The Phillies' offense would leave several runners in scoring position as they are unable to get a key hit as the Phillies lose to the Brewers, 4-1, losing an opportunity to end the series with a sweep. The Brewers, being a bit more patient at the plate as they faced Phillies' starter Jamie Moyer, would score first in the first inning, as, with runners on second and third, and one out, Prince Fielder would hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Mike Cameron, who has earlier walked, moved to second on Bill Hall's walk and would both move up a base on Moyer's wild pitch, giving the Brewers a quick 1-0 lead. The Brewers would then take a 2-0 lead as, now with a runner on third, and two outs, J. Hardy would hit a RBI single, scoring Hall, who has moved up to third base on Fielder's sacrifice fly. The score would remain 2-0 Brewers through the next four and a half innings, as Moyer would settle in while the Phillies' batters would leave runners in scoring position in the second through fourth innings, and a runner on first in the fifth, as they are unable to get a key hit off of Brewers' starter Dave Bush. The Brewers would increase their lead in the bottom of the fifth, as, with runners on the corners and no one out, Ryan Braun would hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Cameron, would was earlier hit by the pitch, and would move up to third on Hall's single, giving the Brewers a 3-0 lead. The Phillies would get a run back in the sixth, as, with a runner on third and one out, Ryan Howard would hit a RBI ground out, 6-3, scoring Jayson Werth, who has earlier tripled on a ball that Brewers' right fielder Corey Hart could not hold on to, making it 3-1 Brewers. The Brewers would get the run back in the seventh, as, with runners on first and third and one out, Jason Kendall would hit a RBI single, scoring Hardy, who has earlier singled, moved to second on Hart's sacrifice bunt and would then move to third on Craig Counsell's single, giving the Brewers a 4-1 lead. In the Phillies' ninth, they would make one last threat to tie the game. They would proceed to load the bases on Brewers' closer Salomom Torres via three straight singles by Howard, pinch hitter Greg Dobbs and Shane Victorino. The next batter, Pedro Feliz, would then ground into a double play, 6-4-3, wiping out Victorino at second, while scoring Howard, to make it a 4-2 Brewers' lead, while moving Dobbs up to third. Or so everyone thought at first, as the umpires were soon having a conference among themselves, before they declared that Howard and Dobbs needed to go back to third and second respectively as Victorino appeared to have interferred with the play as he attempted to disrupt Brewers' second baseman Counsell's throw to first. The next batter, Carlos Ruiz, would then follow with a ground out, 1-3, for the game's final out, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the divisional series.

Jamie Moyer will take the lost, going only four innings as he gives up two earned runs on four hits and three walks, while striking out three. Clay Condrey would pitch an inning in relief, giving up an earned run on a hit, a hit batter and two walks, while striking out one. Chad Durbin would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on three hits, while striking out one. Scott Eyre would pitch an inning, giving up an earned run on three hits, while striking out one. Ryan Madson would pitch an inning and a third of shut out ball, giving up no hits and striking out two. Dave Bush would get the win as he pitches five and one third innings, giving up an earned run on five hits, while striking out three. Mitch Stetter would pitch a third of an inning, getting out the only man he would face. Carlos Villanueva would pitch an inning and a third, giving up no runs or hits. Eric Gagne would pitch a scoreless inning, giving up just one hit. Salomon Torres would get the save as he pitches a scorless inning, giving up three hits.

The Phillies' offense would do the Phillies in yesterday, getting a bit too aggressive against Dave Bush as they tried to knock him out early, to put the series away in three games. Sadly, Bush would find ways to constantly dodge the bullet in the five and one third innings that he would pitch, as the Phillies would end up stranding seven men on base, all but two of whom would be in scoring position. Meanwhile, the Brewers would be a bit more patient batting against Jamie Moyer, who was not helped by getting pinched on the corners by the home plate umpire. Although he would eventually settle down, he would only last four innings because of his high pitch count.

The fourth game of the divisional series is presently in progress. The Phillies are sending Joe Blanton to the mound against the Brewers' Jeff Suppan. The Phillies are presently leading 5-0 after five innings, with Suppan already being taken out of the game and replaced by Yovani Gallardo. Unless something happens in the final four innings, it looks like the Phillies will clinch this afternoon in Milwaukee.

