The Phillies have slowly -- very slowly -- closed the gap between themselves and the Braves over the past month or so, but most of the time it seems like the Braves and Phillies either both win or both lose most days.
Today: the Phillies got rocked by the Marlins, with Adalberto Mendez limiting them to one hit over six innings in his major league debut. The Phillies finished the game with three hits, continuing their recent offensive futility. The Braves -- trotting out their young ace Tommy Hanson and facing the worst team in baseball -- outhit the Pirates, but left oodles of runners on base on their way to a 3-1 loss.
Philly plays a doubleheader today so they have a chance to gain a half game tonight. But really, the way these two teams have been rolling lately, they’re going to be stuck together until the final weekend of the season when -- theoretically anyway -- someone has to win the division.
