his first appearance since April 22 tonight. He was a bit erratic, throwing just 11 of 20 pitches for strikes, but his velocity sat in the mid-90s.