The Phillies boarded a plane for Philadelphia last night, ready to enjoy their first real day off since April 10.
That's a good thing.
"It seemed like we had a lot of things going on," said manager Charlie Manuel, referring to the team's just completed 10-game road trip. "We had injuries. Missing people. Not having our lineup. Not having our bullpen. There was a lot going on, but at the same time I felt like we dealt with it pretty good. Right now we're trying like hell to get to .500. I feel we get to .500 and we can take off and get back in the race."
They begin a 10-game homestand tomorrow night against the Chicago Cubs.
Is that a good thing? The Phillies, who beat Arizona 9-3 yesterday at Chase Field, play three this weekend against the Cubs, who have won eight of their last 10. They are the hottest team in the National League right now ... other than the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers have won 9 of 10, own the best record in baseball and roll into town for a four-game series next week. The Phillies close the homestand against the struggling Toronto Blue Jays.
The Phillies are 15-19, so they would need to go 7-3 on the homestand to reach the .500 mark for the first time this season. That seems to be much to ask of a team that is maddeningly inconsistent and has Tom Gordon and Ryan Madson on the DL and Ryan Howard battling a sore left quadriceps.
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Howard said before yesterday's victory that he hoped to return to the lineup tomorrow night against the Cubs. It will be interesting to see because the Phillies face a pair of lefthanders this weekend: Rich Hill tomorrow and Ted Lilly on Sunday -- and Howrd has struggled miserably against lefthanders this season. Is it possible the Phillies rest him through the weekend? I very much doubt it, but I wouldn't be totally shocked if it happened.
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Howard is 3 for 21 (.143) in May.
His three hits are home runs.
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Everybody can relax. Brett Myers threw a two-inning save last night against the Diamondbacks.
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Shane Victorino, on Randy Johnson's early dominance. Johnson struck out the first six batters he faced and had a three-hit shutout through six innings: "Randy came out with all that he had. He was painting on the inner half at 94, 95. His slider was working. For the most part everything was going well. Sometimes I felt like I should have gone up there without a bat."