The Phillies show to the rest of the league that C.C. Sabathia is as human as the rest of us by scoring five runs off of him in the second inning before running him out of the game in the fourth as the Phillies' ride Brett Myers' two-hit pitching and Shane Victorino's grand slam to a 5-1 victory over the Brew Crew. Things didn't start out so brightly in the first inning, as the Brewers, after Mike Cameron started the game off by striking out on three pitches, would load the bases on Phillies' starter Brett Myers via a walk to Ray Durham on four pitches, a double to Ryan Braun, which would send Durham to third, and an intentional walk to Prince Fielder. J. Hardy would then follow with a walk of his own, forcing in Durham with the game's first run, giving the Brewers a 1-0 lead. But Myers would then get out of the inning as the next batter, Corey Hart, would hit the first pitch thrown to him directly to Myers. Myers would throw home for the second out of the inning as Carlos Ruiz would touch home plate before Braun can cross it. Ruiz would then throw over to first, beating out Hart, for the inning's final out. That would turn out to be the first key moment of the game, as Myers would then settle down after the first inning. Meanwhile, the Phillies would try to strike back in their half of the first, as they would have a runner on third, via a Shane Victorino double and a stolen base, and one man out, when Brewers' starter Sabathia would end the inning by striking out both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard swinging, and doing it by throwing only seventeen pitches. But, after Myers pitches a 1-2-3 second, the Phillies would go back to work on Sabathia. After Pat Burrell would start the inning off with a fly out to left, Jayson Werth would get on base with a double. Pedro Feliz would follow him with a RBI double, knocking in Werth, and tying the game at 1-1. After a Ruiz ground out to first would put Feliz on third, Myers would come up to bat. Myers would battle with Sabathia until on the ninth pitch thrown to him, he would get a walk, putting runners on the corners. That would be the second key moment of the game, as Sabathia's pitch count starts to rise and he is beginning to miss the plate. Jimmy Rollins would follow Myers with a four pitch walk, loading the bases, as Myers would move up to second, bringing up to the plate Victorino. Trailing in the count, 1-2, Victorino would belt a slider into the left field seats for a grand slam home run, the first one ever hit by a Phillie in the playoffs, scoring Feliz, Myers and Rollins, and giving the Phils a 5-1 lead. Sabathia would finally end the inning by getting Utley to once again strike out swinging, but by then the damage has already been done, as Sabathia's pitch count was now up to fifty-one pitches. In the third, Myers would pitch another 1-2-3 inning, while Sabathia would only let one batter get on base, Werth via his second double of the game, but Sabathia's pitch count was still rising as he has now thrown seventy-two pitches in three innings. In the fourth, after Myers would breeze through another inning, even though he would hit Hart with a pitch with two men out, Sabathia would finally get knocked out of the box by the Phils. They would start their half of the fourth off with a one pitch ground out, 1-3, by Ruiz. Myers would then battle Sabathia again, getting him mad in the process, as he would get the count up to 3-2 on nine pitches, before finally flying out to center on pitch number 10. Rollins would then follow with a double, the fifth double, and the sixth extra-base hit, that the Phillies would get off of Sabathia. After intentionally walking Victorino, the Phils would get a double steal as Rollins and Victorino would both move up a base, with Utley batting. These would be the third and fourth stolen bases that the Phils would get off of Sabathia. Utley would then get a walk, loading up the bases, and leading to the removal of Sabathia by Brewers' manager Dale Sveum. At that point, Sabathia's pitch count has risen to ninety-eight pitches. Sveum would then bring in reliever Mitch Stetter to face Howard. Stetter would get the Brewers out of the inning by striking out Howard, leaving the bases loaded. In the fifth, the Phillies would reload the bases, with two outs, via two walks (Burrell and Ruiz) and a single (Myers), but the Brewers would get out of that jam as Rollins would line out to Fielder who made a great catch on a ball that would have broken the game wide open if it has gotten through. The Phillies would threaten again in the sixth as they would put runners on second and first, with one out, via a double (Victorino) and an intentional walk (Howard), but the Brewers would get out of the inning as Seth McClung, pitching in his second inning in relief of Stetter, would strike out Burrell for the second out of the inning and then get Werth to fly out. In the seventh, the Brewers would get a run back as Craig Counsell would ground out, 4-3, scoring Hardy, who has reached base earlier with a double, only the second hit given up by Myers, and would then move to third on Hart's fly out to right, making it a 5-2 Phillies' lead. The Phillies half of the seventh would see the Phils go down 1-2-3 for the only time yesterday. In the Brewers' eighth, Myers would be taken out of the game and replaced by Ryan Madson. The inning would start with a fielding error by Rollins of pinch hitter Rickie Weeks' grounder. Madson would then get Cameron to pop (foul) out to the third baseman for the inning's first out. Durham would then hit into a force out, 1-6, forcing out Weeks, while Durham would beat out Rollins' throw to first. Braun would then follow with a single, moving Durham up to second base with still two men out. Madson is then taken out of the game by Charlie Manuel and replaced by J.C. Romero, to face Fielder. On Romero's first pitch, Fielder would hit a slow grounder towards Utley, who would shovel the ball over to Howard for the inning's final out, ending the short-lived Brewers' threat. In the ninth, Lidge would be given the ball for the save. Unlike Tuesday's game, Lidge would have an easy 1-2-3 inning, ending the game with a fly out to center, giving the Phillies a 5-2 win and a 2-0 lead in the series, as the two teams now head for Milwaukee for the third game of the series.

Brett Myers would get the win as he pitches seven innings, giving up two earned runs on two hits, three walks and a hit batter, while striking out four. Ryan Madson would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on one hit. J.C. Romero would pitch a third of an inning, getting out the only man he would face on one pitch. Brad Lidge would get his second post season save and his forty-third save in forty three tries, as he pitches a 1-2-3 inning. C.C. Sabathia would get the lost as he is only able to go three and two-thirds innings, giving up five earned runs on six hits, walking four batters, while striking out five. Mitch Stetter, Seth McClung, Eric Gagne and Salomon Torres would pitch a combined total of four and one-thirds innings of shut out ball, giving up just three hits (McClung (2), Torres (1)) and walking three (McClung), with each one striking out a batter for a total of four strike outs.

The victory gives the Phillies a commanding 2-0 lead in the series as they show that C.C. Sabathia is indeed human. This is mainly because most of the batters remained patient, with Brett Myers' two at-bats against Sabathia being the key at-bats, especially the first one, as Sabathia would lose his composure after each one, leading to Shane Victorino's grand slam in the second and Sabathia's removal with the bases loaded, after throwing 98 pitches, in the fourth. It would seem that pitching Sabathia with only three days rest for the fourth straight game has come back to haunt the Brewers as they are now backed into a corner with the wily veteran Jamie Moyer up next to attempt to seal the deal for the Phillies. The Brewers' ace was hit hard by the Phillies as all six of the hits off of him would be for extra-bases (5 (2B), 1 (HR)) while they also ran wild on him, stealing four bases, with Victorino leading the way with two steals. Meanwhile, Myers, after starting out a little wild and maybe being a little pinched by the home plate umpire, would gain control of the game after Corey Hart's 1-2-3 double play ball ending the first inning, ending the Brewers best, and as it would turn out, only chance to get control of this game.  After that inning, the Brewers would not be able to handle Myers' pitches, especially after he starts to throw at them more than just his fastball. It would appear that the Myers of the second half is back, and if he is, thank god for that.

