Clinging to the pack

At 72-71 with 19 games to go, the Phillies are still in the hunt, but it's going to take a lot of work if they are going to make it to the playoffs.

	W	L	GB	Left
San Diego (18)	74	68	--	20
Philadelphia	72	71	2.5	19
San Francisco	72	71	2.5	19
Florida	72	71	2.5	19
Cincinnati	71	72	3.5	19
Houston	70	72	4.0	20

Charlie Manuel still holds to the notion that it will take 85 wins to get into the playoffs. I think he's off by one -- 84 should do it. So lets pretend that the Phillies will have to go 12-7 the rest of the way to get in. How does that break down? Try this:

at Atlanta (Sept. 12, 13, 14): 2-1
at Houston (Sept. 15, 16, 17): 1-2
vs. Chicago (Sept. 18, 19, 20): 2-1
vs. Florida (Sept. 22, 23, 24): 2-1
vs. Houston (Sept. 25): 1-0
at Washington (Sept. 26, 27, 28): 3-0
at Florida (Sept. 29, 30, Oct. 1): 1-2

There's the 12-7 to get to 84-78. If the Phillies can do it as it's laid out, all they need is some help from San Diego, San Francisco, Florida and Cincinnati.

No problem, right?