Philadelphia Phillies sweep Milwaukee Brewers – Is the World Series imminent?

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

The last time the Phillies swept a four-game series in Milwaukee, it led to big things. That series, played from September 11-14, 2008, began a stretch where the Phillies won ten out of eleven games. It helped propel the team to a division title and an eventual World Series title.

With a 9-1 win on Thursday, the Phillies once again swept a four-game series in Milwaukee. Will this sweep result in the same type of success at the end of the season? Time will tell.

The game started off in a familiar enough fashion: The Phillies struggling to generate offense. Brewers starter Matt Garza was cruising, and held the Phillies without a hit through the first six innings. After Milwaukee’s Carlos Gomez homered in the sixth, it appeared that the Phillies were destined for another shutout loss.

Jimmy Rollins. Image Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

But much like they did all series, things began to go the Phillies’ way. Jimmy Rollins broke up the no-hitter in the seventh, and even though they eventually wasted a scoring opportunity, the Phillies at least showed some life.

In the eighth inning, they showed a lot more than that. The Phillies sent 14 batters to the plate, en route to scoring seven runs. The big blows were delivered by Cody Asche and Ryan Howard who both hit ground rule doubles. Howard drove in two more runs in the ninth when he hit his 15th home run of the season.

The offense prevented the team from wasting an excellent start by David Buchanan. The rookie pitched seven strong innings, giving up only one run on four hits.

Chances are, this four-game sweep was merely an oddity in a long baseball season. It’s very likely that the Phillies will soon go back to their losing ways and end up missing the playoffs.

But who knows? Maybe history will repeat itself and this series will be the spark they needed to make it back to the playoffs and eventually the World Series.