For all of the handwringing over the Phillies' pitching, their real weakness is the ability of good pitching to shut down their offense. And once they've been shut down for a bit, then they start to press, and they get shut down for longer. Witness their recent cold streak, wherein the team has averaged roughly three runs per game for the month of August.
Or, to put it another way, when you come in to San Diego to play a Padres team that is throwing guys like Cha Seung Bek out there and starting guys like Luke Carlin and Luis Rodriguez (to say nothing of the return of Brian Myrow), you need to do a hell of a lot better than 6 runs in 3 games. I'd buy that whole "Petco suppresses offense" thing more easily if San Diego hadn't erupted for 8 runs in the second game of the series, more than the Phils put up over the course of the entire series.
They're coming in off the road now, and with luck the cozy dimensions at First Citizens' will wake up the thunder a little bit. If they don't, then the Phils are going to be playing golf this October.
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