Splitting a four game series in Chicago is a pretty good outcome even if they way we got there wasn't so pretty. I firmly believe the Cubs and Dodgers are the best teams in the NL by a significant margin. I think the Phillies, Braves, Brewers and one or two others are in the next tier. Maybe the Brewers are somewhere between that first and second tier.
There are plenty of negatives to take from this series, such as making this game closer than it needed to be, a blown save, but the Cubs are probably thinking the same thing, they blew a lead, and they will be less than happy about the pitching lines from Lester and Hamels. It can be good to take a step back and look at the general trends rather than worrying too much about individual wins and losses. We're in good shape despite inconsistent pitching.
We are also almost through this stretch against just about every really good NL team outside the East and we've kept our head above water, that's all I wanted from this run.The Phillies have gone 10-7 so far against the Cardinals, Royals, Brewers, Rockies and Cubs, with the next 9 games coming up against the Brewers, Cardinals and Dodgers. Take 4 of those games and I'll be pretty happy.
We face the Braves in Atlanta starting June 14th. I think they have an easier run of games than the Phillies between now and then and I wouldn't be surprised if they took the division lead by a game or two. Other than 3 games against the Cardinals this weekend they have very winnable games against the Nationals (2), Tigers (3), Pirates (7) and Marlins (3), while the Phillies have a more mixed bag with games against the Brewers (3), Cardinals (3), Dodgers (3), Padres (3), Reds (3) and Diamondbacks (3). We shouldn't panic about potentially losing the division lead, but we need to stay in touch with Atlanta by the time we face them.
