Another Big One

The series with San Diego has gone as we would have hoped thus far. Halladay won, Jamie pitched a gem on Saturday, and we lost a tough one yesterday in 10 innings. Four-game sweeps are very hard to come by, especially against teams who are leading their division.

The loss yesterday, though, is difficult because of how badly we want to take 3 out of 4 in this series. I like that we have Hamels on the mound tonight for the 4th game, but I feel like a lot more pressure is on this game than I wanted. Losing will either keep us at 2 games back from the Braves (if they lose as well) or 3 games back if they can win against the Diamondbacks. Winning could possibly pull us within 1 game of the Braves going into the series against the Marlins.

Without trying to get too far ahead of ourselves, I like our chances against Florida. The bats have started to wake up recently, and we have Kendrick, Halladay, and Moyer scheduled to pitch in the Marlins series. In 5 combined starts against the Marlins this season, those 3 pitchers have pitched 35 innings, walked just 3 batters, accumulated a 2.06 ERA, and allowed the Marlins to bat just .180 against them. They are 3-2 in those starts with the 2 losses coming in both of Jamie Moyers' starts, mostly due to a lack of run support (a 1-0 loss in his last one against them).

So what does this mean for the game tonight? It means that taking 3 out of 4 against the Padres would be great momentum going into a series that we should win as well. These are very important games because, as was pointed out before, we have 15 games against the American League coming up where we are bound to struggle. Any ground we can gain right now on the Braves is important. Although it's relatively early in the season, not being in first place makes every game feel crucial. Hopefully Cole Hamels feels the same way because he often steps it up in big games. The game will also be on ESPN tonight, and it's always fun to look good in front of a national audience.