Phillies at Yankees: November 4th through November 5th

Wednesday & Thursday 7:57

The Glass is Half Full: A win Wednesday night will force a Game 7. A win Thursday night will give the Phillies a World Championship title for the second year in a row.
Phillies Probables: Pedro Martinez, Cole Hamels
Yankees Probables: Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia

Yankees at Phillies: October 31st through November 2nd

Saturday 7:57, Sunday 8:20 & Monday 7:57

Back Home: Jimmy Rollins wasn't impressed with the ambiance of new Yankee Stadium. He was surprised at how low key the crowd seemed, noting they only momentarily came to life following a home run and then they calmed back down. A reporter asked him if the atmosphere this year was a little more akin to a World Series than last year. Jimmy, without hesitation, replied, "When we get to Philly, it will." The Phils return for three at home and hopefully there will be no need for a return train trip to New York.
Happy Halloween!: A year ago today, Philadelphia hosted the 2008 World Champions' parade down Broad Street.
Yankees Probables: Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett
Phillies Probables: Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton, Cliff Lee

Phillies at Yankees: October 28th through October 29th

Wednesday & Thursday 7:57

It's On: The 105th World Series starts tonight with the NL Champion Phillies taking on the AL Champion New York Yankees.

There's Only One October: I'm in uncharted territory here in terms of excitement and I'll admit this whole thing seems a little surreal. After so many years of watching bad Phillies teams and saying, "Maybe next year," the Phillies are in the World Series for the second year in a row. Hard to believe.

This is Beyond Baseball: Also for the second year in a row, we'll be happily Joe Buck and Tim McCarver-free for the World Series. Fox will be muted and Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen will provide us with the play-by-play on the Phillies radio broadcast.

Phillies Probables: Cliff Lee, Pedro Martinez

Yankees Probables: CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett

Dodgers at Phillies: October 18th through October 21st

Sunday, Monday & Wednesday 8:07

What's what: The best-of-seven NLCS is tied at one game a piece. The Phils have their work cut out for them as the Dodgers boast the NL's second best regular season road record. (The Phillies owned the best road record in the NL.) My heart would love a three game sweep, but my brain would be happy with taking two out of three and wrapping it up back in Los Angeles.

Sunday night forecast: 42 degrees with a 60% chance of rain for game time. Just slightly different than the weather both teams experienced in Los Angeles.

Sunday night's first pitch: Former Phillies catcher Darren Daulton, who has been providing pre and post-game analysis on the local Comcast channel, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Dutch has apparently decided to take a break from exploring different dimensions to offer his insights into the Phillies Postseason run.

Dodgers Probables: Hiroki Kuroda, Randy Wolf, TBA

Phillies Probables: Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton, TBA

Phillies at Dodgers: October 15th through October 16th

NLCS Games 1 & 2

Thursday 8:07 & Friday 4:07

How they got here: The Phillies, the NL East Champions, defeated the Wild Card Colorado Rockies 3-1 in their NLDS. The Dodgers, the NL West Champions swept the NL Central Champion St. Louis Cardinals, 3-0, in their NLDS.

What's happened before: This is the fifth time the Phils and Dodgers have met in a League Championship Series. The Dodgers took the first two meetings in 1977 and 1978, with the Phillies winning the last two meetings in 1983 and 2008.

Personal excitement level: Very, very high.

Phillies Probables: Cole Hamels, Pedro Martinez

Dodgers Probables: Clayton Kershaw, Vicente Padilla

Phillies at Rockies: October 10th through October 11th

NLDS Games 3 & 4

Saturday 9:37 & Sunday 10:07

The Situation: The best-of-five series is tied at a game a piece.

The Start Times: Ridiculous.

Game Time Weather Forecast: 25 degrees, 30% chance of snow.

Updated Prediction: Phillies in 4.

Phillies Probables: Pedro Martinez, TBA

Rockies Probables: Jason Hammel, TBA

Rockies at Phillies: October 7th through October 8th

NLDS Games 1 & 2

Wednesday & Thursday 2:37

How they got here: Rockies, NL Wild Card; Phillies, NL East Champion

Rockies Postseason Appearances: 1995, 2007, 2009

Phillies Postseason Appearances: 1915, 1950, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1993, 2007, 2008, 2009

First Pitches: Dick Allen and Geoff Jenkins on Wednesday, John Kruk on Thursday

Prediction: Phillies in 3. Yes, I'm a homer.

