Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Phillies win 6th straight but may lose Victorino

Now this is the Phillies team that we've all been waiting to see! On Tuesday night, the Phillies won their 6th straight game, beating the D'backs 9-5 behind three 2-run homers. With Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Cody Ransom providing the home run fireworks, the Phillies looked a lot like the team that has represented the National League in the World Series the last two years.

Not everything went perfectly for the Phillies on Tuesday night, however, as Shane Victorino suffered an injury that forced him to leave the game. Word after the game was that Victorino strained his left oblique muscle and he will be evaluated tomorrow. While all the initial reports are that the injury isn't serious, an injury like this could linger and could force Victorino to go on the disabled list. Should that happen, Jayson Werth will likely move to center (and won't get traded) and prospect Domonic Brown could get his long-awaited call-up to the majors and play in right. With the way Brown has been tearing up Triple A pitching (.340 AVG, 5 HR, 19 RBI in 27 games), he could provide a huge spark to the Phillies offense. Of course, the Phils could also simply start Ben Francisco in right and call up John Mayberry, a right-handed bat that has some experience in the majors and can platoon with Raul Ibanez in left.

Despite the bad news about Victorino, you can't help but get excited about how well the Phillies are playing. Their 6 game winning streak has pulled them to just 3.5 games behind the Braves and only 2 out in the Wild Card. With Roy Halladay taking the mound tomorrow, the Phillies look poised to continue their run back into contention.

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