Monday, August 25, 2008

Feliz Navidad!

Fresh off the disabled list, Pedro Feliz provided the Phillies with two huge gifts last night. First, it was a two-out base hit to drive in the tying run in the bottom of the ninth. Then he followed it up with a dramatic 11th inning, two-out, walk-off three-run homer to give the Phillies a dramatic 5-2 win over the Dodgers, cutting the Mets NL East lead to a half game. Gracias, Pedro!

Meanwhile, the Mets bullpen blew another game and John Maine is facing possible season ending surgery. Former Yankees manager Bob Lemon once said, "The two most important things in life are good friends and a strong bullpen." What a genius. The Mets might have a near double digit division lead if their bullpen wasn't in shambles and the Phillies bullpen wasn't dominant.

Tonight, the Fightin's go for a four-game sweep of the Dodgers, who took four from the Phils in Los Angeles just last week. On the mound will be Philly's hottest starting pitcher, born again Brett Myers, who has renewed the faith of fans, teammates and management with a sub-2.00 ERA since returning from minor league exile.

This sets up a much anticipated two-game showdown with the Mets at Citizens Bank Park. With Billy Wagner gone and John Maine likely to follow, the Mets just don't have the depth to overcome these injuries. As the Mets nosedive, I expect the Phillies to use this mini-series as a springboard to the division title, but the offense will have to start clicking (that means you, Rollins) or it will come down to the wire again.

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