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ByRobert Dougherty,Yahoo! Contributor Network 9 hours, 25 minutes ago
ThePhiladelphia Phillieshave had a few tough losses lately. Since the Phillies have lost three games in a week after holding the lead in the ninth, us Philadelphia fans are starting to worry about the bullpen all over again. However, the team itself never seems to do much worrying, considering how it rallied after each tough defeat.
Just as they did after Roy Halladay(notes) blewa ninth-inning leadto theArizona Diamondbacksand after Ryan Madson(notes) was rockedin the ninthby theWashington Nationals, the Phillies recovered fromblowing a second leadto the Nationals on Sunday. They took their frustration out on theNew York Metswith a 10-0 win that gave the closers some much-needed rest.
Yet again, Philadelphia bounced back from a defeat and avoided falling into a losing streak. But that is what the Phillies have done all season, since they have only lost two or more straight games five times this year. It helps that they have the likes of Halladay, Cliff Lee(notes), Cole Hamels(notes), Roy Oswalt(notes) and Vance Worley(notes) to make that happen—with some periodic help from the offense.
In this case, coming back home and facing the Mets helped, as did having Lee on the mound. He is starting to dominate in August as easily as he did in June with only two earned runs given up this month. As for the offense, they worked six walks from starter Dillon Gee(notes) and took advantage, even though it was their first game for a while without Jimmy Rollins(notes).
The offense, in particular, seems to do better after a loss lately. After Halladay gave up his game to the Diamondbacks, the Phillies' batsran up seven runsin the last two innings the next night. Then after Madson's blown save on Friday, Philadelphia secured a5-0 winthe next night and got an even more lopsided shutout on Monday night.
The fact that the Phillies never seem to lose two or three games in a row is the best possible sign for October. They are not that used to recovering from losses, especially harsh ones like those from the last week. But each time Philadelphia has had its heart broken lately, it has not carried over to the next game.
After blowing the first game to the Diamondbacks, the Phillies took the next two to win that series—and it looked like they were going to do the same to the Nationals. But now they have a whole week at home to bounce backagainst NL East rivals—and hopefully there won't be any more rain delays to throw them off course.
The hope is that these last three blown leads are an anomaly, especially since the Phillies hadn't blown that many leads before then. But if they cough away games in the stretch drive and in October, they know that they can rally back behind their pitching—and occasionally the offense—to put it behind them. Of course, giving away games in October, against teams like theAtlanta BravesorMilwaukee Brewers, is much more different than a few blown saves in August.
Other stories from this contributor:
Phillies remain mediocre against National League's best
Phillies need Vance Worley to bounce back against Diamondbacks
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