Another Halliday For Phils 'Pen

August 20:  PHILLIES 1, Washington 0

Phillies fans, you know how much it pains any of us to watch our guys struggle with a team like the Nationals.  It seems like we play down to the level of the competition sometimes, and tonight was one of those nights as the Phils made Jason Marquis look like Rube Marquard.

Roy Halladay went seven again, lowering his ERA to 2.16 while raising his record to 16-8 (and we all know he probably should already have 20 wins if the Phils had his for him at all from mid-May through June).  His three walks issued tonight raise his season total to 25.  Twenty-five walks allowed and we're almost 5/6ths of the way through the season.  That's control, my friends!!!

Raul Ibanez continues his hot hitting, driving in the game's only run.  He also contributed on defense, something many said was his glaring weakness when he signed with the Phils last year, throwing in behind Ian Desmond after Ryan Zimmerman lined to Raul in the seventh.  A nice play, made even nicer by the persistence of Chase Utley, who "played to the whistle" and tagged out Desmond when he over-slid second in returning to the bag.

Speaking of Ibanez' defense ... at the time that Raul was signed, the consensus among "baseball people" was that while Ibanez was an upgrade from Burrell, defensively, that was tantamount to saying that Dave Kingman was an upgrade from Greg Luzinski.  In other words, Ibanez was better than Burrell, but a blind, one-armed monkey was better than either.

I had told anyone who would listen (and, living here in the Chicago area, that meant no one) that Ibanez has always had one asset that would compel him to improve his defense while adding some needed pop to the lineup:  Ibanez has been told his whole career that he wasn't "good enough".  And that has driven Raul to compile numbers (last year at age 37, and this year at age 38) that don't make him seem as old as his driver's license shows him to be.

And, personally, I love that about Ibanez.  He's not as gritty and gutty as an Aaron Rowand (whom most Phillies fans simply loved in his short stay with the club), but he will do all the things necessary to help you win.  Did you see his triple the other night against the Jints?  How many 38-year-olds do *you* know who could have legged that out?

Anyway, I disgress ... Ibanez has provided a nice spark for the club, and they are definitely feeding off him for the moment.

Madson and Lidge got some work in under post-season situations tonight (that is, protecting a 1-run lead against a gritty and determined opponent) that was nice to see.  Brad seems to be settling in now, and if Ryan, J.C., and Brad can get it together, Charlie's got himself his 2008 bullpen back for the stretch run.

The Phils now stand 17 games above .500 at 69-52, and have won 13 of their last 17.  They continue their series with the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday.  Rookie phenom, Steven Strasburg (5-3, 2.97) will face Kyle Kendrick (8-5, 4.45).  On Sunday, it'll be Scott Olsen (3-5, 5.14) against Roy Oswalt (8-13, 3.36).