The five games National League Divisional Series will now move to Milwaukee. The third game of the series will be played in Miller Park on Saturday and will start at 6:30 pm Eastern (5:30 pm Central). The Phillies' starter will be veteran Jamie Moyer (16-7, 3.71), who is coming off a victory against the Nationals on September 27, as he went six innings, giving up only an earned run on six hits, in the Phillies' 4-3 win. He has last faced the Brewers on September 11, defeating them in the game that would lead to a four game swept of the Brew Crew, as he would pitch five and two-thirds innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits, while striking out five, in the Phillies' 6-3 win. Moyer will be trying to, like he did last Saturday, pitch the Phillies deeper into the playoff with a win. His opponent will be Dave Bush (9-10, 4.18), who is coming off his fifth straight no-decision, this time against the Cubs on September 27, as he would pitch three innings in relief, giving up no runs on no hits, while walking a batter and striking out one, in the Brewers' 7-3 lost. His last start would be on September 23 against the Pirates, also a no-decision, as he went five innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits, in the Brewers' 7-5 win. His last start against the Phillies would be on September 14, as he pitched a no-decision, going six innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits, in the Brewers' 7-3 lost in the first game of a day/night doubleheader. Bush will be trying to prevent a sweep of the Brewers.

The Phillies will be trying to end the series early, handing the ball over to Jamie Moyer to do it. And, with the Brewers now trying to keep from getting swept, Moyer should be the right person for the job, as he'll be trying to use the Brewers' aggressiveness against them.

Behind Cole Hamels' eight innings of shut out ball, the Phillies would take a 1-0 lead over the Brewers in their National League Divisional Series. After Phillies' starter Cole Hamels and Brewers' starter Yovani Gallardo would both pitch two straight shut out innings, Hamels would pitch a 1-2-3 third, striking out four of the first nine men that he would face. Gallardo wouldn't be so lucky, as he would give up a lead-off single to Carlos Ruiz, the first hit of the ballgame. Hamels would then come to bat and laid down a sacrifice bunt that would become a catch error by the Brewers' second baseman Rickie Weeks. Both men would then be safe on the play, with Ruiz reaching second and Hamels being safe on first. Jimmy Rollins would then fly out to left for the inning's first out. Jayson Werth would then follow by striking out swinging, for the second out of the inning. Chase Utley would then come up, and on a 2-2 pitch, hit a double to center that would not be caught by Brewers' center fielder Mike Cameron, scoring both Ruiz and Hamels and giving the Phillies a quick 2-0 lead. The Phillies would then load up the bases via an intentional walk to Ryan Howard and a walk to Pat Burrell. The next batter, Shane Victorino would also get a walk, forcing in Utley and giving the Phillies a 3-0 lead, and leaving the bases loaded as Howard and Burrell would both move up a base. With a chance to break the game wide open early, Pedro Feliz, the ninth batter of the inning, would instead end it by flying out to center. Now with a lead, Cole Hamels would then proceed to breeze through the Brewers' lineup, giving up only two hits, while striking out nine Brewers. He had only one troublesome inning, the sixth. After striking out Jason Kendall, he would give up a single to Craig Counsell and then would walk Cameron, which would put Counsell on second. But Hamels would get out of the inning by first getting Bill Hall to strike out swinging for the second out of the inning, and then, on one pitch, he would get Ryan Braun to pop up to Jimmy Rollins, for the inning's final out. Meanwhile, the Brewers' bullpen would keep the Phillies' bats pretty much muzzled until the bottom of the eight, when they would threaten to add on to their lead. After Utley would ground out, 4-3, for the inning's first out, Howard would reach base with a walk. Eric Bruntlett, a defensive replacement for Burrell, would get a single off of Brewers' shortstop J. Hardy, putting runners on first and second, as Howard would reach second base, with one out. The next batter, Victornio would then hit into a force out, 4-6, as Bruntlett is wiped out at second, while he would beat the throw to first base. In the meantime, Howard would reach third, putting runners on the corner. After Guillermo Mota is sent to the mound in place of Manny Parra, Victorino would steal second, putting both runners in scoring position. Sadly, Feliz would be unable to knock them in as he pops up on a ball that Counsell would just be able to catch in the outfield, ending the inning. Brad Lidge would then be given the ball to nail it down for the Phillies. After getting Cameron out on a called third strike, Lidge would give up a single to pinch hitter Ray Durham. Braun would follow him with a double to right, scoring Cameron, thanks in part to a catch error by Utley, preventing him from making a possible play at the plate, giving the Phillies a 3-1 lead. Lidge would then get Prince Fielder to strike out swinging for the inning's second out. Hardy would then get on base with a walk, putting runners on first and second. With Corey Hart batting, Lidge would uncork a wild pitch, putting Braun on third and Hardy on second with the tying run and two outs. Lidge would then, on a 2-2 pitch, strike out Hart swinging on a high fastball, to end the game, striking out the side, and giving the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the series.

Cole Hamels will get the win, as he pitch eight shut out innings, giving up only two hits and a walk, while striking out nine. He is now 1-0 in the post season with a 0.00 ERA. Brad Lidge would get the save, his forty-second save in forty two tries, and his first for the post season, as he gives up an earned run on two hits and a walk while striking out three. Yovani Gallardo would get the lost as he pitches only four innings, giving up three runs, all unearned, on three hits and five walks, while striking out three. He is now 0-1 in the post season with an ERA of 0.00. Mitch Stetter, Carlos Villanueva, Manny Parra and Guillermo Moto would combine for four shut innings, giving up only one hit (Parra) and a walk (also by Parra), while striking out four (Stetter (1), Villanueva (3)).

