Brett Myers was superb last night in New York, plain and simple. He threw first pitch strikes. He used a devastating curve to great effect. He worked out of jams. He even ran the bases hard. He stepped up when his mates needed him most. Oh, and by the way, his victory gave him the second best record among starting pitchers since the All Star game. He is 6-1 in nine appearances since he returned from his forced sojourn in the minor leagues. Over his last four starts Myers sports an 0.58 ERA. Only C.C. Sabathia has out pitched Myers during that period and the former needed an other worldly string of outings to do so.
Joe Blanton was allegedly the Phils' major pickup before the July trading deadline but everyone now knows Myers, who returned to the big leagues on July 20, was really the most important acquisition. The Myers who went down to the minors 20 days earlier, demoralized and discombobulated, couldn't have fetched anything of value except, as it turned out, himself!!
With Hamels and Myers at the top of the rotation, the Phils finally have a one-two punch to throw at the opposition. If the generally punchless offense can get its act together the Phils might have a chance in the off-season. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Even last night's 3-0 victory over the Mets featured a mere four hits, one of which (Greg Dobbs two-run homer) glanced off the glove of rightfielder Ryan Church. Still, they didn't need more offense than that with Myers on the hill.
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