June is over. Interleague play has ended. Chipper and Kotsay are back. Yet, despite this, the Braves are still running into trouble, particularly against the Phillies, who are now 6 - 1 against them on the season. Something needs to be done or this team will have more and more trouble regaining their footing.

ESPN - Phillies vs. Braves - Box Score - July 01, 2008

Tonight kicks off a very crucial series in that we play the first place Phillies for three games. The Phillies have not had a great go at it lately, so this could be our chance to gain some ground on them. Will we sweep them? I doubt it, but it’s nice to think about. The Phillies can always find ways to knock the Braves around, no matter how bad the Phillies are playing. Sometimes we even help them do it, too, and that’s the sad part. I know half of our bench/team is out of commission right now, but hopefully we’ll get relief from somewhere. If we have good pitching and our offense is clicking on all cylinders, then we should have a pretty good chance. But since this isn’t always the case, we’ll just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best. Tonight Charlie Morton faces Kyle Kendrick in what should be a decent match-up.