All is right in the world: the Phillies sweep the Mets

(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

And just like that, things are starting to look up for our local baseball team. The Phillies, who were slowly losing their grip on first place in the NL East after a recent nosedive where they lost 14 of their last 18 games, seemed to turn everything around as they swept their rival, the Mets, in three straight games. Yeah, so the Mets, dealing with numerous injuries, aren't exactly a top club right now, but the Phillies turned them aside with ease, outscoring them 13-3 in the series.

The hero of the series? Dare I say Jimmy Rollins? Rollins, who was barely hitting over .200 entering the series, went 5 for 11 against the Mets and drove in 5 runs. He rose his average all the way up to .217, and even took a few walks in the process. Looks like the Jimmy of old to me.

The pitching was the real story against the Mets, however. Rodrigo Lopez, Jamie Moyer and Joe Blanton all had great starts, pitching deep into the games and allowing only a handful of hits each. The bullpen also closed the door, finishing out each game without giving up a single run. The slumping Brad Lidge even managed two perfect 9th innings to get a pair of saves against the Mets.

What a holiday weekend for the Phillies, they actually played like the World Champions that they are. Now we need to see if this series was just the team getting up to play against the Mets or if they have truly turned the ship around. They aren't out of the woods yet, because despite how well they played, the Marlins are still 1 game behind them in the standings. The Phillies have a pulse again, let's see how long it lasts.