Now, we all know that I can be a bit reactionary (I would argue that baseball fans have to be because of the length of the season), so I am not going to pretend that I am not being so today.<\/p>\n
That being said, I believe that tonight’s start by Antonio Bastardo–the second of his Major League career–may be one of those games that we look to at the end of the season as being worth significantly more than 1\/162nd of the regular season.\u00a0 So, it is all on you, Mr. Bastardo.<\/p>\n
The Phils swept three from the lowly Nationals last weekend, went straight to sunny San Diego and took three more from the Pads (who has a 10-game home winning streak before the sweep), and then got an incredibly pitching performance from their ace to win the first game of a 4-game set in LA Thursday night.\u00a0 That 7-game winning streak would be a 9-game winning streak today if Brad Lidge were still perfect.\u00a0 But, Lidge blew back-to-back saves, with Andre Ethier hitting a walkoff\u00a0 double and a walkoff homer in\u00a0two nights\u00a0and now the Phils need\u00a0a win in\u00a0a random June game.<\/p>\n
The baseball season is a marathon–we all know this–and the good teams will probably still be alive in one race or another come September, so the season will be judged by how you play then.\u00a0 But, there are also significant ebbs and flows that can, in the end, but a subtle difference between a playoff berth and a “wait til next year.”\u00a0 This game could be the flower or the ebber of this part of the season.<\/p>\n
A win tonight for the Phils (hopefully, with\u00a0a Lidge save) will give them a split in LA–a pretty decent result, considering the Dodgers have the best record in baseball.\u00a0 But, it will also give them confidence because they should have won all 4.\u00a0 But, a loss will be a series loss and will probably bring back up the questions about whether or not the Phillies are true contenders or just merciless brutes who destroy bad teams, but can’t beat good teams.\u00a0 And,\u00a0all of this will fester on a Monday off day and a cross-country flight, to prepare for a three-game set with…<\/p>\n
The Mets.\u00a0 That is right.\u00a0 The Phils get a three-game tilt with the arch-rivals from the north Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.\u00a0 So, this game is even bigger because this week could be huge in the NL East standings.\u00a0 The Mets are beat up.\u00a0 Delgado is probably done for the year (and has not yet been replaced by Nick Johnson); Ryan Church is out for a while; Reyes is questionable for the series; and, surprisingly, the 40+ year old Sheffield is banged up, as well.\u00a0 This is the time for the Phils to take some momentum into this series, win the series convincingly, and put some distance between them and the rest of the division.<\/p>\n
But, that momentum must start with tonight’s game and, more appropriately, it starts with tonight’s starter, Antonio Bastardo.\u00a0 With a World Series MVP, a 250-game winner, a veteran, and a highly-touted prospect in the other four positions of the rotation, it should not come down to a one-pitch marginal prospect making his second ML start on June 7th to throw a “big game.”<\/p>\n
But, it has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Now, we all know that I can be a bit reactionary (I would argue that baseball fans have to be because of the length of the season), so I am not going to pretend that I am not being so … Continue reading