After a weekend sweep of the Phillies at the hands of the bungling Mets, I was a bit concerned about a potential letdown by the Phils leading into the All-Star break, what with 2 NL Central also-rans coming into Philly for the week.

If last night’s 22-1 drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds is any indication, such worries are nonsense, as the Phillies suddenly look like, well, the Phillies again, with the suddenly resurgent Jimmy Rollins leading the charge.

In addition to the possible end of J-Roll’s season long slump, Brad Lidge looked dominant over the weekend and Raul Ibanez is days away from returning to the lineup.

Somehow, the Phillies have may have survived their vomit-inducing June without relinquishing 1st place for even a day. While they maintain a small lead in the National League East, the lead dog in the chase has changed, with the Marlins overtaking the Mets for second place.

Tonight’s loss to the Reds was disappointing, considering they were up 3-0 and threatening for a lot more in the 3rd inning when they had the bases loaded with no outs. But some poor situational hitting by the Phils let the Reds off the hook and propelled them to a 4-3 come from behind victory.

The Phils have 5 more games before the break, and could still go 10-4 in their last 14 games, as I had hoped, but will need to win their last 5 games to do so.

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The Phils are 3-26 when they score 3 runs or less, and 37-7 when they score at least 5. Last night was the Cincinnati Reds’ worst loss in franchise history, which is saying something when you consider that the Reds’ franchise predates the Phillies by 14 years (1869 vs. 1883).

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Pick Vick with the handy voting link in the sidebar. Go Shane!!!!