Phils Find Magic

When Chase Utley came up with 2 out in the top of the 9th and nobody on, he promptly went into a 1-2 hole: Ball, Strike (looking), Strike (foul).


Rollins is hitting the cover off the ball this month
.

 The Phillies had managed just 2 hits all night, one of those the 43rd leadoff HR of Rollins' career, his team-leading 22nd of the year.  Rollins, making $11 million this year, also leads all Phils (with qualifying number of at-bats) in Ave., OBP, hits, RBI, runs and toal bases and is 2nd with 30 SB.  He is hitting .333 with 7 HR in September.

However, the Phils had managed just 1 hit since his HR in the 1st.

After losing 3-of-4 to MLB's worst team in Houston over the weekend, they seemed resigned to save their fight for next year rather than squander it on the hapless Mets.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers were winning convincingly, 6-0, as were the Cardinals, 5-0 and Brewers, 3-0. The Wild Card picture appeared certain to exclude the Phils with a finality by the end of the night.

At Citi Field, lefty Josh Edgin from Lewiston, PA had just S.O. Rollins and Ty Wigginton on 8 pitches to start the 9th and had Utley down 1 ball-to-2 strikes.

Nonetheless, true competitor to the end, Utley fought his way back: Ball, Foul, Foul, Ball, Ball to earn a walk.


Utley-Howard: For Old Times Sake.

The final pitch was so close that Utley and Home Plate umpire Bruce Davidson stood staring, briefly, then assumed position for the next pitch before someone told them Utley should go to 1st.

Next up, a name that strikes fear in the hearts of Phillies fans, lately. All week long I had been fielding emails in response to my post, "Mr. September vs. Father Time." 

Most of them were about Howard, and they weren't favorable.  The most optimistic fan I heard from was off for a vacation until October 6th. 

Others wished Howard was on vacation, still on the DL or worse.

"Howard... vs. LHP: .167... Let's face it: Ry-Ho is at best a platoon hitter," read one fan, understandably tired of watching the Phils season end with a lame whiff from Howard, swinging for the trees and coming up empty.

In fact, Howard was 0-for-20 vs. lefthanders when he stepped up to the plate against Edgin.

Strike 1 (looking).  Here we go.  Come on Ryan, make us forget the $20 million your 230 AB and 87 S.O. have cost this year.

The scoreboard flashed: the Dodgers 6-0 lead had evaporated.  Their game was now tied, 6-6.



Wednesday Howard defied the odds
and gave Phils the win.

Then he did it.  A 93 mph fastball in his sweet spot, and Howard crushed it, sending it to carom off the front of the second deck in right field, a  373 foot shot.

At 10-3 in their last 13 and 18-7 in last 25, the Phils eclipsed the Pirates in the playoff hunt and now trail only St. Louis (Wild Card place holders, winners of 3-straight, putting it to Houston like Phils ought to have), the Dodgers (2 GB, a 9th inning HR from Matt Kemp gave them a 7-6 win tonight) and Milwaukee (8-2 in last 10, hottest team in baseball).  

Cole Hamels gave it his all with 10 S.O. in 6 innings, but David Wright's 2-run HR stood up until the 9th, preventing Hamels from recording his career-best 16th win.  Hamels has just 1 win since August 18th. 

Wright is now appx. .338 with 4 HR and 19 RBI vs. Phils this year after hitting .301 against them from '08-'11.  

Next up:   Phils go for the sweep in NY in a rookie starters showdown at 7:10 pm on Thursday.  

25 year-old Tyler Cloyd (1-1, 4.95 ERA) vs. 26 year-old Jeremy Hefner (2-6, 4.99 ERA).

The Phillies have no margin for error and zero head-to-head games remaining against any of the Wild Card teams.  Their only playoff hope is to continue to win while the other 3 teams simultaneously lose the majority of their respective games.  Otherwise, all this is for the promise of a better 2013 and has at least made them surprisingly relevant to the playoff picture again.