Phillies vs. Cardinals: Desperation Time Hasn't Yet Set in for Phillies

Take a deep breath, Philadelphia. Your team will be fine.

I have to admit, it was a little entertaining to watch the Phillies' fans at the end of Sunday's Cardinals vs. Phillies game.

It's nothing personal against them, but they had just endured a day where both the Eagles and Phillies blew relatively big leads to lose. Many of those fans were probably at both games.

While I don't like watching fellow humans suffer, imagining the thoughts those fans had in their minds was rather entertaining.

The Eagles do have real reasons to be concerned, but the Phillies are going to be fine. Largely because unlike the Eagles, the Phillies have the pieces in place to get headed in the right direction.

In the playoffs, success is all about pitching and timely hitting. The overall numbers for a hitter aren't nearly as important as when they get the big hits.

The Phillies are loaded with guys that will come through in the clutch. They have done it in the past; they will do it again.

Starting in 2008, the Phillies have lost two playoff series. The first was the 2009 World Series, which they lost to a Yankees team that had a lot of big hitters.

The second was to the Giants in the 2010 NLCS. The Giants had clutch hitting but more importantly, better pitching.

In both cases, the Phillies put up a very good fight.

The Cardinals are good, but they don't have the 2009 Yankees' bats or the 2010 Giants' pitching.

With Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt pitching in Games 3 and 4, it's really hard to imagine the Phillies not bringing this series back to Philadelphia. Once it's there, it comes down to Roy Halladay in a Game 5. I don't like anyone's chances in that scenario.

The panic level in the City of Brotherly Love is understandably high, but the Philadelphia faithful have nothing to worry about for their baseball team.

While the home field advantage is technically lost, the Phillies still have the weapons in place to be the overwhelming favorites to beat the Cardinals and even win the World Series.