Are The Phils Finally Back On Track?

Interleague play has never been very kind to the Phillies (if you don't count the 2008 World Series, of course), but their recent swoon may finally be over as they've now won 3 out of 4 against two AL East powers. After a pair of drubbings by the Boston Red Sox to begin the road trip that ended tonight, the Phils got another strong start by Cole Hamels to win the finale at Fenway. Things looked bleak after the New York Yankees roughed up Roy Halladay on Tuesday. The Phils, losers of 15 of their last 21, have fallen into third place in the NL East and had Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick starting the next two nights. Both struggled in their last starts, with the word "struggle" being an understatement in Moyer's case: 9 runs in one-plus inning.

But Moyer got early offensive support and pitched eight very fine innings as the Phils won 6-3 last night. Moyer allowed just three hits, two of them solo homers. Kendrick went seven tonight, allowing just one run in the 7-1 win, and in a way his performance might have been even more impressive than Moyer's. While the Phils scored all 6 of their runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings last night, tonight the game was scoreless until the 4th. The Yankees had two on with one out in the 2nd. Kendrick has shown a propensity to lose his composure at times like this, but he got out of the inning without any damage.

The Chronicles Of Birthday: The Glee, The Flyers And The Phillies

As Fox was kind enough to air the special "The Power of Madonna" episode of "Glee" on my birthday, I decided to a) watch it and b) drink. I watched the show at Tabu Lounge and Sports Bar, a new hotspot in the Gayborhood (but one where everyone is welcome), in their lounge on their second-floor, while missing the end of the Phillies and Flyers games (which were playing on the TVs on the first floor). At the time I went upstairs for the show, the Phillies had just scored a run in the 5th to take a 2-0 lead over Atlanta, and the Flyers were trailing the New Jersey Devils 1-0 in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

So how did things turn out?

"Glee" was fabulous. It was a love letter to Madonna, at times so much as to make me wonder if she had script approval. Besides the musical numbers, the rest of the show was enjoyable as well. However, I find myself wondering if I am truly finally getting into the spirit of "Glee" or if I was swayed by the Madonna influence and/or the alcohol.

Phils: Great Start, But...Phanatic: Great. Period.

It occurs to me that I haven't discussed my baseball team since the season started. There are lots of good things happening with the Phillies...and some things that are bad not so good.

Good: The Phillies are off to a 7-1 start, their best start since 1993. After the last few years of poor starts, this is a refreshing change.
Not So Good: All of their games have been against woeful Washington and hideous Houston (who still hasn't won a game).

Good: The Phillies are scoring runs in bunches. In their 8 games they've scored 11, 8, 5, 8, 9, 2, 7 and 14.
Not So Good: Again, all of this is against Washington and Houston.

Good: In the only game they didn't score 5 or more, the Phils still won 2-1 thanks to Roy Halladay, who pitched a complete game. He's won both of his starts, allowing just one earned run in 16 innings, walking 2 and striking out 17. Halladay has completely lived up to his reputation so far. J.A. Happ won his first start as well without allowing a run...
Not So Good: ...but Happ was in and out of trouble. He only lasted 5-plus innings, throwing 104 pitches. And the rest of the rotation has fallen far short of Halladay's excellence.