Hey Phillies... you call this a Pennant Defense?

Seriously... I thought you guys were ready for a 3rd straight World Series appearance going into this weeks series against the Astros, who aren't exactly world beaters.

On Monday the Phillies were 2 1/2 games out of first place and were up 3 games in the loss column over the Giants.

And the Braves were thrashed apart by the Rockies, including blowing a 10-1 lead yesterday. This should have been the moment that the Phillies made their big move in the standings.

And what did they do? They dropped FOUR AT HOME TO THE ASTROS!!!!

They not only GAINED nothing but they let the Giants tie them in the loss column for the Wild Card.

They got great starts out of Blanton and Hamels and a monster clutch homer out of Jimmy Rollins. And tonight had Roy Halladay against former Phillie J. A. Happ.

NOTHING! THEY GOT GOTCH!

And now they have to go west and play the Padres. This SHOULD have been the week where the Phillies made a run at the best record in the National League... instead of wondering if the Giants, who are hosting the lowly Diamondbacks, will overtake them.

Then again, the Diamondbacks could be a problem for the Giants... they have nothing to lose... just like the Astros.

THIS ISN’T GOING TO HELP MATTERS FOR THE PHILLIES

I wrote earlier that Phillies fans should refrain from nagging their team regarding Cliff Lee.

They know they screwed up… they’ve brought you flowers and an expensive gift (Roy Oswalt) to make up for it.

Well any hope I had for the “Why didn’t we just keep Lee?” rumblings to stop caught a giant snag.

Yup, Roy Oswalt got his butt kicked tonight by the “Currently Waving a White Flag” Washington Nationals.

OK, 6 innings, 4 earned runs isn’t a whippin’s but it isn’t what the Phillies were hoping for, especially facing a line up that didn’t exactly resemble the Big Red Machine.

With the offense reduced to a Jayson Werth homer (I thought they were going to trade him) they needed a pitcher to shut down the opposition.

Like how about J. A. Happ? He went 6 shutout innings for the Astros against Milwaukee.

You remember Happ? He’s the Phillies pitcher who was sent packing in the Oswalt deal… whom the Phillies could have kept in they also kept Cliff Lee.

Oh Phillies fans won’t be forgetting this any time soon.