Doc Notches 20th Win While Phillies Magic Number Shrinks to 6
By: Mike Reisman
Tonight marked the 9th game in a row that the Phillies won. And to think that in July everyone was sitting here counting the Phillies out of the playoffs. They said it was desperate to go out and get Roy Oswalt. They said it would take a miracle to make the playoffs, and an even bigger miracle to win their 4th consecutive NL East crown. But yet, here we are, just a few months later talking about how the Phillies are all but NL East champs, and all it took was a little hitting, a little pitching, and the September magic we are all used to.
The Phillies sent Roy Halladay to the mound for tonight's game to face Braves southpaw Mike Minor. Roy was looking to become the MLB's second and the NL's first pitcher to 20 wins. He would get some early help on Jayson Werth's 25th home run of the year, scoring Placido Polanco and Chase Utley, giving the Phillies a 3-0 lead.
Roy would cruise in his first four innings, however, he would hit a road bump in the middle innings. His 5th would start with a lead-off double, and then a single to put runners on the corners for the pinch-hitting Eric Hinske. Hinske would ground out, however a run would score cutting the lead to 3-1. A similar situation would occur in the 6th, when Derek Lee hit a sacrifice fly to cut the Phillies lead in half. The Phillies would provide more support in the bottom half though, on a Raul Ibanez double, which scored both Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth, giving the Phillies a 5-2 lead.
A truly great moment would come in the top of the 7th inning, when Braves pinch-hitter Freddie Freeman would absolutely crush a pitch deep into the Braves bullpen. It was Freddie's first home run in his career, and since it did not affect the outcome of the game, I can say congratulations Freddie.
The home run would cap the scoring at 5-3, which would be the game's final score. Just in case the 9 game win streak doesn't prove to you that the Phillies are white-hot right now let me give you some more info. Since the Phillies last loss (which was 10 days ago on 9/11), the Phillies have out scored their opponents 55-23. In 6 of those 9 games, the Phillies have scored five or more runs. In 5 of those 9 games, the Phillies have given up 2 or less runs. Let those stats marinate in your brain for a moment. If the Phillies can keep this insane momentum into the playoffs, they will be a serious threat to win their 3rd straight NL Pennant.