Philly Phutility

How appropriate that my first article on this blog is about the Phils crumbling under the pressure of no one on and 2 out in the 8th, up 3 to 2.   They give up a 4 spot in the 8th inning and Luis Ayala makes a comeback this time around in shutting down the Phitins in the 9th.  Yes, Carlos Delgado gets the POG honors, but that is just one little battle.  The Phillies have managed to poise themselves to win the war, winning most of their games in the last 2 weeks.

What I saw today was a Kyle Kendrick who fought through a bad outing, stranding many Met runners.  The Phillies pitchers teased the Dodgers to no end, putting many runners on, only to leave them there.  It’s sort of like the Phillies are looking in the mirror, but in a good way.  The offense, since the All-Star break has managed to leave many runners in scoring position.  Chase Utley, the Phillies best shot at a 3-peat for MVP has been horrendous (by Utley standards), but he has been coming through as of late, hitting balls to the opposite field.  Coming into tonight, he was 4 of his last 7 with 2 out and RISP.  Ryan Howard is slowing showing signs of life and our “call a spade a spade” shortstop has been on fire the last 3 or 4 games. 

What I am getting at is the Phillies are showing signs of another September run.  Last year they did this kind of thing in August, only to be RED HOT in September.  They can really make a statement this weekend with a 4 game set against the NLs best record, the Cubs.  Cole Hamels will start the first game.  Then they have 3 day games in a row, which I hope will help.  The last I checked we did pretty well during day games, but that was way back in June.  It will be tough as they go against Dempster, Hardin, Lilly, and Zombrano.

There is more to it than the Cubs.  You see, this begins a 10 game road trip that the Phils need desperately not to pull what they pulled on the west coast.  If they go 2-8 on this trip, the Phils will need to pull a repeat of last year.  The Phils have not fared well against teams with winning records, but they have punished those who lose.

The Phitins have 29 games left.  Of those 29, 18 are against winning teams, and all 18 are against division contenders,  take away 6 if you exclude the Marlins.  Also, we have Milwaukee coming to town, which will feature another hammering of great pitching, not to mention great hitting.

It should be a fun September nonetheless, but the Phils definitely need every game against Atlanta and Washington they can get their hands on as no one expects the red pinstripes to make it easy on their fans.

I am sure there are plenty out there interested in this one, but attention is slowly heading across the street to the Linc, and of course the Nittany Lions are on their way to their first win against Coastal Carolina.  The Flyers I am sure are set to get ready for another exciting season as Bryan Berard is seeking a spot on the squad.

This blog is for open discussion so let the comments flow and perhaps by this time next year the blog will be titled Philly Phutility Lite.

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