Midnight’s Children

In his second start since returning from the minors Brett Myers was looking like the Brett Myers of old as he threw 7 solid innings allowing on 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk. The Phillies have been hoping for an outing like this from Myers for many months now. He had control of all his pitches and you could see his confidence growing with each inning he pitched. Granted he was facing the last place Nationals but the Phillies will be hoping he can keep this up for the remainder of the season. It does not apprear the team will be able to trade for a quality starter before the deadline so having Myers turn it around now will be the only option the Phillies have at solidifying their rotation.

The Phillies offense was pretty quiet tonight with the exception of a 2-run homer from the ailing Chase Utley whose hip may require surgery at the end of the season. After having an unusual dry spell for the last few months the Phillies finally announced that Utley has had some discomfort with the hip and it has been hindering his swing. The fans kind of knew something was wrong but with the team not announcing it until today they were left to sit and wonder what was wrong with the always reliable Utley.

The Phillies bats finally erupted last night in Washington with 8 runs in the 6th inning as they cruised to a 12-2 win behind the pitching of Jamie Moyer. Ryan Howard led the way with a pair of homers including one into the second deck in right center. The first homer to be hit there in the Nationals new park. Shane Vicotino and Pedro Feliz also homered for the Phillies. The offensive explosion was needed by the Phillies as they had scored only one run in the previous two games against Washington. Howard collected three hits and lifted his average to a whopping .195 for the season. He has been hitting the ball (yes hitting) better lately and appears to be getting his aact together at the plate. The Phillies will need his offense to make a run for the title. At the same time Pat Burrell has gotten into a slump that has seen his average fall to .271. I hate to see this happen to Burrell because he has worked so hard to improve at the plate. You could really see his confidence at the beginning of the season. He needs to stick with it and just iron out a few mimor things in his swing and he will be alright. Pat needs to stay back and keep the weight on his back foot and stride into the ball. When he starts diving at those low outside breaking balls he gets all out of whack and that is enough to throw him into a slump. Watch the tape and make the adjustment Pat. The Phillies are off to Houston to play the Astros for a four game weekend series. Adam Eaton gets the ball tonight so I hope the Philles bring their bats with them because they need all the offense they can get. Eaton is by far the worst pitcher on the staff and shoudl be shown the door.

Brett Myers had another lack luster performance in Washington last night as the Nationals beat the Phillies 4-0. Myers dropped to 2-5 on the season  after pitching 6 innings and allowing 3 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks. He has got to figure out what the problem is if the Phillies are going to make a run at repeating as National League East champions. Brett was the intended number one starter but has looked like a pithcer that has no confidence in his fast ball and his location is the primary concern. The Phillies are not going to wait long before making a move to trade him if the right conditions confront the team.

The Phillies are the NL East Champs! Moyer pitched great and earned a 6-1 victory over the Nats on fan appreciation day at Citizens bank park! It looks like they will play the Colorado Rockies in the Division Series next week. We will See.

The Phillies control their own destiny for the Playoffs! They split the games this week 3-3. If they win tomorrow on the last game of the season and the Mets lose the Phils take the Division! The Mets have made a historic collapse!

Well its stretch time for the Phillies. The Mets are not playing good at all and the Phillies are on a roll. They have played all seven games this week picking up 6 more wins! They been the Mets (for another sweep), the Cardinals and the Nats. Things are swinging in their favor.

Another 4 win week of the Phillies as Moyer, Hamels and Durbin picked up wins. The offense has been steady and the pitching good. the bullpen has been a surprise with their reliability. Another west coast swing is up next week.

The Philles are back on a roll this week winning 5 out of six games! They have won 7 out of their last nine overall. They beat up on San Diego, Washington and Pittsburgh this week. Durbin picked up two wins this week.

Chase Utley went 5 for 5 and the slumping Ryan Howard hit his 3rd home run as the Phillies beat the Nats 9-3. Lieber was solid only allowing 2 runs in 6 innings and the bullpen did a great job after that. Rowand also extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the 2nd inning.

W: J. Lieber
L: J. Patterson

The Phillies don’t waste a solid start by Moyer and score 3 runs in the 8th inning to pull this game out. Rowand tied the game with a solo home run in the seventh and the bottom of the order finished the game off. The Phillies haven’t lost since Manuel called a team meeting in Cincinnati before Saturday’s game.

W: A. Alfonseca
L: M. Bowie
S: T. Gordon