With the win, the Phillies has started the series off on a good foot as they have won their first post season game since they have won game five in the 1993 World Series. They will now try for a sweep at home, but they will have to bat better than they did in today's game against the hard to hit C.C. Sabathia. If they don't, they'll be heading to Milwaukee with a spilt. They will also need a good start from Brett Myers, who has gotten bombed in his last two starts after being almost unhittable since his return from his minor league assignement.

Game 2 of the NLDS will be played tomorrow night at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 6 pm Eastern. The Phillies will send out Brett Myers (10-13, 4.55), who is coming off his second straight bad performance, after going 7-2 in his previous eleven starts. In his last two starts, he would only go a combined total of eight and a third innings, giving up fourteen earned runs on ninteen hits. He will be trying to recover from those two starts and prove that he can help the Phillies get further along in the playoffs. His opponent will be the Brewers' ace of the second half, C.C. Sabathia (17-10, 1.65), who is coming off his third straight game of pitching with three days rest, and winning his second straight start, as he pitched nine inning against the Cubs on September 28, giving up an unearned run on four hits, in the Brewers' 3-1, which would help get them into the post season. He will once again be pitching with three days rest. The Phillies should be able to defeat him if he start to show any fatigue from pitching so many games with less rest than he would normally get, and if the Phillies' batters show some patient while batting against him. Sabathia will be trying to even the series.

The Phillies will be trying to go to Milwaukee with a 2-0 lead in this short series, if they can get past Sabathia. Otherwise, they will be trying to win both games in Milwaukee. 

And for the second straight season, they were able to reach that goal thanks to the booming bat of Ryan Howard.

The hulking first baseman batted a sizzling .352 with 11 home runs, 32 RBIs and 26 runs scored in 25 September games, leading the Phillies to a 17-8 finish and the National League East division crown. For his efforts, he was selected by fans in an online vote as the winner of the Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Month Presented by Pepsi.

Howard's timely hitting was put on full display from Sept. 11-18, when he led the Phillies to successive sweeps of the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves. He racked up a dozen RBIs in that seven-game span, with his most memorable ones coming in the form of a two-run, eighth-inning homer that lifted his club to an 8-7 win over Atlanta on Sept. 16. The win pushed the Phillies into first place for the first time in September, a half-game ahead of the New York Mets.

Howard also drove in 14 runs over a seven-game span from Sept. 7-14, a stretch that concluded with a two-run blast vs. Milwaukee in a game Philadelphia would eventually go on to win.

The outstanding finish left the super slugger with a Major League-leading 48 long balls and 146 RBIs, numbers that place him among the favorites for NL Most Valuable Player honors.

Howard becomes the sixth and final winner of the 2008 Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Month Presented by Pepsi. Earlier winners include Carlos Quentin of the Chicago White Sox, who took home the award in May; New York Yankees Chien-Ming Wang (April), Jason Giambi (June) and Mike Mussina (July); and Milwaukee Brewers ace CC Sabathia (August).

Also up for September consideration were Andre Ethier of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Carlos Delgado of the New York Mets, Roy Oswalt of the Houston Astros, Cliff Lee of the Cleveland Indians and Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Rays.

The MLB Clutch Performer of the Month Presented by Pepsi winner is selected by the fans from a list of six nominees chosen by a special editorial panel from MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball. Each month, fans can visit a microsite powered by MLB.com specifically created for the Clutch Performer Platform, pepsiclutch.mlb.com, to vote for the nominee they believe was the best Clutch Performer.

From Oct. 1-19, fans have the opportunity to vote on the Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Year Presented by Pepsi winner at MLB.com, and the award will be presented during the postseason. Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees was named the inaugural recipient of the 2007 MLB Clutch Performer of the Year Presented by Pepsi. (H/T Phillies.com)

To say that this one came in as a complete surprise, as far as I'm considered, and since it was voted by other major league fans, makes this even sweeter than Howard winning the Player of the Month Award. Nice going, Big Guy.

Most wouldn't let him.

Since surrendering the high-profile, game-winning homer in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series -- temporarily sidetracking Houston's eventual trip to the World Series -- Lidge's closing career seemingly entered a downward spiral.

After a combined 14 blown saves and a 4.37 ERA over the next two seasons, which included losing his closing job for stretches, the Astros dealt Lidge to the Phillies in November 2007.

In a classic example of a player seizing a fresh start, Lidge converted 41-of-41 save chances in 2008, and returned to be one of Major League Baseball's elite closers. For his efforts, the sport's only perfect regular closer earned National League Comeback Player of the Year honors.

Named on 22 of 30 ballots submitted by MLB.com writers, Lidge received 12 first-place votes, seven seconds and three thirds, totaling 53 points. Chicago closer Kerry Wood, who overcame years of arm injuries, finished second with 34 points. He received six first-place votes, six seconds and four thirds.

Cleveland's Cliff Lee easily beat New York's Mike Mussina to capture the American League Award, receiving 24 first-place votes and two seconds.

With his new team, Lidge recorded his first save with the Phillies on April 7, sealing a win against Cincinnati. He didn't allow his first earned run until May 13 -- in his 18th appearance. Prior to that, Lidge had allowed just eight hits while striking out 18 in 17 innings.

Saves seemed to pile up with ease for Lidge, with few exceptions. One of those came on June 6, when he tried to protect a 4-2 lead. With two outs and runners on second and third, he surrendered a two-out single to Atlanta's Yunel Escobar. Josh Anderson scored, but Shane Victorino gunned down Gregor Blanco at the plate, preserving the win.

"The force was with us," Lidge said after that game.

The force remained with him, especially on Sept. 27, the day Philadelphia clinched the NL East Division.

