His second save of the series much less dramatic than his first, Brad Lidge closed out a 4-3 victory for the Philadelphia Phillies with a three up, three down 9th on Thursday night. Pat Burrell came up really big with a 2 run 6th inning home run.
Cole Hamels battled but didn't look sharp. His pitches were elevated all night and he gave up a lot of baserunners, at least for him. Hopefully it was just an off night, and not the Verducci Effect taking hold.
The playoff picture, as it currently stands:
The Milwaukee Brewers suffered a heartbreaking defeat today, blowing a four run lead in the 9th with two outs, giving up four runs to allow the Chicago Cubs to tie a game they went on to win 7-6 in 13 innings. If the Brewers weren't our direct playoff competition, I'd kind of feel sorry for them. As it is, I say w00t!!! The Brewers now sit two games behind the Phillies in the standings, and 1 1/2 games behind the Wild Card leading Mets.
As I type this, the New York Mets defeated the Washington Nationals 7-2 behind Johan Santana. The Phillies remain a half game ahead of the Mets.