The Phitin Phils

The Philadelphia are back in the MLB playoffs again. Thats five straight years for the 2008 World Series. They are looking to advance to the NLCS for a fourth straight year this October. The Phils are 2-1 in those three NLCS series and 1-1 in the World Series. They fell to the New York Yankees in the 2009 World Series, and the San Fransico Giants in the 2010 NLCS. This years it seems as if they are back with a vengeance. They acquired starting aces Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt in the offseason to join Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay. Now the Phillies are sitting on top of the MLB, becoming the first team to clinch a playoff berth. Their record currently stands at an MLB best 95-51 and they are not slowing up as they look to win 100 games and clinch a NL East title, with 15 games currently remaining on their schedule. They hold a 11 game division lead heading into these next 15 games. Roy Halladay (2.34), Cliff Lee (2.44) and Cole Hamels (2.71) rank 2nd, 6th and 11th best respectively in ERA's. Halladay and Lee are also tied for 6th best in strikeouts with 211. lee also ;eads the MLB with six shutouts this season. But you cant forget about the Phillies hitters. Ryan Howard is always the stalwart of a group of great hitters. The Phila rank 9th in batting average (2.53), and tie for 7th in home runs (143). Howard has hit an MLB 6th best 33 home runs while teammate Hunter Pence ranks 11th for batting average with 3.12. The Phillies seem to be rolling through this season and into October and they don't seem to be slowing down. They look to fight all the way to another world series championship because they know they fell short in 2009 and 2010.

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