The Phillies followed up their red hot streak the week before with a tough couple series this past week, losing two of three games to both the Florida Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals. Both teams are in the mix with the Phillies for the top spots in the NL. The Cardinals currently lead the NL Wild Card race, 3.5 games up on Florida. If the Phillies are going to win the NL East, or the Wild Card if it comes to that, they are going to have to beat those teams they are competing with. What the Mets did last year isn’t going to happen every year. This team needs to improve upon its consistency and continue to win series.

In other news this week, Phillies set up man Tom Gordon was demoted from that role after a couple shaky outings. The reasoning given for his demotion was that the Phils don’t want to overuse him and wear out his arm. Gordon has had a pretty solid year this year, with only a couple trip ups along the way. That being said, he has been shaky recently, and is 41 years of age. This might not be such a bad idea after all, especially if they save him for later in the season and bring him back into the set up role. For more on this story, check out Jay’s piece from Saturday.

It was also reported last week that the MLB is considering implementing instant replay for home run calls by August. This is a major step for baseball, as baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has opposed instant replay from the very beginning. However, his stance seems to have softened after a rash of blown calls this year, including one against the Phillies that ultimately cost them the game. For more on this, check out my story from Saturday.

In football news, the Eagles made several minor roster changes, which you can find here and here. Eagles’ quarterback Donovan McNabb has shoulder tendinitis, which sidelined for a couple days last week. McNabb is saying he feels fine now, and that the media blows his injuries way out of proportion. Not without good reason, says Jay Platt, and you can check out his reasons here.

Coming up this week, the Phillies start their annual two weeks of interleague play, starting with the Boston Red Sox. They started off the series with a big win last night against former Expos pitcher Bartolo Colon, beating the Red Sox 8-2. Cole Hamels pitched seven plus strong innings and Ryan Howard went 3 for 5, including two home runs and a triple. If the Phils can take two out of three from the AL leading Red Sox, they will pick up a lot of the momentum and legitimacy they lost after last week’s series with Florida and St. Louis. After the Red Sox, Colon’s other former team comes to town, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who currently lead the AL West. It’s a tough week for the Fightins, but if they can take two of three from both series, it will put them in a great spot for the final month before the All Star Break, as they look to pull further away from the rest of the NL East.

Keep posted to Hot Stove Philly as we continue to bring you the latest news on everything Philly sports.