Phils Hold Off Arizona to Complete 8-1 Homestand

Essentially, the just completed nine-game homestand was make-or-break time for a few of the Phillies. On the heels of a 9-18 April, general manager Ed Wade promised some changes if things didn't improve during the stand.

After a 3-1 victory against the World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks, the Phillies are breathing much easier but realize there is still some more work to do. Yeah, an 8-1 streak against Colorado, Houston and Arizona cures a lot of ills, but the horrid start makes it necessary.

	Travis Lee went 4-for-4 with a homer and a double in the Phils' 3-1 win, Sunday. (AP)

Just ask manager Larry Bowa.

"It was an unbelievable homestand," Bowa said. "We really needed it. But we have to get to .500 before we can do something."

At 17-20, the Phils are four games behind the front running Florida Marlins in the NL East and Bowa says the team is lucky to be where they are. Trailing the division by eight games when the homestand began, the Phils are in the thick of the race in which a game and a half separates first place from fourth.

"If some team would have gone on a streak and won 10 of 12 games or something, it would have been curtains," Bowa said. "Early."

But everything seems to be breaking the Phils' way. In April, the bullpen struggled mightily and was lucky to have a 5.05 ERA. Eight times during the first month, the bullpen cost the team leads or ties but in May it's been the exact opposite. During the stand, the bullpen allowed just two runs and 11 hits in 29 innings pitched. Jose Mesa saved six games, including Sunday afternoon's, and got a win in another. Rheal Cormier saw his ERA improve from 11.88 to 7.24.

These statistics are huge, especially since eight of the nine games were decided by three runs or less.

What gives? Did someone make a deal with the devil or something?

"It's tough to explain how you go from one side to the other," said Cormier, who pitched a scoreless inning on Sunday and had six strikeouts and no runs in 5 1/3 during the homestand. "I'm making the same pitches but just getting them hit at people. I guess as a pitcher, you make your own luck."

The same goes for the hitters, too. Just look at Travis Lee.

Scuffling with a miserable .195 batting average and rumors that the team was trying to cut him loose, Lee went 9-for-30 at the Vet, including Sunday's 4-for-4 to push him to a healthier .250. His double in the second spurned a rally that put the team ahead to stay while his long homer to the seats in right during the eighth put an exclamation point on the whole week.

"It's all about confidence," Lee opined. "If you're feeling good about yourself, you're going to play well. I'm just happy we finally won on get-away day. That's what I'm thinking about. We're allowed to talk on the plane."

Winning does that. The Phillies clubhouse is a much different place than it was less than a month ago. A certain swagger that good teams have has suddenly appeared along with an attitude that says, "Yeah, this is how it's supposed to be."

"This is all you can ask for," said Scott Rolen, who went 2-for-4 on Sunday. "We haven't gotten a lot of runs (44 in the last 10 games) but good pitching has carried us."

However, Rolen warns, "Nothing is guaranteed."

Starter Terry Adams can certainly echo that statement. Sunday, he pitched six innings, notched a season-high seven strikeouts, didn't walk anyone and allowed one unearned run for his first win as a Phillie. Still, he had to sweat it out even though he faced the minimum through four innings.

Ahead 2-0 in the fifth, Adams (1-3, 3.43) was saddled with a run when Rolen's throwing error put leadoff hitter Greg Colbrunn on. Jose Guillen followed with a single and Chris Donnels knocked the run in a batter later. With one out, Adams hit catcher Rod Barajas to load the bases, as he appeared to unravel. But, he bore down and got a strike out and ground out to escape.

He also worked his way past a wall that has stopped his progress in his conversion from reliever to a cog in the rotation.

"He needed it not for us but for himself," Bowa said of Adams, who has been helped with just 26 runs in seven starts. "Then again, it's not like we're knocking him off his feet with run support."

Adams can credit his efficiency, as 52 of his 77 pitches were for strikes.

"The key was I didn't walk anyone," he said.

It also could have been a change in his daily routine that might become his new pre-game ritual.

It so happens Adams is a big fan of the Rocky movies. Looking for suggestions to change his luck, he asked his wife Bea if there is anything different he should try. She came up with a perfect plan.

"You're a big Rocky fan, why don't you go give him a little touch for good luck," Bea Adams told her husband.

Adams ended up stopping at the Spectrum on his way in to the Vet.

"This morning, before I came to the park, I stopped on the side of the road, ran up and rubbed where it said 'Rocky,'" Adams said. "I told her I did it, and she was laughing. I guess it'll have to be a home thing. I can't do anything about it."

Now, the question is whether the recent good fortune will carry into wins on the road. Not a believer in trends or superstition, Bowa says the answer will come quickly whether or not his Phils can keep the good times rolling.

"Sixty-feet, six-inches carries us over," Bowa said. "The starting pitcher sets the momentum. Today doesn't matter, tomorrow does."

The Phils start a seven-game road trip in Houston on Monday before heading to Phoenix to get re-acquainted with the Diamondbacks. Brandon Duckworth (2-2, 4.74) pitches against Tim Redding (1-2, 6.88), in a rematch of last Wednesday's tilt at the Vet. In that game, Duckworth struck out a career-high 12 in six innings, allowing two runs and five hits in a 5-3 win.

Redding surrendered three hits and three runs in six innings but neither pitcher figured in the decision. Ricky Ledee ended it with a pinch homer in the ninth off Nelson Cruz.

It's also a chance for the teams the Phillies had their way with to get a little revenge.

"This is the tough part of our schedule," Bowa said. "The teams coming up have seen us and they'll make the adjustments."

Meanwhile, Bowa is getting tired of seeing Mesa in so many games. It's not that he doesn't like how his closer is pitching, quite the contrary. When Mesa gets in a game, like he has in eight of the last nine, it means the Phillies are in another tight one.

"I'd like to have a 10-1 game," Bowa said, presumably with his team with the lead. "Not for Mesa but for my stomach."

One hundred, twenty-five more to go.

Notes: Diamondbacks' starter Miguel Batista allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings. "You hate to see that kind of performance wasted," Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly said. "He pitched great today."... The homestand was the Phillies' third best in franchise history. The last time they were 8-1 on a nine-game stand was May 27 to June 4, 1986. The best all-time homestand is an 8-0 one from June 30 to July 7, 1977. ...Eleven of the Phillies' 23 errors have come in games started by Adams. ... Todd Pratt's double in the fifth pushed his hitting streak to seven games. ... Lee is the third Phillie (Jimmy Rollins, Bobby Abreu) to have a four-hit game this season.

John R. Finger
ComcastSportsNet.com