Tonight was a good mental break. After the Phillies lost the last two games to the Atlanta Braves and the Eagles got embarrassed by Kevin Kolb and the Arizona Cardinals, a day without sports was almost welcome. Further adding to the need for a break was waking up with the Phillies five games out of the wild card with just nine to play. Now, they have lost more ground.
A few weeks ago fans pointed to the four-game series against the Astros as a "gift" series for the Phillies. They lost three of four. Being in the same division, the St. Louis Cardinals got six games in the final couple weeks. They swept the most recent series from the Astros last Tuesday through Thursday and opened tonight's series with another win. The win puts the Cardinals 5.5 games ahead of the Phillies. It is essentially six games, because the Phillies need to win six to bring things even, assuming the Cardinals lose five while performing the same for the remaining three. That's just way too much to ask.
