It was finally a good week for the Phillies, who start this week in first place in the National League East standings, two and a half games up on the second place Florida Marlins and three games up on the third place New York Mets.
The Phillies won five out of six games this week, including a three game sweep of the last place Washington Nationals. The Phillies have succeeded in large part due to an effective balance of timely hitting and efficient pitching. In the past week alone, formerly dormant Chase Utley has three home runs with six RBIs, batting .364 during that time. Likewise, outfielders Pat Burrell and Shane Victorino have six RBIs each, as well as a number of clutch hits, including the go ahead four runs in Sunday's victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Slugger Ryan Howard is batting .333 over the past week, as is struggling outfielder Geoff Jenkins.
Brett Myers had two starts this week, and finally looks like he has his "swagger" back, going 13 innings while only giving up two runs and one walk. Newly acquired Joe Blanton looked equally as impressive in his last start, going seven innings, giving up just one run on four hits. Ageless Jamie Moyer continued his streak of holding his opponents to three runs or less, something he has done in every start since June 1, getting the win against the Nationals.
Since playing one of the ugliest series of the year against the Mets last week, the Phillies have been on a tear and have started to put some distance between them and their NL East rivals. While the Phillies have won five of six, the Mets have lost four in a row and the Marlins lost two of their three games.
The Phillies need to continue to build on their recent success and capitalize on the struggles of the Mets and Marlins. They face off against Florida in a three game set this week in Philadelphia and can look to build on their two and a half game lead and put some real distance between them and their upstart rivals. They need to take at least two out of three this series because the Mets are playing the struggling San Diego Padres and will most likely take at least two from the Pads.
In other Phillies related news, the baseball trade deadline came and went with no additional pickups by the club. Even more significant, however, was that neither the Marlins or Mets made any significant deals. The Mets made no moves, while the Marlins actually got worse by acquiring veteran reliever Arthur Rhodes from the Seattle Mariners. This doesn't mean, however, that the Phils won't be acquiring any other players, as GM Pat Gillick is notorious for being more active after the non-waiver trade deadline then he is before it.
Phillies' reliever Rudy Seanez has been placed on the disabled list, as was third baseman Pedro Feliz.
In basketball news, the Sixers' signed point guard Lou Williams to a new, five year contract. He has averaged 7.2 points, 2.2 assists and 1.5 assists in 171 games over three pro seasons.
Continue to check back as we bring you the latest from Eagles' training camp, the Phillies attempts to build their lead atop of the NL East standings, and the progress of contract negotiations between the Sixers and forward Andre Iguodala.
The Phillies won five out of six games this week, including a three game sweep of the last place Washington Nationals. The Phillies have succeeded in large part due to an effective balance of timely hitting and efficient pitching. In the past week alone, formerly dormant Chase Utley has three home runs with six RBIs, batting .364 during that time. Likewise, outfielders Pat Burrell and Shane Victorino have six RBIs each, as well as a number of clutch hits, including the go ahead four runs in Sunday's victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Slugger Ryan Howard is batting .333 over the past week, as is struggling outfielder Geoff Jenkins.
Brett Myers had two starts this week, and finally looks like he has his "swagger" back, going 13 innings while only giving up two runs and one walk. Newly acquired Joe Blanton looked equally as impressive in his last start, going seven innings, giving up just one run on four hits. Ageless Jamie Moyer continued his streak of holding his opponents to three runs or less, something he has done in every start since June 1, getting the win against the Nationals.
Since playing one of the ugliest series of the year against the Mets last week, the Phillies have been on a tear and have started to put some distance between them and their NL East rivals. While the Phillies have won five of six, the Mets have lost four in a row and the Marlins lost two of their three games.
The Phillies need to continue to build on their recent success and capitalize on the struggles of the Mets and Marlins. They face off against Florida in a three game set this week in Philadelphia and can look to build on their two and a half game lead and put some real distance between them and their upstart rivals. They need to take at least two out of three this series because the Mets are playing the struggling San Diego Padres and will most likely take at least two from the Pads.
In other Phillies related news, the baseball trade deadline came and went with no additional pickups by the club. Even more significant, however, was that neither the Marlins or Mets made any significant deals. The Mets made no moves, while the Marlins actually got worse by acquiring veteran reliever Arthur Rhodes from the Seattle Mariners. This doesn't mean, however, that the Phils won't be acquiring any other players, as GM Pat Gillick is notorious for being more active after the non-waiver trade deadline then he is before it.
Phillies' reliever Rudy Seanez has been placed on the disabled list, as was third baseman Pedro Feliz.
In basketball news, the Sixers' signed point guard Lou Williams to a new, five year contract. He has averaged 7.2 points, 2.2 assists and 1.5 assists in 171 games over three pro seasons.
Continue to check back as we bring you the latest from Eagles' training camp, the Phillies attempts to build their lead atop of the NL East standings, and the progress of contract negotiations between the Sixers and forward Andre Iguodala.
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