Yes, I’ve made many comments before about how it’s still early, but it’s still fun to see the Phillies take back first place in the NL East from the Mutts.
After getting embarrassed on Friday night, the Phillies rallied over the weekend with a huge offensive outburst to take the final 2 games of the series with the Mets. After struggling to score runs the past few weeks, the Phillies picked the perfect time to find their bats. Scoring 21 runs in 2 games against the Mets, including 10 against the “best pitcher in the NL East” Johan Santana, is great. The Mets were the hottest team in baseball coming into South Philly and leave licking their wounds.
While beating the Mets was nice, an even better measuring stick looms ahead. Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals come to town for a 4 game set. The Cardinals figure to be one of the top teams in the NL, so it will be good to see how these two teams stack up. The Phillies usually tend to play well against St. Louis, so this will be an interesting series.
The Phillies also get some help in the starting rotation. Joe Blanton gets the start tonight as he makes his 2010 debut. The pitching has come around as of late, but Blanton has been the most consistent Phillies starter since he arrived 2 years ago, so it’s good to see him back.
It’s May 3rd and the Phillies are in first place. While that’s nice to see, it’s even better to see that the Phillies were able to recover from that drubbing on Friday night to take 2 of 3 from the Mets. Every game in the division is going to be important, and starting it off on the right foot against the Mets was great. Now it’s time to see where this Phillies team stacks up against the other top National League team.
