Phillies Win! Phillies Win!

In what can be considered one of the greatest choke jobs of all time in baseball, the New York Mets, who were up by 7 games on September 12th, have been eliminated from playoff contention. Since that time, the Phillies have gone on to win 13 of 17 and now are going to the playoffs for this first time since 1993 when they reached the World Series.

Jimmy Rollins predicted at the beginning of the year that the Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East. Not only has Rollins backed that bold prediction up, he joined an elite club when he hit an RBI triple in sixth inning as only the fourth player to hit at least 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs, and 20 stolen bases. Towards the end of the game fans were heard chanting, "MVP, MVP, MVP!". And rightfully so.

The last time a team blew a seven game lead in the month of September was pre-WW2. The Pittsburgh Pirates achieved that feat in 1938. The Phillies before today were the greatest choke artists of all time when they blew a 6.5 game lead with 12 games left in the 1964. Now I wouldn't say that the Mets choke job was larger, but it certainly will help Phillies fans forget about that part of our history.

For once, Philadelphia fans will be cheering "Phillies! Phillies!" instead of chanting "E-A-G-L-E-S". A welcome change of pace if you ask me!

Believe

The Philadelphia Phillies have always had to deal with coming up short, never being able to win the big one, and just looking uninterested in winning. That has changed this year however with what is the funnest team to watch since Lenny Dykstra and the 1993 Phils.

The Phillies were seven games behind the Mets after getting killed at home by the Colorado Rockies 12-0 on Sept. 12. The Phils had not been in first place until yesterday when they tied the New York Mets for first. Philadelphia has won 12 of 15 while the Mets, after losing tonight to the Marlins 7-4, have lost 11 of 15.

The Phillies defeated the Washington Nationals 6-0 tonight thanks a brilliant effort by now 15 game winner, Cole Hamels. Ryan Howard homered for his 45th of the season while Chase Utley had 2 hits and an RBI.

It's time to believe in Philadelphia. We may be challenging for our first NL Pennant in 14 years.

EAST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	STRK	L10
Philadelphia	88	72	.550	-	46-33	42-39	884	816	Won 3	7-3
NY Mets	87	73	.544	1	40-39	47-34	790	742	Lost 5	4-6

Mets Lose And Phillies Win, Move Within 1.5 Games

Thanks to a Jayson Werth pinch-hit 3 run home run and an RBI double by Jimmy Rollins the Phillies came back from 4 runs down to beat the Washington Nationals 7-6. Shane Victorino, the "Flying Hawaiian", played for the first time since September 10th and went 1-4.

Kyle Lohse lasted only two innings for the Phillies but the bullpen, yes, I said the bullpen, pitched 7 scoreless innings. Brett Myers picked up his 18th save of the season while JC Romero picked up his first win of the season.

The much scrutinized Adam Eaton is scheduled to start tomorrow for the Phillies against Nationals pitcher Shawn Hill. Assuming the Mets lose again tomorrow to the Marlins, the Phillies could climb within .5 games of leading the NL East.

The Mets blew two three-run leads, stranded eight runners and wasted an opportunity to keep the Phillies at bay. The Mets have lost 3 of their last 4 against the Marlins and are only 3-7 in their last 10 games.

EAST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	STRK	L10
NY Mets	84	68	.553	-	40-34	44-34	744	686	Lost 1	3-7
Philadelphia	83	70	.542	1.5	43-32	40-38	848	791	Won 1	7-3

Phillies Win As Mets Drop 5th In A Row

The Philadelphia Phillies 14th inning win over the St. Louis Cardinals and another New York Mets loss to the Washington Nationals allowed the Phils to gain another game in the battle for the NL East. The Phillies are now only 1.5 games back after being as much as 6 games back on September 10th.

The Phillies won a 14 inning marathon in which Cole Hamels made his first start since coming off the DL. Hamels threw 54 pitches over the course of 3 innings. He gave up 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out 2 and walking 1. Hamels next scheduled start will be September 23rd against the Washington Nationals.

Jayson Werth has been a surprise catalyst for the Phillies sudden resurgence. In August Werth had a ridiculous .414 batting average to go along with 3 home runs and 19 RBI's. In last night's game Werth had two triples and 3 RBI's, including 2 on a triple that sealed the win. During this current month of September, Werth is batting .302 with a team leading 15 RBI's.

The Phillies have a chance tonight to complete the sweep of the slumping Cardinals and with the cooperation of the Mets, could possibly be only a half game back.

EAST	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	STRK	L10
NY Mets	83	67	.553	-	40-34	43-33	729	674	Lost 5	4-6
Philadelphia	82	69	.543	1.5	43-32	39-37	840	783	Won 6	8-2

Phillies Move Within 2.5 Games Of The Mets

Rookie Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick picked up his 9th win of the season as the Phillies almost blow a 11 run lead in a 13-11 win against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Aaron Rowand and Ryan Howard both hit 2 home runs, including a grand slam by Howard in the 6th inning. Rowand, who is making it more evident that the Phillies re-sign him, now has 26 home runs on the season while Howard increased his total to 40.

Once again the bullpen for the Phillies almost gave away the game but luckily the bleeding stopped after Kane Davis came in. Francisco Rosario picked up his 1st save of the season last night.

The Phillies continue their 3 game series with the Cardinals tonight. Cole Hamels, making his first appearance since coming off the disabled list, takes the mound against the Cardinals Todd Wellemeyer.

With their win the Phillies have moved within 2.5 games of the first place New York Mets who were handily beaten by cellar dweller, Washington Nationals 12-4.

The Phillies Complete The Sweep

The Philadelphia Phillies, who at one point were 7 games back of the New York Mets in the NL East, have now closed that to 2 games. With this sweep the Phillies lead the season series 9 to 6. A combination of a healthy Chase Utley (who had the game winning hit last night) and a healthy bullpen were the catalysts. It doesn't hurt either when Pat Burrell hits 4 home runs during the series. Of course, the question on every Phillies fans mind is, "Can we keep this up?". A good question indeed.

The rest of the way the Phillies play some tough opponents. Teams the Phillies will play that are in the playoff hunt include 6 games versus the Atlanta Braves, 4 versus Colorado Rockies, 3 versus the St. Louis Cardinals, and 3 games against the Mets. It certainly will be interesting to see how the Phillies come away from that kind of schedule but after this series Philly fans are actually talking playoffs. PLAYOFFS!

300 Wins For Tom Glavine

Tom Glavine made history last night by becoming only the 23rd player in baseball history to win 300 games. The victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field was a convincing 8-3 win, with no doubt of the outcome unlike Glavine's last start vs. the Brewers. Glavine pitched 6 and 1/3 innings, giving up only 2 ER and 6 hits allowed. With his entire family in attendance, the 300 win club gets a new member and certain first ballot hall of famer. The lefty becomes only the 5th left hander in the 300 win club, joining very elite company. He improves to 10-6 on the season and will be an important part to the success of the Mets the rest of the way.