Lidge raced in from the bullpen, again with a 4-2 lead. He surrendered a run and had the bases loaded with one out against Ryan Zimmerman. The Nationals third baseman rolled one up the middle, but shortstop Jimmy Rollins turned it into a sterling 6-4-3 double play.

Perfection.

"This season's been a grind," the 31-year-old Lidge said as he stood in the Phillies' clubhouse, soaked with champagne and wearing a gray T-shirt that proclaimed Philadelphia champion of the NL East. "Nothing's been easy."

Most of the time, Lidge just made it look that way.  (H/T Phillies.com)

And no one in the NL better deserved this award. No one!!!

While helping to boost the Phillies to the NL East title, Howard had 32 RBIs and an .852 slugging percentage in September. His home run, RBI and slugging percentage marks led the NL.

"Ryan's our carrier," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "When I was in Cleveland, we had more than one carrier. He's our carrier. He's the guy who puts up the big numbers. He's the guy that knocks in the 130 to 160 RBIs. He's the guy who's big in the moment."

Howard hit just .213 in August, but it all came together for him at the plate in September. Before 2008, Howard had been a career .318 hitter in September and October.

"You just go up there with your game plan and, whatever happens after that, happens," Howard said. "You want to come through when your team needs it and provide a lift."

Howard was locked in at the plate in September and the breaks went his way, too.

"When the balls are falling in, it's different," Howard said. "There are some things you could be doing when you're in a slump that you're doing when you're hitting .400. It's all about the ball falling in."

Howard, 28, had nine multi-hit games in September, including consecutive multi-hit games on Sept. 7 against the Mets and Sept. 8-9 against Florida. He also had a multi-homer game on Sept. 3 at Washington, when he hit a pair of two-run shots.

Howard, who was the 2006 NL MVP, finished the regular season with NL-best marks of 48 homers and 146 RBIs. He's the first Phils player with three consecutive 40-homer seasons.

It's the third Player of the Month award for Howard, who also was chosen in both August and September 2006.

Others receiving votes included Dodgers teammates Manny Ramirez (.370, 8 HR, 28 RBIs) and Andre Ethier (.462, 8 2B, 18 RBIs) and D-backs shortstop Stephen Drew (.337, 6 HR, 12 RBIs).

Sharp, the presenting sponsor of the NL Player of the Month Award, will present Howard with a 52-inch AQUOS. Sharp AQUOS is the official high-definition television of Major League Baseball. Howard will also receive a specially designed trophy to mark his achievements. (H/T Phillies.com)

And Howard deserved this, hands down. The 'Big Man'  and his bat came through for the team this month, and how. Now if someone would just find some way to fix his leaky glove, everything will be okay when the playoffs begins Wednesday.

The Phillies, behind a bunch of rookies and bench players, defeated the Nationals, 8-3, ending the 2008 regular season on a high note. They will now be facing the Brewers in the National League Divisional Series starting this coming Wednesday afternoon. The Phillies took a quick 1-0 lead in the first as, with two men on base and one out, Eric Bruntlett, who has earlier singled and then moved to third on Tadahito Iguchi's double, would cross the plate on Nationals' starter Odalis Perez's wild pitch, while Iguchi would move up to third. The Nationals would tie the game in the third, as the Phillies' surprise starter Kyle Kendrick would give up a lead-off home run to Luke Montz, his first career home run. The Nationals would then take the lead in the fourth as, with a runner on second and no one out, Kory Casto would hit a RBI double, scoring Anderson Hernandez, who has earlier doubled, to make it 2-1 Nationals. Two batters later, with Casto now on third, after moving up on Ryan Langerhans' ground out, 4-3, he would score on Alberto Gonzalez's RBI single, making it 3-1 Nationals. The Phillies would strike back in their half of the fourth, as, with runners on second and third and two outs, So Taguchi would hit a two-run single, scoring Lou Marson, who has earlier singled, his first hit in the majors, and would move up to third on pinch hitter Jayson Werth's single, who would later steal second, tying the game up at three all. Eric Bruntlett would then follow with a RBI double, knocking in Taguchi and giving the Phillies a 4-3 lead. The Phillies would add to their lead in the sixth, when, with a runner on first and two outs, Taguchi would hit a RBI triple, knocking in pinch hitter Ryan Howard, who has earlier singled to the left of the shift that most major league teams would put up against him, making it 5-3 Phillies. Then in the eighth, the Phillies would put the game away, when, with a runner on first and two outs, Marson would hit a monster two-run home run to left, his first career home run, scoring Greg Golson, who was earlier safe at first on a force play, which has wiped out Mike Cervenak, who has earlier reached base on a fielding error by Nationals' shortstop Hernandez, giving the Phillies a 7-3 lead. Pinch hitter Matt Stairs would then follow with a solo home run to right, his thirteen home run of the year, to give the Phillies an 8-3 lead. That would be the ballgame as Clay Condrey would come in to pitch a scoreless ninth, although he would give up a walk and then a single before recording the final out of the Phillies' 2008 regular season by getting Emilio Bonifacio to ground out, 3-1.

Kyle Kendrick, the surprise starter, would get a no-decision as he pitches four innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits. Kendrick, who is not on the Phils' post-season roster, will now be sent down to the Florida Instructional League to rebuild his confidence in his pitches as well as being taught two more pitches to help compliment his slider, before he comes back to join the team for spring training 2009. Les Walrond would get the win as he pitches two scoreless innings, giving up two hits as he struck out four. His record is now 1-1 with a 6.10 ERA. J.A. Happ would pitch one and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief, giving up two hits as he struck out three. Rudy Seanez would pitch a third of an inning, getting out the only batter he would face. Clay Condrey would pitch a scoreless ninth, giving up a hit and a walk. Odalis Perez would get the lost, as he is only able to pitch three and two-thirds inning, leaving the game early because of a possible injury and with the Nats not taking any chances with his career, giving up four runs, only three of which were earned, on eight hits while striking out five. His record is now 7-12 with an ERA of 4.34. Shairon Martis would pitch two innings and a third, giving up an earned run on two hits while striking out three. Marco Estrada would pitch two innings, giving up three runs, only two of which were earned, on three hits.

