The Phillies split their 4 game series with the Nationals… which is a bit disappointing, considering that last night’s game was VERY winnable.  However Cory Lidle strikes again!  This guy is just straight up junk.  I don’t know what is happening in his “private life” (about 3 weeks ago he spent 3 days away from the team for “personal reasons”) but whatever it is, it has got him all screwed up.

Cory Lidle gets to the 5^th inning of game and just hits a wall.  He just starts giving up softballs which turn into runs.  In last night’s game the game was 4-0 Phils until the 5^th inning when Lidle gives back 3 runs. 

I don’t blame our bullpen for this loss. UUU (Urbina) has been very very good, and he gave up the tying and go ahead run for the Nats, but he’s been overused, same as Madson and Wags (Wagner).

However, the first game of the doubleheader went much better.  Vicente Padilla was good, and the Phillies offense did “just enough” to the get the win thanks to the spectacular bullpen.  Chase Utely was great in both games and in the first game he gave Preston Wilson a shot to the ribs for trying to knock the ball out of glove in a odd double play.  DON’T MESS WITH UTLEY WILSON— YOU’LL GET HURT! 

Here are updated NL East Division standings:

Team                Wins    Losses             GB

Braves               69         52                   –

Phillies               65         57                 4.5

Nationals          64         57                  5.0

Marlins              63         57                 5.5

Mets                 61         59                  7.5

Here are updated WC standings:

Team                Wins    Losses            GB

Phillies               65          57                 –

Astros              64          57                 0.5

Nationals          64          57                 0.5

Marlins              63          57                1.0

Mets                  61          59                 3.0

Brewers             60          62                 5.0

It is nice to see the Phillies still on top of the WC standings and inching closer to the Braves.  I saw an interview with Chase Utely on a local sports program last night and he said that the focus for the Phillies is NOT the WC (although they would more than settle for that), they are focused on the Division title! 

The Phillies play the Braves 7 times in September.  Also, the Philies play the Astros AT HOME 3 times in early September.  The Phillies only play 2 non NL East Teams in September; the Astros and the Reds.  September is going to be the month of WAR.  I think everyone need to prepare for the battle.  I know the Phillies have taken a “laid back” approach to the season up until this point, and now they need to take a WAR like mentality.  It is kill or be killed.  Bottom line!

You may think my assessment is a little extreme, but it is not.  Anything less than this kind of mentality will result in yet another year of missing the post season.  And more than the team, THE FANS, deserve to see their Phillies in the post season.

Here’s some pics from yesterday’s doubleheader 8.18.05:

From Game 1: Chase Utely and Preston Wilson’s collision.  As you can see Chase has the upper hand.  Wilson is bonehead for trying that.

Game 1:  Bobby Abreu knocking in 2 RBI’s.  He loves to admire his work!

Game 2:  Cory Lidle Stinks! (in more ways than one)

The Phillies are tied for the Wild Card in the NL and are now only 4.5 games back of the Braves for the NL East division lead!  Someone pinch me!  I know it is ONLY August 18^th and we still have a month and a half to go until the end of the season, but in years past the Phillies would be finding ways to lose right now, not the opposite!

It feels good to be a phan right now!  I try hard to be a positive phan and as many of us know that does not go along with the typical Philly phan mantra but what can I say, I’m breaking the mold!

I think many phans are scared to get excited because of our hopes being dashed (once again) by this team.  But this year feels different.  I think Jim Thome going down with injury and having Ryan Howard being a part of this team fulltime and with Chase Utley now playing second base everyday, and of course bringing in UUU (Urbina) at that critical time during the season has given the Phillies an extra edge. 

I was skeptical of the Kenny Lofton signing before the season.  He seemed like such a “has been” and on his last legs, but I’ve been proved wrong.  Yes, he does struggle with little nagging injuries, but overall this guy is a hustler, a team player, a winner.  He’s been to the postseason quite in bit in the past few years on the other teams he’s played for.  He knows what it takes to win and he’s showing the rest of the guys how to do it.

I think David Bell read my blog about him.  He’s been picking it up as well.  That is nice to see, however, I still think he shouldn’t be starting third at this point.

Pitching, Pitching, Pitching

I’m one of those firm believers that pitching is the KEY to winning.  If you have good pitching you win. Bottom line. 

Today is a doubleheader (due to a rain out on Tuesday).  The Phillies have Padilla and Lidle going today.  Both of these guys have struggled this year.  Hopefully they can pull it together and get a win for the team.

I forget what the Phillies record is in doubleheaders, but it is very good.  Hope they can win two today.

Wednesday night’s game

This is the change folks.  The Phillies are winning those “one run” games.  They won last night 4-3.  Manuel made a questionable move and took Lieber out after 5 innings, when it was obvious he could have thrown at least one more inning, and went to a pitch hitter in an effort to get more runs.  They didn’t score more runs that innings, but it ended up working out and the bullpen was able to hold the lead.

Ryan Madson has been a bit shaky lately, but they usually use him in the 6^th or 7^th so if he does do damage the Phillies have the opportunity to get back in it.  UUU and Wags have been lights out in the 8^th and 9^th.  They both are so valuable right now, and I can start to appreciate the fact that Wags wasn’t traded at the trade deadline! 

Good win last night!  These guys have confidence.  It is nice to see it!

Here’s a pic of J-Roll from last night:

I was so busy at work today I didn’t get to post like I would have liked, but I did just want to talk briefly about this 4 game series vs the Washington Nationals.  The Phillies have not faired very well in their own division which makes this series so very important.  The Nationals are right behind them for the WC and in the division.  It would be nice to put some breathing room between the two teams right now.

