Romero was back! He was actually back, and it was good that he was, because the Phillies won in his debut.
After Ibanez and Bastardo's astonishing performances, JA Happ and Ryan Howard did their thing, followed by JC Romero.
And that is where I bring in my recap:
Howard played kind of like what Raul Ibanez did in the last match-up between the Padres and Philles..
Howard hit a two-run homer in the Phillies sixth straight win of the season. JA Happ also did well as he threw seven scoreless innings.
Pretty solid, don't you think?
Yes I think so.
Romero didn't do as well as Happ did but at least he came in. Coming off a 50-game suspension because of a banned substance, (kind of like what Manny Ramirez is going through right now) Romero threw close to two innings (1 1/3).
His performance wasn't as good, though.
He allowed a run that was unearned on two hits, a walk, and a passed ball by Chris Coste, according to ESPN.
"I was disappointed with my outing, but I'm glad it's over and done with," Romero told ESPN.
Well, doesn't everybody get disappointed if they get a 50-game suspension that costs their team of winning? Luckily for Romero, the Phillies did pretty well without him.
It was better with Romero back in the lineup, though.
With the Phillies leading the NL East with a 31-20 record, three games ahead of the New York Mets, (who have a 28-23 record) I think they'll be fine with Romero back.
The Phillies are now 4-2 against the San Diego Padres this year and they'll face them again on June 23rd. They also sweptthe Padres this series.
Scoring Summary (Courtesy of ESPN.com)
| Scoring Summary | ||||
| PHI | SDG | |||
 | 1st | R Howard homered to center, S Victorino scored. | 2 | 0 |
| 4th | P Feliz hit sacrifice fly to left, R Ibanez scored. | 3 | 0 |
| 7th | J Werth singled to center, J Rollins scored. | 4 | 0 |
| 7th | R Ibanez grounded into fielder's choice to second, J Werth scored, R Howard out at second, C Utley to third. | 5 | 0 |
 | 8th | D Eckstein singled to left, E Gonzalez scored. | 5 | 1 |
