Everything falls into place...

And I'm scared that I know how this ends

And everything fell into place

But now it is falling apart

I'm trying to hold on

But I can see you fading

-REDEMPTION, "Sapphire"

My finger was on the remote, poised to switch away from the Phillies' 2-1 loss to the Braves. My game-ending expletive of choice hung in the air, as Chris Coste's weak pop found it's way to Kelly Johnson's glove. The Phillies had their chances in this one, but wasted a strong outing by Jamie Moyer. Moyer would pick up an unjust loss. As is their way, the Phillies rallied in their last at-bat, only to fall short. Pedro Feliz extended the game with two outs, somehow laying off several close pitches to draw a walk. But Coste, displaying the type of patience for which Feliz is known, popped up the first pitch he saw. With the Phillies' 27th loss in the books, I readied to switch to the Mets game, with the hope of salvaging the night with a Santana shelling.

Then the ball dropped in fair territory. Chris Wheeler's surprised exclamation echoed my own. A Phillie baserunner streaked towards the plate, but the throw from Johnson reached home with the Phillie still twenty feet away. As Pedro Feliz was tagged out at the plate, I suddenly realized that the game-tying run had already scored, in the form of Eric Bruntlett. The inning was over, but the game was not. Santana would have to wait.

In the top of the 10th, the Phillies rallied again, taking a 4-2 lead. Closer Brad Lidge, with his 1.00 WHIP, and sub-.150 opponents' BA, entered the game to secure his 16th consecutive save as a Phillie. A mere formality. The Braves got the tying run to second with two outs, but there was no way Lidge was giving up any runs. A ludicrous thought, that. Well, at least until Yunel Escobar singled to center, with Gregor Blanco, one of the league's fastest runners, sprinting to the plate from second. With only Clay Condrey left in the pen, the Phillies' miraculous win was slipping away.

Then Shane Victorino gunned down Blanco at the plate, with a skillful, game-ending tag applied by Chris Coste. I was as ecstatic as Bobby Cox was livid. An incredible victory for the Phillies. The kind of game that Championship teams seem to win. When Chris Snelling returns to AAA tomorrow, his roster spot claimed by returning hero Jayson Werth, he will speak to the Iron Pigs of this legendary victory. I'm sure we'll see clips of this season-turning win in the 2008 World Series DVD. With eight wins in their last ten, and a record now eleven games over .500, it is almost time for the Phils to set their playoff rotation. I'd go with Hamels-Myers-Moyer.