Rants and raves about burning topics that have caught my attention midweek, be it greedy corporate shenanigans, frustration or joy in regards to the Philly sports teams, a movie, show or DVD that has fired up my imagination, an intriguing personality, or what’s happening in the region. — Lori Hoffman, Associate Editor, Atlantic City Weekly.

The Phillies are hot and are at home for their longest stretch of the season, with two more games against the Giants, three games against Washington and four games against Houston. Add in the return of Chase Utley, and the expected return of Ryan Howard later this week, and the Fightins should be in first place soon — at least on paper. Problem is, the games aren’t played on paper.

Roy Oswalt (Photos by: Tom Briglia / PhotoGraphics Photography)

During what looks like a soft stretch for the Phils, excluding the two games with the Giants, Atlanta is not exactly facing murder’s row themselves. They have two more games at home against Washington (where they are 43-16, the best home record in the majors), followed by a road trip against the fading Cubs and three against Colorado, ten games back in the west.

Both the Phillies and the Braves have great starting pitching and have done well despite major injuries (Chipper Jones is lost for the season). The Braves have the better bullpen but the Phillies have a much better offense.

When the Phillies still had their best players on the field, they had a horrible stretch beginning in late May. The entire team went in a slump that could really not be explained. Three shutout losses to the Mets was the nadir of that stretch.

In the same way, the Phillies going 19-5 while Utley was out, Placido Polanco was just getting back and both Shane Victorino and Howard landed on the DL cannot be explained either.

Sure, Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth got hot, Carlos Ruiz delivered key hits, GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. got Roy Oswalt, and the back end of the bullpen started pitching like it was 2008 again, but Jimmy Rollins was still popping up on the first pitch and the middle relief was no relief at all.

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Nobody in professional sports likes to use injuries as an excuse for their team not doing well. But fans can wail and moan as much as they like. It is amazing that the Phillies are nine games above .500 (57-48) considering that nearly every position player has spent some time on the DL plus a bunch of pitchers.

Here is the DL list to date: Placido Polanco, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Ruiz and Brian Schneider, with Ryan Howard soon to join the list. I know he said he didn’t think he had to go on the DL, but ankle sprains are tricky.

The pitchers who have spent time on the disabled list are Ryan Madsen, the since-traded J.A. Happ, Brad Lidge, Joe Blanton, Jamie Moyer (done for the season), and Chad Durbin.

Yet, with all these injuries, the Phillies managed to string together their best stretch of the season, winning eight games in a row, and nine of 11.

Now with the trade that brought them Roy Oswalt, the Phillies are poised to continue to make a run to catch the division-leading Atlanta Braves, who are three games up on the Fightins’. We won’t get Utley back for another month, but Wilson Valdez has done an adequate job filling in.

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Rollins is mobbed at home after his game winning homer.

When Phillies shortstop and sparkplug Jimmy Rollins was injured a second time, just a week after returning to the lineup a month ago, you could feel the air come out of the Phillies balloon. While his loss didn’t explain the complete offensive collapse, it was a contributing factor. Not only was in missed in the lead-off spot, but Shane Victorino’s punch was missed at the bottom of the line up.

Last night as I was telling my Mom and my TV set that it was time for Rollins to prove he was ready to lead the team’s comeback, he smacked a deep drive to right, a two-run walk off home run that gave the Phillies a 7-6 win over Cleveland. Amazingly, it was the first walk off homer of his career. After the game Charley Manual gave J-Roll a noogie and Victorino gave him a shaving cream pie to the face.

While there are concerns about the Phils’ starting pitching and the bullpen, especially with the loss of Chad Durbin last night with a pulled hamstring, you could feel the energy building. The Phillies have their swagger back, and when this team is confident, it wins ballgames.

Welcome back J-Roll.

The Phillies were bound to come back to earth after a sizzling start and they crash-landed last night in Atlanta. For the second game in a row, the Phillies wasted a great performance by a starting pitcher. On a night when Kyle Kendrick was nearly unhittable, the bullpen, led by Ryan Madsen, gave the Braves the victory, blowing a 3-0 lead in the ninth. As my mother wondered in frustration why KK came out of the game in the first place, I explained that you have to believe your closer can hold a three run lead in the ninth. To which she replied, well maybe they will think about that the next time.

She has a point. My take on the three game losing streak is that the Phils are missing Jimmy Rollins in the field and at bat. Even with the rest of that lineup they need J-Roll. It is the nature of baseball that just when your starting pitching starts to look great, then your team isn’t hitting enough and your bullpen suddenly implodes.

Now we know the Phils will have to work to get back to the playoffs, that we really need J-Roll, a productive Brad Lidge and the steady arm of Joe Blanton.
The best news right now is that we have Doc Halladay pitching tonight to get us back in the W column.

There was joy in Phillies-ville, mighty J-Roll did not strike out.

A funny thing happened after the Los Angeles Dodgers sent their excellent closer, Jonathan Broxton, out to the mound in the ninth inning with a 4-3 lead to nail down the win and the 2-2 tie in the series with the Phillies.
When you have a 100-mile per hour fastball you are supposed to challenge hitters. Broxton, however, did not want to challenge pinch hitter Matt Stairs with one out. Stairs nailed down the crucial game four win in the NLCS last year with a homer against Broxton.
With that memory haunting his psyche, Broxton walked a .194 hitter who had failed to hit a homer in his last 30 at bats. After Stairs was replaced by Eric Bruntlett at first, Broxton faced Carlos “Senor Octobre” Ruiz. Broxton, the fear factor affecting his control, hit Ruiz with a pitch. Now the winning run was on base.
After pinch hitter Greg Dobbs hit a weak pop to third, Jimmy Rollins came to the plate. A double might not be enough to score your catcher from first base. Rollins, however, swung at a fastball down the heart of the plate and nailed it to the right centerfield gap. Ruiz’s little legs were churning like the Roadrunner as he slid across the plate for the winning run and a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.
As a delightful little side note, Brad Lidge pitched well in his half of the ninth to preserve the one-run deficit and wound up with the win. Lidge has saved all three of his opportunities. Hard to believe, Harry, but Lidge has been the most consistent closer in the playoffs to date.
It looks like the Boys of Red October weren’t kidding at the parade last year when they said they wanted to do this again … and again.
Wednesday, Cole Hamels gets to show he can return to 2008 form and nail down the win that takes the Fightins’ into the World Series. Call me crazy, but I don’t see Vincente Padilla matching his game two effort. Wrapping it up in Philly would be nice, but we have an ace in the hole, with Cliff Lee on tap if the series returns to L.A.

Best Sign of the Night: I’m J-Roll’s brother, Tootsie.