Thanks, Readers

Thanks to anyone and everyone who read this blog throughout the course of our season. Hopefully some of you even got some enjoyment out of it. Can't wait to see you next year.

Citizen Bank Turns Off Its Lights

After a 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Hot Wings that eliminated them from the NL Division Play-In Series, a dejected Flash team arrived home in Philadelphia approximately 1 a.m. last night. The swift elimination at the hands of their division foe drops the Flash to 0-3 all-time in playoff series. They are fast becoming the Los Angeles Angels of the Wailing Onion league--perennial contenders only to get bounced out in Round 1.

As always, the end of a season brings uncertainty as to the makeup of next year's club. 3B Ramon Martin is up for free agency and is likely to part ways with the Flash. But Philly has no reliable option behind him, and may have to look to the expensive world of Free Agency to fill that hole. On the other corner of the diamond, 1B Richard McMasters, also up for free agency, has likely played his last game in the red and gold. AAA 1B Davy Hausmann appears poised to push McMasters out the door. Between Martin and McMasters, the Flash will let 65 HRs walk.

SS Richard Takada and SP Donovan Leiter are likely to command huge chunks of cash in their arbitration hearings. CF Willie Campos, dangled as trade bait a year ago, has one year left on his $7.5-million per year contract. That could make him easier to move, but given that he may be a Type A Free Agent when he leaves, the Flash seem likely to keep him around.

SP Willie Rodriguez, who has a $13.5-million mutual option for next year, has not been told whether or not that option will get picked up. If he goes, the Flash are almost certain to call up top pitching prospects SP Kareem Duckworth and SP/RP R.J. Manuel. There's a lot to like about the potential pitching staff the Flash could field next year, but Duckworth and Manuel will only be 21- and 24-years-old, respectively.

Lastly, CF Brady Pickett, a fan favorite and big contributor off the Flash bench, will probably find greener pastures as well. That means the Flash will need to find a replacement, and early indications are that if they can land a stud RF, they will let Campos play all 162 games next season.

Flash fans are certainly not pleased with the Flash's efforts in the playoffs the past 3 seasons, but season 4 of their existence could very well be the year the Flash finally break through.

Leiter's Shaky Outing Dooms Flash

The Philadelphia Flash expected to see either the Austin City Limit or the Washington D.C. Senators in their first-round playoff matchup. Instead, the Buffalo Hot Wings played as their name implies down the stretch. One of the hottest teams in the entire league was able to snag the 6-seed away from the Senators by completing a 3-game sweep over them and earning a berth on divisional record tiebreak.

Of course, a really hot team just sneaking into the playoffs is often not a good omen for the "favored" team. In baseball, it is not always who you play so much as when you play them. The Hot Wings took 2 out of 3 from the Flash just over a week ago, and much to the chagrin of Philly fans, the Flash's home playoff woes continued to open the best-of-5 set against the division rivals from New York.

SP Donovan Leiter did not have his best stuff in this one, surrendering 2 runs before the Flash even got to swing the bats. CF Cesar Fernandez for the Hot Wings hit a triple and would later score on a sac fly from 1B Trenidad Ramirez to give the Hot Wings the early lead. It would become a lead they would never surrender.

Leiter labored through 5 innings of work while throwing 110 pitches and allowing 5 runs to score. The Flash really wanted to get a solid start from their ace, because in Game 2, Buffalo will send SP Midre Navarre to the mound. The Flash counter with SP Louie Dali. The same 2 pitchers met in Philly early on in the season, with each allowing 4 runs over about 6 innings of work. The Flash bullpen would wind up responsible for the loss.

Given the magnitude of falling behind 2-0 in a best-of-5 series, expect the Flash bats to attack Navarre early in counts, in the hopes of displaying the type of offensive prowess that made them the 2nd highest scoring team in the National League this season.

Leiter Becomes Franchise's First 20-Game Winner

Needing a shutdown start from their ace to cut their magic number to 2, the Flash got just that from SP Donovan Leiter. Leiter took the mound knowing another win would make him a 20-game winner on the year, and that this start would be his only opportunity to reach that milestone. Additionally, after dropping the first 2 games of a set against the Buffalo Hot Wings, the Flash shifted gears back into "must-win" mode in order to seal up the division.

Leiter turned in one of his best starts, going 8.0 innings against the high-powered Hot Wings offense while allowing just 1 run. He struck out a career-high 13 batters and needed just 103 pitches to do it.

"It means a lot, definitely," said Leiter after the game. "It feels so much better to do it in a game that meant so much to our team's playoff seeding. And having the home crowd behind me was even sweeter."

