Phils' w000000000000000000000000000es

Yes, there are 27 zeroes in the title of this post. That represents the zeroes put up on the scoreboard by the Phillies the last three nights in getting swept by the Mets. This is par for the course for the Phils -- when they open up a bit of a lead in the NL East, instead of pouring it on and blowing the division wide open, they inexplicably stumble and allow the rest of the teams to hang around.

On Friday night in the 6th inning Jimmy Rollins singled and, running to first base, reinjured his calf and had to leave the game. Pinch-runner Juan Castro eventually scored. Rollins went back on the disabled list and the Phils have scored just three runs since -- all in the 9th inning Sunday, in a game they trailed 8-0 at the time. They've been blanked in 46 of their last 47 innings. With that lineup, even without Rollins, that should be impossible.

At the end of play Friday the Phils had a 4 1/2-game lead over Atlanta. Their five-game losing streak has allowed the Braves to gain 3 games in the standings since then.
Washington also gained 3. Florida has picked up 2, and the Mets -- who were floundering and had people wondering how long before they fired manager Jerry Manuel -- have won five in a row to go from 7 games behind to just 2 out now. Every team is now within 3 games of the first-place Phils.

Of course, no one expects this to go on forever; people expect to be once again ooh-ing and aah-ing at the massive run totals again. But it makes me wonder, what with the bullpen still in flux and the starting rotation still having its ups and downs (even Roy Halladay looked less than superhuman in his last start), what if the Phils don't reach those levels? If, between injuries (Rollins, Carlos Ruiz) and age (Raul Ibanez), the Phils' offense is just in the middle of the pack instead of on top, do they have what it takes to get back to the playoffs and World Series?

The good news is that the Phillies are very fortunate in three ways right now. Despite their problems they are still in first place. They still have a ton of goodwill built up thanks to the last few years' success. And most fans are too obsessed with the Flyers' Stanley Cup run to be really angry.