Philadelphia heats up while Mets' Wright cools off

FIVE UP

	Ryan Howard has hit the cover off the ball in August, while Cole Hamels has come into his own. AP
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1. The Phillies: Everyone hammered the Phils when they traded Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle at the deadline for a quartet of Yankees prospects. Philadelphia stood five games back in the wild-card race at the time, and it was seen as a white flag move for a franchise that hasn't played October baseball since 1993. But the Phillies have rallied since making the supposedly one-sided trade. Philly holds a 15-7 mark in August and has pulled to within 1½ games of Cincinnati in the wild-card race. While the team has recently enjoyed key contributions from a number of players -- including encouraging starts by Jamie Moyer and Brett Myers  -- the Phillies' August run has been fueled by four key cogs:

David Dellucci: By trading Abreu, Philly made room in the everyday lineup for Dellucci, whom the Phils acquired in a trade with Texas just prior to opening day. And the seasoned vet has responded in a major way, hitting .352 with five homers and a 1.137 OPS since the turn of the month. In Abreu's 98 games with the Phillies this season, he hit eight homers with a .277 average and .861 OPS.

Jimmy Rollins: With a new contract (five years, $40 million) and an active 36-game hitting streak, the shortstop entered this season surrounded by considerable hype. Then the hitting streak abruptly stopped at 38. Four months into the season Rollins held a mediocre .261 batting average, and whispers arose that Philly overpaid. Since the start of August, though, Rollins has enjoyed one of the finest stretches of his career, hitting .357 with seven homers and 23 RBIs.

Cole Hamels: Hamels came into the '06 campaign as the Phillies' No. 1 prospect, according to Baseball America, and the southpaw was called up to the big squad in May. Although Hamels was touted as an advanced control pitcher in the minors, he had notable difficulty finding the plate early on, and through July he held a 3-5 record and a 5.71 ERA. But in four August starts Hamels has regained his command, and the byproduct has been absolute domination: a 3-1 record, a 1.33 ERA and 34 strikeouts to only four walks.

The NL MV ... err ... Ryan Howard: Unlike Rollins and Hamels, Howard has flourished all season long, and this has Philly fans clamoring for the hardware. Only four home runs shy of Mike Schmidt's franchise record (48), Howard is enjoying another big month: a .326 average, nine HRs and 26 RBIs.

2. The Astros trading Jeriome Robertson for Willy Taveras and Luke Scott: This 2004 trade between Houston and Cleveland worked out quite nicely for the Astros. Taveras, who has sparked Houston's offense since moving back into the leadoff spot, just broke a club record by extending his hitting streak to 26 games. Scott possesses a .400 batting average since being called up on July 15, hitting right behind (and protecting) Lance Berkman much of the time.

So how'd the trade work out for the Indians? Well, Robertson just recently cruised through eight innings of one-hit ball, earning his third win in four starts ... for the Uni-President Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

3. Edwin Encarnacion: Encarnacion played every day at third base before spraining his ankle in early June and going on the DL. While Encarnacion was away, Rich Aurilia got hot and manager Jerry Narron took to Aurilia's glove at third (Encarnacion's team-high 19 errors easily trump Aurilia's four). Encarnacion rode the pine for a while, but his offensive prowess was just too much to keep out of the lineup. Aurilia has become a utility infielder, playing many games at shortstop (since the Reds traded Felipe Lopez), while Encarnacion has regained his post at the hot corner. Since the break, Encarnacion is hitting .351 with eight homers and 29 RBIs. And recently, the 23-year-old has regularly batted cleanup. Besides his notable pop, Encarnacion has earned rave reviews from Narron for his ability to work the count.

4. Jake Peavy's eyesight: Although Peavy has already set a career high with 12 losses, he's been lights-out in the month of August. (Pads, give your boy some run support!):

It seems as though Peavy has overcome the shoulder tendinitis that has plagued him for most of the season. And it doesn't hurt that he can actually see again. Peavy, who is legally blind without contact lenses, changed his prescription in spring training. But for most of this season he had trouble getting the order filled, and rudimentary tasks -- like seeing the catcher's signs -- were very difficult. To Peavy's delight, four packages came last week. "Right now the room is a lot brighter," Peavy told the San Diego Union Tribune. As is the rest of his season.

5. Minnesota' no-name left side: In the offseason the Twins signed infielders Juan Castro and Tony Batista to man shortstop and third base, respectively. With Shannon Stewart already in left field, the Twins boasted a veteran left side. But as Minnesota quickly found out, there is no direct correlation between experience and production. Castro and Batista flared out, and Stewart became very familiar with the DL. The Twins were forced to turn to three unproven players -- Jason Bartlett (SS), Nick Punto (3B) and Jason Tyner (LF) -- and they haven't looked back since. Bartlett (.353), Tyner (.321) and Punto (.311) have boosted an offense that surprisingly leads the majors in batting average (.286). After the three players lit up the White Sox last weekend, Ozzie Guillen dubbed them "little piranhas." "We worry about [Torii] Hunter and [Justin] Morneau, and the guy who kicks our [butts] is the three guys who nobody knows their names," Guillen told the Star Tribune.