The Phillies inch closer to NL lead.

by Joseph Birmingham

Thursday September 2, 2010 

Tonight the Phillies did something they haven’t done for a while.  They won a game while the Braves lost and therefore gained a whole game in the National League East race.

They did this, beating Colorado 12-11, mostly by virtue of a 9 run 7th inning where the team had a serious bataround.    Polanco doubled, Ultey singled, Howard homered, Werth homered, Ibanez flied out, Victorino singled, Schneider singled, Francisco pinch hit and singled, Rollins singled, Polanco (in his second at bat) struck out, Utley (in his second at bat of the inning) crushed a grand slam and then Howard (in his second at bat) lined out.  It could have gone on for a bit with slightly better luck, but 12 batters, 3 homeruns, a double and 5 singles is about the best inning we have seen out of the Phillies in quite some time.  

Utley’s grand slam put the score at 12-8 as the Phillies charged back from a 4 run deficit 2 times, once after Blanton gave the Rockies 4 runs in the second, and then again when the score was 7-3 after 6. 

It is a good thing the Phillies got all those runs as Durbin had a rough inning of relief and gave 3 of them right back to Colorado.   Every Phillie starter had a hit and every starter except Ibanez scored a run or more.

Howard’s home run was his 25th, and his second of the week, prompting many to hope the big guy has regained his stroke.  He had other nice cuts at the ball and looked like he was moving around more naturally and that may mean a lot to the Phillies who are in a division race fighting for their life with 28 games to go.

They end the night 2 games back of the Braves for the division and 2  games up on the Giants for the wild card so they have a solid shot at the postseason.  It would be nice to enter the post season as the division champs rather then having the wild card underdog status throughout.

The pitching remains confusing and hard to define.  Hamels at 8-10 with 17 quality starts, an ERA of 3.31, and a 3.5 K/BB ratio just puzzles the crap out of me.  Oswalt is 4-1 with an ERA under 2 since joining the club mid season, but ranks 5th in the majors in losses overall when you add in his starts from Houston.   Halladay should be a 20 game winner who didn’t get a single break this season as he sits at 16-10 on paper even after pitching 22 quality starts with nearly a strikeout per inning and a 2.27 ERA, and Blanton is now just a huge question mark to me after his last handful of starts. 

If the starting 3 (Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt) pitch as well as their statistics for the final month, and the Phillies bats stay hot, they still have a chance to threepeat and hit the postseason strong.  Even though Hamels and Oswalt have 10 and 13 losses respectively, I don’t think there is a single team in the NL that wants to try a three game series against those three back to back to back.  You may win one but not two and never three especially in crunch time.   The Phillies may be the sleeper team of the year as ESPN has them ranked at the bottom of the top ten for the past few months and I think they have as good a chance as anybody to go to the show and win it again.  

Every game has more meaning this late in the year, and now is when Charlie Manuel should have his chance to shine as the small adjustments and timing of substitutions will make a bigger difference in the outcomes of the games, and the teams position heading into October.   The games this month will show us just how potentially strong a dynasty we have built here, and for how many years we should compete at the highest level.

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