The Zo Zone

Are the Phillies hot?

Relatively speaking, yes. They were 4-11 and the worst team in baseball when this mini-streak started Saturday after Charlie Manuel called a team meeting in Cincinnati. But they're not there yet. The Phillies banged out 20 hits in an 11-4 victory over Houston last night at Citizens Bank Park, and the past three games seem to be an indication that this once lifeless offense is snapping out of its funk. Now they just need to keep it going against a bad Nationals team beginning tonight in a three-game series at the Bank. There's no reason why the Phillies should not win this series. None.

But as I suspected in a previous post, Tom Gordon's handle on the closer's role isn't completely secure with Brett Myers' move into the bullpen. Manuel said last night that "we're committed to [Gordon] until Brett becomes better or whatever, and we'll see from there." He also added, "I don't know if it's a competition. But I hope it's a good setting for both of them because then we could have a strong bullpen. Myers will get some save opportunities. Gordon will, too."

I thought the Phillies made that move last week in Washington for two reasons: 1) They felt Jon Lieber would be much more effective as a starter, and 2) They were more concerned about Gordon than they had let on. Gordon has not looked sharp this season. In his first six appearances, he has not thrown a clean inning. He has not thrown his curveball nearly as much as he had in the past. I think the Phillies felt they needed to get Myers in there and accustomed to the bullpen ASAP so he could be immediately effective as a closer if the time came when they no longer could count on Gordon to get the job done.

Now, maybe Gordon gets rolling here and starts pitching like he did before the all-star break last season when he earned an all-star berth. If so, bonus for the Phillies. If not, Myers will be the man. That's a job Myers said in February -- when I was the first person to report about this possibility (with a lot of people calling me crazier than Britney Spears) -- he would like.

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Those unruly Phillies fans are at it again.

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Here's another look at Chase Utley's homer over the batter's eye against Houston. Just two players have accomplished that feat as far as I know: Utley and Ryan Howard.