A hot Burrell bat bodes well for Phils

PHILADELPHIA — Phillies fans waved rally towels, giddy at their good fortune, and chanted "Sweep! Sweep!" as the Phillies stomped on the Brewers again Sunday. They have gained four games on Milwaukee in three days. Out of nowhere -- here come the Phillies, making another late-season surge toward the playoffs. Good times, all around.

"I believe in momentum -- what do you call it -- attitude, charisma; when you come to the ballpark, everything is OK," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "Everybody is in a good mood, upbeat. Everybody's happy. People ain't walking around sulking because they ain't making enough money, or something happened at the house. I don't know; those things happen. "We're totally focused on playing the game. It shows you we're starting to get it together."

The word Manuel was searching for was "chemistry," but whatever. For the Phillies today, it's all good. They are taking advantage of a momentous collapse -- again. Among the many sins the Brewers committed Sunday, losing a doubleheader and folding faster than Superman on laundry day, was this: They got Pat Burrell going.

Burrell re-joined the Phillies lineup Sunday, driving in the game-winning run in the opener after a grievous insult -- and adding a home run in the nightcap. Burrell was hitting .165 with a .289 slugging percentage since Aug. 5, with just 10 RBIs in 121 at-bats. Still it was a heck of a thing to see Brewers manager Ned Yost bring in a lefty to face Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, and then walk Howard intentionally to let the left-hander face Burrell.

Weird -- and an open admission that Yost thought Burrell wasn't much of a threat. Burrell smoked a single to left that broke a 3-3 tie and sent the Phillies to a win in the opener. Asked if it was an important hit for him and for his confidence, Burrell said it sure was.

"To be able to help us win was important," Burrell said. "I can't lie; it was big. I needed to get a hit in that situation."

In the eighth inning of Game 1, Yost brought in lefty Brian Shouse for Utley and Howard. Utley inexplicably bunted, opening up first base. Yost ordered Shouse to walk Howard, bringing up Burrell. Then he let the lefty face Burrell.

Shouse allows right-handers almost a hundred points better batting average than left-handers. Burrell is hitting 15 points better against lefties. Howard is hitting .208 against lefties. Just weird. But that's how bad the Brewers are going -- 3-10 in September, and going all to pieces in front of the Phillies.

And that's how good Howard is going. With a homer in the opener, Howard has hit safely in eight straight games, driven in at least one run in seven straight and he has seven homers and 19 RBIs in September -- both tops in the majors.

"It's only a matter of time, because he's been swinging the bat so well," Burrell said. "I'm not surprised they pitch around him. All that does is put some pressure on the guy behind him. I need to get base hits there."

Burrell then homered in the second game, as Brett Myers pitched the Phillies into a tie for the wild-card lead. Myers was brilliant, again. That Myers and Moyer both pitched in this series on short rest proved an obvious point -- Manuel is going all-in on the Brewers, and for good reason.
This apparently is the Phillies' plan every season -- to lurk in the weeds, waiting for the teams ahead of them to throw up on themselves, and then waltz past them into the playoffs. The Phillies are a dynasty that way, as long as somebody else falls apart every year.

This year, that somebody may be the Brewers. The two teams traded hit batsmen Sunday, and there should have been a fight. The Brewers needed a fight; there was every reason for this to go haywire -- but the Brewers have no more fight left in them, and the Phillies couldn't have cared less. Bigger fish to fry.

Asked if the Mets and Brewers should be worried about the Phillies, Howard smiled before dodging the question this way: "We're worried about ourselves," Howard said. "Everybody else would probably say the same. We'll take care of our business."

It gets a lot easier if Burrell gets going again. This may indeed be his last stand in Philadelphia; he's in the last year of his contract and Burrell's fade in the last month has put a return in real doubt. He knows it; Burrell has admitted he's thought this month might be the end for him here. Unless, of course, he's playing in October. Reach Kevin Roberts at kroberts@courierpostonline.com

(courierpostonline.com)