Brett Myers

BRETT MYERS assaults his wife and gets a slap on the wrist suspension and an indifferent response from Phillies fans. Terrell Owens, who doesn't drink, smoke, do drugs or slap women around, commits the sin of saying Brett Favre could help the Eagles and gets run out of town like some pigskin pariah. The message from Philadelphia sports management is clear. You can slap your wife around in a parking lot just as long as you don't do a little celebration dance afterward or sign autographs for witnesses with a Sharpie.

Brett Myers didn't register any strikeouts in four innings of work against Toronto yesterday, and that was OK with manager Charlie Manuel. "He's beginning to realize he doesn't have to strike out everyone," Manuel said. "Getting them out is the name of the game. " Myers allowed five hits, two walks and two runs in the Phillies' 10-8 win over the Blue Jays. Most encouraging was that 10 of his 12 outs came via ground balls. "The whole key for me is keeping the ball down," he said.

By allowing their star pitcher to play in a game one day after he was charged with assaulting his wife, the Phillies showed twisted priorities. Here is the team's bottom-line rationale: Brett Myers is the Phils' best pitcher. If the Phillies allowed Myers to pitch as scheduled on Saturday against the Boston Red Sox, they had a better chance of winning - on national TV. And the point of paying Myers $3.3 million this year is to win games. "He's been our best pitcher and I think it's in the best interests of the club that he does pitch," said Phillies General Manager Pat Gillick.

Whether Shane Watson lives up to his draft billing, one thing is for sure - he won't be a boring interview. Watson, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound pitcher from Lakewood High School in Southern California, was the Phillies' first selection in Monday's first-year player draft. He was chosen 40th overall, a supplemental pick. Phillies assistant general manager Marti Wolever compared Watson to Brett Myers, saying they had similar curveballs at the same age. Myers was the Phillies' first-round pick and the 12th overall selection of the 1999 draft.

Chris Coste knew when he started playing catch with Brett Myers last night before the game that Myers was going to have close to his A-1 fastball. "I told [pitching coach] Rich Dubee after about six or seven throws, 'He's got a little attitude on the ball tonight,'" Coste recalled. Myers had the stuff. He pitched seven solid innings and struck out a season-high 10 against the San Francisco Giants. Unfortunately, the Phillies managed just three hits - none after the fifth inning - and lost, 3-2, on a Bengie Molina RBI single in the 10th, in front of a chilled sellout crowd of 43,804 at Citizens Bank Park.

Phillies players didn't need to read the list of probable starters in the newspaper to know they'd be facing New York Mets ace Pedro Martinez tonight. "We knew who their starters would be days ago," Mike Lieberthal said. "Pedro always stands out. " Martinez, who ranks third in the National League with 182 strikeouts and is holding opposing hitters to a .192 batting average (second lowest in the NL), will oppose Brett Myers. Myers (11-6, 3.55) has turned in ace-like work at times this season, but he's still prone to inconsistency, as shown in his 5.01 ERA in five August starts.

Did the Phillies sign Jenny Craig to a free-agent contract this winter, or what? Ryan Howard dropped 20 pounds. Brett Myers has him beat. He lost 30. "Just working out a lot," Myers said yesterday as he checked into training camp. The 28-year-old pitcher said he weighs about 222 pounds. Myers will be eligible for free agency at season's end, but that, he said, was not his motivation for getting in better shape. "Winning the World Series was great, but personally I had a bad taste in my mouth this winter because of how badly I pitched in the first half of the season," the righthander said.

WHETHER SHANE WATSON lives up to his draft billing, one thing is for sure — he won't be a boring interview. Watson, the 6-4, 205-pound pitcher from Lakewood High School in Southern California, was the Phillies' first selection in Monday's baseball first-year player draft. He was chosen 40th overall, a supplemental pick. Phillies assistant general manager Marti Wolever compared Watson to Brett Myers, saying they had similar curveballs at the same age. Myers was the Phillies' first-round pick and the 12th overall selection of the 1999 draft.

The sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park rose in anticipation of a third strike to end the eighth inning and to salute Brett Myers for taking a positive step toward regaining a strong role as a member of the Phillies' rotation. Alas, it then went all wrong. Myers saw his solid outing blow up in his face when Chone Figgins stroked a single on a 2-2 pitch, and Erick Aybar followed with his second home run of the season, a blow that deflated the crowd and lifted the Angels to a 6-2 victory over the Phillies.

