Double the Opportunity for Phils
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Jamie Moyer and Joe Blanton take the hill for the Phils Tuesday.
The Phillies could basically put the division away if they sweep the Marlins in a twi-night doubleheader.
And with Fish killers Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer taking the hill the possibility of a sweep isn’t out of the question.
Blanton was 3-1 with a 3.42 ERA and a 25:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in four career starts against the Marlins.
Moyer was even more impressive in 16 career starts against Florida. He was 13-3 with a 2.87 ERA and a 62:23 K-to-BB ratio in 100.1 innings against the Fish.
With the one-two punch of Blanton and Moyer the Phillies could take their magic number over Florida down to just two games.
Even if the Braves win at New York the Phillies’ magic number will drop to five with 12 games remaining.
Let’s be honest -- the Phillies will make the playoffs. They entered play Tuesday with a 99.8-percent chance of making the playoffs, according to ESPN.
They won’t blow that lead even with two teams on their tail.
So the real question is will the Phillies try to beat out both the Dodgers and Cardinals for the best record in the National League and earn the home field advantage?
The Phillies won’t need to battle it out for home field because they are the best road team in baseball posting a 45-29 record (entering Tuesday’s games) away from Citizens Bank Park.
But the may want to battle it out for opponent.
The Phillies should concern themselves with finishing ahead of the Cardinals. If the Phillies beat out St. Louis than they will get the (likely) Wild-Card Rockies at home instead of playing the Dodgers in L.A.
The Rockies rotation of Ubaldo Jimenez, Jason Marquis and Jason Hammel is much less formidable in a five-game division series than the Dodgers’ rotation lead by Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw..
So for now enjoy double the baseball action Tuesday and let’s hope that in two weeks the Phillies will be opening the playoffs with a chance to exact some 2007-style revenge against Colorado.
Posted Tuesday, Sep 22, 2009 - 11:04 AM EST
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