For a moment it looked like the Philadelphia Phillies were going to start mounting a charge in the National League East. But with inconsistency in their everyday lineup and throughout the rotation (except for Cliff Lee) it just hasn’t happened.
The Cincinnati Reds were on a fantastic roll heading into last night’s game against Philadelphia. The Reds had won 6 in a row and 8 of 10 to put some pressure on the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central.
The Phillies should be encouraged by the fact that they got a solid pitching performance from Roy Halladay yesterday. After taking two of three against the Marlins they are at .500 but still looking way up at the Braves in the National League East standings.
The Mets have taken advantage of their schedule to get off to a nice start.
They are just behind the Braves in the National League East standings and if they can get another series win in Philadelphia they will really be pleased with themselves.
The Phillies have not gotten off to a good start and are looking to salvage a game in this opening series against division rival Atlanta. Starter Roy Halladay gave a confounding performance yesterday, racking up the strikeouts while giving up the long ball.
Philadelphia owned the NL East in recent years with five-straight division titles from 2007 until 2011 including a World Series Championship in 2008, but it suffered a harsh dose of reality last season that a good thing does not last forever.
After a solid first half where the Blue Jays were in the AL East race they have sputtered and they are now in the basement of the division and have lost 7 of their last 10 games.
While the Phillies have won 2 straight they are only 3-7 in their last 10 games and they are 14 games out of first place in the NL East. If Philly does not start winning they may shelve the season and trade away some of their key players.
Are things finally going to start to turn for Philly? They just got back Chase Utley (homer in first AB) and slugger Ryan Howard is rumoured to be not that far behind. The team may be 9 games back right now but if they are full strength in the second half I think most would expect them to make a run.
The Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles meet in an interesting Interleague matchup this weekend. Philadelphia was expected to be the team near the top of their division, but the Orioles come in with an impressive record in 2012.
A couple weeks ago the Dodgers were running away with the best record in baseball and the National League West, but they’ve hit the skids a bit lately.
The season started with controversy and disappointment in Miami, but a 21-8 May turned that around quickly.
The Washington Nationals have done it with pitching all year, and the first two games of this series have been a perfect example of what their pitching staff has done in 2012.
The Phillies came into the season as the big favorite in the National League East, but they sit in last place in the highly competitive division right now.
Interleague play gets underway Friday night for the first time this season.
Tonight’s match up in the Windy City is one between a couple of teams in the basement in their respective divisions. While the Phillies have won 4 straight they are sill in last place in the NL East since each team in the division is playing well.
