Is The Offense Back?

Forget for a moment that the Phillies only won 1 out of 3 against the Twins, and look at the bigger picture and the number of runs they scored in each game. On Friday night they scored 9, on Saturday 10, and on Sunday 1. With the exception of Sunday, the Phillies bats were very much alive in the series against the Twins, and gave a very promising sense of hope that the offensive drought might just be over. The series got off to a great start for the Phils who won Friday night's affair by a score of 9-5. Blanton picked up his second win of the season and the Phillies offense did most of their damage early putting up a 3 spot in the first and a 5 spot in the second. Ryan Howard had a triple, a double and 2 solo home runs to total 11 bases in the game and Chase Utley silenced all injury concerns by having a 2 hit 4 rbi game. And if 4 rbis wasn't enough, Utley proved that he was 100 percent healthy by making some dazzling plays on defense. Friday night proves that when Utley and Howard hit the ball, the team wins, no questions asked. On Saturday the Phils sent Cole Hamels to the mound who has been pitching very well lately. Cole pitched another solid game for the Phils going 7 and only giving up 3. You would think with a strong pitching performance coupled with 10 runs the Phils would be able to win right? Unfortunately for the Phils the bullpen, which has pitched so good, gave up 5 runs in the 9th and the Twins went on to win in extras. Even though the Phils lost, it was still good to see that the Phillies offense was coming around. On Sunday I honestly don't know what happened. The Phils wasted another good outing by Halladay who went 8 giving up only 3 and lost 4-1. Maybe the Phils thought they could take the day off offensively because Halladay was pitching? The 2 losses aside, the Phils played very good this past weekend. They should have won Saturday, but the bullpen gave the game away, it happens. Heading into the next series against Cleveland, the Phils welcome back Jimmy Rollins who has been nursing an injured calf for the past 2 months almost. Jimmy Rollins, when he is healthy, makes this offense go. He can provide the spark and the jump start that this offense needs to get going. As good as Shane Victorino played in his absence, I don't see Shane Vitorino as a natural lead off hitter. I see him more as a guy who you have more in the middle of your lineup who can drive in runs. The Phils need Jimmy to come in and be the lead off hitter that he is a capable of being.