Phillies Baseball

The Phillies welcome the Dodgers to town for a four game set and the Phils desperately need to redeem themselves from their poor display of baseball in California.

Los Angeles swept the Phillies in a four game set out in California earlier this month with a couple of the games walk-off wins for the men in blue.

Now the Phils welcome the Dodgers to Philadelphia in a four game tilt with the intent of either keeping pace with or overtaking the Mets in the NL East.

The Dodgers have been playing excellent baseball with the acquisitions of Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake. Now the team has added Greg Maddux for the stretch run.

If the Phillies want some redemption against the Dodgers then they need their lineup to return to its form from earlier in the season.

Since June 13th the team has been dismal at scoring runs and situational hitting.

If Jimmy Rollins gets himself on track then the rest of the lineup will benefit from this.

When Rollins is on base opposing pitchers have to pitch the Phillies lineup differently. They need to keep a watchful eye on Rollins, who can steal bases with the best of them, and that can sometimes throw a pitcher off his game.

Then you add speed with Victorino in the two-hole, followed by Utley, Howard and then Burrell.

If the Phillies can take three of four from the Dodgers, no less in my opinion, then they will be in good shape heading into their two game set with the Mets. They might even be tied for the division lead at the time of that series.

The Phillies could also help out the Diamondbacks if they can take three of four from the Dodgers, who have catapulted themselves into a two-team race with Arizona in the NL West.

This could be one of the most important series for the Phillies over the remainder of the season. If the Phils can take three of four, then they will regain their swagger and hopefully go on a tear through the National League and bolt into the playoffs.

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