The hopes of another postseason may rest on these two players.

We are creeping up on the All-Star Break and the Philadelphia Phillies, winners of five consecutive NL East Division championships, sit eight games behind the NL East leading Washington Nationals, and are ten games back in the loss column. At 35-40 the Phillies are in unfamiliar territory right now and just hoping to stay in the running for a postseason spot in the first year of the expanded playoffs with an extra wild card. Winning the division for a sixth straight season seems out of reach, and perhaps it is.

But is it impossible? No, but it is a steep uphill battle.

While this season has largely been negative, perhaps the second half of the season will be a different story. Here are some keys to a return to the postseason.

Chase Utley's return

Chase Utley is expected to return to the team on Wednesday, but how much can we really expect form him? More importantly, how stable will his knees be once he is back at the big league level and feeling the pressure of needing to pick the team up?

Eternal Optimistic Phillies Fan says Utley's return improves the team by having a player that has been a part of the core back at second base, leaving Michael Martinez and Mike Fontenot on the bench, where they belong. Even Utley at less than 100 percent should be better than having Martinez and/or Fontenot in the lineup, correct?

Maybe Utley's bat will be a fraction of what he is fully capable of (even in his downward trend at the plate) but he may be more capable of driving a ball to the outfield when needed to move a base-runner along and taking more pitches to get on base.

I'll take it, for now.

While Mother Nature delayed the start of Friday night's series opener between the Phillies and visiting Tampa Bay Rays, Twitter updates suggested that Citizens Bank Park had been struck by lightning.

Lightning jjust knocked the scoreboard out.

— Amanda Orr (@amandax23) June 23, 2012

I think we were just hit by lightning.

— Matt Gelb (@magelb) June 23, 2012

A huge crush of thunder/lightening was followed by a video announcement that the fire alarm had been activated and to leave the bldg #oops

— Leslie Gudel (@lesliegudel) June 23, 2012

Well, if that doesn't give the Phillies a spark at home, what will?

Former Phillies starting pitcher Jamie Moyer continues to try and stick in the big leagues, and if he is not promoted by the Baltimore Orioles in the next few days he will once again become a free agent on the market.

According to MASN's Roch Kubatko...

#orioles must make a decision on Moyer in the next few days. He can opt out if club doesn't select his contract from Norfolk.

— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) June 21, 2012

RotoWorld's scouting report notes "Moyer has allowed just four runs (three earned) in 16 innings at Triple-A Norfolk" since signing a minor league contract with the AL East franchise. Moyer was released form his contract earlier this season by the Colorado Rockies. "He struggled mightily for the Rockies earlier this season and seems doubtful to fare much better against AL East teams, but the O's may decide to give him a look," notes RotoWorld.

Given some recent struggles by the Phillies starting pitching the question will obviously come up should Moyer wiggle out of his Orioles contract. Should the Phillies give Moyer a look? If so, is there any chance he could help this team make another postseason run?

Personally, and keep in mind I am a huge Moyer fan, I just do not see that happening. The Phillies will eventually get Roy Halladay back in the rotation, Cliff Lee will eventually stop blowing three-run leads (we hope), Cole Hamels will remain a steady lefty, and the combo of Vance Worley and Joe Blanton should be more than enough to round out the rotation for the remainder of the season.

Adding Moyer would limit what the Phillies can do to boost their offense, although that could be coming around a little bit. I wish Moyer the best for the remainder of the season and will be cheering him on wherever he lands. If he can find himself on a playoff team, it would be fun to see what he can do but I just do not think he has enough left to rely too much on.

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The Phillies may have come up small this weekend in Baltimore, with the Orioles defending their home field in two of three games in dramatic fashion, but it was certainly not because the Phillies had the backing of the fans. Baltimore recorded high attendance for each game this weekend, and the Phillies fans were certainly strong in numbers.

Take a look at this video, posted by Baltimore sports radio station WNST as fans made their way in to Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It is proof that Phillies fans are currently traveling like few other fan bases in the majors.

I was in the crowd on Sunday, and the electricity at times was far better than the few games I have seen in Citizens Bank Park this weekend. Still, all of those Phillies fans that were smiling heading in for the game were surely leaving with their heads hanging low on the way out.

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The injuries just keep piling up for the Philadelphia Phillies this season. Is there no end in sight?

