BY SCOTT LAUBER FORT LAUDERDALE -- After batting practice Saturday, Mike Schmidt, a self-proclaimed "lucky charm" for the Phillies, said he made the 70-mile drive from his Jupiter, Fla., home to Dolphin Stadium to "sprinkle some fairy dust" on his favorite team.
Looks like it worked.
The Phils pulled out a one-run win here Saturday night, and absolutely everything went their way yesterday, as they beat the Marlins 5-2, increased their division lead over the Mets to 1-1/2 games, lowered their magic number to clinch a playoff spot to 4, won for the ninth time in 10 games, and improved to 20 games over .500 for the first time since 1993.
And it all started with an injury.
Greg Dobbs, the offensive and defensive hero from Saturday night, left the game in the seventh inning with a cramp in his right calf. Charlie Manuel considered a double-switch that would've put fill-in third baseman Pedro Feliz in the No. 9 spot, but ultimately, he opted for a straight-up switch. Then, when Feliz came to the plate in the eighth, Manuel thought about having him bunt Shane Victorino to second base. Instead, he let Feliz swing away, and he hit a two-run homer to open a three-run lead.
"Lucky hit," Feliz said.
Hey, when you're hot, you're hot.
"Our timing on stuff is tremendous right now," closer Brad Lidge said. "Whether it's a guy getting a cramp in his calf or whatever, it's all working well. Everything's happening at the right time."
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Magic-number check: With any combination of 4 Phillies wins/Brewers losses, the Phillies will clinch a playoff spot. With any combination of 6 Phillies wins/Mets losses, the Phillies will clinch the NL East title.
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I can't find it online, so you'll have to take my word for it: In his Sunday baseball notes in the Miami Herald, Mike Phillips endorsed Ryan Howard for the NL MVP award. The Howard-for-MVP buzz is picking up steam around the country. But, and we don't mean any disrespect to Howard's late-season power surge, is it possible that he isn't even the Phillies' MVP? Brad Lidge has been downright automatic in the ninth inning, going 40-for-40 in save chances and having one of the best seasons ever for a closer.
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Caught the highlights of last night's final game at Yankee Stadium, and it looked pretty cool. Loved seeing Willie Randolph slide into second base. Think he's loving the Mets' late-season troubles? By the way, the Mets were 1-8 at Turner Field this season. The Phillies were 9-0.
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OK, time to hop a 6 a.m. US Airways flight home. Be back later from the Bank with a Phillies-Braves preview, a new audiofile and other goodies.
1 comment:
Jeez Scott, try to catch some sleep at some point today.
Hopefully Lou will talk his team into locking horns with the opposition this week and we can take the series from Atlanta.
The Yankee Stadium ceremonies last night were great -- glad to see Willie Randolph smiling from ear to ear while sliding into second base. Bernie's ovation was great, but you know that Derek Jeter will never forgive himself for going 0-5 in the last ever game at Yankee Stadium. But I'm sure he'll find a way to avenge his performance last night.
Let's all hope that this city is smiling, and maybe even semi-hung over, this time next Monday.
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