One pitcher's incredible spring-training run finally came to an end yesterday. Another's did not. Brett Myers prepared to make the drive to the Phillies' minor-league camp at the Carpenter Complex yesterday. Carlos Silva, who has had a far less publicized but equally impressive spring, boarded the team bus to Ed Smith Stadium to play the Cincinnati Reds. By the end of the afternoon, Silva was pumping his right fist, celebrating his fourth save of the Grapefruit League season as the Phillies beat the Reds, 4-3. Silva, like Myers, has never pitched above double A. He seemed to have almost no chance of making the big-league team when he arrived in Clearwater five weeks ago. Of course, he was then still a starting pitcher ticketed for the rotation at triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Here's a Monday score: Mother Nature 2, Major League Baseball 0. The game between the Atlanta Braves and the Colorado Rockies in Denver Monday night was postponed by a snowstorm - the third time in eight days that the white stuff has frozen out the summer pastime at Coors Field. In Minneapolis, the Minnesota Twins were proactive, preemptively postponing their game against the Miami Marlins seven hours before game time, while it was still 45 degrees and way before a single flake could fall at Target Field.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - For 2 full years, the two surest forces in Philadelphia were the gravitational constant and Roy Halladay. Nothing that happened on Sunday afternoon is an indication that has changed. Halladay showed up to the ballpark feeling ill, insisted on making his start, then realized shortly after his first pitch that the whole thing was going to be an exercise in counterproductivity. So he left the game after a scoreless first inning, 25 pitches to his credit, 13 of them strikes.

FORMER PHILLIES righthander Brett Myers is getting a fresh "start" with the Cleveland Indians. Myers, 32, agreed to a 1-year contract with a club option for 2014. Cleveland will give him a chance to win a starting job after he pitched in relief last season for Houston and the Chicago White Sox. Myers' deal is contingent on him passing a physical. Myers, who has started for most of his career, went a combined 3-8 with a 3.31 ERA and 19 saves in 70 games - all in relief - last season.

The Cleveland Indians have agreed to terms with free-agent righthander Brett Myers on a one-year contract. Myers, who pitched for Houston and the Chicago White Sox last season, will get a chance to win a spot in Cleveland's starting rotation. His deal with the Indians includes a club option for 2014. It will not be finalized until he passes a physical. Myers went 3-4 with a 3.14 ERA in 35 relief appearances with the White Sox, who acquired him in a July trade with the Astros.

A WEEK THAT began with Ruben Amaro Jr. confident he could upgrade his team before next week's Winter Meetings is likely to end with the Phillies general manager empty-handed and still looking to fill two big holes on the roster. The widely reported proposed trade that had the Phillies acquiring Houston reliever Wilton Lopez went from on the verge of completion on Wednesday to dead on Thursday, according to a baseball source. The deal would have cost the Phils two prospects and netted Amaro and Co. a young, proven and inexpensive reliever who could fill the team's need of a setup man in front of closer Jonathan Papelbon.

The World Series begins Wednesday with Detroit scheduled to play Game 1 in San Francisco. That can only mean one thing: Soon, all those images of former Phillies celebrating postseason success are finally going to end. No more photos of a fuzzy-faced Jayson Werth or shiny-headed Raul Ibanez after walk-off home runs. No more inexplicable Ryan Vogelsong pitching gems. No more broom-faced shots of Hunter Pence celebrating with all his other bearded teammates. No more watching the last two teams to eliminate the Phillies from the postseason - San Francisco and St. Louis - vying for a chance to return to the World Series.

About the only bright spot for the Angels in Saturday's 9-2 whipping by the Rangers was Mike Trout. The pride of Millville, N.J., drove in Los Angeles' first run in the third inning, and then scored on a fifth-inning single to become the first AL rookie to score in 13 straight games since Don Lenhardt did it for the St. Louis Browns in 1950. By the way, Trout got in scoring position via his 22d consecutive stolen base. Meanwhile in Washington, Bryce Harper, had a day he likely wants to forget.

Whether Shane Watson lives up to his draft billing, one thing is for sure - he won't be a boring interview. Watson, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound pitcher from Lakewood High School in Southern California, was the Phillies' first selection in Monday's first-year player draft. He was chosen 40th overall, a supplemental pick. Phillies assistant general manager Marti Wolever compared Watson to Brett Myers, saying they had similar curveballs at the same age. Myers was the Phillies' first-round pick and the 12th overall selection of the 1999 draft.

WHETHER SHANE WATSON lives up to his draft billing, one thing is for sure — he won't be a boring interview. Watson, the 6-4, 205-pound pitcher from Lakewood High School in Southern California, was the Phillies' first selection in Monday's baseball first-year player draft. He was chosen 40th overall, a supplemental pick. Phillies assistant general manager Marti Wolever compared Watson to Brett Myers, saying they had similar curveballs at the same age. Myers was the Phillies' first-round pick and the 12th overall selection of the 1999 draft.

Reserve catcher Brian Schneider had been showing signs of increased offensive production even before his first home run in more than a year during Tuesday's 4-3 Phillies win in 10 innings over the Houston Astros at Citizens Bank Park. Schneider, now hitting .303, began the season 0 for 8, but he was 8 for his last 21 at-bats entering the game and then went 2 for 4 with a two-run home run in the win. That was his first home run in 145 at-bats since April 21, 2011, against the San Diego Padres.