Phillies Must Have Consistent Success Before Slump Can Be Considered Over

The Phillies have been here before. During the last two and a half months, the Phillies have gone on small runs like they are on right now against the Colorado Rockies.

The Phillies would win three or four games in a row and the talk around town would be that the Phillies are “back”.  After the 4 game sweep over the Rockies, a lot of that talk is sure to start back up.

However, it’s far from a sure thing that the team’s strong play is here to stay. Remember that after the Phillies had a good run against the Yankees/Indians/Blue Jays/Reds everyone thought that the Phillies were back on track, only to fall back into more disappointing play.

Are the Phillies really back this time, or is it another tease?

This time, there is more reason to be optimistic. The Phillies play over the weekend has easily been their best in some time. They have benefitted from great performances from both pitching and the offense. The starters have gone deep into games. The offense has been able to work pitch counts effectively, get walks, take advantage of errors, and come up with clutch hits.

The Phillies chased Cy Young candidate Ubaldo Jimenez on Saturday after just two innings. They scored no less than four runs per game, and more than five runs in three of the four games. This looks a little more like the offense that Philadelphia is used to seeing. Ryan Howard remains hot, and even Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez have been throwing in some hits. Charlie Manuel has also done a better job of using his bench, Ben Francisco, Greg Dobbs, Ross Gload, and Brian Schneider all made significant contributions in the series.

Compare this series to the one when the Phillies swept the Reds. The offense was barely present for those games. Three of the four wins came as a result of the Phillies pitching rising to the challenge, with even Kyle Kendrick matching the Red’s starters.

Now the Phillies need to prove that they are back by sustaining this level of play over time. They have a great opportunity to gain momentum with games against the Diamondbacks and Nationals this week. That doesn’t mean they have to win every game, but they can’t come back flat and lose a series to either of these inferior teams like they did against Chicago and Pittsburgh.