If the Phillies manage to hold on to this half game lead in the wild card race until the season runs out (pleasepleaseplease), the third inning of yesterday’s 10-7 win over the Florida Marlins will encompass the long strange trip this has been. The Phils were down 4-0 in the third inning – not good in a to-the-wire pennant race where there is no room for error. But they didn’t roll over and die.......

How did they do it? Go from holding a blow out Fire Sale to being tied for the wild card? A lot of good pitching, a home run champion and a good dose of luck. Yes, the Phillies have finally caught up with the leader of the Wild Card race and are now tied with the Dodges with nine games to go. They’re beyond having to win every series. The must win every game......

Rainy Sundays aren't usually good for much. The malls and movie theaters are jammed, the parks in Center City are, shall we say, outdoors, and you can't play baseball. The latter problem applied to the Phillies and Mets yesterday, whose game at Shea Stadium was rained out. But Phillies GM Pat Gillick made the most of his spare time, trading a bag of money and the famous "player to be named later" for Baltimore Orioles......

A three-game winning streak? Could it be? We think so. The Phils took one out of three from the terrible Pittsburg Pirates and then won both in a set with the Florida Marlins. The Phils are coming home after a slightly better road trip than their last home stand. That's not saying much – they looked like dead men walking when they last took up residence at Citizens Bank Park. So how many fans......

The Houston Astros lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates last night, 7 - 0 at PNC Park. No no, this isn't suddenly Pittsburghist. We're interested in this game because the Astros were sitting a game and a half ahead of the Phillies heading into last night's action. After the loss, the Astros find themselves only one game ahead of the Phillies, sure to make the eventual Phillies collapse that much more heartbreaking. The Phillies, Astros and......

The Phillies played in front of the smallest crowd in Citizens Bank Park history last night, but the lack of attention suited them just fine: the Phils, behind winless rookie pitcher Eude Brito, topped the Braves and ace starter Tim Hudson 4-1. The Phils only needed a 2-RBI, bases loaded single from Pat Burrell to jump out to a lead. Brito took the team the rest of the way, baffling Braves hitters who knew next-to-nothing......

Even though the Eagles are starting their season tonight, we're going to annoy you for a moment with some Phillies news. After some heartbreaking losses to the Astros, the Phillies came roaring back by taking 2 games out of 3 from the Florida Marlins over the weekend. The wins pulled the Phils to a game and a half behind the wild card leading Astros and a game behind the second place Marlins. Tonight, the Phillies......

Friday night, Ryan Howard came to the plate representing the winning run in a 9-7 game in the bottom of the ninth inning against Florida closer Todd Jones, and Howard struck out looking. Todd Jones collected his 200th save, and finished off the Phils on a night when it looked like it would be hard to come back, but Philadelphia fought back from a 8-3 deficit in the sixth inning to make it competitive again......