Considering their DL and where they were on July 22nd, this might be the sweetest division title of them all.

And Halladay has a Game Score of 89.

Congratulations.

Also, I have to think a 2-hit, 6K shutout (4th) in his 9th CG moves Halladay's Cy Young from "likely" to "unanimous."

And he'll probably get strong MVP support, too.

The Phillies are the best team in baseball. They should be the favorites to win the World Series.

Pitchers these days don't get a lot of MVP support unless they have a historic year. You can't just win 20 games; you have to be more like 20 games over .500. Merely being great doesn't seem to cut it for the voters.

I don't think Halladay will win the MVP either, but he'll probably finish somewhere in the top 10 -- voters dig complete games and shutouts.

Top 10, yeah, that I could easily see. I don't think there are 10 position player candidates worth discussing in the NL. Other than Votto, Pujols, Carlos Gonzalez, Adrian Gonzales and Tulowitzki, nobody else is really getting mention.

Tonight was also the Phils' 20th shutout of the season -- their only other seasons with at least that many happened between 1906-17.

The Phillies really have become the Yankees of the NL; In fact, you could say they are in a more favorable position because of the fact that the other big market teams in the NL are cursed/not run very well. The only thing that's mildly concerning for them is that their best players are a little bit older.

The Phillies really have become the Yankees of the NL

Until this group wins a second World Series, they are the next-generation Braves. And that's not meant as a slight.

The only thing that's mildly concerning for (the Phillies) is that their best players are a little bit older.

Which just becomes part of the overall postseason narrative: What if this is Werth's last year in Philadelphia? Will Rollins and/or Ibanez be playing somewhere else in '11? Also: Sweeney's been playing forever and finally makes it to the playoffs, a healthy Lidge wants to avenge his Game 4 Series meltdown last year, Halladay just might take on his former AL East nemeses in the Series, etc. ...

Not sure this is Halladay's last start in the regular season. Schedule-wise, he could have one more start either 4 or 5 days rest which sets his first postseason start Oct. 6 or 7. Either going normal interval or skipping one start is mind boggling. Or would he rather have a short outing like 5 innings in between?

roy oswalt 4 EVAH!!!!!

would he rather have a short outing like 5 innings in between?

I'd assume a short outing for Roy is more like eight innings.

I hate my life.

I hate my life.

Joey Votto will save us all.

roy oswalt 4 EVAH!!!!!

he's on a hell of a run.

What if this is Werth's last year in Philadelphia? Will Rollins and/or Ibanez be playing somewhere else in '11?

if the phillies could move ibanez or rollins, i think they'd think real hard about it, but that's a lot of money to be trading for, even if both deals are just for 1 year.


also, at this point, rollins might be the most important player on the team. having him healthy on the postseason roster means brian boc0ck will not be. i might be alone in thinking this, but i'd keep rollins off the field as long as possible, just to prevent a recurrence of the hamstring issues. if valdez gets injured, there's no other choice but to use rollins, but if rollins gets injured first, there's no backup option besides the aforementioned boc0ck.

The Phillies really have become the Yankees of the NL;

Doubling your competitor's payroll certainly helps, yes.