Aug 27 2008
Will the real Philadelphia Phillies please stand up?
As I write this initial post, the Phillies bullpen is in the midst of an 8th inning implosion against the New York Mets. Even though they took a 3-2 lead into the top of the 8th inning and looked like they were poised for the 2-game sweep, they now trail 6-3 going into the bottom half. Fantastic!
After last night’s miracle 8-7 victory, a game in which they trailed 7-0 after 4 innings, the Phillies began to remind me again of last year’s NL East Championship squad. The pitching dug a major hole and the offense systematically chipped away until they eventually won the war of attrition and escaped with a win. The 2007 team refused to lose and constantly pounded on the Mets to drive home the point that they were the team to beat in the division. However, this year’s version of the team seems to always come up short, especially against Mets.
It’s not going to get any easier from here on out with a trip to Chicago on tap. If the Phillies want to make a statement, winning at Wrigley Field would be a good start. Opposing teams only have won 19 games in the Friendly confines and Dempster, Harden, Zambrano, and Lilly don’t take kindly to opposing batters. I’m sure a team that strikes out like it’s their job (which it isn’t) and has suspect starting pitching won’t have any problems against the Cubs. I guess we’ll have to wait another 14 years or so before we’re going to see the Phillies in the playoffs again.
Oh well, at least it’s almost Eagles season.
