Who saw that coming? Phillies sweep Padres

Things looked pretty bad for the Phillies after they got swept in four games by the lowly Astros. With the offense struggling to score any runs against the mediocrity that is the Astros pitching staff, the Phillies headed to San Diego to face one of the best staffs in the league. Surely, the Phillies wouldn't be able to muster enough offense to beat the best team in the National League.

Not so fast. Behind great pitching performances by Roy Oswalt, Joe Blanton and Cole Hamels and some timely hits, the Phillies swept the best team in the NL in their own ballpark. While the hitting wasn't much better than it was against Houston, averaging 3.7 runs per game, the Phillies starting pitching rose to the occasion, allowing only 2 runs in 22 innings against a Padres team that has their own offensive problems. As for some good news when it comes to the Phillies bats, it was nice to see a little power on display on Sunday as both Mike Sweeney and Jayson Werth went yard.

With the sweep, the Phillies have pulled to just 2 games behind the Braves and remain in the lead for the Wild Card. Now headed to LA to face the Manny-less Dodgers, things are looking up once again for the Phillies as they should be able to handle a Dodgers team that is sliding right out of playoff contention. Of course, we all thought they would easily push the Astros aside and that didn't exactly work out as planned. Still, if the Phillies continue to get solid outings from the rotation, they will only need to muster up a few runs to continue their winning streak.
(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)