The Phillies (92-70) would end the year with a sweep of the Nationals, winning the third game of the series with rookies and bench players, although two of the regulars, Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard would both come up to bat as pinch hitters, both getting singles and both scoring. Among the bench players, So Taguchi would lead the way by going 3 for 5, getting a triple, knocking in three runs while scoring one. Eric Bruntlett and Tadahito Iguchi would be next as they each went two for five, with Bruntlett knocking in a run and scoring one. Geoff Jenkins would be the other bench player who would get a hit. The only one among the rookies with a good day would be Lou Marson, who would go 2 for 4, getting his first major league career hit, a single, score his first run, knock in his first RBI and hit his first home run of his career, all in the same game. He also threw out his first base stealer of his career, as he caught the Nationals' Emilio Bonifacio when he overslid second base on a steal attempt, tagged out by Iguchi when he tried to put his foot back on the bag. Also, all three pinch hitters that the Phillies would send up to the plate would hit safely as Matt Stairs would add a solo home run to Werth and Ryan's singles. The victory gives the Phillies the second best record in the National League, beind the Central Division Champions Chicago Cubs, and the fifth in the majors, behind the American League Western Division Chmpions Los Angeles Angles, the American League Eastern Division Champions Tampa Bay Rays and the American League Wild Card Winner and Current World Champions Boston Red Sox.

The Phillies ended the season in first place in the National League Eastern Division, with a record of 92-70 for a winning percentage of .568, ending twelve wins over .500. They ended up being three games ahead of the Mets, who ended up with a record of 89-73 .559, seven and a half games ahead of the Marlins, who ended up with a record of 84-77 .522, twenty games ahead of the Braves, who ended up with a record of 72-90 .444 and thirty-two and a half games ahead of the Nationals, who ended up with a record of 59-102 .366.

The Phillies will now have today and tomorrow to rest up before they get ready to face the Wild Card Winner Milwaukee Brewers for a five games National League Divisional Series, which will start in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

The Phillies held on to defeat the Nationals, 4-3, to win their second straight Eastern Division Championship. The Phillies would take the lead in the fourth, as, with runners on the corners and no one out, Pat Burrell would hit a foul ball sacrifice fly, scoring Chase Utley, who has earlier singled and would go to third on Ryan Howard's single, giving the Phillies a quick 1-0 lead. Three batters later, with the bases loaded and still one out, Carlos Ruiz would hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Howard, who would go to second on Shane Victorino's single, and would then move up to third on Pedro Feliz's walk, while Victorino would move up to second on the walk, giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead. The Nationals would cut the Phillies' lead down to 2-1 in the fifth, as, with a runner on second and two outs, Anderson Hernandez would hit a RBI double, scoring Roger Bernadina, who has earlier singled and would move on to second on Nationals' starter John Lannan's sacrifice bunt, 1-4. The Phillies would get that run back in their half of the fifth as Jayson Werth would hit a lead-off solo home run, his twenty-fourth home run of the year, giving the Phillies a 3-1 lead. In the sixth, the Nats would threaten to score as they would get their first two hitters, Ryan Zimmerman and Lastings Milledge, on base with singles, with Milledge's being a bunt single that succeeded because Moyer has broken originally towards third base at the end of his delivery, before he was unable to grab the ball, putting Nats runners on first and second. But Moyer would then get out of the inning by getting first Elijah Dukes and then Aaron Boone to fly out to center and then getting Wil Nieves to strike out swinging. In the eighth inning, the Nats would make it close as, with runners on second and third, and no one out, Milledge would hit a sacrifice fly on a great play made by Jimmy Rollins for the inning's first out, as Cristian Guzman, who has earlier singled and would go to third on Zimmerman's double, would score during the collision between Rollins and a sliding Victorino, in which they would hit their right shins together, making it 3-2 Phils. As Rollins walk back to his position, walking it off, Victorino would lie on his back for a while, before he finally got back up and then walked it off as well, before the game resumed. Ryan Madson, who was pitching in relief of Chad Durbin, who, in turn, had pitched the seventh in relief of Phillies' starter Jamie Moyer, would end the inning by first getting Dukes to ground out, 6-4, and then getting Boone to strike out swinging. The Phillies would get that run back as, with a runner on first and two outs, Feliz would hit a RBI double, scoring Victorino, who has earlier singled and would run all the way home, making it 4-2 Phillies. The ball is then given to Brad Lidge to close it out. After striking out Emilo Bonifacio, he would give up a single to Bernadina. Pinch hitter Ryan Langerhans would than get on base with a walk, moving Bernadina up to second. Hernandez would follow with a RBI single, scoring Bernadina and sending Langerhans to second, making it 4-3 Phillies. Guzman would then single, moving Langerhans and Hernandez both up a base, as the bases are now loaded. The next batter, Zimmerman, would then hit a ground ball that tried to go into right center field for a hit. Rollins would stop the ball, and then threw it perfectly to Utley for the inning's second out, wiping out Hernandez. Utley then threw a high throw that was brought down by Howard, beating out a slow running Zimmerman for the game's final out on a double play and would lead to the start of the Phillies' celebration of their second straight National League Eastern Division Championship, won at home for only the second time in the Phillies' history.

