Sweep Revenge for the Phillies

(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Two weeks ago, the Phillies started a four game series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. All four games were close, but the Phillies got swept by Manny and the Dodgers. Fast forward to today, and the Phillies rode Brett Myers and Jimmy Rollins to a 5-0 win to complete a four game sweep of their own over those same Dodgers in Philadelphia. Most of the games in this sweep were not even close as the Phillies got great pitching and finally found their missing bats.

Myers was huge in tonight's game, just like he has been since his return to the majors. Myers pitched 7 shutout innings and struck out 8 batters. He did allow a bunch of runners on base, but he got some timely strikeouts and ground balls that turned into double plays that helped keep the Dodgers off the board. Including his performance tonight, Myers now has 4 wins and an ERA of 1.66 in his 7 starts since returning from the minors. He has also struck out 38 batters in 48 and 2/3rds innings. Those are impressive numbers and prove that Myers is back to the ace he once was.

Jimmy Rollins also had a big night that should, at least temporarily, silence all the boo birds. J-Roll fell a homer short of the cycle, going 3 for 3 with a single, double and triple to go with a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Rollins drove in a pair of runs and also scored once himself. He also hustled his butt of to get a triple when Manny Ramirez lazily went after a ball in left field. When Rollins hustles like that, good things always happen.

The Phillies remain a half game behind the Mets, who they will play in a short two game series on Tuesday and Wednesday. The pitching match-ups favor the Mets, who will send Pedro Martinez and Johan Santana to the mound to face Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick. Moyer versus Martinez is the battle of the old pros who either lost their velocity or never had it. Santana has a big edge over Kyle Kendrick who, besides his last start, has been pretty terrible in his past few outings. It's a big series for both teams, hopefully we will have a new division leader after Wednesday.