The athletespeak is hardly riveting. But it is a useful mindset when trying to pull off what many thought would be impossible.
With 3 weeks and 3 days remaining in the 2012 season, the Phillies breathed life into their previously deceased season by taking both ends of a doubleheader with the Colorado Rockies on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.
John Mayberry Jr. delivered a ninth-inning, walkoff hit in a 3-2 win in the matinee while Chase Utley had a three-hit game and Carlos Ruiz came off the bench to collect two hits as the Phils rolled to a 7-4 victory in the nightcap.
"We still have a chance," manager Charlie Manuel said.
A fourth straight win overall put the Phillies (69-71) within six games of a playoff spot. They trail the St. Louis Cardinals for the second National League wild-card berth by six games.
"If we can keep winning, we're gaining ground on somebody," said Manuel, who admittedly didn't start looking at the wild-card standings until recently. "It's very important for us to get over .500. If we can get a couple of games over .500 or whatever, our chances will get better, because some of those teams are going to start filtering down to that mark."
Declared dead 2 months ago, when they lost their 50th game at the end of a home sweep at the hands of Atlanta in the last series before the All-Star Game, the Phillies are suddenly the hottest team in the National League.
The Phils have won 15 of their last 21. They are 11 games above .500 since the All-Star break (32-21) and are two games under overall for the first time since Joe Blanton beat the Baltimore Orioles way back on June 8.
But equally as important as the Phils' September surge is the tumbling down of the teams ahead of them in the National League wild-card race. The Phillies are deadlocked with the Milwaukee Brewers for the eighth best record in the league; there are three teams standing in front of the Phils and a postseason berth.
All three of those teams - the Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates - have been moving in the opposite direction as the Phillies lately. The defending world champion Cardinals have lost eight of their last 12, the Pirates have dropped seven of their last nine and the Dodgers have lost 12 of their last 19.
With 22 games remaining in their schedule, the odds remain stacked against the Phillies. But they did leapfrog over the New York Mets after facing a seven-game deficit with 17 games to play 5 years ago.
"When you're a team that plays good baseball, you never know," leftfielder Juan Pierre said. "You give yourself a chance, and that's what we're hoping for, that's for sure."
After Cole Hamels pitched seven strong innings before Mayberry snapped a 2-2 tie with a walkoff hit in the afternoon, the Phils turned to rookie Tyler Cloyd to keep the momentum going in the second game. Cloyd, who dominated the Cincinnati Reds a week ago on Labor Day, failed.
He served up four straight, two-out hits in the third inning, capped by a three-run home run that put the Phillies in a 4-1 deficit. Cloyd, who likely will be asked to pitch on short rest Thursday, when the Phils need a starter, was gone after four innings.
But the Phils' offense and bullpen picked him up.
Ryan Howard knocked a two-run single in the fifth and Ty Wigginton hit a game-tying home run to lead off the sixth. Later in the sixth, Carlos Ruiz made his first appearance since Aug. 2, collecting his first of two hits off the bench, and Kevin Frandsen delivered a go-ahead, pinch-hit, infield single.
A sixpack of relievers - Justin De Fratus, B.J. Rosenberg, Josh Lindblom, Jake Diekman, Phillippe Aumont and Papelbon - allowed one hit in five combined shutout innings.
"I think for a lot of the season many of the teams have counted us out," Papelbon said. "For a while there we were playing spoiler, and then spoiler kind of dominoed into now-we-have-a-shot. I think we have to get to .500 first. We need to worry about ourselves, man. I'm not a scoreboard-watcher, I never have been. We have to go out there and do what we're capable of doing and that's it, really. That's kind of what it boils down to."
In the last 3 weeks, the Phils have been doing that. They have 3 more weeks remaining.
Contact Ryan Lawrence at rlawrence@phillynews.com.
