Thursday, September 16, 2010

Halladay wins 19th in sweep over Fish, Phils 3 games up

The Phillies completed the sweep over the Marlins last night, finalizing their record against Florida this season at 13-5. More importantly, the Phillies moved three games ahead of Atlanta.

Roy Halladay picked up his 19th victory which ties him for the Major League lead with CC Sabathia. He wasn't as sharp as he's been, but he was still overall very effective in shutting down the Marlins.

The Braves are now holding just a half game lead over San Francisco in the wild card race.

The Phillies are set for a three-game series against Washington, who played the role of spoilers effectively in taking two out of three from the Braves this week. The Phillies will send Roy Oswalt, Kyle Kendrick and Joe Blanton to the mound.

More good news for the Phillies: it appears as though they won't face Tim Hudson in the upcoming series vs. Atlanta. Hudson will pitch Saturday against the Mets and Derek Lowe pitches on Sunday.

That sets up Jair Jurrjens to face Cole Hamels in the series opener, Mike Minor vs. Halladay on Tuesday and Tommy Hanson against Oswalt in the finale.

The Phillies would be more than happy with those match-ups, missing two of Atlanta's best starters.

The primary focus this weekend should be at least staying three games ahead of Atlanta. It'd be great to gain ground, but if they maintain their three game lead, the best Atlanta can hope for is a tie after next week's series.

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