It has been a long, long year for the Phillies and their fans alike. What was supposed to be another playoff year like usual with World Series implications just didn’t happen. But the Phillies have not given up…yet.
With the 9-7 win over the Marlins tonight, the Phillies have achieved manager Charlie Manuel’s goal for the season, reaching a .500 record.
Now, this sure wasn’t Manuel’s goal at the beginning of the season, but just a couple of weeks ago, Manuel said he “atleast wanted to hit .500,” The Phillies last saw a record of .500 on June 4th, when they were 28-28. With a little hot streak of late, the Phillies hope at the second wild card spot is becoming more and more realistic with each day.
An ice cold Pirates team, a slumping Cardinals team, and a lukewarm Dodgers team is all giving hope to the Phillies if they want to make their sixth straight playoff appearance.
In their last ten games, the Phillies are tied with the Los Angeles Angels for the best record over the span, posting an 8-2 record, and winning six straight.
“Don’t talk to me about the playoffs until we are in the playoffs,” Manuel said after Tuesday’s win. A modest Manuel has to realize that his team is red hot, but he also notices this team still has one hole that has hurt them all year…the bullpen.
Tonight, the Phillies offense provided nine runs in a game that Roy Halladay pitched. What more could you need for a win, right?
Well, Roy Halladay was not at his best, and the bullpen allowed two runs to make things interesting in the seventh inning. The eighth inning was handled by rookie Phillippe Aumont, and Jonathan Papelbon shut the door on the ninth.
Either way, playoffs or not, the Phillies have provided their fans with something they have been waiting for all year from this team, excitement. And the best part of the last minute playoff streak? The Phillies are doing this without Shane Victorino, Hunter Pence, Jim Thome, and Joe Blanton.
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