These Phillies won their 92d game Thursday, a convincing 7-2 victory over the Brewers, makeshift lineup be damned. With 22 games to play, eclipsing the franchise record for 101 wins is no longer a dream; it's expected.
The most recent victory in a season littered with them was impressive because it came against the National League's second-best team and prohibitive challengers to the Phillies' success.
Before Thursday, Milwaukee was an astounding 50-19 at Miller Park. Their powerful offense and unheralded pitching shine in front of Wisconsinites. (Never mind the fact that many of the 41,646 in attendance Thursday focused their attention to a football game being played some 115 miles to the north.)
Then the Phillies came here and won with a double-play combination (Wilson Valdez and Martinez) hardly known for their offensive abilities, a leftfielder (Ben Francisco) who managed all of eight at-bats in the 38 previous days, and a first baseman (John Mayberry Jr.) who had started four games there in his career.
"When you start winning games and you have success, when you put your reserve players in there, they want to play and be a part of it," Manuel said. "They want to show they can earn the right to be on our team. That can bring your team completely together."
It helped, of course, that Cole Hamels started for the Phillies and tossed the team's 17th complete game of the season. The last National League team with that many complete games was the 1998 Atlanta Braves.
"I'm trying to keep up with the rest of these guys in complete games," Hamels said, "so I guess that's saying something."
