In this topsy turvy season three straight victories at home trumps a weekend sweep of a team impersonating the New York Mets every time.
As Chris Wheeler (and thousands others) pointed out in his wrap-up, the team the Phillies knocked off hardly resembles the one at the start of the season but the whole point is to beat up on teams who are down because injured players do come back.
The home team got excellent starting pitching for the entire series especially when such charter members of the Phillies-killers society as Carlos Delgado remained on the shelf. Still, the Mets were able to trot out a few other members of that far-from-exclusive club including Fernando Tatis and Luis Castillo. The Mets scored three runs all weekend.
Meanwhile, back at the suddenly friendly environs of Citizens Bank Park, one James Rollins continued to show signs of finding his stroke as produced key hits throughout the series, not the least of which was a home run on Johann Santana's second pitch of the finale. Chase Utley added a solo shot to account for two of the team's three hits, but Joe Blanton and the bullpen were stingier.
We'll see how friendly the confines remain when the Cincinnati Reds arrive for four games. Cole Hamels, who has struggled mightily his last three times out, gets the ball. A quality start from him just might make this new-found success at home something more than an anomaly.
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