Freddy Galvis strained his back last night in the middle of a decent at-bat and pulled himself out of the game, unable to continue any further during the asme at-bat. It was a painfully frustrating, and all too familiar feeling for Phillies fans watching as the home team dropped their fifth straight game, and third to the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Freddy Galvis to the disabled list with a lower back strain - ouch!!

— Leslie Gudel (@lesliegudel) June 7, 2012

Oof. Losing Galvis' glove at second base is more of a concern than anything he would bring to the plate. Look for Mike Fontenot to take over second base duties in the meantime.

Consider me surprised that the injury news was not worse last night. Watching Hunter Pence crash in to the outfield fence awkwardly, dropping his glove and giving care ot his left arm or wrist had me thinking that Domonic Brown would be getting a call to come up today, but that does not appear to be the case. Pence stayed in the game following his scary moment in the outfield.

Cole Hamels will look to salvage one game in this series Thursday afternoon.

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The Phillies have activated first baseman Jim Thome (back). To make room on the roster the Phillies have optioned Pete Orr to triple A Lehigh Valley. Thome of course will still be primarily a bench player, but Charlie Manuel may use Thome from time to time at first base if he is feeling OK.

The real reason Thome is being activated again is to have him available for upcoming inter league games as a designated hitter. Thome's bat has been a mere sliver of what it once was, and thus painful to watch for those of us who have been big Thome supporters. Losing Orr also removes a little speed off the bench for when a pinch-runner is needed late in the game.

Chase Utley and Ryan Howard continue with their extended spring training participation, but there is no indication how soon either will make their seaosn debut.

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Is it too late to make an all star push for Carlos Ruiz? Getty Images.

Carlos Ruiz leads all catchers in baseball with a .368 batting average, a .600 slugging percentage, 1.029 OPS. He also is tied for the National League lead with 32 RBI and has played some very solid defense this season. As Todd Zolecki points out, Ruiz is just short of enough plate appearances to qualify to be the major league leader in hitting in all of baseball.

Clearly, he is no better than fourth best at his posiiton in the National League.

Um, what?

Ruiz enters this week currently in fourth place among National League catchers in All-star voting, trailing St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, and Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann. Ruiz has just a little over half as many votes as Molina, who is the first catcher to over one million votes among the National League contenders.

1. Yadier Molina, Cardinals - 1,000,048
2. Buster Posey, Giants - 707,508
3. Brian McCann, Braves - 707,508
4. Carlos Ruiz, Phillies - 562,021

One of these players is an all star catcher, one will be snubbed. Getty Images

All this tells me is that fan voting continues to be nothing more than a popularity contest, and once a catcher breaks through to the all star game it is nearly impossible for anyone else to crack the roster until someone is injured, on a decline in their career or traded to the American League.

Keep in mind one other thing. Each Major League Baseball team is represented in the all-star game every year, so somebody from the Phillies has to go. Right now, who would be sent to Kansas City? You figure Cole Hamels has a decent chance to be added to the pitching staff, and a strong case can be made for closer Jonathan Papelbon. This actually makes it more difficult for Ruiz to reach the all-star game in Kansas City this year because how many catchers can a team have on the roster, and how can a manager turn down Hamels and Papelbon, who have been all stars before?

It is not fair, but a dim reality. Ruiz is the victim of a numbers game.

With this latest all star news, Phillies fans will rally to get Ruiz voted in to the game by any means necessary. But if the Phillies want to take charge here they will need to take more action than flashing a message on Phanavision, placing a banner on their website, and having Dan Baker make an announcement prior to the first pitch each home game. The Phillies have the potential to add up to 40,000 votes for Ruiz at every home game, but they no longer employ the practice of handing out ballots to each row in the stadium early in the game, and collecting them a couple of innings later.

I can remember many years at Veterans Stadium punching out holes in the ballots for myself, my dad and grandparents. Like many, I filled out ballots with all Phillies players. Today the ballots sit idle in a number of spots around the ballpark, close to trashcans leaving it up to you to pick up a balot and return it to a drop box before you leave.

Big mistake.

OK, so the Phillies realistically will not add 40-45,000 votes for Ruiz (and other Phillies) per home game, but they could add an extra few thousand here and a few thousand there with a little effort. While I have not asked any of them about it, I would be surprised to learn the ushers would oppose doing this f it meant getting a guy who truly deserves a spot on the all star team could get a boost.

