Maybe Hurricane Rita Can Blow Houston Off Course

I was going to wait until after Sunday’s game to write this post, but Chase Utley just hit an inside-the-park home run and I felt compelled to start early.  I’m sitting here in an internet cafe in the heart of London, people all around me are giving menacing glares wondering what I’m watching on my screen and why I just jumped out of my chair.  Sorry mates, no football of either kind on this Sunday, it’s the Phils of course. 

I see the Phils are back to two games back in the Wild Card.  That sucks, especially with Andy Pettitte on the mound for the ‘stros.  We have field reporter Laura at Wrigley today who will file a scouting report on the Astros and recap that game upon its completion.  As for me, more additions to this post will continue as the Phils game progresses, so my apologies if the flow is inconsistent.

Looking at the schedules, Houston has 2 games in St. Louis and 4 at home against Chicago, while the Phils face the Mets at home and Nationals on the road to close out the season.  That should bode well for the Phils, but we’ll see, they have dropped 9 of 15 to the Mets this season.  Just make sure you all make the trip down to DC this weekend to end the season in style.

Question:  What’s wrong with Bobby Abreu?  Has the season just grinded on him and he’s sore as October approaches or is something really wrong?  His numbers are certainly down in the second half of the season, especially those of power, including home runs.  He just hobbled to first after 3 consecutive groundouts.  I’m a tad worried.

HUGE double play for the Phils in the 7th.  Lidle looked to be in trouble with men on the corners but was bailed out by a double play ball, despite a run scoring.  It’s big because Madson probably isn’t available as he’s bouncing around a padded room somewhere in the bullpen.  Harry just mentioned that due to the importance of the game, Uncle Charlie said he would consider using Uggie in the 7th and have Wagner pitch the 8th and 9th if needed.  I think that’s a bad idea, Wagner is really only guaranteed for one inning and with the power in Cincinnati’s lineup and only a 3 run lead, the consequences could be devastating….Fortunately, Lidle just recorded his fourth strikeout to end the inning.

So the Phils won and are now 1.5 back as the Astros finish up their rain delayed game.  Man, I hope Houston starts losing, but if they don’t, well, what do you expect?  That’s what you get for letting them sweep you at home. 

If you’re around on Tuesday, go to the game and watch JRoll try to tie the Phillies consecutive game hit streak.  Currently the record stands at 31 and is held by Phillies legend of last century Ed Delahanty.  If you haven’t yet read our profile of him, check the archives.  Jimmy Rollins just said in the post game interview that he’s never heard of Delahanty, after the season, we’ll have to give him a lesson.

Finally, check out this decent article about Charlie Manuel from his hometown Roanoke Times.  Much of it is in trite “Manuel is more relaxed than Bowa” vein, but the more personal stuff is towards the bottom.  I’ll leave you with a snippet:

Manuel was born in a car en route to the hospital while his mother was in West Virginia to visit her mother.

As they say here in the Mother Country: Brilliant!