Wild Card Race Ground ZERO? Philadelphia --
Reds vs. Phillies Citizens Bank Park
Last Modified
8/11/2006 7:31 PM
Byline: Mike Cunningham
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Story Summary
Wait a minute? Meaningful baseball in August? You are kidding me right? Nope... not kidding. 3 games against the Reds who lead the Wild Card. Phils are just 3 games back.
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The Phillies have an important 7 game stretch on this 10 game homestand. 3 with the Cincinnati Reds who are atop the Wild Card Race. With the Phillies 3 games behind a sweep will put them even with the Reds. Will that put them into a tie for first would depend on what the Dodgers do over that span. And the other 4 teams that the Phillies must contend with. But they can't worry about those other teams. They must focus on the Reds.
Can the Phillies win the Wild Card? It's debatable, when you consider that they might only be the 21st best team in the league.After the 3 game set with the Reds, the Mets come to town. After taking 2 of 3 against the Mets in Shea. If the Phillies do no worse than Split with the Mets, it should give them enough confidence to start pounding The Nationals and Cubs before heading back to shea, the last weekend of the Month. Where will the Phillies be after that stretch?
You see, this is why baseball is great. No matter how many times you count out a team. The season is long. And no matter what flaws a team has, you can go on a great run, and make some noise. But if you are an Eagles fan, you won't notice, because you will be watching games, that REALLY don't matter. NFL Preseason football.