BY SCOTT LAUBER While I sit at the gate and await a US Airways flight to Atlanta ...
PHILLIES (83-67) at BRAVES (67-83)
Tonight, 7:10: LHP Jamie Moyer (14-7, 3.68) vs. RHP James Parr (1-0, 0.00)
Wednesday, 7:10: TBA vs. RHP Jair Jurrjens (13-9, 3.62)
Thursday, 7:10: LHP Cole Hamels (13-9, 3.11) vs. LHP Mike Hampton (2-2, 5.34)
Hot: Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins is batting .407 with three home runs, 16 RBIs, a .479 on-base percentage and 13 runs over his last 20 games; Phillies 1B Ryan Howard is batting .356 with 10 homers, 25 RBIs and an .877 slugging percentage in his last 19 games; Braves 2B Kelly Johnson is batting .489 (23-for-47) in his last 12 games; Braves 3B Chipper Jones, who returned Sunday after missing two games last week with a stiff back, has 12 hits in his last 23 at-bats (.522).
Not: Phillies 2B Chase Utley has only five extra-base hits and 11 RBIs in the past 24 games; Phillies C Carlos Ruiz has three hits in his last 16 at-bats; Braves 1B Casey Kotchman is batting .219 and hasn't homered in 31 games since being acquired in the Mark Teixeira trade; Braves RF Jeff Francoeur is batting a career-low .233 with 11 homers and 67 RBIs in 143 games.
As you probably know, the Phillies haven't lost a game at Turner Field this season. They swept the Braves in a pair of three-game series, June 6-8 and July 1-3.
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For all the reasons that the Phillies have to be optimistic about their playoff chances -- Jimmy Rollins' sudden resemblance to his MVP self, Ryan Howard's September power surge, Jamie Moyer's ability to just keep pitching and pitching and pitching -- the biggest may be the second-half performance of Brett Myers. It was during the Phillies' last trip to Atlanta that Myers, then 3-9 with a 5.84 ERA, agreed to go to the minors for three weeks. Nobody could've predicted that he'd go 7-2 with a 1.80 ERA upon his return.
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The Mets lost again last night, so the NL East lead is down to a half-game. "Not again!" screams the headline in the New York Daily News, and Mets manager Jerry Manuel says he understands why losing three out of four games late in the season would drudge up memories of that epic collapse last September. "It's part of who we are," he told reporters. Wow. You can hear the panic in the Big Apple, can't you? The Mets continue their week-long road trip to night in Washington before heading to Atlanta over the weekend when the Phillies go to Florida.
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Finally, the Brewers fired manager Ned Yost and replaced him with bench coach Dale Sveum. Will it snap them out of their September swoon? The schedule doesn't get any easier. The Brew Crew opens a series tonight against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
2 comments:
"Not again!" ?????????
This is really starting to drive me crazy. The media is equating this year's Mets collapse with last years. Obviously, the reason is that it takes absolutely no thought to do so.
The NL East has NOT belonged to the Mets for the whole season. The Marlins had it for a while, then the Phillies had it, and currently, the Mets have it.
But, what has been the Mets' biggest lead? 3.5 games? 4 games?
What if they talked about it like it has been a hotly contested division all season, with numerous lead changes instead of the Mets' "collapsing" to lose it? Can't have that, now can we?
What a crazy time of year. Just like last season, I would tell myself "okay, they're officially out of it. stop getting your hopes up," and then whaddya know -- we get hot and the Mets gets caught.
I was really surprised to hear that Yost got the boot yesterday. It seemed like he was arguing a call on the field every other play this past weekend. Just a bad week for Milwaukee I guess.
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