Blown call helps Phillies salvage sweep over Marlins

In a season filled with injuries the Phillies finally look like they are catching some breaks. On Thursday night, with a runner on second and the game tied up in the bottom of the 9th, Marlins hitter Gaby Sanchez rolled a grounder down the third base line that would easily have scored the game-winning run but was instead called foul. Replays clearly showed that the ball stayed fair the whole time but no amount of arguing by the Marlins reversed the call. Capitalizing on the mistake, the Phillies quickly got out of the inning and then won the game after Carlos Ruiz homered in the 10th and Brad Lidge had a (relatively) clean save to help the Phils win 5-4 and finish the sweep in Florida.

Lost in all the madness of the bad call and the terrible baserunning by the Phillies at the end of the game was the performance of Roy Oswalt. In his second start as a Phillie, Oswalt showed why he is still considered one of the better pitchers in the game. Despite having some issues locating his pitches, Oswalt left the game in the 7th with two runners on base and the Phillies up 2-0. A few pitches by J.C. Romero later and Oswalt was on the hook for a pair of earned runs, but he still had a respectable night overall, striking out 5 batters and even retiring 10 straight Marlins at one point. Given how poor he looked in his last outing, it was nice to see the real Oswalt do his thing.

With the Marlins out of the way, the season-best 12 games over .500 Phillies now come home to face the mediocre Mets. The Phillies goal with Ryan Howard should be to tread water and keep the Braves close but they are doing even better than that as they sit only 2 games back. A solid series win against the Mets while the Braves are face the tough Giants pitching could make things even tighter. Winners of 12 of their last 14, the Phillies appear to be making their move.
(AP PHOTO)