PHILLIES NEWS

The Phils finished their series with the Cardinals this afternoon. Joe Blanton got the start and was brilliant allowing just 2 runs on 7 hits while striking out 6 in 8 innings. Meanwhile, Chase Utley in the 3rd inning, Ryan Howard in the 5th inning, Raul Ibanez in the 7th inning, and Jimmy Rollins in the 6th inning, each slammed 2 run homers and Howard slapped a sac fly back in the first inning to help power the Phils to a 9-2 win. St. Louis really never woke up from the coma that 14-5 loss put them in yesterday. It was a thoroughly dominant performance for the Phils and fun to watch. So ultimately the Phils bats won out over the Cardinals supposedly top notch pitching in this series. I mean really who needs pitching when you can hit like this. Still the Phils would probably do well to add another starter before the trading deadline on July 31. At this point two Phils offers for Roy Halladay have been rejected so it looks the asking price may just be too for him at this point. On the other hand reigning AL cy young award winner Cliff Lee could be available for the Phils and he would probably cost them less. So I would say he's the better bet at this point. However, the Phils clearly have shown they want Halladay at this point and there's still time for them to work out a deal, but I just don't see it happening. Brad Lidge came in to pitch the 9th for the Phils today and actually got out of the inning without allowing a run. That's good news for the Phils who will undoubtedly need him to close games down the stretch. Anyway so the Phils are 56-40 overall and still 6.5 games up in the NL East.