Phillies Runaround: Lidge rehab encouraging; Braves showdown coming; more…

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Lidge’s rehab performance encouraging

July 8 Camden Courier-Post:

Whether it’s been a view from the Philadelphia dugout or watching on television, Phillies closer Brad Lidge said 2011 has been a frustrating experience.  “It’s been rough,” said Lidge Thursday night following a second consecutive scoreless rehab appearance this week with the Lakewood BlueClaws of the South Atlantic League.  “Obviously watching games the entire season right now is mentally very difficult,” Lidge said. “It’s just short of making me go crazy.”

Braves bring equally strong pitching staff to Philly

July 8Allentown Morning Call:

Admit it: Many of you chuckled when Tim Hudson said during spring training that the Braves’ pitching staff could be as good as the Phillies’ dream of rotation featuring Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt andCole Hamels.  OK, you laughed so hard you pulled an oblique and needed 15 days of light baseball reading.  Some of you bleeding red and white pinstripes snickered at the mere suggestion that any team could match this Phils rotation for the ages.

And you thought Phils-Red Sox was big

July 8 CSN Philly columnist Jim Salisbury:

When the Phillies were last seen at Citizens Bank Park, the place crackled with enough electricity to light up the Center City skyline. Yeah, you could say that about most games at the Bank these days, but there was a little something extra in the air during that last week of June. The ballpark always pulsates just a little more than usual when the Boston Red Sox are in town.  The Sox are one of baseball’s sexy teams. They hail from the rugged American League East, have a roster dotted with stars, and are backed by a maniacal fan base haughtily referred to as Red Sox Nation.

Solid 1st half just a start

July 8 Camden Courier-Post:

As his team passed the official halfway mark of the season last week, Charlie Manuel was asked if he’d taken any time to appreciate just how much success the Phillies had enjoyed through 81 games.  Yes, they were atop the National League East. Yes, they owned the best record in the league. Yes, they were well ahead of their pace from a year ago. And yes, they were on pace for more than 100 wins in 2011.  But Manuel offered no sense of pride or pats on the back.

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