Remain Calm, All Is Well
The Phillies watched their lead shrink to 1 1/2 games in the NL East after last night's 3-2 loss to the Braves.
Remain Calm, All Is Well
Todd Zolecki
So, yeah, maybe the Phillies can't win every game down the stretch.
They lost last night to the Braves at Citizens Bank Park, 3-2. The Phillies are 10-2 since Sept. 10, which remains the best record in baseball, but lost because they were sloppy in the field and sloppy on the bases. It cut their lead over the New York Mets in the National League East to 1 1/2 games with four to play. It cut their lead against the Milwaukee Brewers, who are chasing the Mets for the wild card, to 2 1/2 games. Both the Mets and Brewers have five games remaining.
The Phillies remained calm in the clubhouse afterward, which is a good thing. But that doesn't mean they can relax. Brett Myers pitches the series finale tonight. He wants to come back from his pounding Friday in Florida. The Phillies are hoping Carlos Zambrano can outpitch Oliver Perez tonight at Shea and give the Phillies a little help heading into tomorrow's day off.
"We lost a game," Ryan Howard said. "I don't think there's any reason to go into a frenzy. It happens. The good thing is we get to come back tomorrow. Everybody else looks at four games or whatever. We play each game, then deal with tomorrow when we get to it."
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Phil Sheridan takes a look at a team that refuses to panic, which could serve them well in their final four games.
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In the Phillies Notebook: every player except Tadahito Iguchi is eligible for the postseason roster, which means Greg Golson could find hmself in the playoffs for his pinch-running capabilities. The Phillies also could skip Cole Hamels' spot in the rotation Sunday, if the Phillies clinch before then. That would set up Hamels to pitch Game 1 of the NLDS with Brett Myers starting Game 2.
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In the Baseball Prospectus Postseason Odds Report:
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The Phillies have an 87.42 percent chance to win the NL East, an 11.08 percent chance to win the wild card and a 98.51 percent chance to make the playoffs overall.
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The Mets have a 12.58 percent chance to win the East, a 59.57 percent chance to win the wild card and a 72.14 percent chance to make the playoffs overall.
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The Brewers have a 29.30 percent chance to win the wild card.
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Bob Ford, John Gonzalez and Sheridan banter about the Phillies' chances.
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The Mets caught a helluva break in last night's victory over the Cubs. ... The Brewers won a thriller. ... They also are pitching CC Sabathia tonight against the Pirates. It's his second consecutive start on three days rest.
Let's see how calm today's posters remain. At least we won't be talking about post season rosters...LOL. We haven't won anything yet, but I expect Meyers to come up big tonight. Question: is Hamels really the "ace" of the staff? And did everyone catch what movie Zo took his headline from?— jimmymack- Two Animal House references in Philly newspapers? Amazing.— kr1spy
- We got a little ahead of ourselves yesterday, but I am pretty confident that they will still win the East.— Gary Varsho
Good pick-up, jimmy and Kr1spy. That line was delivered by a young Kevin Bacon in Animal House. (His other key line: "Thank you, sir, may I have another?") What a great movie, although unfortunately for me, it was released while I was in college. Kind of set the tone. Anyway, more to the point, Cole hasn't been our ace all season. Remember the days when Cole pitched and you felt he might toss a no-hitter? Not so these days. And spare me the "he pitched well enough to win" line. The go-ahead run was all Cole's, with that errant throw to 3rd. Let's go, Brett!— bobby- We get to go against Jo-Jo Reyes tonight, who frankly sucks. If Myers just pitches decent (say 4 over 6 or 7), we should win because our offense is far better than theirs. So I feel good about tonight. Let's hope Zambrano can beat the Mets tonight, because with Pedro pitching tomorrow against Harden, I think the Cubbies stand a really good chance of taking 3 of 4 from the Mets.— Deb in Dixie
- Trying to remain cool, calm and collected here. The Phils never make it easy do they!? GO PHILS!— KarenA
Comment removed.- We could talk about post season rosters, as nothing has changed since yesterday, except that Zo cleared up who is eligible. I think the Phils suffered last night from a mental night off--both Pat's running and Hamels' throwing were mental mistakes. All in all I predict a clinch on Sat, and an easy relaxing last game where we get to see all of the Spet. call ups and perhaps "E" gets to prove he's alive and not merely a poster being propped up in the dug-out/bullpen— jeff gross
- Like I said before this is Philadelphia nothing is easy. The Phils were on there high horse last night thinking nothing could go wrong. Mental errors killed them. Hopefully they learned from last nights game that they still have to play fundamental baseball.— Beef69
- A mental mistake is choosing to do the wrong thing, as in Burrell choosing to run when he should have stayed put. Hamels bad throw was not a mental mistake. He didn't have a brain freeze and choose to throw the ball away. If he had not thrown at all, or thrown to the wrong base, that's a mental error. But a bad throw is a bad throw.— bobby
- The Phillies will pound JoJo tonight and all will be well again. Hopefully Zambrano can take care of the Mets. I think Golson,Happ,and Stairs have to be included on the postseason roser. Golson gives us what Michael Bourn did on the bases last year. Kendrick,Eaton, and Taguchi are worthless.— Matt
- jeff: Are you Eaton's agent? I can't for the life of me think of any other reason anyone would be on the stump for him to get the start on Sunday. The last thing this team needs on the final day of the season is a reminder of the worst player signing in recent Phils history.— bobby
- I think what Bobby is saying is the if the Phils clinch the division prior to Sunday they can have almost anyone pitch. My guess if that happens it would either be Kendrick or Happ. Kendrick just to see if he's made any adjustments and Happ to get a bit more experience. (I think "E" is actually a cardboard cut-out?!LOL!)— KarenA
- D'OH!! I meant to say what Jeff was saying.....etc.— KarenA
- Karen: I WISH he was a cardboard cutout. Maybe he would have pitched better! But I agree with you on Kendrick or Happ. Personally, I say Happ. The last thing Kyle needs is an ugly start in a meaningless game to cap off his season.— bobby
