Phillies Sweep Braves in Atlanta!

[ngineer]

The Red Pinstripe juggernaut continues to roll! Phils sweep Atlanta to win their 15th out of last 19 games....xthumbsupx

[aust42]

Phillies are playing great. Hopefully it continues throughout the year.

[Blue Hen Nation]

The Sillies are doing what they haven't done over the last few seasons, winning games early. Congrats boys!

[citdog]

lots of baseball left. the phillies will do what the phillies do......fold up like a cheap lawn chair

[93henfan]

fold up like a cheap lawn chair

Nope, that's the Mets. Weren't you paying attention last year?

[seantaylor]

The Phillies have the very weak NL East locked. The only team that will make any noise are the Marlins.

[bluehenbillk]

Phils are playing great baseball right now, getting really good pitching & timely hitting as of late, which is what you need as the offensive explosion they had a week or two ago isn't something you can count on all the time.

Still have to complete a tough 12-game stretch, at the Fish & Cards & then host the 2 best teams in the AL.

[DSUrocks07]

Utley for NL MVP xnodx

man that would be three straight years for the Phils...all different players xeekx ...thats unprecedented

[whitey]

The Phillies have the very weak NL East locked. The only team that will make any noise are the Marlins.

Wow. Wrong x 3.

First and foremost the NL East is not very weak. It's actually the best division in the National League.

Second, a 7.5 game lead in June is far from a lock. BP's postseason odds (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/ps_odds.php) have Philadelphia with only a 58% chance right now to win the division.

Third the Marlins are probably the 4th best team in the division (an argument could be made for 3rd best). The Braves have been extremely unlucky through the first two months. Their expected pythag (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_expectation) record has them at 37-27. These things tend to even out as the season progresses (look at the Yankees last year).

The Mets on the other hand are a complete mess right now and look like what their record says they are (a .500 ball club). With the talent on that roster it's mind boggling to see that team under perform collectively at the scale they are. A shakeup (either on the roster or in management) should be expected in the next couple of weeks. Will it work? I have no idea. But either way I can't see the Mets finishing worse then 3rd in the division.

[foghorn]

The Phillies just put the final nails in the Braves' coffin. And now, no more Smoltz.xbawlingx Looks like the Mets' savior, Mr. Martinez, is done too!xbawlingx
Chase is Mr. Baseball right now, and there is no closer better than Lidge. Best acquisition by any team: Mr. 'Lights out', Brad Lidge. And the 'Big Man', Mr. Howard, seems to be getting in the groove. He can carry that team alone for a couple of weeks, but he doesn't have to. :p
Go Phils, go Uncle Charlie!xnodx

[Ivytalk]

It's been a great 3 weeks, but I'm a natural skeptic. Let's see how things look a month from now.xpeacex

[93henfan]

I'm a natural skeptic

You have to be if you're a Philly fan. 100 consecutive seasons with no championships in a four-sport town has that effect on us.xoopsx

[Go...gate]

Wow. Wrong x 3.

First and foremost the NL East is not very weak. It's actually the best division in the National League.

Second, a 7.5 game lead in June is far from a lock. BP's postseason odds (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/statistics/ps_odds.php) have Philadelphia with only a 58% chance right now to win the division.

Third the Marlins are probably the 4th best team in the division (an argument could be made for 3rd best). The Braves have been extremely unlucky through the first two months. Their expected pythag (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_expectation) record has them at 37-27. These things tend to even out as the season progresses (look at the Yankees last year).

The Mets on the other hand are a complete mess right now and look like what their record says they are (a .500 ball club). With the talent on that roster it's mind boggling to see that team under perform collectively at the scale they are. A shakeup (either on the roster or in management) should be expected in the next couple of weeks. Will it work? I have no idea. But either way I can't see the Mets finishing worse then 3rd in the division.

Well said, but I think it is Philadelphia's pennant to lose.

[ngineer]

Well said, but I think it is Philadelphia's pennant to lose.

Let's worry about the Division first.;) I think the NL East is the toughest of the NL. Only Washington has no shot. But I do agree that once we get to the end of June (after facing the Red Sox and Angels) we'll know how 'for real' they are. IMO, they have shown all the characteristics of a team that will be there in the end (barring any serious injury to a significant player--though they have shown an ability to meet those challenges, too.)