The Magic Number is....Zero!!! Phillies Clinch the NL East!

Oh yes, it was a wonderful sight in south Philly tonight. The Philadelphia Phillies came into tonight's game against the Houston Astros needing to do just one thing...win one more game. Pedro Martinez made things a little interesting, but after the first four Houston at-bats, it was all Phillies.

The Phils scored in the next four innings, with contributions from everyone in the lineup. Raul Ibanez drove in three and had the capper with a two run shot into the second deck in the seventh inning. Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino had back to back triples for the first time since 2006, and Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Pedro Feliz and Carlos Ruiz all drove in runs. It was a perfect game from the offense, and even Kyle Kendrick pitched excellent, shutting down Houston for three scoreless innings in relief of Pedro.

Of course, the night wouldn't have been complete without Brad Lidge coming into the game to finish things off against his former team. Tonight, it would only take one pitch, as he got Lance Berkman to ground out to first base. This time, there would be no dramatic double plays, no catching of the Mets in the final two weeks of the season. In fact, the Florida Marlins had actually beaten the Atlanta Braves about two minutes before Lidge got Berkman out, meaning the Phillies had already clinched the NL East. Of course, none of that mattered to the Phillies. This team had done it on their own the last two years, and they sure as hell didn't want to win the division with a loss this time around. It was the first game I had gone to all season, and it was glorious.

This is your game recap for tonight. Nothing went wrong, everything was absolutely perfect. The Phillies are headed back to the playoffs once again, and have a real chance of clinching homefield throughout the National League playoffs. I could get into how Pedro only pitched four innings, and how Jamie Moyer is going to be out for the playoffs, but that can wait until tomorrow. Tonight, it's all about celebrating. The Phils did it again!

Oh yeah, Cliff Lee (14-12, 3.19 ERA) is scheduled to start tomorrow. Don't expect him to pitch for very long. He'll be going against Felipe Paulino (2-11, 6.19 ERA).