Rockies Probables: Ubaldo Jimenez & Aaron Cook

Phillies Probables: Cliff Lee & Cole Hamels

Marlins at Phillies: October 2nd through October 4th

Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:10, Sunday 1:35

Records: Marlins 85-74, 3rd Place in NL East (7 games behind the Phillies); Phillies 92-67, 1st Place in NL East (6 games ahead of the Braves)

There's Only One October: The Phillies will use these next three games to prepare for the NLDS. Regulars will be rested, relievers will get in some work and the manager will start to piece together the components of the 25-man Postseason roster. Home field advantage throughout the playoffs is still at stake. I tried to figure out all the different combinations of potential Postseason match-ups, depending on which team finishes with the best record, and it made my brain hurt. In lieu of summarizing the possibilities, let's just go with that it looks like the Phils will play the Rockies in the NLDS.

Marlins Probables: Rick VandenHurk, Anibal Sanchez, Josh Johnson

Phillies Probables: Joe Blanton, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ

Astros at Phillies: September 28th through October 1st

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 7:05

Records: Astros 72-83, 5th Place in NL Central (17½ games behind the Cardinals); Phillies 90-65, 1st Place in NL East (5 games ahead of the Braves)
Played with the Astros and the Phillies: Per Baseball Reference.com, 87 players have played for both the Astros (formerly the Colt 45's) and the Phillies, including - Bobby Abreu, Larry Andersen, Rocky Childress, Gene Freese, Kiko Garcia, Greg Gross, Larry Milbourne, Joe Morgan, Yorkis Perez, Robin Roberts, Curt Schilling, Dickie Thon, Mitch Williams and Glenn Wilson

Magic Number: 3

Let's Go Marlins!: The Braves open a 3-game series with the Florida Marlins before finishing out the season with four against the Washington Nationals. Any combination of three Phillies wins or three Braves losses guarantees the NL East pennant for the Phils.

Astros Probables: Yorman Bazardo, Wilton Lopez, Brian Moehler, Felipe Paulino

Phillies Probables: Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ, Cliff Lee, Pedro Martinez

Phillies at Brewers: September 24th through September 27th

Thursday & Friday 8:05, Saturday 7:05, Sunday 2:05

Records: Phillies 88-63, 1st Place in NL East (6½ games ahead of the Braves); Brewers 75-77, 3rd Place in NL Central (13½ games behind the Cardinals)

Champagne on Ice?: The Phils have a very real possibility of wrapping this thing up in Milwaukee. Any combination of Phillies wins and Braves losses totalling 5 get us there. The Braves open a series in Washington on Friday night, so I'll become a huge Nationals fan for the weekend.

Magic Number: 5. It bears repeating.

Phillies Probables: J.A. Happ, Cliff Lee, Pedro Martinez, Joe Blanton

Brewers Probables: Jeff Suppan, Manny Parra, Braden Looper, Dave Bush

Phillies at Marlins: September 22nd through September 23rd

Tuesday 4:10 (Double Header) & Wednesday 7:10

Records: Phillies 87-61, 1st Place in NL East (8 games ahead of the Braves and the Marlins); Marlins 80-70, 2nd Place in NL East (8 games behind the Phillies)

Are you ready for some baseball?: The double header is a result of the NFL scheduling a Monday Night Football game in Miami last night, even though the Marlins-Phillies game was there first. It's the Dolphins' stadium, so they call the shots.

Magic Number: 6

Home Field Advantage: The Phillies, Cardinals and Dodgers head into the final two weeks of the regular season battling for the best record in the National League. The team with the best record will be awarded home field advantage throughout the NL Playoffs and will face the Wild Card in the first round. Unless the Dodgers finish with the best record, either the Phils or the Cardinals will face the Rockies (the likely Wild Card) in the NLDS. (The team with the best record can not face the Wild Card in the first round of the Playoffs if both those teams are from the same division.) In summary, the Phils could be facing the Rockies, Dodgers or Cardinals in the NLDS. We just don't know yet.

