Weekly Wrap: Divisional Showdown

The Phillies having won their last two in Toronto, traveled south for the final leg of what has been a long road trip. It got worse. After an off day Monday the Phils headed to Atlanta to take on the Braves. Having lost their last nine games in Atlanta against the Phils, the Braves were intent on stopping the streak.  Stop the streak they did, by sweeping the Phillies. After losing in the 10th inning on Tuesday the Phillies suffered back to back losses where the bullpen looked tired and the bats went ice cold. Ace pitcher Cole Hamels failed to finish the 5th inning in back to back starts. J.A. Happ pitched well in the series finale but Ryan Madson again took the loss giving up 3 runs in the eighth inning.

Limping out of Atlanta the Phillies came back home to face the much despised New York Mets looking to take back the division lead. Friday the Phils pounced early and recent call up, pitcher Rodrigo Lopez looked sharp giving up only two earned runs. The bats came back to life Friday and made quick work of Mets starter Livan Hernadez chasing him after three plus innings. On Saturday pitcher Jamie Moyer looked strong giving up only one run through 6 1/3 innings and the Phils went on to win their first home series since they swept the Washington Nationals to finish May. The Phillies look to complete the sweep on Sunday.

Overall this past week the starting pitching has been o.k. The bullpen however still looks shaky and needs to get better. The bats are coming around and Jimmy Rollins has put together two good days at the plate but the absence of Raul Ibanez’s bat continues to haunt the lineup. Regardless, the Phillies are ending the week with a series win and as rough as it has been for the team lately, they’ll gladly take it. A sweep however would be much nicer.