Jamie Moyer would get the win, in the process tying Nolan Ryan's record for the most games won by a 45 years old pitcher, as he went six innings, giving up only one earned run on six hits. His record is now 16-7 with a 3.71 ERA. Chad Durbin would pitch a scoreless inning, giving up no hits. Ryan Madson would pitch an inning, giving up one earned run on two hits. Brad Lidge would pitch an inning, as he gave up an earned run on three hits as he recorded his forty-first save in forty-one attempts. John Lannan would get the lost, as he pitched five innings, giving up three earned runs on seven hits. His record is now 9-15 with a 3.91 ERA. Steven Shell would pitch an inning, giving up no runs on no hits. Mike Hinckley would pitch an inning and a third, giving up no runs on no hits. Garrett Mock would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up an earned run on two hits.

 With the victory, the Phillies have captured their seventh National League Eastern Division pennant in the team's 125 years history, and their first two consecutive divisional crowns since they have won three Eastern Division pennants back in 1976-1978. This is the first time that they have entered the postseason for two straight seasons since the 1980-1981 seasons. Jamie Moyer, for the second straight season, has pitched the Phillies into the playoffs with his strong six innings outing. Every regular, except for Carlos Ruiz, would get at least one hit, while Shane Victorino would go 3 for 4, all singles, and scoring what would turn out to be the game winning run.

The 2008 Eastern Divisional Champion Phillies (91-70) will be playing their last regular season game tomorrow afternon, Fan Appreciation Day, against the Nationals (59-101). The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will begin at 1:35 pm Eastern. The Phillies' starter, thank to the clinching, will be J.A. Happ (1-0, 3.90), who is coming off a no-decision against the Braves on September 21, as he went six and two-thirds innings, giving up only two earned runs on five hits, in the Phillies' 6-2 win, instead of their ace Cole Hamels, who will now be given the day off. He has faced the Nationals once before, pitching an inning in relief against them on September 1, as he gave up no runs on one hit, in the Phillies' 7-4 lost. In four starts, he is 1-0 with three no-decisions, all of which would be won by the Phillies, with an ERA of 2.28. He will be trying for his second major league win tomorrow afternoon. His opponent will be Odalis Perez (7-11, 4.27), who is coming off a lost to the Padres on September 21, as he went six innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits, in the Nationals' 6-2 lost. In his last appearance against the Phillies on September 3, he pitched a no-decision, going five innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits, in the Nationals' 9-7 win. He will be trying to improve his record and end the Nationals' season on a high note.

The Phillies are still ahead of the Mets by two games, as they defeated the Marlins. In the Wild Card race, the Mets and the Brewers are once again tied for the wild card lead as the Brewers lost to the Cubs. The Wild Card race will now go down to the wire between the Mets and the Brewers with the magic number for both being at 2. The Phillies will more than likely be resting most of their regulars tomorrow, while waiting to see who their opponent will be in the National League Divisional Series.

The Phillies (90-70) will conclude their final home stand of the regular season with the Nationals (59-100) with a game this afternoon, which will be nationally televised by Fox Sports and another game tomorrow afternoon. Today's game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 3:55 pm Eastern, to be shown on Fox Sports. The Phillies' starter will be Jamie Moyer (15-7, 3.78), who is coming off a victory over the Marlins on September 21, where he went six innings, giving up only one earned run on six scattered hits, in the Phils' 5-2 win. In his last start against the Nats on August 21, he would receive a no-decision as he went six and one third innings, giving up just an earned run on five hits, in the Phillies' 4-3 lost. He will be trying for both his team leading sixteenth victory and for the second straight year of pitching the Phillies into the playoffs, if the Marlins don't defeat the Mets earlier today. The Nationals will counter with John Lannan (9-14, 3.86), who is coming off a lost to the Padres on September 20, when he went seven innings, giving up four runs, only one of which was earned, on four hits, in the Nationals' 6-1 lost. In his last two starts against the Phillies, his record is 0-2, where he pitched a combined total of eleven and two-thirds innings, giving up eight earned runs on fourteen hits. He will be trying to get his tenth victory of the season while trying to see if he can stop the Phillies' clinching celebration for one more day.

Tomorrow afternoon's game, which will be the Phillies' Fan Appreciation Day, will start at 1:35 pm Eastern. If the Phillies do not clinch the division today, their starter for tomorrow's game will be their ace Cole Hamels (14-10, 2.09), who is coming off a hard lost against the Braves on September 23, where he pitched seven innings, giving up three runs, only two of which were earned, on eight hits, in the Phillies' 3-2 lost. In his last start against the Nationals on September 2, he would get the victory as he pitched seven and a third innings of shut out ball, giving up only five hits, in the Phillies' 4-0 win. He would be going for win number fifteen and clinching the division for the Phillies, and thus ending the Mets' hope of gaining the divisional pennant. If the Phillies clinch on Saturday, their starter will more than likely be the rookie J.A. Happ (1-0, 3.90), who pitched a no-decision in his previous start against the Braves on September 22, going six and two-thirds innings, giving up only two earned runs on five hits, in the Phillies' 6-2 win. He has faced the Nationals once before this season, pitching an inning of relief on September 1, giving up no earned runs on one hit, in the Phillies' 7-4 lost. He has started four games, going 1-0 with three no-decisions, all of which the Phillies would win. He will be trying for his second victory of the year. Either pitcher will be opposed by Odalis Perez (7-11, 4.27), who is coming off a no-decision against the Padres on September 21, going six innings, as he gave up three earned runs on five hits, in the Nationals' 6-2 lost. He will be trying to improve his record and if the pennant race is still on, ruin the Phillies' chance to clinch the pennant.

