After early July’s sweep in Atlanta, the Phils did well to take 2 of 3 from their NL East rivals. A generally well-pitched game from J.A. Happ, despite 6 BBs, and 4 RBIs on 2 Ryan Howard home runs did the trick vs. the Braves in a game that went deep into the night thanks to a pre-game rain delay.

The Phils begin a 13 game stretch that should give them the opportunity to pad their NL East lead and push them more than 20 games over .500. The Diamondbacks, Mets, Pirates and Braves collectively should provide little resistance for a team that is generally playing well as a unit, with the exception of Brad Lidge’s continued struggles in the 9th inning.

But trouble looms for the Phils via their startling dependence on the long ball.

Consider this: The Phillies are 55-31 when they hit a home run and 11-18 when they don’t go deep. The Dodgers, by comparison, have not hit a home run in a total of 58 games, yet they have been able to maintain a .500 record in those games.

The Marlins are actually awful when they don’t hit a home run, going 13-24 in 37 games when they are homerless.

But this isn’t about comparing teams’ results in the regular season. It’s well-documented that the Phils can win the division even with their reliance on the home run.

The question becomes whether or not the Phillies can repeat if they don’t start manufacturing runs with a little small ball. I’m not looking for the Phillies to reinvent the dead ball era, but for crying out loud, they scored 4 runs last night, all thanks to one guy who went deep twice.

The overriding storyline of the first 2 games of last year’s World Series was the Phillies inability to hit with runner’s in scoring position. They practically had runners on base in every inning, but couldn’t get that critical base knock at the right time to take advantage.

In the end, that plotline was completely moot by Game 4, when the Phillies bats caught on fire, so much so that even Joe Blanton couldn’t be kept in the park.

Winning last year’s World Series despite the team’s continued love affair with the long fly ball should not be cause to abandon hope that the Phils may be able to start hitting a ball to right field to move a runner on second to third. Or for the Phillies to fall in love with the sac fly again.

Especially when you consider who they could face en route to a repeat. 16 of the 20 stingiest pitchers in the National League in terms of giving up the long ball are potential playoff combatants:

While the argument can certainly be made that St. Louis and San Francisco pitchers benefit from the parks they pitch their home games in, the Phillies cannot rely on the deep ball to strike at the Tim Lincecums and Chris Carpenters of the world.

Even the resurgence of ultimate tablesetter Jimmy Rollins has not stopped the Phillies from continuing to mash the ball. Even Rollins has gotten in on the fun, having already surpassed last year’s 11 HRs (15 so far in 2009).

Chicks definitely dig the long ball, but I’ll gladly take a well-placed bunt if it helps the Phils chug down Broad Street again in early November.