Contagious

Charlie has often said, ‘Hitting is contagious.”

No better example than last night’s completed sweep of the Diamondbacks, the first in Philly since 1998.

**Last 7 games, Ryan is hitting .346, 6 homers, 16 RBI.

**Last 5 games, Werth, .368, 5 homers, 7 RBI.

**Blanton even got contagious with his first ever 2-hit game.  That was the third straight 2-hit game for a Phillies pitcher.

While the offense is explosive, the pitching staff has been the most consistent entity on the club.  Starters didn’t walk a batter in the 3 games against Arizona.  Remember all the home runs hit against the Phillies?  At the All-Star break, we hit 122, the enemy 121.  Since then, we 41, the enemy 29.  That’s huge.

One last Charlie note: after getting swept by the Marlins at home, he had a meeting with the team after a sloppy Sunday loss.  Since then, the Phils are 8-1.

Minor League Notes
Brett Myers pitched 1 inning last night for Clearwater.  He allowed 2 hits but struck out the side.  The game was a suspended game from August 7.  Oddly, the box score includes 3 Phillies pitchers, Durbin, Romero and Myers.  Chad and J. C. were on rehab assignments at the time . . . Kyle Drabek, who had given up 11 runs in his 3 previous starts (0-1), won last night for the first time since July 27 with 7 shutout innings in a 6-0 Reading win at Portland.  His fast ball comfort zone was 94-95 on the radar gun.  Counting Clearwater, he is 12-3 this season.

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