Phillies Close 1st Half Strong: Take Three From Nationals
- Jim Santora
- 13 hours ago
- 3 min read
The 2nd half comes to end with a rematch from last years World Series. Could both teams be in again this year? The Phillies had a fire sale 16 games ago and here they are after this series sitting tied for the last playoff spot with the Padres & D-Backs, 1 game behind the Nationals and 1 game ahead of the Giants and 2 ahead of the Reds. THe 2nd half should be fun!!!
GAME 1
Sandy Alcantara vs Nick Pivetta
THe Phillies opened the scoring in the top of the 4th inning with a two run Paul DeJOng single. The Nationals would tie it in the bottom of the inning on a Matt Chapman Homerun and a Seiya Suzuki RBI single. The Nationals would take the lead an inning later on a two run homerun by Michael Busch.. Nick Pivetta would allow an Augustin Ramirez HR to start the seventh and it shook him up as he walked the next two batters Enter Tyler Kinney and he couldn’t find the plate walking two and hitting Chad Durbin to force in two runs and a Phillies 5-4 lead. Bryce Harper would hit a sol shot in the 9th for insurance.
PHILLIES 6 NATIONALS 4
GAME 2
MacKenzie Gore vs Christopher Sanchez
MacKenzie Gore outdueled Christopher Sanchez, HE went 7 innings allowed 4 hits scattered 5 walks and struck out 6 while allowing 1 run. Sanchez retired the last 17 he faced, but he had a rough 3rd inning allowing 3 runs 4 hits. RBI singles by Kyle Karros (his first KPSL Hit) and Alexander Cannario gave the Phillies a 3-0 lead and that was all Gore would need.
PHILLIES 3 NATIONALS 1
GAME 3
Ranger Suarez vs Tyler Megill
Another pitchers duel. The score was 1-0 and Ranger was dealing heading in the seventh. Homeruns by Edmundo Sosa and Cedric Mullins gave the Nationals a 2-1 lead. Perdomo would hit a 2 run shot in the 8th for a 4-1 lead and that was all for Ranger. Augustin Ramirez hit a solo shot in the ninth to tighten the gap. But Tyler Kinney beared down and got the save,
NATIONALS 4 PHILLIES 1
GAME 4
Eduardo Rodriquez vs Eryan Pepiot
The Phillies jumped out early in the first on back to back doubles by Corbin Carroll and Paul DeJong for a 1-0 lead. Nick Castellanos would hit a solo shot in the 4th for a 2-0 Phillies lead. Kyle Karross and Andrew Canario had RBI hits to make the lead 4-0. Eduardo threw 4 shutout innings , Kyle Leahy threw 3 shutout innings, Wandy Peralta an inning and a third and Spencer Bivens got the last two out to preserve the win.
PHILLIES 4 NATIONALS 0
OTHER NOTES:
*** The Phillies are 22-22 and the Nationals are 23-21 heading into the break.
*** The Phillies are 10-6 since their fire sale. This is truly being done with smoke and mirrors. The offense is averaging 3.75 runs in the 16 games. They are hitting .219. Well that is what happens when you traded 2 of your middle order hitters (Lindor and Bohm)
*** The Phillies traded their studs but yet the replacements are doing better. The Phillies team ERA has dropped from 4.83 to 4.10 and the WHIP from 1.37 to 1.29 during this 16 game stretch, The team ERA is 2.88 with a 1.16 during that stretch. The Phillies are doing it with pitching, shocking as that might sound.
*** The defense might be helping them as well by only committing 11 errors in 44 games.
*** 20-20 watch. Corbin Carroll has 8 and 16 SB
*** Speaking of Stolen Bases Jorge Mateo has 30SB on the season. He is far behind the pace needed to break Billy Hamilton’s record of 74SB in a season.
*** Could the Phillies actually reverse course and be buyers at the deadline??? They have a ton of draft picks (including 3 #1’s ) and this management team has a penchant for going all in when there is a chance. This is something to watch in the coming weeks.
