Liberty Ball

June was just what the Phillies needed.  The Mets have gone into an all out collapse and even though the Phillies lost their series this weekend against the Tigers, they still sit just two games back of the Mets.  To think of the Phillies in the mix just one month ago would have been unheard of but they’ve clawed and clawed and now they’re on the cusp of taking over the division lead.

Cole Hamels continues to be a stud on the mound.  He’s now 9-2 and he’s won seven of his last eight starts.  While he hasn’t shut anyone down, he’s been consistent in that he’s kept the Phillies in all of their games.  Throw in a league leading 104 strikeouts and you have one of a handful of Cy Young contenders.

Ryan Howard is also starting to heat up.  His batting average is still a pedestrian .232 but he’s having his best month at the plate as far as overall production.  Anyway, he’s gotten his OPS within striking distance of .900 and you wonder when he’s going to go all out like he did last August when he hit fourteen homers.

You also have to like what Aaron Rowand has done. He leads the team with a .325 batting average and he’s having shades of his impressive 2004 breakout season when he was with the White Sox.  He has an impressive 38/24 strikeout to walk ratio and his .401 on base percentage would be a career high if he finished the season with it.

The Phillies have lived and died with the extra base hit.  They’re .439 slugging percentage is good for second in the National League and it’s fourth in all of baseball.  Now if the pitching could get in line with the hitting (only the Reds and Cardinals have worse ERAs in the National League), this team could really get back on track.  Bret Myers should be back soon and that should give the pen a boost and at this point, a trade probably isn’t out of the question either.  I’ve always like Pat Burrell, but Adam Dunn would look really nice in left field down the stretch.

Next up for the Phillies is a tough Indians team.  Hamels gets the start tonight and he’ll square off against Cliff Lee.  Kyle Kendrick gets his second career start tomorrow.  The only pitching matchup I don’t like in this one is in the final with Jon Lieber throwing against C.C. Sabathia.

Alright, just when things were looking bleak, the Phillies pull one (or rather three) out of their hat and sweep the Mets.  Just like that, the Phillies are now just five games back of first place and the Mets have to travel to take on a tough Detroit Tigers team while the Phillies travel to Kansas City to take on a pretty poor Royals team.

Pitching reigned in all three games as the Phillies held to the Mets to two runs in two games and three in the other.  Almost as important, the bullpen picked up wins in two of the three games and with the pen still a question mark, this was very nice to see.

Each of the games saw a different hitting star step up.  On Tuesday, it was Chase Utley.  Wednesday Jimmy Rollins got it done and then yesterday, Pat Burrell stepped up.

The Phillies are back in it.  They just need to keep up the Mo and keep moving up the ladder.

Since the horrible start and then the bounceback, the Phillies have been hovering right around  .500.  And even though the Mets sit with the best record in the National League, the Phillies are eight games back.  That’s a pretty solid deficit, but hardly insurmountable.  And there’s no better time like the present to put a dent in that lead then right now with the Phillies hosting the Mets for three games.

I also think the most important game in this series is tonight’s.  The pitching matchup in the third game probably favors us (Hamels over Maine) and tomorrow’s probably favors them (Hernandez vs. Eaton).  That leaves the veteran matchup of Jamie Moyer and Tom Glavine possibly being the deciding gave and that’s tonight.  Of course anything could happen, but that’s just the way things are leaning.

Chase Utley is just looking to break out.  He has fourteen hits and eight RBIs in his last ten games and his batting average is back over .300. 

Anyway, if the Phillies are going to make up ground, now is the time.  A win tonight would be huge and two of three, or even better, a sweep could push the Phillies right back into this one.