Phils blow a big chance, but still have a shot

September 26, 2007 | By Khristian Peel | Discuss

The Phillies had a golden opportunity last night when they took the field against the Braves. They were tied for the lead in the wild-card race and all they had to do was take care of their business and win all but one, if not all of their remaining games.

No matter what the Padres did, they would still have the lead because they own the tiebreaker against San Diego, but they lost 10-6 to the Braves and the Padres won their game, somehow, because when I was looking at their score, I thought it was over, but they were down 4-3 and with two outs in the ninth when Brian Giles hit a three-run homer to give them the lead and the potential win.

If they would've lost that game, there would've been a three-way tie for the wild-card between the Phils, the Padres and the Rockies. But since they won, they have a full game lead over the Phils and we are tied with the Rockies for a game behind the Padres. I thought it was enough trouble dealing with the Padres, and now we have worry about keeping the Rockies off of us.

It could be getting better though. The Phils play all of their five remaining games at home, two left against Atlanta and a three-game series to finish off this great roller coaster year against the Nationals.

But San Diego on the other hand has to play their five remaining games all on the road, their series finale against the San Francisco Giants and a 4-game set where they square off against the Milwaukee Brewers. And that will be a great series because the Brewers are trying to catch the Cubs in th NL Central so both of those teams will be fighting for their playoff lives.

But I forgot, San Diego is not the only team we're in contention with. The Rockies have 2 games at home, against the L.A. Dodgers and a three-game road series against the Diamondbacks, who have a 2-game lead on the Padres in the NL West and are trying to keep it that way. The Rockies are also right behind them, but they are 3 games back so they might be out of contention in the division.

So the Phils have to win every game from now on to be safe, because I don't think they can afford another loss this year, well maybe they can lose ONE game, but no more than that.

They can't lose anymore to the Braves because then they will end up falling behind the Padres even more and end possibly falling behind the Rockies, and they could fall a full game back if they lose to the Braves tonight and the Rockies beat the Dodgers tonight.

And they could not afford to fall behind two teams with only 4 games left to go in the season.

This year should be different, for some reason, because honestly, they shouldn't even be here, with the pitching that they have, the should have the same record as the San Francisco Giants, but since their offense is so good and they have a nack of keeping their composure, they are so close to finally making it over the hump.

It they can just handle their business (with a little help from the Padres losing), they can get at least to the first round, but if not, they will fall just short like they have been the last couple of years.