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Hype this up on BalHyped.

The Philadelphia Phillies continued to struggle against National LEague East opponents this weekend, dropping two of three to the Miami Marlins. After clinging to a lead and needing a five-out save from Jonathan Papelbon Friday night for a 6-4 win, Cole Hamels failed to hold a lead on Saturday and the bats had nothing to offer against Carlos Zambrano on Sunday. Things certainly will be no easier Monday night with the Los Angeles Dodgers coming to town to start a four game series, with Clayton Kershaw taking the mound tonight for the visitors. Kershaw is the reigning Cy Young Award winner in the National League, and off to another fine start this season with a misleading 4-3 record but a 2.42 ERA.

Philadelphia's own Cy Young Award winner, from 2010, Roy Halladay is on the shelf for up to six or eigth weeks with a Grade 1/2 strain in the right latissimus dorsi (a back and shoulder inury). Having a pitcher of Halladay's elite stature is costly enough for the Phillies, who are struggling to stay in the mix in the division. Through two months of the season, and the first weekend of June, the Phillies have lost a series to a division opponent five times. Still, the Phillies have managed to have a winning record and are just 3.5 games out of first place (five games back in the loss column). It is far from devastating considering they have been without Chase Utley and Ryan Howard the entire season, and have received so-so production from Halladay and Cliff Lee does not have a win yet.

Halladay's injury will hurt the Phillies in the meantime, and it could also end up hurting Halladay's savings account a little (not that he has too much to be worried about, nor is it a top concern for him). Kristi Dosh, ESPN's much more enjoyable answer to CNBC's Darren Rovell, makes note of something discussed today by The Philadelphia Inquirer's Matt Gelb...

Roy Halladay's injury could cost him $20m. He needs to throw at least 415 innings total in 2012 and 2013 for his 2014 option to vest.

— Kristi Dosh (@SportsBizMiss) June 4, 2012

Gelb notes that Halladay signed his contract with the Phillies before 2010 with a $20 million vesting option for 2014. The conditions are automatically met if Halladay throws 225 innings n 2013, is not on the disabled list at the end of next season, and he throws a combined 415 innings this year and next. Missing eight weeks of baseball certainly makes that more difficult. Gelb breaks it down a little more for you.

While many had switched over to watch Johan Santana attempt to complete the first no-hitter in New York Mets history last night, Phillies reliever Jose Contreras injured himself while pitching in relief. According to CSNPhilly.com's John Salisbury, the injury is not good...

Contreras has torn the Tommy John ligament. Tough break. Good man worked hard to get back.

— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyCSN) June 2, 2012

That sure sounds like a career ending injury to me, although I am no medical expert. Salisbury is right though, in saying that Contreras worked hard to get back on to the mound this season. His 2012 season comes to an end almost as soon as it got started.

To fill the roster spot, Michael Schwimer has been called back up to fill a spot in the bullpen.

All the best to Contreras, who fought hard to make good things happen in Philadelphia. If Jamie Moyer can come back and pitch in the majors, then we should not count out Contreras, right? We'll see what happens.

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While the Phillies were playing through some late innings of a rain-delayed game against the Miami Marlins, history was made just north in Queens, New York.

New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana threw his first career no-hitter Friday night in Citi Field against the St. Louis Cardinals, who came in to the night as the best hitting team in the National League. Santana, who labored through the late innings with a loss of control and rising pitch count, recorded the first no-hitter in New York Mets franchise history.

Just think about that for a second. Think of all of the great pitchers that have played for the Mets through the years. Tom Seaver. Nolan Ryan. Tom Glavine. Pedro Martinez.

Nobody had done it in the 8,000+ games in franchise history. It goes without saying that despite this being the Mets, it is a great baseball moment, especially considering the recent arm injuries Santana has worked through. A hat tip to Santana and the Mets for a wonderful night of baseball and franchise history. For many Mets fans watching their pitcher throw a no-hitter is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For their sake, I would guess it will not be another 50 years until it happens again but who knows for sure.

But the question remains, was it really a no-hitter? This ball, lined down the third base line in the sixth inning by (former Met) Carlos Beltran, says otherwise...

"Foul" ball.