.500.
The Phillies have played more than half their season only to wind up exactly where they started back in April. All even. 48-48.
Of course, back then no one expected them to do it with Roy Holliday on the shelf, Carlos Ruiz sitting out the first 25 games, Ryan Howard playing on one leg, Chase Utley missing a chunk of games, and their biggest free agent acquisition Mike Adams being sidelined for the year as well.
Yesterday, the Phils closed out the final game before the annual All-Star break with another extra-inning win over the Chicago White Sox. This bizarre series was probably a proper way to close out this weird first half of the season. After being rained out on Friday night, the Phils and ChiSox played a day-night doubleheader on Saturday, including a rain delay in the first game and both games going to extra innings. Game Two ended after midnight and the two teams were right back at it at 1:30 Sunday afternoon. Tough life these baseball players have.
It amounted to more than 30 innings in about 24 hours.
The bad news is that the Phils did not get out unscathed. They lost the hottest player in their lineup when centerfielder Ben Revere banged a foul ball off his ankle. He broke a bone and will be lost for about a month.
This team has been written off enough times that they should be used to it by now. But they are not going away. They are six and a half back of Atlanta as they lick their wounds for a few days and brace themselves for a second half that suddenly looks a lot more interesting than it did just a few weeks ago.
I don't think the Braves or Nationals especially scare anyone.
That might be the biggest gift of the first half. Neither of these teams ran away with the division. Now it's up for grabs.
I don't see any reason why the Phillies should not be right there in that mix. So long as they don't have anyone else going down with injuries. But the way this year has been going, I wouldn't be betting against it.
Jack McCaffery offers his first-half assessment here. Guess what. We're going to have meaningful baseball in July. The trade deadline is in two weeks. Instead of holding a sidewalk sale, Ruben Amaro Jr. now will be looking for a centerfielder.
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