Left Field Lite: Don’t Call it a Comeback

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With his win on Sunday, Jamie Moyer tied Roy Halladay as the Phillies’ wins leader.

You know, for a little while there, things were a little scary for Phillies fans. While the Phillies offense has slumped in seasons past, this year anemic didn’t even begin to describe it. Normally the “June Swoon” comes during interleague play. This year, the Phils were slumping entering interleague play. Within a week, the Phillies dropped from being right behind the Braves in the standings to 5.5 games out of first place.

Well, with a solid win against the Blue Jays today, the Phillies look to be back on track, averaging 7 runs a game in their last 5 games, finding themselves now only 2.5 games back and closing in on an early July showdown with the Braves. But as the great LL Cool J once said in his song “Mama Said Knock You Out,” “Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years.”

Ryan Howard 4, Atlanta Braves 1

After a devastating loss to the Atlanta Braves yesterday, the Fightin’ Phils looked to take the rubber-match of the three-game series at Turner Field. After an hour and forty-five minute rain delay, the nationally-televised game had first pitch at 9:45 PM.

And So It Begins…

As first pitch neared at Wrigley Field tonight, I, like many other Phillies fans, took a deep breath as the Pedro Martinez era began on the road against the Chicago Cubs, praying the rotation reshuffle would turn out to be the right move.

In his first major league outing in 10 months, Pedro proved to be fairly effective, going five innings, allowing seven hits, one walk, and striking out five as the Phillies cruised to a 12-5 victory over the Cubs. His first strikeout in a Phillies uniform also gave him sole possession of the 13th place on the all-time strikeout list, passing Cardinals legend Bob Gibson.