Sep 14th 2008 10:15PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)

It looks like September will once again be a magical month for the Phillies. The reigning NL East champions ended August trailing the Mets in their division and with no real alternate path back to the postseason via the wild card. But since then, Philadelphia has kept pace with New York and erased the gap between it and the wild-card-leading Brewers.

With two weeks to go, Philadelphia has two avenues into the playoffs, and while there is still work to be done, things appear to be tilting its way because of a bullpen that is much stouter than what the Mets and Brewers have to offer.

The Phillies are built on star power. They have an ace in Cole Hamels, the best second baseman in the game in Chase Utley and the last two MVPs of the league in Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard. They depend on those stars to win. Rollins and Howard have struggled mightily at times this year, but they are at the heart of this surge just as they were in last year’s whirlwind climb to the top of the NL East.

Rollins is hitting .340 and getting on base more than 40 percent of the time in September. Just like last year, when he stole 14 bases in the final month, he seems to be ratcheting up his running game in the stretch drive. Howard has been even better. He struggled to stay above the Mendoza Line earlier in the year, but he’s hitting a scorching .386 in September and has seven home runs and 19 RBI.

Philadelphia’s superstars appear to be shining brightest when they’re needed the most.Continue Reading