-On a college football Saturday, the Phillies are trying to keep pace with the Mets who took their second straight over the Marlins 7-2 Saturday behind eight strong innings from Oliver Perez.

Philadelphia has just gone ahead of those pesky Nats 2-1 in the 10th thanks to a Ryan Howard runscoring single which plated Chase Utley. The 2006 NL MVP has since come into score courtesy of a bases loaded walk to teammate Jayson Werth.

It would probably be wise for the Phils to tack on as many runs as possible so that they insure a ninth win in their last 10.

Not known as the best pitching team, lately that hasn’t been the case. Especially with Charlie Manuel’s once shaky pen which continues to put up a lot of zeroes and keep them afloat in this riveting playoff race as we close in on the final week of the regular season.

If they do prevail, they’ll overcome three miscues in the field which led to Washington’s only run in the sixth off starter Kyle Kendrick.

Since, J.C. Romero, Geoff Geary, Tom Gordon and Brett Myers have combined to shutdown the Nationals, giving their team a chance to pull out a third consecutive win in the nation’s capital.

Carlos Ruiz has since delivered a pinch hit RBI single to put Philly up three with three more outs to get.

That’s been the story of this surge for the team from Brotherly Love. Finding ways to pull out tight games with clutch hits and big time pitching. More than you can say for the NL East division leading Mets whose pen is in shambles. Especially with ex-Phillie closer Billy Wagner day-to-day with back spasms which held him out of a dreadful 8-7 loss to the Marlins the other night.

The good news for the Amazin’s is they have won the past two days and taken advantage of some awful fielding from the Marlins which included a club record six errors in last night’s 9-6 New York win.

It’s now all over in D.C. Clay Condrey pitched around a leadoff hit to get the save as the Phils got another huge victory, pulling it out 4-1 over the Nats.

The win not only keeps them a game and a half behind the Mets (two in loss column) but puts more pressure on the NL WC leading Padres to comeback and win tonight over the red hot Rockies who at last check were ahead 3-0.

Friday night’s 14 inning hero Brad Hawpe (GW HR in 2-1 win) has knocked in a couple of more to stake Mark Redman to a three-run lead early.

If Colorado prevails, the Phils would be just half a game out and the Rockies would suddenly be within two and a half. They’re aiming for their seventh straight victory and clearly need a sweep in San Diego to give themselves a realistic chance of making the postseason for the second time in franchise history.

Sure would be fun if it played out that way.

-How about Alfonso Soriano coming up big for the Cubbies in another win over the hapless Pirates earlier today at Wrigley. Two more home runs, an RBI double and five runs knocked in. Teammates Derrek Lee and Friday’s hero Aramis Ramirez also went yard for the third time in two days.

Soriano was a big disappointment for most of his first season as a Cub. But since returning from missing a month, the 2006 40/40 member (Wsh) has been unbelievable in September.

The two dingers were numbers 11 and 12 giving him 31 for the season in his 129th game. The guy has been earning his money when his team needed it most. And that’s a big part of why Sweet Lou’s club leads the Brewers by two and a half with a week left.

-So Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide scratch and claw their way back from 10 down in the final quarter to tie it and then watch Georgia complete a great fourth down and miss a 48-yard kick wide left to force overtime. They celebrated like they’d won.

But as fate would have it after a big upset over Arkansas a week ago on the same field, they settled for three and then watched Bulldog QB Matthew Stafford make a perfect 25-yard pass to Mikey Henderson for the game-winning score and an exciting 26-23 road win for Georgia.

Got to love college football!

-Brian Brohm threw 65 times completing 45 for 555 yards and four touchdowns but it still wasn’t enough as Louisville lost at home to out of all teams Syracuse 38-35 for the Orange’s first win of the season- ending the nation’s second longest home winning streak at 20.
Where’s the D?

-Brohm is a very good quarterback and should go very high in next year’s NFL Draft but find me a more composed QB than Kentucky’s Andre Woodson. A week removed from springing the upset of Louisville, he followed it up with a come from behind 41-29 victory at Arkansas directing the final three unanswered Wildcats’ scores including a 32-yard TD pass and two-point conversion to Keenan Burton plus a QB sneak to salt the contest away helping improve No.21 ranked Kentucky to 4-0.

It looks like they could be heard from in the top heavy SEC.

-The Fighting Irish lost yet again at home to Michigan State 31-14 allowing the final 24 points to fall to 0-4 for the first time in school history. They also are the only BCS team from last year still without a win.

Not exactly the kind of history Charlie Weis envisioned making when he took over for Ty Willingham three years ago. Talk about poetic justice.

-I love how Daily News columnist Mike Lupica continues to go on his latest crusade of ripping Garden CEO Jim Dolan and their defense attorney in the on-going sexual harassment case versus former MSG employee Anucha Browne Sanders. As if this know it all knows all the facts and has sat in on the case and is one of the 12 jurors. For as ugly as Isiah Thomas and Dolan’s company look along with Stephon Marbury, it doesn’t really have much bearing on the decision.

Unless Browne Sanders’ prosecutor proved without a shadow of doubt that their client was sexually harassed by the Knicks President and GM, then the verdict will be not guilty.

You almost get the feeling that a narcissistic writer such as Lupica has the popcorn out and is openly rooting against MSG here so he can write another one of his biASed columns celebrating like it’s the greatest thing ever.

You can’t look at a case that way. But funny how all the New York tabloids are because of their disdain for Dolan who by all accounts is just an absurd owner. That doesn’t apply here. What does is the facts. Something these papers don’t want to bother using as front page material unless it upholds their hidden agendas.

It might sell papers but it’s a laughingstock. Try being a juror trying to listen to all the evidence and see if every witness is credible next time. Something we’ve experienced.

-You’d think the D-Rays after all these pathetic years as a franchise could do better than journeyman Al Reyes as their closer in a game. Yankee fans didn’t actually think he was closing the Sahhhxxx out there, did they?

-Speaking of the Bronx Bombers, it’s a good thing Joe Torre has three relievers he can trust for October because after what we saw today from Kyle Farnsworth and a couple of others, the other alternatives become scarier than a Met reliever not named Wagner, Pedro Feliciano or Aaron Heilman.

-You look at that Jays team and have to feel like they’re close. Just imagine them in the NL with that staff and that lineup. They’d probably have at least 10-12 more wins and have a good shot to get to the World Series.
-Antonio Pierce blowing an airhorn under his shirt three times to irk a Fox reporter is a bit much but it sure was entertaining. The Giants better perform on the field tomorrow at Fed Ex Field against the Redskins. But why do I get this feeling Chris Cooley will have about eight catches for 160 yards and three scores?

Just for the record, he’s got only three catches for 35 yds in two weeks. This after we guaranteed Big Blue victory on our Hard Hits show. That’s what happens when you’re a Giant fan.

It could be worse. Try being a Bills fan with J.P. Losman as your QB.

-I want to know what’s in the water with those USC cheerleaders. God never created better creatures.