Baseball has a funny way of kicking you in the teeth when you try to predict things on a game-by-game basis. As Vin Scully likes to say, “If you want to make God smile, tell him your plans.”
↵That said, looking at the Dodgers series this week in Philadelphia, a place the Dodgers have lost 10 of their last 12 games, one can’t help but think this is an eminently winnable series. The Phillies are without Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Shane Victorino, and the Dodgers don’t have to face Roy Halladay or Cole Hamels. Heading into the series, the Dodgers looked to have huge pitching advantages in the first and third games of the series, and they came through with a 15-9 win in last night’s opener.
↵Today marks the swing game of the series, at least for the Dodgers, with Chad Billingsley facing Roy Oswalt. The Dodgers, who are four and a half games out of a playoff spot, with the Phillies among the teams in front of them, they need to string wins together to make any kind of playoff run. A win today gives them a great opportunity to sweep a team in front of them in the standings, not to mention the satisfaction of defeating their playoff ouster of the last two seasons.