Something odd has been going on of late with my two favorite baseball teams: the Phillies can't win and the Twins can't lose. The Phils were swept this weekend at home by the Angels in a series in which they couldn't score runs, while the Twins swept the Diamondbacks at home. The Phils' losing streak stands at five, while the Twins have now won six straight.
I wouldn't read too much into any of the above, though, because the Twins clearly aren't really this good, and the Phils aren't really nearly this bad.
Look at the standings. The Phils are still in first place, but more importantly they've scored 79 more runs than they've given up, which is far, far ahead of any other NL team besides the Cubs. That indicates that they really are good, and haven't just won because they've been lucky. Their bats have been silent for the last week, sure, but they're not likely to stay that way for long. Trading their four best prospects for three months of C.C. Sabathia, as most of WIP Nation seems to want, would be exactly the wrong move.
The Twins, meanwhile, despite being four games over .500 and just 1.5 in back of the White Sox, have given up two more runs than they've scored. The Twins have gotten some excellent pitching out of their young staff, yes, and I'm liking that they're getting production out of people like Alexi Casilla and Brian Boucher (the less Nick Punto in the lineup, the better.) But unless they make a trade for a power bat, I really don't see any scenario in which they make the playoffs.
And yes, you really have to love Philly sports radio. The two stations on Friday reacted to the news of Curt Schilling's likely career-ending surgery thusly: WIP's Howard Eskin conducted what must have been a HIPPA-violating in-depth interview with Schilling's surgeon, while over on WPEN Mike Missanelli talked up the idea of.. the Phillies trying to sign Schilling next year. They should just be happy they didn't sign him THIS year.