Phils Chance At Redemption

Fresh off an impressive sweep of the Chicago Cubs, the Phillies are set for a very important weekend series against the Atlanta Braves. This is a huge series because it gives the Phils a chance to redeem themselves, even if just a little bit, from their horrible performance against division rivals, the Florida Marlins last weekend in which the Marlins took it to the Phils to the tune of an embarrassing three game sweep in their own ballpark.

Fresh off an impressive sweep of the Chicago Cubs, the Phillies are set for a very important weekend series against the Atlanta Braves. This is a huge series because it gives the Phils a chance to redeem themselves, even if just a little bit, from their horrible performance against division rivals, the Florida Marlins last weekend in which the Marlins took it to the Phils to the tune of an embarrassing three game sweep in their own ballpark.

Granted, a sweep this weekend, which would put Philadelphia up by seven games with only fifty left to play would be wonderful, but coming off of their sweep of the Cubs, the Phils will be more than happy to leave Atlanta, having taken two of three and should also help them regain some credibility within the division after being embarrassed last weekend.

There are several keys to this weekend’s series, including whether or not struggling former ace Cole Hamels can pull it together enough to turn in a passable performance on Saturday night, but the main key is the Phils’ offense. While it certainly showed some signs of life on Wednesday and Thursday, it seemed to be lost in a deep slumber prior to that. In the five games before Wednesday’s outburst they scored a measly sixteen runs, barely more than three a game, which for an offense that is usually dominant, is almost embarrassing.

It will certainly not be devastating if the Phils drop two of the three games, or even if they get swept this weekend, but it will definitely raise questions about the team’s “killer instinct” and ability to turn things up a notch in big games against important opponents.

The Braves will be coming at the Phils full throttle this weekend in Georgia to keep any hopes of catching the defending champions alive. In doing this, they will be throwing three very good pitchers at the Phils in Jair Jurrjens, arguably the Braves’ best pitcher on Friday, Kenshin Kawakami, who is coming off of a fantastic start against the Dodgers last Saturday where he went seven shut-out innings giving up only four hits and Javier Vazquez, who is sporting a shiny 10 – 7 record with a 2.90 earned run average. The key to this weekend’s series is how the Phils offense responds to three very solid pitchers in a very important mid-August series against a tough divisional opponent.