Last night’s 6-4 win, combined with the Mets shutout loss to St. Louis, has stunningly brought the Phillies into a tie for first with 3 games to play this weekend.
Say what you want about this team (and boy, have I said plenty) they have played hard every single night, many times overcoming AAA level pitching and hitting their way into contention. Playoffs or no playoffs, this year is different from recent failures. In the last few seasons, the hardest part of the Phils coming up short was the feeling that they didn’t do all they could. You cannot say that about this team, and that makes them worthy of praise, no matter what happens this weekend. That being said, they better finish the job! LOL!
2007 Phils can get the 1964 team off the hook.
The 1964 Phillies blew a 6 ½ game lead with 12 games to play. This is often cited as the worst collapse in Major League history. If the ’07 Phillies can pull out the division title, the collapse of the NY Mets, who had a 7 game lead with 17 to play, would have to rank higher. For a franchise that this season suffered its 10,000th loss, erasing the 1964 collapse from the top of a dubious list would be, for a lack of a better term, cool.
Charlie pushing the right buttons
When Shane Victorino hit a mammoth HR on Wednesday night, it allowed Charlie Manuel to be confident in Victorino’s health, and he went back to the early season lineup. While Victorino and others were hurt, Manuel turned to Pat Burrell to fill the 3 hole, which he did admirably. Jason Werth also did a tremendous job filling in for Shane. But with Burrell and Werth Struggling, Manuel went back to his early-season lineup, putting Victorino back in the 2-hole and moving Burrell back down to 6. It paid immediate dividends when Victorino bunted for a hit and forced a John Smoltz throwing error. Burrell later hit a 2-run HR back in his complimentary role.
Manuel also used his bullpen differently, having Tom Gordon pitch the 7th inning and JC Romero the 8th. They are usually flip-flopped, but the match-ups were better this way. Give Charlie credit for deviating from the formula that was working.
Irony of a loss
The Mets’ loss last night was a makeup game of an earlier cancellation. There was no reason to cancel this game, since it did not rain. Theory was that the Mets wanted to set up their pitching for a weekend series against the Phillies. Karma can be a bitch.
Rockin’ weekend at the bank.
Thursday night’s results ensure that the Phillies cannot be eliminated until Sunday, so the atmosphere will be electric this weekend down at Citizens Bank Park. I love the Flyers, and am looking forward to the new season, but I’d be happy to ignore them for a month to follow a playoff run. Let’s go Phils!!