Winning the hunt

Man, this is going to suck three years down the road.

But who has the luxury of thinking about the future? The Phillies certainly won't have to deal with paying for any luxury, that's for sure, but with no World Series trophy at the end of this season, they'll pay with the thunderous boos emanating from Citizens Bank Park.

Enter: Hunter Pence.

The Phillies gave away their final bargaining chips in the farm system - Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Zeid and a player to be named later - going all in for what could be their last shot for ultimate glory. The recipient for the second straight July was their old friend, Ed Wade, who sent that key righty bat from the Houston Astros packing.

To be sure, Pence is no Jayson Werth. He's not going to put together any 20-20 seasons or walk once or twice every game. His career OPS of .818 is also a bit underwhelming.

It also would not have been that great of a risk for the Phillies to make no moves before the Trade Deadline and try to win it all with what they had. To this point, their group of players gave them the best record in baseball, and with Chase Utley back and healthy, the offense was showing shades of its former robust self (evidence once again in Friday's 10-3 win over the Pirates).

However, this move means that Shane Victorino will no longer be burdened with occupying the No. 5 hole - a place no one should have expected his presence at any future time when he first came to Philadelphia. A guy with a little pop in his bat (Pence has hit 25 homers in each of the last three seasons) will provide adequate protection for Ryan Howard, and Victorino will no longer have to be the only member of the .300 club.

The big right field issue has also been solved by this trade, as the Phillies are getting an upgrade at the plate and in the field. The Ben Francisco Experiment was DOA, and now the team doesn't need to wait for Domonic Brown's bat to come around. He can return to the bench or build his confidence back up in Triple A. He'll get his chance again next year when Raul Ibanez leaves. I'm relieved the Phillies didn't deal Brown to make this trade work. While some may view the present one as shortsighted, shipping off Brown would have made no sense.

Pence is one of the more amiable fellows playing the game, which will make him popular in Philadelphia. He'll stay long enough to make a good impression, too, because he's not eligible for free agency until after the 2013 season.

It remains to be seen if Pence's bat and glove make the difference in October, but it'll be nice to see a new face in that lineup, and Pence's presence only adds assurance to a fifth straight NL East title. Plus, the guy's name is Hunter. How can you go wrong?

I love to ride my bi-cycle

Jimmy Rollins may have fallen a double short of the cycle on Wednesday night, but the Phillies collectively hit for the cycle two times over in their ongoing quest for their fourth straight division title.

The Philly bats teed off against San Francisco Giants pitching. Ryan Howard is not expected to return until next week, so the Phillies continued to share the load. An offense potent by reputation enjoyed one of its most balanced games of the year, as seven of its 11 hits went for extra bases, including two homers, three triples and two doubles. Four Phillies had at least two hits and six drove in at least one run.

J-Roll led the way with a 3-for-5 night, making the Giants pay dearly for an error that allowed him to step to the plate with two on and two outs in the fourth inning. He golfed a Matt Cain slider into the right field seats for a three-run shot to give Joe Blanton all the support he would need.

Though Average Joe continues to struggle in the first inning, he's putting together a solid second half as he tends to do every year. While he's only 2-1 in that period, he's given the Phils five quality starts, and they've won four of the last five games in which he's pitched.

Carlos Ruiz continues to rake the ball, as he added two more hits - including just the fifth triple of his career - and raised his average to .297. This is becoming a more popular phrase in Philadelphia with each passing day: Chooch is the man.

Domonic Brown gave us another glimpse of the future when he pinch hit in the eighth inning and cranked a no-doubter into the second deck off Guillermo Mota. Though it will be sad to see him go when Howard comes off the DL, we'll get Brown back in September when the rosters expand. Judging from the curtain call the fans demanded after tonight's blast, his name will be a welcome sight in Phillies box scores through the rest of the season.

About the only satisfaction the Giants received in this game was watching Pat Burrell go yard against his old team for the second straight night. I admit it was nice to see Pat the Bat make his first return to Citizens Bank Park since he helped the Phillies win a World Series. I'm also glad he's a enjoyed a resurgence since coming back to the National League. He finds himself in a playoff hunt, but if the Phils complete a sweep tomorrow to further pad their lead in the Wild Card, his contributions may not mean that much.

Personally, I'd rather see the Giants battling the Braves for the Wild Card, but as Philly has kept on winning, so has Atlanta. The Phillies' deficit in the division has teetered between one game and three games over the past two weeks. The Braves have been in first place every day since May 31, and with a game remaining against the Nationals, followed by a three-game set against the Cubs, that string will probably continue. As I've been reminding myself at least five times a day, at least it's only August.

Kicking and Screaming

"Afterwards, I just turned around and I've got Cueto kicking me in the back with his spikes. It's super unprofessional. I don't know where he learned how to fight."

Anyone shown this quote out of context would think it was some wild form of wrestling or kickboxing, though I can't think of any that allows the wearing of spikes. At any rate, Chris Carpenter was one mad Cardinal after his team's brawl with the Cincinnati Reds last night in the bottom of the first inning. The rivalry is heating up with Boston-New York-type intensity, and if this display is just the beginning, I can't wait for Sept. 3 when the two teams meet up again.

And for the record, Chris Carpenter, your privileged life growing up in New England pales in comparison to the hard, impoverished existence of Johnny Cueto before he became one of the lucky few from the Dominican Republic to ascend the ranks of Major League Baseball. Spikes or no, he could kick your ass in a fight any day.

The Phillies are continuing to show some fight without the meat of their order. Since my last posting, they have gone 2-2 and remain firmly latched onto the coattails of the division-leading Atlanta Braves. Four games is far too small a sample size to measure success, so maybe I should think about taking longer vacations.

Losing a game when you score nine runs is never fun, but Domonic Brown unloaded for his first major league home run. We were all waiting for that one, and if he wasn't just a replacement bat for Shane Victorino, I'd expect that shot to open the flood gates and lead to 15 more homers in the last eight weeks of the season. Hopefully, Ryan Howard can give the lineup that kind of production when he returns. God knows we're all used to it this time of year.

Getting everyone back healthy will be key because in less than a week, the Phillies start a stretch of 24 games in 23 days. As always, I'm sure they'll make things interesting all the way down to the wire.