Turning points are difficult to identify when you still might be in the midst of one, so as the Phillies take the field in Atlanta tonight, the questions remain:
Were their two straight victories in Toronto, during which they scored 15 runs and reached base in 43.2 percent of their plate appearances, the beginning of the end of their most trying stretch of the season?
Or are they destined to spend the dog days of summer as they did a year ago, riding alternating stretches of success and impotence before ultimately deciding their fate in the season's final month?
"We'll see Tuesday," veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer said Sunday after the Phillies beat the Blue Jays, 5-4, to finish interleague play at 6-12. "I think we just take it a day at a time. To say we are ready to rip off seven, eight games, I think we worry about our next game."
Moyer has been around baseball long enough to know that two straight wins do not necessarily signal a dramatic turnaround.
Take last season, for example.
While the conventional wisdom might suggest that the Phillies were a team reborn after a 4-11 showing in interleague play last season, the reality is quite different.
They began July with four straight wins, three of them in Atlanta and one at home against the Mets, but they followed it up with four straight losses. In fact, the Phillies lost at least three straight games on four separate occasions in July and August. They also won at least three straight games on five separate occasions in those months. All of it combined to leave them with a mediocre 75-62 record, a mediocre .254 team batting average, and a solid 3.85 team ERA - not to mention a serious case of seasickness - heading into September.
Long story short: It is impossible now to know where this Phillies season is headed. One thing is clear, though: They are glad to be finished with interleague play.
In the last 15 games, when they went 4-11 against the American League East, they hit only .239 and averaged 4.6 runs per game (During the first 58 games, they hit .263 and averaged 5.5 runs per game). Their pitching was equally unimpressive, allowing an average of 5.9 runs per game and an opposing batting average of .300 (during the first 58 games, those figures were 4.8 and .267, respectively).
"It shouldn't be, but the stats are the stats, the numbers are the numbers," rightfielder Jayson Werth said. "We haven't played very good in interleague play the last few years. It'll be good to get back to the National League, I guess, and get back to our style of baseball."
Injury update
Lefthander Scott Eyre (calf) will begin a rehab assignment with the Gulf Coast League Phillies today. Eyre said late last week he expected to be ready to join the active roster by the start of this weekend's series against the Mets, but a lot will depend on how his calf responds to his first competitive action since June 11, when he pitched one-third of an inning against the Mets at Citi Field.
Injured leftfielder Raul Ibanez, who continues to travel with the team while rehabbing his strained groin, remains further away. He is not expected to be ready to return by Friday, when he is eligible to be activated from the disabled list. The Phillies and Ibanez have avoided a target return date, but he and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. talked often during the series in Tampa Bay and Toronto. The Phillies and Ibanez say he is progressing, but, as of yesterday, no rehab assignment had been planned, and the club seems committed to proceed with caution to avoid a long-term setback.
Romero update
A complaint filed against J.C. Romero by Rays fan Robert Eaton with St. Petersburg, Fla., police was forwarded to the state attorney's office for review. No charges have been filed.
Romero is alleged to have gotten into a confrontation after Eaton mentioned steroids. Romero served a 50-game ban this season for violating baseball's steroid policy.
A message left with the state attorney's office was not returned. Major League Baseball is aware of the situation, but has taken no action.
Phillers
Former Phillies prospect Josh Outman, 4-1 with a 3.48 ERA with the A's this season, will have surgery on his pitching elbow today, although the club did not announce the severity of the surgery. The lefthander was part of the deal that brought Joe Blanton to Philadelphia last July . . . Shortstop Jimmy Rollins will return to the lineup tonight after a four-game absence. *
