PHILLIES NEWS

Coming off a tough loss yesterday, the Phils needed something positive to happen to them. Moreover, tonight also began a run of 10 straight road games for the Phils, so it was really important that they start on the right foot and get a win tonight. Unfortunately, for the Phils, there first stop on the road trip was against the hottest team in majors right now, the Marlins, in a place, Dolphin Stadium(formerly Pro Player stadium), that has been a house of horrors for the Phils over the years. Thus, the chances of the Phillies starting their road trip with a win seemed slim. However, no one told the Phils that they weren't supposed to win tonight. Jon Lieber tossed 5 and 1/3rd solid innings, allowing just 4 runs on 7 hits, and Ryan Howard(solo shot, number 54 now), Chris Coste(solo shot), and Chase Utley (3 run homer) all crushed homeruns, as the Phils jumped out to a 10-4 lead through 7 innings. Now you would think that a 10-4 lead through 7 innings would be enough to guarantee the Phils a win, but not against the feisty Marlins, who roughed up reliever Rick White for 4 runs on 3 hits, cutting the lead to 10-8. Fortunately, for the Phils though, their bullpen was able to bare down from, there, and Jeff Conine, who had already burned his former team for a triple and a single, hit the Phils 4th homer of the night(another 3 run homer), putting the phils up for good 14-8. Yeah, that's right the Phils got the big 14-8 win over the Marlins that they needed, and they gained .5 games against the idle Padres(they won again last night, so the phils were behind by 3 games). Thus, the Phils are back to within 2.5 games of the Padres for the lead in the wild card. Well, happy trails everyone.