Coming out of the All-Star break, the Phillies' starting rotation did not line up like the start of the year, with the four aces leading the way.  Rather, because of the All-Star game, the Phillies had to alternate aces and others, starting with Vance Worley, then moving to Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, and Roy Halladay.  It wasn't the ideal way to come out of the gate after the break, but it was how things lined up.

A rational fan would be forgiven for looking at that ordering and thinking it quite likely the Phillies would go 2-2, getting two stellar performances from Hamels and Hallday, as that's how the two have pitched all year, and getting two other-quality performances from Worley and Kendrick, as even though they've shown flashes of quality through the year (especially Worley), they aren't aces and are unpredictable.

Well, two great performances and two not-so-great performances is exactly what we got over the last four games.

Of course, as everyone knows who followed the games (and who are fans of cheesy Jodie Foster kid movies and their remakes with Lindsey Lohan), the pair we expected to shine didn't, and the other pair excelled.

2-2 with those starters.  Just the way we all predicted.