Cliches

One of the most popular clinches we can expect to hear from under performing clubs late in the season is the self-deluding one that urges listeners to embrace the mistaken belief that there is "a lot of baseball left". Another popular one uttered by teams in second place is how "this club never gives up". Somewhere along about September, someone on a team playing catch up will acknowledge "these games really count"...as if the first 140 or so were all just preamble. Finally, there is the old standby that reminds fans "we've been in this position before and we know what we have to do".

No matter how much spin they put on the series they just lost in Washington, the Phillies are not only running out of time under normal circumstances, that is, unless we see another historic collapse by the Mets, but more troubling are showing no signs of consistency let alone urgency. While it's true Washington was on something of a tear prior to the start of this series, we are not talking about a starting rotation or lineup that strikes fear in the opposition. With their two wins over the Phadins, the Nats record stands at 54-86, 25 games behind the division-leading Mets. These guys aren't exactly the 2007 Phillies let alone the '27 Yankees.

Quite simply, the Phadins blew it, and frankly cracks are beginning to open up in the once-reliable bullpen that has been blowing leads left and right at the worst possible time. They blew two of two of them last night alone, wasting a two home-run evening by Ryan Howard. What makes all this hard to stomach is that the Phadins big hitters seem to be coming around (with the exception of Pat Burrell) of late. What makes it even harder to digest is that the Mets bullpen was the one that was supposed to be in shambles.

How quickly the euphoria of taking the final two games against the Cubs in Wrigley has faded. While the Phillies were stumbling in the nation's capital, the Mets were sweeping the Brewers in Milwaukee to open a three game. Lest anyone think the Wild Card may be the road to the post season, a look at those standings shows the Phadins now trail Milwaukee by 4.5 games in that race. The Phadins host the Brew Crew next week for four games and you can be sure if the home team doesn't have much incentive to get up for that series the Brewers sure do. Before that series gets underway, however, the Phadins face the Mets in New York this weekend for three games. By Sunday night we should know a lot more about what cliches we can expect to hear next.