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NEW YORK -- It took just about four innings in Sundays decisive 9-4 victory (see game breakdown) over the Mets at CitiField to make most purveyors of panic to forget about the last week. Eight games in which the Phillies failed to score three times and got more than three just once vanished almost as quickly as Hunter Pences first-inning home run rocketed over the right-center field fence.
But then again, thats what the Phillies were saying all along.
It felt great. It really felt great, said Ryan Howard, who went 2 for 3 with an RBI in four innings. Im sure there was panic all over the place, but there was no panic here in the clubhouse and thats the thing. If we dont panic theres no reason why anyone else should panic. It was a matter of getting everyone out there and get the rhythm of the lineup.
Apparently it was that simple. With Roy Halladay on the mound, manager Charlie Manuel put out his Game 1 lineup with a few caveats. First, the manager had Chase Utley in the No. 2 hole instead of his usual third-spot. He moved Pence from fifth to third, dropped Shane Victorino to fifth from one of the top two spots and placed Placido Polanco in the No. 7 spot.
I figured thats our best-balanced lineup against righthanded pitchers, Manuel said. It splits up our lefthanded hitters, Victorino being a switch-hitter in the five hole. I think that helps split up all our lefties that way. Utley can hook the ball in the hole and hes got a high on-base percentage. When hes playing good he walks, things like that. Pence is a .300 hitter who's got power.
The hitters took care of the rest, knocking 19 hits -- 13 in the first four innings -- while putting to ease the fears that the Phillies werent ready for the playoffs. Yeah, it was just one game, but it was one game in which the Phillies had the gang back together.
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For Manuel, who delivered a soliloquy on how his team was out of sync and out of focus after it was swept out of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday, it was a bit of sweet relief.
I think you see the difference, he said. The difference in our lineup is pretty easy to see. When we have all our guys here we have a pretty good lineup.
When you have two or three guys missing were a very different team. Every club is like that and its very important that we keep our guys in there.
Still, if attitude is an indicator of how the Phillies felt about the eight-game losing streak, it was no big deal. No, the Phillies werent too keen on losing ballgames. Why would they be? However, when asked about the losses and if some form of worry had set in as the defeats and the lack of offensive production were getting the guys down, a few of the players laughed it off.
Certainly the Phillies knew things werent going well, but there was a reasonable answer for that. For a team that went 98-52 through the first 150 games of the season, its also reasonable to see how they would be so confident in their abilities.
Still, if there was ever a must-win in a meaningless regular-season game, it was Sundays in New York.
To get everybody in there and see things happen the way they should happen is a good thing. Wed like to win the next three, too, said Halladay, who improved to19-6 with the win. If we dont, as long as we play the game the way we always play it we feel good about where we are. Its tough because we go through stretches like that, especially at the end of the season its obviously magnified because of what were about to start playing for, but were still a confident group and thats whats important.
It didnt just disappear and that was obvious today. We know how to win games and that isnt just going to go away.
Of course, the narrative changes if the Phillies lose games next week. Nevertheless, the Phillies belief that they will hit well enough to win the big games has never wavered. That swagger matters.
Now, if Manuel can just get that bullpen squared away or, at the very least, get his starters to do the heavy lifting.
E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comastsportsnet.com