The Homestretch, Day 6: Philling the Love

Needless to say, the Philadelphia Phillies are making me look good.

Today, the fightin' Phils snatched first place away from the Atlanta Braves with an 8-7 victory over Florida, putting them in the top spot in the NL East for the first time since late May. No one who really follows baseball should be surprised at this development. The Phillies have always been the best team in the National League on paper in 2010, and now that they are finally healthy, they are playing like the NL's best. They're coming around at the right time, too, because now the division chase can serve as a nice tune-up to their 2010 playoff run. I've said since the beginning of the season that the Phillies are a World Series team, and at this point, it certainly seems I might be right.

Who is going to challenge the Phillies in the National League? There is no way any NL West team has the offense to slug with the Phillies, except for the Rockies, who don't have the pitching to keep up. The Cardinals and Reds can slug with the Phillies, but the Reds are more likely to make the postseason and pitching is their problem too. If Atlanta sneaks in as the wild card team, they might have enough balance to tip the Phillies, but that would require the Braves to beat the Phillies at their own game, and they would have to do it in Philadelphia. I just don't see any positive scenarios for other National League contenders. It's only a matter of time before Utley, Howard, Ibanez and Werth take you deep, or before Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels, and Blanton shut you down. For both pieces of that puzzle to fail in three or four games out of five or seven, respectively, is almost a mathematical uncertainty.

The Phillies are built to win postseason series, but they have so much balance that they can be successful during the long course of the regular season. That's what makes them so dangerous. And the only American League equivalents (as I've also been saying all season) are the Rays and Yankees, both of whom will make the postseason and one of whom will challenge the Phillies in the 2010 Fall Classic. That is a mathematical certainty, as far as I'm concerned. And when powerhouses clash in a championship game, we know it makes for a great spectacle - remember the Super Bowl earlier this year? No. 1 seeded Saints vs. No.1 seeded Colts. Brilliant teams, brilliant atmosphere, brilliant game. With the Phillies now atop the NL East, this year's World Series will be no different.