Aaron Rowand is Your Hero

Aaron Rowand and the Philadelphia Phillies avoided a huge collapse Monday night and gained some much-needed ground on the New York Mets, whose fans are nearing the brink of suicide watch after a fourth straight loss.

Rowand prevented the tying and go-ahead runs with a spectacular tumbling catch at the warning track to end the eighth inning, as the Phillies out-played the St. Louis Cardinals 13-11, damn near blowing an 11-run lead earlier in the game.

"I'm telling you, you never have enough runs," says Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.

The Phillies pulled within 2.5 games of the NL East-leading Mets, who committed four more errors. Including their six mistakes on Sunday, the Mets managed to set a franchise record for 10 errors over just two games.

So, don't count the Phillies out just yet! With 12 games left to play in their season, they are sitting at a do-able 1.5 games behind the San Diego Padres in the NL Wild Card race, with the Los Angeles Dodgers hot on their trail.

[The Good Phight] | [A Citizen's Blog] | [The Transplanted Philly Fan]