It was a successful All-Star break for the Phils as Charlie Manuel led the NL All-Stars to a victory for the first time since 1996 when the game was held at Veterans Stadium and the National League now has homefield advantage for the World Series for the first time since the rule was implemented after the 2002 tie in Milwaukee.
Philadelphia (47-40) are looking to gain ground in the NL East, as they currently trail the Atlanta Braves by 4.5 games and the Mets by a half-game for second place.
The Phillies are looking to match their longest winning streak of the season at five, as they're coming off an impressive four-game home sweep of the NL Central leading Cincinnati Reds. It was a series that the Phillies needed after losing two out of three to the Braves in the previous series.
Jamie Moyer will take to the mound for the Phils tonight as he has been one of the surprising feel-good stories in all of baseball in the first half. The 47-year-old is only 9-8 with an ERA 4.51, but you have to put those numbers in context to understand what Moyer has done this season. Moyer started the season horrendously nd at one point he had an ERA of 5.70 and since May 19th, he's only had two starts where he given up more than five earned runs, not to mention two complete games thrown in there.The offense will look to get going but it'll be tough tonight as they'll be facing one of Chicago's best arms in Ryan Dempster, who is only 7-7, but has an ERA of 3.61. Dempster hasn't had a really bad start since late May and is one of the most consistent workers in the NL and he will be the best the face this weekend.
We've gotten through the toughest day of the year, the day after the All-Star game and now it's baseball from here on out and we'll see if the Phils have more second-half magic in them.
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