The Phillies are presently ahead of the Mets in the East by two games as they play the Marlins in the next to last game to be played inside Shea Stadium, with the Phillies' magic number to win the division at one. In the Wild Card race, the Brewers now lead the Mets by one game as they get ready to face the Cubs, with their magic number to clinch the Wild Card at two. The Phillies can clnch the East this afternoon, with the clinching party being seen on national television, if the Mets haven't lost to the Marlins by the start of the ballgame. Whatever happens, the Phillies just need to take care of their own buisness and beat the Nationals. GO PHILLIES!!!!

The Phillies' offense early innings offensive, and Blanton's excellent pitching, would lead the Phillies to easily defeat the Nationals, 8-4. A Mets' lost to the Marlins would help drop the Phillies' magic number to win the Eastern Division down to one. The Phillies would take a quick lead in the first, as, with runners on the corners and one man out, Ryan Howard would hit a three-run home run, his forty-eighth home run of the year, scoring Jayson Werth, who has earlier singled and has moved to third on Chase Utley's single, and Utley, who has singled earlier, to give the Phillies a quick 3-0 lead. The Nationals would get a run back in the second, as, with a runner on third and two outs, Luke Montz would hit a RBI single, knocking in Elijah Dukes who has earlier walked, went to second on a pass ball, moved to third on Kory Casto's ground out, 4-3, to make it a 3-1 Phillies' lead. The Phillies would blow the game wide open in their half of the second, as, with the bases loaded via a double (Greg Dobbs), a walk (Jimmy Rollins) and an infield single (Werth) and two outs, Utley would clear the bases by hitting a three-run RBI double, scoring Dobbs, Rollins and Werth, giving the Phillies a 6-1 lead. Howard would then follow with a RBI double, knocking in Utley, making it 7-1 Phils. The Nationals would cut the Phillies' lead down in the fifth, as, with two men on and one out, Emilo Bonifacio would hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Peter Orr, who would reach first on Howard's fielding error and would move to third on Roger Bernadina's double, to make it a 7-2 Phillies' lead. One batter later, Bernadina would score on a Cristian Guzman's single, cutting the Phillies' lead down to 7-3. In the sixth, the Nationals would cut the lead down further to 7-4 Phillies as, with two outs, Casto would hit a solo home run, his second home run of the year, after the umpires have reviewed the play and dismissed Charlie Manuel's argument that a fan has pulled the ball into the right field stands. The Phillies would get that run back in the seventh as, with runners on second and third and two men outs, Utley, who has earlier singled, stole second and would reached third on Shane Victorino's force out, which would wipe out Pat Burrell, who has earlier walked, would crossed the plate on a pass ball, while Victorino, who has earlier stole second, would move on to third, making it 8-4 Phillies. Brad Lidge would then be given the ball in the ninth and would pitch a 1-2-3 inning.

Joe Blanton would get the win as he pitches six very strong innings, giving up four runs, only one of which was earned, on five hits. His record is now 9-12, 4-0 as a Phil, with an ERA of 4.69. Scott Eyre would pitch a scoreless inning, giving up no hits while striking out two. Ryan Madson would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up no runs on one hit. J.C. Romero would pitch a third of an inning, giving up no runs or hits. Brad Lidge would pitch a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out two. Collin Balester would take the lost, as he only went an inning and a third, giving up seven earned runs on seven hits. Jason Bergmann would pitch two and one third innings, giving up no runs on one hit. Charlie Manning would pitch a scoreless inning, giving up no hits. Garret Mock would also pitch a scoreless inning, giving up no hits. Mike Hinckley would pitch two thirds of an inning, giving up an unearned run on one hit. Jesus Colome would pitch an inning and a third, giving up no runs on no hits.

The Phillies' offense would bust the game open early in the first two innings, via a three-run home run by Ryan Howard and a three-run double by Chase Utley. With this big runs support, Joe Blanton would be able to mow down the Nationals, getting most of them out via a large number of ground ball outs. The score is closer than it actually should have been, as one National run would come in thanks in part to a Carlos Ruiz pass ball on a Blanton pitch, and their second and third runs would cross the plate because of Ryan Howard's fielding error on a ball that was hit straight to him. Whatever Charlie Manuel has told his men during their afternoon meeting must've worked as they would score several very early runs.

The Phillies (90-70) will continue their final three games home stand of the regular season with the Nationals (59-100) with a game this afternoon, which will be nationally televised by Fox Sports. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 3:55 pm Eastern. The Phillies' starter will be the 45 years old veteran Jamie Moyer (15-7, 3.78), who is coming off a win against the Marlins on September 21, where he went six innings, giving up only one earned run on six scattered hits, in the Phillies' 5-2 win. In his last start against the Nats on August 21, he would receive a no-decision as he went six and one third innings, giving up just an earned run on five hits, in the Phillies' 4-3 lost. He will be trying for both his team leading sixteenth victory and to clinch the Phillies into the playoffs, if the Marlins don't defeat the Mets earlier in the day. The Nationals will send to the mound John Lannan (9-14, 3.86), who is coming off a lost to the Padres on September 20, when he went seven innings, giving up four runs, only one of which was earned, on four hits, in the Nationals' 6-1 lost. In his last two starts against the Phillies, his record is 0-2, where he pitched a combined total of eleven and two-thirds innings, giving up eight earned runs on fourteen hits. He will be trying to get his tenth victory while trying to see if he can stop the Phillies' clinching celebration for one more day.

The Phillies are now ahead of the Mets in the East by two games after their lost to the Marlins, leaving the Phillies' magic number to win the division at one. In the Wild Card race, the Brewers are now leading the Mets by one game as they defeated the Cubs, with their magic number to clinch the Wild Card now at two. The Phillies could clnch the East Saturday afternoon, with the clinching party being seen on national television, if the Mets haven't already lost to the Marlins by then. Whatever happens, the Phillies need to take care of their own buisness and defeat the Nationals. GO PHILLIES!!!!