Oh yeah -- the Phillies lost the most pivotal game of the season

Before Tuesday's series opener against the Braves, I called it the Phillies' "make or break" game. I stand by that. I think that loss was a killer for a lot of reasons. A win would have created an aura of destiny for the final week; a loss created a sense of impending doom. A win would have put the Braves in the grave; a loss gave them life and ensured that Tim Hudson and John Smoltz will take the mound with their team holding onto a sliver of postseason hope. A win would have put major heat on the Padres, not to mention the Mets, who were getting whupped by the Nats; the loss gave San Diego a chance to relax and mount a comeback against the Giants, and the Mets damn near erased a seven-run, ninth-inning deficit once the Phillies' game became a final.

The players can pretend that the successes and failures of their competitors have no impact on their mentality ... but that's a load of bunk (I would have used "load of crap," but I don't know whether that's "in bounds" on a blog. Maybe I should start a poll ...)