The Phillies’ bats went silent during the week, scoring one run in three games against the Houston Astros. They salvaged the road trip by taking 2/3 from the Atlanta Braves over the weekend.
The Phillies came into the week riding the momentum of a series win over the New York Mets, putting the Phillies in first place in the NL East. They had a day off on Monday and to Houston for a three-game series with the AL West first-place Astros. Not only did the Phillies lose the first two games of the series, but it took them 25 innings to score one run. The run they scored in the third game of the series was a sacrifice fly. The Phillies would score once all series, losing 1-0, 2-0, and 2-1. Being swept while only giving up five runs all series would only happen to the Philadelphia Phillies.
The pitching was excellent during this series. Ranger Suarez, Zach Wheeler, and Christopher Sanchez all dominated in their starts. Ranger got the loss in the 1-0 game, but he continues to look like the potential Cy Young Ranger from last season pre-injury. It’s going to be a very interesting and difficult decision to see what they do with Ranger this offseason. It’s tough to let a homegrown lefty who has this kind of talent walk out the door.
Zach Wheeler and Christopher Sanchez racked up the strikeouts with 8 for Wheeler and 11 for Sanchez. Despite both great outings, neither saw any run support. Wheeler continues to look dialed in and determined to get back to the postseason this year. When he has his best stuff, he is dominant. Sanchez has been thriving this year as well, lowering his ERA to 2.79 and has already hit the century mark for strikeouts this season.
Raining Runs
The Phillies headed to Atlanta for a crucial three-game series against the Braves. After being swept, the Phillies needed to respond, and that’s exactly what they did. After an over hour and a half rain delay, the Phillies came out swinging. Homeruns from Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber, and Otto Kemp gave the Phillies a 13-0 win over the Braves. Trea hit two homers, and Otto Kemp hit his first career homer. A blowout and much-needed win for a Phillies team that scored one run during the entire previous series.
The Phillies would lose the second game of the series 6-1, creating a rubber match game on Sunday. Ranger Suarez was back on the mound and did Ranger Suarez things. 7 innings, 4 hits, 8 strikeouts, 1 earned run. It was another dominant performance from Suarez, improving his ERA to 2.00 with a 7-2 record. Ranger has been arguably the Phillies’ best pitcher as of late.
As for the offense, they scored two runs in the 5th inning after an RBI double from Otto Kemp and a sac bunt, which led to a Trea Turner sac fly, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead.
The Phillies would take the win and the series against the Braves, putting Atlanta deeper into the NL East basement. The New York Mets were swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend, giving the Phillies a 1.5 game lead in the NL East as of Monday morning. The Atlanta Braves are now 10.5 games out of first and are 8.0 games back from the final wild card spot.
Back At The Bank
The Phillies return home this week for a six-game home-stand starting Monday night when the San Diego Padres (45-38) come to town. The Padres are second in the NL West and are currently 1 game out of the final wild card spot. The Phillies have an off day on Thursday and then kick off a three-game weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds (44-40), who sit 2.5 games out of the final wild card spot.
It’s a big week for the Phillies with a major need for the offense to return to form. The major inconsistencies have threatened this team over the last two postseasons, and we are seeing it again this year. They need to make offensive improvements, and hopefully that will start once Bryce Harper returns to the lineup. This team has the starting pitching to beat anyone right now. The major concerns are the bullpen and the streaky nature that is our offense. If this offense can find any kind of consistency,y it would greatly improve the optimism I have for this team come October.
Predictions for the week: Phillies win 4/6 on the home stand with Trea Turner hitting a pair of homers at home. He’s been seeing the ball well
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