Phillies Nation

Instead of Ledge I am going to start calling the closer Lights out.
KK was dealing. I am tired of the bashing of him. Like I was always tired of the Moyer bashing. Lets make sure the big boys are healthy if they are going to play Tuesday. What a great time to be a Phillies fan.

Yea Kyle did an admirable job considering he is our fifth starter. No team is letting up so more than ever the Phils control their destiny. No collapse and we sneak in to playoffs we going to have to earn this one. These guys have been here before and need to pull it together.

Effective small ball and a solid Kendrick performance. Victorino came up big, as well. Good game.

The Phillies evened the season series with the Mets at 6 wins and 6 losses with 6 more games to go in the series. One wonders if Santana and Dickey would have gotten their 1-0 shutouts against the Phils had Howard and Utley been in the lineup and Victorino was also out against Santana last weekend (Aug. 7th). I would bet that Dicky still would have pitched his shutout with that knuckle ball but maybe Santana might have been beaten as Howard generally does pretty well against him. Phillies hopefully can keep pace with Atlanta when the Giants come to CBP as the Braves will be facing Washington in Atlanta and then go to Chicago.

I agree with Andrew. Yes, Kyle dealt high pitch counts early on, but he kept the Mets to one run, not an easy feat when they kept us to one for a little while. He can let all the guys on base he wants as long as none of them cross the plate.

As for Dr. Lidge and Mr. Lidge, we once again saw Dr. Lidge last night and it was good.

I’ll take the wild card. The Braves aren’t folding quite yet and being on top of the wild card might take some of the pressure off our boys. Now let’s see if we can solidify the Wild Card spot and sweep the Giants.

Question: Did we play the Rays at any point in the regular season last year? If not, is this really Burrell’s first return to CBP since the 2008 parade coming up this week? I hope he gets a huge ovation… and then his new team gets its ass kicked.

Utley and Howard NEED to be healthy. We’ve got guys who are filling their spots adequately, it doesn’t help if either or both of them are still a bit tentative at the plate or in the field because they’re not quite all the way back yet. I’ll be driving the welcome wagon when they come back, but they need to be at full strength.

Cole Hamels Parody from my pal Andy: “Hey, guys, I’m really glad you gave Kyle three runs and all that, but TWO was all I needed in my last two starts. Just sayin’.” (in a bit of a higher, slightly nasally voice)

I’m usually critical of Victorino, but he had a great game last night. Hope he can stick with taking a controlled swing, putting the ball in play, and using his legs. Despite perceptions, the pen has been pretty good lately (even though he loaded the bases Sat night, Madson had good stuff both nights). Fri night, Mets broadcast crew commented on how Charlie should be a candidate for manager of the year.

Anyone else concerned that they might be rushing Ryan Howard back into the lineup? Utley’s injury is not something that can be re-aggravated, but I don’t want Howard back in the lineup until he is sure he is 200%.

@Mr. Gallen: It may be “a step in the right direction” for the Phillies in their virtual tie with the Giants for the wildcard spot. However, I would not be overly enthusiastic about the wildcard as your column gives that impression. The Phillies’ are focus only on catching the Braves and win the division. To me, the wildcard are for losers who are attempting to enter the playoffs through the backdoor. In addition, as we know, wildcard teams will be at a disadvantage without the home field edge once the playoffs begins.