Take That, Nationals

Take a bow, Charlie!

It only took 17 games for the 2007 Philadelphia Phillies to finally get two consecutive wins and their first series victory of the season. This compares favorably to the seminal 1997 squad, which took 15 games to complete the same feat.

Apparently there was a team meeting that took place before Saturday's game that is attributed to the team's little turnaround. I'd say what the Phils needed was a nice big dose of Vitamin C:

Cole Hamels went the distance with 15 Ks on Saturday, followed by a solid performance by Freddy Garcia today. Can we stop the insanity now? Brett Myers is still this team's "ace" like Robin Williams is still "funny." Let's be real. Hamels took the No. 1 spot last August and hasn't let go since then.

It's been a euphoric weekend in general. The top third of the order is hitting again (and Pat Burrell is still over .300). Chase Utley stole a base. Tom Gordon, despite his best efforts, didn't blow a game. And most importantly, Ryan Howard returned and hit his second home run of the year. Who cares if runners are stealing on Carlos Ruiz at a rate that would alarm the MPAA?

Essentially, everyone is playing to their potential for this brief moment in time. The result: the Phillies are out of the cellar. Hopefully it'll stay that way after this week's upcoming blood feud with the gNats.

I'm shocked. There's nothing substantially negative to say right now.




Ha! Almost fooled myself there. The very same day the Phils climbed out of last place, a top of the table clash in the NL East served as a reminder of how difficult it is to overcome such a slow start. The Mets and the Braves hit the ground running and have already built a 5-game lead over Philly.

Remember when Scott Rolen said he used to get depressed playing for the Phillies because after a brief winning streak in July, he'd open the paper and discover that they were still 15 games behind?

Well, everyone should just avoid the Inquirer for the rest of the month, take a deep breath, and remember--it's just two games.