Phillies Ride The See-Saw Back to 1st Place

With the 3-2 win over the Marlins and a Mets loss, the Phillies regain first place again in the NL East and lead by ½ a game.  It was a rough game and the Fish did not go down easy, but this win means the Phils need only 5 more wins to ensure a playoff spot.  The bullpen was excellent tonight with Chad Durbin, JC Romero, Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge combining to finish 4 scoreless innings.  Nice to see the pen back in top shape.  Starter Joe Blanton went five innings and gave up 2 runs on four hits and 2 walks.  Not too bad, considering he has done far worse in previous outings.

The other great story in this game was Greg Dobbs.  Anyone who has said the man can’t field at third base can now eat their words.  Tasty though, isn’t it?  Dobbs made a number of spectacular plays at third, including a bare handed grab on a short grounder and toss to Howard for an out and a game saving throw to Carlos Ruiz on another short hopper to throw out the potential tying run at the plate in the 8th inning.  And his bat was hot again as well…Dobbs went 2 for 4 with an RBI.  He continues to prove he is starter material and with the number of starts he has gotten of late, it is obvious that the coaching staff has taken notice.  Shane Victorino came up big as well, especially in the 4th inning with a solo homer.  I think this photo sums up the offensive side of the game well…

And this one sums up the end result:

One more game against the Fish and tomorrow I will have a better seat for photos…not that I mind sitting in the 5th row directly behind home plate, but that stupid net is not fun to shoot through J  Look for me tomorrow in the front row above the Phillies dugout…I’ll be cheering on our boys and taking jabs from the Fish fans.  Well, I should say the Marlins fans are more congenial than most places when you are the visiting fan.  It’s all that sunshine and nice weather…keeps the Southern Floridians mild-mannered J  Fingers crossed for a series win tomorrow…Go Phillies!