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Phillies Control Own Destiny in Final Series of the Season
De ja vu all over again. In the final series of the season, the Phillies and the Mets are again battling for postseason play and the division title. The Phillies will host the Nationals and the Mets will host the Florida Marlins just like last year. Only this time the one difference is that the Mets and Phillies are not tied, the Phillies have a one game lead and that is crucial right now. The Phillies had an opportunity to go ahead and clinch a postseason berth, but they failed as they dropped two of three to the Braves at home and the Mets kept their hopes up as they were able to win two of three from the Cubs. The Brewers are the wild card in this equation as they are tied for the wild card lead with New York right now.
The Phillies managed to continue their ridiculous hot streak with a win over the Braves in the first game of the series. Pat Burrell homered in the eighth inning to bring home three and ended the Braves attempt at a comeback. J.A. Happ pitched solid going six and two thirds innings giving up only two runs off of five hits but he didn’t factor in the decision. Jurrjens pitched wonderfully for Atlanta as he has continued to frustrate the Phillies this year. Jurrjens went seven innings giving up only two runs but he could not get the run support he needed to win the game. Shane Victorino had three hits to lead the Phils along with Pat Burrell and Kelly Johnson hit a two run homer to lead Atlanta.
In the second game of the series the Phillies could not handle Atlanta as they dropped the game 3-2. A crucial error ended the Phillies chance at a victory as Cole Hamels threw the ball into the stands and that scored a run. Cole Hamels, who has been the victim of poor run support all year, lost another beauty. He went seven innings giving up two earned while striking out seven. Kelly Johnson continued his hitting streak with an RBI single in the first inning, it now stands at 21. Casey Kotchman homered for Atlanta as they ended their losing streak against Philly.
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In the last game of the series, the Phillies had no answers for Atlanta. Chipper Jones came in off the bench and blasted a three run shot to left after Brett Myers had left the game and the Braves took the game 10-4. The Braves pounded out fifteen hits and scored ten runs in the game. Chase Utley hit his 33 rd homer of the year for the Phillies and Ryan Howard hit his league leading 47 th but it was not enough as Atlanta beat Philadelphia and took the series.
Big series up next for the Phillies against the Nationals. This will either make their season or break it. The probables are as follows:
- J. Blanton (8-12) vs. C. Balester (3-6)
- J. Moyer (15-7) vs. J. Lannan (9-14)
- C. Hamels (14-10) vs. O. Perez (7-11)
By Andrew Nuscis
Philadelphia Phillies & Tampa Bay Rays Correspondent
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