The Nationals were very hot early in the season and have seriously cooled down.  The Phillies are the hot team and they are playing at home.  I’m predicting the Phillies to win 3 of the 4 games.  COME ON OFFENSE!  Let’s go!

Oh Baby… how sweet it is!  Yes…. this post comes on the "high" of a Phillies sweep of the San Diego Padres.  This was a great series.  Now the Phillies need to harness this and take this home.  They now play 4 games against the Washington Nationals and they MUST WIN THIS SERIES.  If they end up losing 3 of 4 or worse, I’m going to be SERIOUSLY disappointed.  They have to dig deep and fight with all that is in them.  This next series tells me a lot.  Should be interesting to see what happens next.

Rob Tejeda was brilliant again today.  This guy is for real.  I’m NOT happy Randy Wolf got hurt, but Tejeda has filled in beautifully.  Here’s a pic from today’s game of Rob:

I get the pics from all over the web, mostly from just doing searches on google, however, the one above is from espn.com.

So I’m sure many of my loyal readers came to my blog yesterday to read something witty, smart, and above all Phillies related, but instead just found my blog from the other day.  I’m sure you were sorely disappointed.  I can only imagine.  Well my pets, I have to tell you that I didn’t forget to blog yesterday or become too busy (although I was), yesterday was my protest.  My quiet protest against the Phillies and their lack of winning of the "big" games.

The sweep of the Dodgers seemed like such an important thing to happen in my mind at this point in the season.  It would have made a statement.  It would have said "SCREW YOU ESPN– FOR NOT GIVING US THE COVERAGE AND RESPECT WE DESERVE" and it would have told us the phans that they were serious about their playoff intentions.  However, that win did not come.  They lost 5-1 or whatever the score was.  Of course, I did fail to notice that Cory Lidle was on the mound, but still, the Phillies offense shut down for no apparent reason.  Which was enough to give me pause, and make me re-think if this team is truly a playoff caliber team.

Sadly, I faced some questions in my mind that I did not want to answer.  So I just did not blog yesterday, fearing that if I did, my blog would turn into a "BOMB" on screen, kind of the like the David Bell blog but worse…..

Of course, the Phillies come back and win last night with again a pathetic showing of offense.  How many times does a team win off a 3 HR in the 1st inning????  Only in the NL folks!  Anyway, a win is a win, and it has me on the upswing again.  Bravos lost last night.  Which is a VERY GOOD THING.  Obviously, the division is still within reach for the Phillies, however, I’m not completely diluted to think that they actually have a chance of regaining the lead in the division.  To win the WC, the Phillies will need to play very well and the Astros will need to fall on their face, and unless one of the big three are injured (Oswalt, Pettitte, or Clemens) I don’t see that happening.

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On David Bell

So FINALLY, Charlie Manuel said in the press on Thursday that he thinks David Bell needs a "rest".  Duh, Charlie, ya think?????  I knew the man was slow but come on it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out this guy completely blows right now or worse (hiding injury— my suspicion).  So Tomas Perez played last night.  I won’t complain too much about this, since it wasn’t David Bell there, BUT for God’s sakes the Phillies have so many freakin bench infielders, they should give each of them a shot of platooning with D. Bell. 

David Bell do us all a favor and take the correct road like J.T. (Jim Thome), go on the DL and have that back of yours checked out.

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The quest for 20-9

Ok, so someone questioned my prediction of the Phillies going 20-9 the other day.  Well If that person would have look at the Phillies schedule between July 28 and August 28, they would see the Phillies only play 3 teams over that time that have a winning record, they would also see they play much of the NL West over that time.  That is how I came up with 20-9.  The Phillies have had tremendous success against the NL West for whatever reason and also, one could logically assume the would beat teams with worse records than their own.  So far they are  9-5, obviously, losing only 4 more games in the next 15 games probably isn’t going to happen, but at the time I made the prediction it seemed reasonable.  I’m still not backing off.  I think they can do it.  Hopefully they can sweep the Pads and move on.  Time will tell.

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Here’s some pics from last nights game: 

Burrell after his HR in the 1st.

 

Chase can fly (I told you all this)!  Here’s a shot of his awesome catch last night!

Hey Y’all…..

I’m back from the deep south!  Had a great time in Myrtle Beach but I feel like I’ve missed so much.  So let’s get started on Phillies baseball stuff

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Thome Out for Season

Does this really shock anyone?  Well maybe non-Phillies phans are shocked, but most Phillies phans saw this coming.  I’m happy Jim is getting the surgery he needs, however I feel bad he has to go through this.  However, if everything goes well he’ll come back next season and be the "Jim of old".  Also, this will end any kind of speculation that Ryan Howard will not remain with the big club for the rest of the season.  Get well Big Jim!

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Speaking of Ryan Howard….

Last night’s game Phillies vs. Dodgers just made me realize in my mind how awesome of a player Ryan Howard will be one day.  He’s still got stuff to workout but he’s on the right track.  If the Phillies make the post season, I can see him being one of the reasons that they do. 

Cheers for the Phillies bullpen.  After stuggling before I left for vacation, they have come back strong and really held it together against a tough Dodger offense in late innings.  Strong pitching will get them to the post season.  Bottom line.

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My 29 game prediction

Let’s take a look on how I’m doing now that the Phillies are almost halfway through the 29 game stretch in which I said they will go 20-9.

So far the Phillies have 8 wins and 4 losses, in the first 12 games.  Let’s hope for a win vs. the Dodges tonight, for a sweep. So far, so good.  *KNOCKS HARD ON WOOD*