Nationals

Phillies (60-67) vs. Washington Nationals (77-49) If the Phillies want to rekindle their playoff hopes for realsies, they have to start today. And that has to start with Cliff Lee.

Phillies (58-67) vs. Washington Nationals (77-47) The people who back Davey Johnson's Mike Rizzo's someone's decision to plunk Stephen Strasburg from the rotation cite the Nationals youth and depth and promise to be really good for a really long time...

Neither do we. Pure. Chaos. Love it. Well, at least we do. The level-headed Halladay, on the other hand, seems to be more partial toward a little bit of order. "In certain circumstances, there's a point where you need to stand up for your teammates...

Kind of odd that we've made it two games into a Phillies-Nationals series with next-to-no talk on Cole Hamels-on-Bryce Harper crime. (And candidness at the microphone about it.) So much for that... "If Hamels hits anyone -- especially if he hits Bryce Harper again -- five game suspension is probably gonna be about a 15-game...

MLB suspended Cole Hamels for five games and fined him an undisclosed amount for intentionally throwing at Nationals' outfielder Bryce Harper during Sunday's game. Claude Giroux has been suspended for Game 5 on Tuesday for his hit to the head of Dainius Zubrus...

Which begs the question: What was he going for? And at the expense of what?

Adding a little insiderese to your early week, water cooler talk about Cole Hamels' in-game decisions (and post-game admissions) about how to handle his first at-bat against Nationals' teen Bryce Harper.

The national league east could be the toughest division in baseball this year. With the Braves, Marlins and Nationals all adding considerable talent this off season and the Mets getting off to a hot start, plus the five-time defending champion Phillies, the NL east could have three playoff teams this season...

Are the Phillies still the team to beat in the NL East? Or is it the new look Marlins and Nationals, or is it finally the Braves turn to take down the five time NL East champs?

While he's now a closer corollary to city-wide anxiety, Brad Lidge was once the toast of baseball's game-sealers.