Sept. 28 -- FIRST-PLACE PHILLIES

Good day, Phillies fans. And, if you root for the Phillies, it really is a good day. For the first time since April 6, 2005, your team is in first place.

Pretty amazing, isn't it? I was thinking last night about the train ride I took to New York on Sept. 13. I was writing a story for the next day's paper about the upcoming Phillies-Mets series at Shea Stadium, and I pulled these two quotes from my notebook:

Chris Coste: "It's not like we’re giving up on the division. It's facts. We unfortunately put ourselves in this hole to where the wild card seems like the way we have to do it."

Pat Burrell: "Realistically, when we had the [2-4] road trip [last week] and lost those tough games, not that you mean to do this, but we had to shift our attention away from the Mets. If [winning the division] happens, it happens. But seven games, at this point, is tough, so we had to regroup and think about the wild card."

Well, 11 wins -- and 10 Mets losses -- in 14 games have changed all that. The Phillies and Mets are tied for first, and after six weeks of spring training and 159 games over the past six months, the whole season boils down to one weekend. And some of the Mets don't have a very good feeling. "When I first got here, I was really excited," Pedro Martinez said. "Right now, I'm a little worried about how things have developed."

Buckle up. It should be fun.

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Liked a lot of what I saw in the clubhouse last night. Yes, Shane Victorino and Brett Myers goofed around by mashing pies in the faces of Comcast SportsNet's Michael Barkann and Mitch Williams. But, for the most part, players I spoke to made a point of talking about how they haven't clinched anything. "It’s a feeling of knowing it's in our hands, but we haven't done anything yet," Ryan Howard said. "This is where it all begins. It's like the start of the season all over again. It's just that there's three games left."

Even Victorino said, "It’s weird to say we're tied, but it still feels like we’re chasing. After all this time, I never thought this is what would happen. But there's still three games left. Anything can happen."

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Remember this back page from the New York Daily News after Jimmy Rollins' team-to-beat remark? Not so silly now, is it? Still, Willie Randolph says he feels confident, though I have no earthly idea why.

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Lately, everything the Phillies do turns to gold. Victorino had an MRI on his still-aching calf yesterday. He was cleared to play, so Charlie Manuel put him in the lineup in place of slumping Jayson Werth. Lo and behold, in the first inning, Victorino dropped a bunt, blazed down the first-base line like Carl Lewis and forced John Smoltz into making a bad throw that allowed Rollins to score.

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Manuel is biased, but he said yesterday that Rollins is having the best season defensively of any shortstop he's managed. That includes 11-time Gold Glover Omar Vizquel. Also, there were some records set last night. One good one by Rollins, one not-so-good by Howard, who redeemed himself with a huge first-inning homer.

In his final regular-season start tonight, ace lefty Cole Hamels has to make like Kyle Lohse and Kyle Kendrick. Speaking of which, who ever thought Lohse and Kendrick would outpitch Tim Hudson and Smoltz? Insanity.