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Health & Fitness

WANK'S WORLD: Philies 10, Reds 4: Phils Roll Behind Cliff Lee's Bat … Wait. What???

The Phillies dumped Cincinnati this afternoon in a 10-4 romp before, you guessed it, another sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park.

What Went Down: The Phillies dumped Cincinnati Thursday afternoon in a 10-4 romp before, you guessed it, another sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park. The offense pounded out 13 hits, the biggest of which came off the bat of Cliff Lee, whose sixth-inning two-run double to dead center field gave the Phillies a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. I’m excited about how this team is playing right now–the offense is beginning to come around, the pitching has remained consistent and the bullpen is getting healthier. I mean, I'm really, really fired up right now. I can’t decide if I’m more pumped up about the way the Phillies are playing or the upcoming premiere of Franklin & Bash on TNT starring Mark Paul Gosselaar. The four hundred commercials I saw during Game 5 of the Heat-Bulls series totally sold me that television really needs another courtroom drama. Plus, everything the guy attaches his name to is gold. 

What I liked: Cliff Lee. If you take a look at Lee’s line, you’ll undoubtedly be underwhelmed. Sure, he went eight innings, but he also surrendered four runs on 10 hits. If you go beyond the numbers, however, Lee’s performance was much better than that. I never got the feeling they’d lose the game–even after the Jay Bruce homer (happy to see that guy leave town). On an 87-degree day that felt more like 105 degrees, Lee went eight strong innings in a game in which he absolutely had to spare the bullpen more wear and tear after Wednesday’s 19-inning marathon. Throw in his 2-for-4 day at the plate which included 3 RBI—well, damn, I’d say that’s a pretty decent day at the park.

Chase Utley. It was great having Utley back out there in this series, but I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed that Utley started the season 1 for 12 before his eighth-inning at-bat. I wanted to see him come out on fire, but it didn’t happen. Utley, however, put a nice stamp on his comeback series with a solo homer in said at-bat. It wasn’t important in terms of the score, but it had to feel good for him and build some confidence at the Phillies head to New York this weekend.

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Jose Contreras. It’s easy to forget that Jose Contreras had five saves for this team prior to going on the disabled list because Ryan Madson has excelled as the closer, but this guy has been excellent for the Phillies this season. How excellent? Try perfect. Contreras pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning to maintain his flawless 0.00 ERA. Welcome back, Jose.

Raul Ibanez. Raul cranked a three-run dong shot today to give the Phillies a 4-0 lead. Left for dead by melodramatic sportswriters, impatient fans, and idiot bloggers alike (not me, of course), Ibanez has responded by hitting a robust .333 so far this month. He’s now on pace for 19 homers and 81 RBI.

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Who or what I didn't like: I guess I could complain about Lee giving up 10 hits, or Jay Bruce, but I’m cool with the Phillies right now and Jay Bruce was terrible in the NLDS last year, so it’s all good.

I’m not cool with the Marlins, though. That team needs to chill out. The Phillies take two out of three against Texas and three of four against Cincinatti and their lead shrinks? Cool. Thanks, San Francisco for getting swept at home. That’s impressive.

Enjoy that Buster Posey injury, too, fellas.

Can somebody please explain to me: How often a team wins when the first three hitters in their lineup are hitting .171 (Michael Martinez), .071 (Domonic Brown), and .111 (Chase Utley), let alone score 10 runs in the process?

Now what: The Phillies head to New York to take on the Mets. This series is fun because with a sweep the Phillies can effectively end any hope the Mets have of winning this division. That probably won’t happen, but they still suck. At least their owner is very supportive of his players and the Mets are a financially stable franchise. LOL, JK.

Oswalt and Capuano tonight. Be there.

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