Back in First!

The Phillies have returned to first place after beating the Nationals 8-5. After a poor first inning, Moyer rebounded and pitched well only to watch the offense give him plenty of run support. Chase Utley homered for the second straight and Shane Victorino continued his scorching hot July, homering for the 7th time this month. It became the Phillies 3rd come from behind win in their last 4 games. Shane Victorino had 3 RBIs, while Pat Burrell and Chase Utley each had 2.

Moyers allowed 3 earned in 6 innings, notching his 10th straight start of only allowing 3 runs or less. Jamie Moyer also became the Phillies first 10 game winner on the season. Moyer's biggest impact on the game however was when he worked a walk in the 5th inning. Jimmy Rollins followed with a RBI double to tie the game at the 3 and the offensive flood gates opened from there.


So, the Phillies have returned to first place and it feels like a bit of relief. We're still breathing. Tomorrow is the trade deadline and I'd expect the Phillies to be rather quiet. The Phillies best moves are still for their offense and rotation to improve back to their norms. It'll happen, everyone slumps. I expect that the Phillies will try to acquire a left-handed reliever at some point, whether it is before tomorrow's deadline or after through the waiver-trades (similar to how they acquired Jamie Moyer). Their best move this year may be to not make a move at all. We don't want them to make another "Joe Blanton type move" where it looks like they made a move just to say they did.