PHILLIES NEWS

Well, the Phillies played another enertaining game today and this time I was able to watch and I didn't regret it. Today the Phillies rode the brilliant pitching of starter Brett Myers, back with the team for the 1st time since his infamous leave of absence, and timely hitting to an impressive 6-2 victory over the Giants, giving them 2 straight series wins, and 4 wins out of their last 6 games. Now, obviously those last numbers are nothing to brag about, but for a Phillies team that had been marred in a slump throughout June and into early July, they are an encouraging start. In addition, if the Phillies still hope to make the playoffs, they are going to have to continue winning 2 out a three like this for the rest of the season. Anyway back to the game, as I said before Brett Myers pitched brilliantly, going 7 innings and giving up just 2 runs on 5 hits. Meanwhile, his counterpart Matt Cain was pitching a gem of his own as he went 6 innings and gave up just 1 run on 1 hit. Cain actually left the game after the 6th inning with a 2-1 lead on homers by Ray Durham and Barry Bonds, but David Bell answered the Bell in the 7th inning with a homer of his own to tie the score at 2. Bell then followed with a triple, to cap off a 4 run 8th inning for the Phils, highlighted by Giants miscues in the outfield, one of which allowed a sure flyout by Chase Utley to fall in for a base hit, extending Utley's career best hitting streak to 18 games. From there with a 6-2 lead the Phillies coasted to the finish via another strong outing by their bullpen. Well, I don't know about you but I am starting to get excited at the prospects of a long phillies hot-streak. The Phillies rotation has some bite again with Jon Lieber, Cory Lidle, and Brett Myers all together again, Randy Wolf closing in on his return to the rotation, and Mike Lieberthal back behind the plate. Also the Phillies lineup has suddenly started to - gasp! manufacture runs. Put these 2 figures together and you've got the potential for another desperation-fueled playoff run like they had last year at this time in the season and wouldn't that be sweet. Well, happy trails everyone.