2.5 back and 8 in a row

Written by Mike Mariano | 30 July 2010

Who'd have thunk that a Phillies extra inning win would come off the bat of Wilson Valdez in the eleventh.  Not only that, Ryan Howard -- one of the hottest hitters in baseball -- came up with the baseball loaded in the bottom of the tenth and a shot to win the game.  Also Valdez got it done with the glove and the Phillies won 3-2 in extras.  The eighth win in a row brings the Phillies to 2.5 game outs of the division and 1.5 games out of the wild card.  The are cruisin' right now.  Game notables:

• Cody Ransom had another strong night going 2-3
• Ryan Howard had another hitless day, 0-3, but that's fine save it for a game when we need it.
• Don't look now, but Raul Ibanez is starting to find it at the plate.  Added a big home run last night.
• A nice 6 innings out of Kyle Kendrick and good work at the finish from Lidge and Contreras.  Not so good out of Madson and Romero.