Phillies Probables: Joe Blanton, Jamie Moyer, Cole Hamels

Marlins Probables: Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, Rick VandenHurk

Phillies at Braves: September 18th through September 20th

Friday 7:30, Saturday 7:00, Sunday 1:30

Records: Phillies 85-60, 1st Place in the NL East (7½ games ahead of the Braves); Braves 78-68, 2nd Place in NL East (7½ games behind the Phillies)

Magic Number: 10. The Braves are now ahead of the Marlins by a half game in the standings and the Marlins are one game back in the loss column. If the Phils sweep the Braves this weekend, and if the Marlins lose their weekend series with the Reds, it's conceivable the Phillies could clinch in Milwaukee next weekend. The goal should be to win every game, go for home field advantage in the Playoffs and make the final series of the season against the Marlins (October 2-4) completely meaningless. We have tickets on October 3rd, and I'd like nothing more than to see Paul Hoover, Miguel Cairo and Andy Tracy in the Phillies' starting line-up that day.

Phillies Probables: J.A. Happ, Pedro Martinez, Cliff Lee

Braves Probables: Tim Hudson, Javier Vazquez, Tommy Hanson

Nationals at Phillies: September 15th through September 17th

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 7:05

Records: Nationals 50-93, Last Place in NL East (32½ games behind the Phillies); Phillies 82-60, 1st Place in NL East (7 games ahead of the Marlins)
Magic Number: 13
Why such a short post?: Work deadlines and professional obligations demand it. Whaddya gonna do?
Nationals Probables: Garrett Mock, Livan Hernandez, J.D. Martin
Phillies Probables: Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton, Cole Hamels

Mets at Phillies: September 11th through September 13th

Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05, Sunday 1:05 & 8:05

Records: Mets 62-78, 4th Place in NL East (18 games behind the Phillies); Phillies 79-59, 1st Place in NL East (5 games ahead of the Marlins)

Double Dip: Sunday's day-night double header is a result of the rain-out on May 3rd.

Where we are, where we're going and what's what: The Phillies have 24 more games remaining on the 2009 regular season schedule and their magic number to clinch the division stands at 19. After four with the Mets, the Nationals come to town for three. The Phils then head out on the road for a 10-game stretch in Atlanta, Miami and Milwaukee. The streaking Marlins face the Nationals for three this weekend before a road trip to St. Louis and Cincinnati. The Mets are awful. Even with the Phillies using two emergency starters, anything less than three out of four this weekend would be disappointing.

Mets Probables: Nelson Figueroa, Mike Pelfrey, Tim Redding, John Maine

Phillies Probables: Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, Kyle Kendrick, Pedro Martinez

Phillies at Nationals: September 8th through September 10th

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 7:05

Records: Phillies 77-58, 1st Place in NL East (6 games ahead of the Marlins); Nationals 47-90, Last Place in NL East (31 games behind the Phillies)

What the Phils need now are some true words of wisdom: Take a deep breath. Forget about those pesky Astros. Blown saves? What blown saves? Now get out there and win. As Charlie Manuel recently said, "[Forget] the last couple years. What the hell? That don’t mean [shamrocks]."

Magic Number: 21

Phillies Probables: Pedro Martinez, Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton

Nationals Probables: John Lannan, Garrett Mock, Livan Hernandez

Phillies at Astros: September 4th through September 7th

Friday 8:05, Saturday 7:05, Sunday & Monday 2:05

Records: Phillies 77-54, 1st Place in NL East (8 games ahead of the Braves); Astros 63-70, 4th Place in NL Central (15 games behind the Cardinals)

Houston Who?: 131 games into the 2009 season, and this is the first time the Phillies and Astros will play this year. That doesn't make sense.

Former Phillies with the Astros: I guess we should start with the current Astros' GM and co-architect of the 2008 World Champion Phillies, Ed Wade. Ed was the Phils' GM for eight seasons from 1998 until 2005. Center fielder Michael Bourn (2006-2007) is having a break-out year, currently leading the NL with triples (11) and stolen bases (49). Back-up catcher Chris Coste (2006-2009) has played 29 games for the Astros and is hitting .203 since the Phils waived him in July. Fourth outfielder Jason Michaels (2001-2005) is hitting .233 with 4 home runs and 15 RBI this year. Color commentator Jim Deshaies pitched in two games for the 1995 Phillies. Finally, Geoff Geary (2003-2007) is currently pitching for the AAA Round Rock Express in Round Rock, Texas.

