Ain't The Beer Cold!

The sight of a usually taciturn Pat Burrell rushing out to home plate to hug Tadahito Iguchi, who had just scored the winning run, and then rushing over to first base to join the throng of his teammates pounding the back of Chase Utley, whose single drove in that run said it all. The Phillies had just concluded their most exciting four game series in more than a decade by sweeping the New York Mets to climb to within two games of first place in the NL East.

Burrell, left for dead two months ago, continued his remarkable, nay, astonishing comeback by blasting two more home runs off Mets pitching, one of them coming off former teammate and old nemesis Billy Wagner. The two round-trippers were his 40th and 41st against the Mets, passing Willie Mays for most all-time. There were, of course, a lot of heroes yesterday, none perhaps bigger than Jayson Werth, also resurrected of late, who stole second and third base off Wagner in the bottom of the ninth with the Phils trailing by two runs. Iguchi knocked in Werth to tie the game and promptly stole second base. Jimmy Rollins was then given an intentional pass setting up Utley's game-winning single. When Shane Victorino is healthy enough to play every day the Phillies are going to have a dilemma with Werth also deserving of a starting role. If Aaron Rowand departs after the season, the answer as to his replacement may already be in place. Victorino, by the way, is hardly pouting on the bench. For the second straight day he delivered a pinch-hit when called on.

Ryan Howard also continued his own resurgence by delivering a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Phils the first of three leads they held and lost before the ninth inning heroics. Howard has raised his average fifteen points in the last week while hitting three home runs and cutting down dramatically on his strikeouts.

The bullpen nearly coughed up the game when Goeff Geary and Antonio Alfonseca could not hold the Mets, but Flash Gordon picked a good time to finally deliver, holding the Mets scoreless in the ninth to pick up his second win of the season.

This series had it all: drama, luck, controversy and sold-out crowds whooping it up and cheering wildly. The Phils returned the favor by giving them plenty to cheer about. Baseball doesn't get any more exciting than the last four days.