Leiter, 25, will be eligible for arbitration for the first time next season and will likely command a pretty penny given his position as the ace of the staff despite being its youngest member. But the Flash know his importance to the team. General Manager Sour Surfer said, "We'd be nowhere without him. Any time we need a big win, he's right there delivering for us. Tonight was no different, and hopefully it gives him a nice confidence boost heading into the playoffs."

If the Flash can secure the NL East Championship over the next few days, it will be their 3rd consecutive division title. While an impressive feat in its own right, the Flash are hungry for their first ever postseason series victory. Two years ago they fell in 5 games to the Cincinnati Motorboaters in the NLDS, and it took just as many games for the Santa Fe Booze Hounds to dispose of them last year in the NL Play-In Series.

More Franchise Firsts?: The Flash are also hoping they can produce their first .300 hitter(s) this season. With 3 games to play, 1B Tony Moraga, CF Brady Pickett, CF Willie Campos, and 1B Richard McMasters all have averages above .300. Campos is the only every day player on the list, but not even a platoon player has accomplished the feat for Philly in the past, so it will be no less meaningful if Campos is not one of the .300+ hitters at year's end.

Flash In NL East Driver Seat

Thanks to the recent struggles of the Washington D.C. Senators, the Philadelphia Flash have reclaimed the NL East lead with only 24 games left to play. The Flash bats have come to life and propelled the team to an 8-2 run over their last 10 games.

Of course, as is always the case, the Flash will close their schedule with contests against all 3 NL East opponents. The NL East lead is a paper-thin 1 game at this point, so those tilts retain heightened importance. But after keeping an eye in the rearview mirror in terms of the Wild Card race for most of the season, the Flash have quite a bit more breathing room.

Tonight, the Flash will go for the 4-game sweep over the Chicago Cubbies, of course. SP Donovan Leiter (17-6) toes the rubber for the Flash against SP Joe Childers (0-0). Childers has spent the entire season in AAA, and will be making his first major league start of the year. He does have previous big league experience, however, going 10-14 with a 5.72 ERA. The 25-year-old has been a minor-league journeyman between the San Fransisco Slingers and the Chicago clubs.

Tonight's game is a sell-out, but good tickets remain for the next homestand, which features what promises to be a meaninful 3-game set against the Washington D.C. Senators. Call 1-800-4-PHI-TIX for ticket information.

Aybar Laughs About Wild 2 Days

SP Benny Aybar endured an old lesson in baseball over the past 2 days: every time you come to the ballpark, you've got a chance to see something new. One day after Aybar failed to record an out en route to allowing 7 of the 11 first-inning runs the Atlanta Mad Dogs used to drub Philadelphia 12-0, Aybar recorded his first save. We sat down with the young, rising star to discuss the improbable set of games in which he recorded very different results.

Philly NewsFlash: First off, thanks for being here.

Benny Aybar: My pleasure, any time.

PNF: Alright, tell us about your start the other day. What goes through a pitcher's mind when he's enduring a start like that? (0.0 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB)

BA: It's so frustrating. Honestly, you take 4 days off between starts and get so revved up to take the ball again, then the whole thing blows up in your face. I have one job on this team and that's to record outs. To exit an outing with 0 outs in the 1st...it's as if I called in sick. No, it's worse than that, because it was 7-0 already. I can't even come up with an analogy for that.

PNF: Who do you feel you let down the most? Manager [Lawrence] McIntyre, or the bullpen?

BA: Oh, the bullpen, definitely. McIntyre just sits in the shade all day...[laughter] But yeah, those guys in the bullpen are so important to us, and they needed a day off. It certainly doesn't increase my stock in McIntyre's eyes to come up lame in a crucial start like that, though.

PNF: Speaking of the bullpen, though, you got a little taste of that yourself, didn't you?

BA: Yeah. [laughter] McIntyre comes up to me the next day and goes, "How's your arm?" I think I'd only thrown 25, 26 pitches the day before. So it felt pretty live. "Get out to the bullpen, then." [laughter] It was a totally new role for me, but honestly I really wanted to get in that next game and get the bitter taste out of my mouth.

PNF: Understandable. You would go on to record the final out of a 5-3 win, notching your first career save and sealing up a series win against a tough NL foe. Was that vengeance enough for the previous day?

BA: Well, I only recorded one out on a handful of pitches, but it still felt good. That save's something I can tell my grandkids about. [laughter] It worked out for the best though. I helped protect some of those arms in the bullpen I tore up the day before, and I'll make my next start easy. So all in all, a pretty good deal I ended up with.

PNF: Well, again, thanks for taking the time out to talk with us. Good luck the rest of the way. Bring the pennant home!

BA: Oh, you know I want one. I'm still a rookie after all.