As exciting as this series against the Reds has been, the Phillies are still 5.5 games behind the first place Braves. Since the time of my last posting the Phillies have gone 10-8, and were hurt badly by poor performances against the lowly Pirates and the division leading Braves. Let's go back all the way to June 22, when the Phillies welcomed the Cleveland Indians to town. In the first game in the series against the Indians, Jamie Moyer pitched another gem going 8 and only giving up 1 run. The Phils were able to score 2 and earned the win by a final of 2-1. The second game of the series on Wednesday had alot more offense. Kyle Kendrick got taken out after just 4 innings and the Phillies found themselves battling back all night. The Phillies were down 6-5 in the 9th when Jimmy Rollins hit a walk off, a nice way to welcome himself back to the team. Thursday was a little less dramatic as the Phils coasted to 12-3 win behind Joe Blanton. The Phillies swept the Indians, their first home sweep of the season believe it or not. Next the Phillies traveled to Philadelphia to take on the Toronto Blue Jays. That's not a typo. Because of the G-20 summit, the series was shifted to Philadelphia where the Phils would have to wear their road uniforms and bat first. The Phils were able to take 2 out of 3 behind a strong performance by Roy Halladay on Friday and another strong outing by Moyer on Sunday. After sweeping the Indians and taking 2 out of 3 from the Blue Jays it looked as if the slump was finally over and the Phillies were back. At this point they were only 2.5 back and everything was going good for the Phils. Unfortunately,the Phils had to go on the road and face a very good Reds team. The Phils dropped 3 out of 4 to the Reds, and on their way home dropped 2 out of 3 to the lowly Pirates. In their short road trip the Phillies won 2 out of 7 games and dropped back to 5 games behind the Braves. The Phils who had been playing so good, took the week off and it hurt them. I can maybe understand losing to the Reds but the Pirates? Even after playing so poorly, the Phils had a chance to make up ground when the Atlanta Braves came to town. The Phils started out the important series strongly by beating the Braves 3-1. Roy Halladay pitched 9 innings and only gave up 1 run. His performance in the opening game of a vital series shows just how important he is to this ball club. He set the tone of the series by coming out in the first game and pitching lights out. Cole Hamels followed with a fairly solid outing, he went 7 and gave up 3 but the Phils couldn't support him offensively and eventually lost in extras 6-3. On Wednesday I have to put the blame on Jamie Moyer. He got rocked but he has pitched so well lately and I can't get too mad at him. The Phils lost a crucial series to the Braves and fell to 6 games back. The Reds came into town next and the Phils won the first 2 games of the 4 game series in walk off fashion on Thursday with a walkoff hr from Brian Schneider and last night with a 2 run blast from Ryan Howard. I think last night was extremely important becaused it showed that this team never gives up. They fight until the final out and always play hard. Tonight, the Phils send Roy Halladay to the mound in a crucial game 3. The Phils have to end the first half of the season on a high note, and half to take at least 3 out of 4 from the Reds. As I said earlier in the article, Roy Halladay is so important because he performs in the big games. Hopefully tonight, Halladay will have another strong outing and help this team finish the first half of the seaon on a high note.
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