So the Phillies have life afterall.

Philadelphia overcame deficits in the eigth and ninth innings last night to pull within two games of the wild card lead with a thrilling 6-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

With one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 14th, Aaron Rowand hit a line drive over the second basemans head. Earlier in the at-bat, a pitch was thrown that almost hit Rowand. But he mistakingly moved out of the way.

David Delluci led of the 14th with a single, Chase Utley walked and Ryan Howard was intentionally walked to load the bases. Because the Phillies did not have any position players left, relief pitcher Aaron Fultz had to bat. He lined out to a drawn in infield.

The Phillies have won seven of ten after dealing quite a few players at the trade deadline.

General Manager Pat Gillick addressed the media after the frenzy of trades and said the Phillis may not be in a position to compete until 2008. But the players have another idea. They think they can compete this year.

Stranger things have happened. Philadelphia is currently two games under .500. Arizone, Houston, and San Diego stand between them and the Reds.

There is no doubt the Phillies lineup is capable of scoring runs. But the doubt comes in their starting pitching, which has been at the bottom of the pile in the National League. The return of Randy Wofl will help. But it may not be enough to catch teams with strong pitching like the Reds and Astros.

But all you can ask for is a chance. And the Phillies have put themselves in a position to have a chance.

The problem is that the Phillies have to play the best team in the NL, the New York Mets, seven times this month.

We should know for sure sometime over the next couple weeks if the Phillies are contenders or pretenders. Whichever, they are fin to watch right now. With two more games against the Reds, the Phillies could be tied for the wild card lead by the end of the weekend.