Get excited Philadelphia because this hasn't been said often before. They haven't won anything yet, and we have seem some pretty awful things over the course of the year, but that is more reason than any to be happy where we are right now. Who woulda thunk it?
7 back with 17 to go. Refocused on the wild card (whatever that means). Phils deserve major kudos for playing well over the last 2 weeks, but it would have been all for naught (well, depending how the Padres end) if the Mets didn't go in the tank completely. Here is a little recap of the last couple of weeks.
September 12th:
Phils get crushed by Colorado 12-0, Mets beat Atlanta 4-3. Kendrick lasted 3 innings and Colorado tied us for the Wild Card.
NYM 83 62 -
PHI 76 69 7.0
September 13th:
Phils beat Colorado 12-4, Mets were idle. Durbin lasted 1 inning, but Geary came in to throw 3 shutout innings and the bullpen let in 1 run over the remaining 8.
NYM 83 62 -
PHI 77 69 6.5
September 14th:
Phils head up to NY for a 3 game series where the Mets look to get their revenge. Phils win 3-2 in 10 innings. Glavine owned us until the 6th when Utley took him deep for a game tying 2 run blast. Dobbs won the game with a sac fly after Ruiz got a second life on a dropped foul ball and then a bad fielder's choice decision on Heilman.
NYM 83 63 -
PHI 78 69 5.5
September 15th:
Phils win the second game 5-3 with 3 runs in the 8th off of Sosa. Rowand tied the game on a leadoff homer and Jimmy put us ahead with a 2 run triple. Bullpen with 4 scoreless innings.
NYM 83 64 -
PHI 79 69 4.5
September 16th:
Phils finish off the sweep at Shea with a 10-6 win. Eaton, the Met Killer, had 3-0, 4-1 and 5-2 leads. Beltran then hits a pretty decent pitch for a 3 run shot and Eaton called it a day. Phils bounce back with 5 in the 6th on a Werth bases loaded walk and a Dobbs pinch hit homerun (which will likely be remembered for a long time in Phillies history).
NYM 83 65 -
PHI 80 69 3.5
September 17th:
Phils head to St. Louis where they picked up a closer than it should have been 13-11 win after blowing a 11 run lead. The Mets drop a game to the Nationals 12-4.
NYM 83 66 -
PHI 81 69 2.5
September 18th:
Phils beat the Cardinals in 14 innings 7-4 while the Mets lose again to the Nats (reoccurring theme at the end of the season) 9-8. Phils tied the game at 3 in the 6th on a Werthe triple and Ruiz sac fly. Phils take a 1 run lead in the 10th, but Myers blows the save on a seeing eye grounder. Barajas plays here in the 14th on a single up the middle and Werth hits his second triple to put the game away. Mets had a 7-3 lead in the 5th when the Nats score 5 runs off of Maine to take an 8-7 lead. The first of many implosions for them. The Phils had shaved 5.5 games off of the Mets' lead in 6 days.
NYM 83 67 -
PHI 82 69 1.5
September 19th:
Phils lose a tough game 2-1 in the 10th while the Mets bounce back for an 8-4 win. Myers again gives up a run in extras, and this time it cost the Phils who just could hit Adam Wainwright.
NYM 84 67 -
PHI 82 70 2.5
September 20th:
After the demoralizing loss, the Phils bounce back with a 7-6 win over the Nationals. The Mets lose 8-7 to Florida in extra innings. Loshe got smacked around and gave up 6 runs in 2 innings, but the Phils put up 4 in the 7th and 1 in the 8th to take the lead. Werth with a pinch hit 3 run upper deck homer turned the entire night around. The Mets blow another late lead, this time after scoring 4 in the 9th to take a 6-4 lead, they allow 3 in the bottom of the 9th and 1 in the 10 to lose. Apparently Wagner couldn't go with a still back and Sosa ended up losing the game for them.
NYM 84 68 -
PHI 83 70 1.5
September 21st:
Phils win again in Washington but the Mets maintain their slim lead with a 9-6 win against Florida. Eaton picks up the win with a shaky 5 innings giving up 3 runs on 5 walks and 5 hits.
NYM 85 68 -
PHI 84 70 1.5
September 22nd:
Phils win again in extras 4-1 while the Mets blow out the Marlins 7-2. Howard knocks in the game winning run and Myers wins the game.
NYM 86 68 -
PHI 85 70 1.5
September 23rd:
Phils can't complete the sweep, losing 5-3 to the Nats while the Mets pick up a HUGE (at the time) win in extras against the Marlins. The Phils blow a good second start by Hamels by letting Alfonseca pitch. The Mets blow another big lead by letting in 2 in the 8th and 1 in the bottom of the 9th to tie it. Mets take the lead for good with a single by Wright in the 11th. Tough night and it looks like the division might be out of grasp.
NYM 87 68 -
PHI 85 71 2.5
September 24th:
Phils have an off day while the Mets play the Nationals to get off the half game. It wasn't close as the Mets lose 13-4. Pelfry gets smacked around and the Phils gain ground by just sitting around.
NYM 87 69 -
PHI 85 71 2.0
September 25:
Phils, with their best matchup against the Braves, blow a 6-5 lead to lose 10-6. Fortunately, the Nationals hold on 10-9 after a furious 6 run comeback by the Mets fell short in the 9th.
NYM 87 70 -
PHI 85 72 2.0
September 26th:
Facing the one of the Brave's best pitchers and a desperate team struggling to stay alive in both races, the Phils score early and often off of Tim Hudson and Kyle Lohse pitched 7 innings of 2 run ball. Mets lose to Washington again by the score of 9-6 after blowing a 5-0 lead and a 6-2 lead by giving up 5 runs in the 5th. 2 more in the 9th off of Wagner sealed the loss. These results, especially after a deflating loss the night before, really showed that the division was within reach.
NYM 87 71 -
PHI 86 72 1.0
September 27th:
Phils, facing John Smoltz, who absolutely loves Citizen's Bank Park puts up 4 quick runs in the first and a CBP cheapie by Burrell in the 3rd and hold on to a 6-4 win. The Mets lose to the Cardinals, 3-0, and Joel Pinero on a contraversial makeup game that supposedly gave the Mets a chance to set their rotation earlier in the year against the Phillies (who ended up sweeping them). Karma is a bitch. Mets and Phils tied for the division.
NYM 87 72 -
PHI 87 72 -
September 28th:
Phils beat the Nationals, 6-0, behind Cole Hamels in a masterpiece that may also go down in Phillies lore as one of the best "clutch" games ever pitched. The Mets continued to fold at home against the Marlins 7-4, only really threatening after a 2 run shot to pull them to 4-3. David Wright makes a key mental mistake to blow a double play which is had been a common theme over the past 2 weeks.
PHI 88 72 -
NYM 87 73 1.0
Phils record: 12-3, Met's Record: 4-11. That brings us to right now. Things look good, but baseball is a crazy game. Nobody would have predicted the Mets collapsing like this, which makes you understand that even a 1 game lead with 2 to go isn't necessarily safe. So, enjoy this while it lasts Phillies Phans. It looks like the playoffs are ours after 14 years. We certainly got our fair share of help, but we did what we needed to do over the last 15 days.
Now we just need to do what we need to do over the last two.