Magic Number: 23

Phillies Probables: Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ

Astros Probables: Wandy Rodriguez, Roy Oswalt, Bud Norris, Brian Moehler

Giants at Phillies: September 1st through September 3rd

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 7:05

Records: Giants 72-59, Tied for 2nd Place in the NL West (5½ games behind the Dodgers); Phillies 75-53, 1st Place in NL East (7½ games ahead of the Braves)
Played with the Giants and the Phillies: Per Baseball Reference.com, 224 players have played for both the Giants (New York and San Francisco) and the Phillies, including - Steve Bedrosian, Ollie Brown, Steve Carlton, Scott Eyre, Pedro Feliz, Aaron Fultz, Al Holland, Garry Maddox, Gary Matthews, Joe Morgan, Casey Stengel and Michael Tucker
Postseason Preview?: If the season ended today, the Phillies would face either the Giants or the Colorado Rockies in the first round of the playoffs. Both teams are currently battling it out for the NL Wild Card, which scares me a little. Usually, the team that has to scratch and claw its way into the Postseason is the team that performs the best in the first round. Of the two teams, I like the Phils’ chances against the Rockies better. The Giants starting pitching staff could be difficult in a short series, and they just added Brad Penny.
Giants Probables: Jonathan Sanchez, Brad Penny, Tim Lincecum
Phillies Probables: Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ, Pedro Martinez

Braves at Phillies: August 28th through August 30th

Friday & Saturday 7:05, Sunday 8:05

Records: Braves 67-60, Tied for 2nd Place in NL East (7 games behind the Phillies); Phillies 73-52, 1st Place in the NL East (7 games ahead of the Braves and Marlins)

The Situation: The last time the Phils found themselves this far above .500 with this much of a lead was 1993 - a year the team won the NL East and advanced to the World Series. Beginning with tonight's game, there are 37 games remaining in the 2009 regular season and the Phils are currently 8 games ahead of both the Braves and the Marlins in the loss column. They play those two teams 12 more times, or a little less than one third of the remaining schedule. The Phillies' magic number to clinch the division is 30. Bring it.

Braves Probables: Tommy Hanson, Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens

Phillies Probables: Pedro Martinez, Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton

Phillies at Pirates: August 25th through August 27th

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 7:05

Records: Phillies 72-50, 1st Place in NL East (7 games ahead of the Braves); Pirates 51-71, Last Place in NL Central (19 games behind the Cardinals)
Played with the Pirates and the Phillies: Per Baseball Reference.com, 227 players have played for both the Pirates and the Phillies, including – Boom-Boom Beck, Dave Cash, Midre Cummings, Spud Davis, Jose DeLeon, Murry Dickson, Mike Easler, Woodie Fryman, Dick Groat, Harvey Haddix, Richie Hebner, Chuck Klein, Mike LaValliere, Jason Michaels, Willie Montanez, Bill Robinson, Don Robinson, Kent Tekulve, Andy Van Slyke and Bob Walk
Put ‘Em Away III: The Phils went 3-0 against the Diamondbacks, 3-1 against the Mets, and now they face the Pirates – the third worst team in the NL behind the Padres and the Nationals. The Braves start a series against the Padres tonight and the Marlins face off against the Mets in Miami. After the Pirates’ series, the Phillies face the Braves for three games at home. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an 8 or 9 game lead when that series starts?
Phillies Probables: Joe Blanton, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ
Pirates Probables: Ross Ohlendorf, Paul Maholm, Charlie Morton

Phillies at Mets: August 21st through August 24th

Friday & Saturday 7:10, Sunday & Monday 1:10

Records: Phillies 69-49, 1st Place in NL East (6½ games ahead of the Marlins and Braves); Mets 56-65, 4th Place in NL East (14½ games behind the Phillies)

Put 'Em Away II: Before the Diamondbacks' series began, I hoped the Phils would go 7-3 during the current 10-game stretch. Now I'm hoping for 9-1. The Mets are hurt. They're hobbled. Gary Sheffield is beginning his annual bout of pouting. (Aren't we glad he didn't end up with the Phils?) The Mets are nine games under .500 and 16 games behind the Phils in the loss column. Winning three out of four this weekend against the Mets could prove to be the final blow to a crumbling team. (And I may have smiled a little when I typed that.)

Sunday Afternoon TV Alert: Pedro Martinez will face his former team in the Sunday matinee. We'll be watching.

Phillies Probables: Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ, Pedro Martinez, Cliff Lee

Mets Probables: Mike Pelfrey, Tim Redding, Oliver Perez, Bobby Parnell