- It was a brutal loss in Los Angeles last night. The Phils blew a 4-0 lead in Dodger Stadium, aka the House of Horrors, which included an ugly 8th inning of miscues, sloppy defense and mental lapses. Awful way to start a big 10-game road trip. With the loss the team dropped to third place, 1 1/2 game out of first ( it seemed so long ago since the weekend, when the Phillies were briefly in first place for less than a full day)., and now 1/2 behind the surging Washington Nationals.
- Rhys Hoskins was still bating in the 2-holes, still continuing to struggle, and unbelievably hit a foul ball off his face late in the game. Hopefully he snaps out of his slump soon, but for now, he is killing the team. It's starting to creep into his defense as well, as he is noticeably frustrated. How will he handle this adversity?
Turns out Hoskins badly cut his lower lip and should be OK. Maybe the injury is a blessing in disguise and gives him a much-needed day or two off to clear his head. Has the organization ruined Hoskins by moving him to left field? Now they continue to play him, despite the drastic slump. They keep him in the pressure-packed 2-slot instead of hitting him in the less-stressful 5 or 6 slot.
- Last night was the worst ending to a game since last season in Dodger Stadium when Hector Neris surrendered three consecutive home runs and blow a 9th inning, 3-run lead.That devastating defeat sent the club into a death spiral for the entire season. Will the team bounce back tonight, show some heart with grit and fight or will they turtle-up and play dead, intimidated by the mighty Dodgers?
- Total choke-job by the Phillies in their 5-4 implosion. Defense and fundamentals have been poor all season. Worse yet, Washington won, and Atlanta and the Mets split a doubleheader. Phillies deserved to lose. Offense sucked. They shut down after building an early 4-0 lead. They couldn't add on and it cost them. Defense sucked, but that's nothing new. Manager Gabe Kapler mismanaged the bullpen. Sirahtony Dominguez got 4 key outs in the 6th and 7th innings but could've used him in the 8th. Hasn't he shown enough to be the closer?
-Franco- who had a terrible game and left numerous guys on base all night- misplayed a ball to start the 8th which opened the flood gates. I didn't have a good feeling after that. Hernandez lost a pop-up in the twilight sky. That kept the Dodger rally alive. A play that simply cannot happen. Unacceptable. Hernandez hits a three-run homer in the second inning then plays shotty second base later. Too inconsistent are these Phils.
- Garcia and Morgan gave up the game in the 8th. Dominguez was used. Hunter is a waste. Kapler was saving Ramos and Neris for the 9th. This vaunted bullpen sucked, with no help form the poor defense.
- Vince Valasquez had a no-hitter going into the 6th inning. For some reason he strayed away from his fastball and gave up two runs before being pulled. No surprise he couldn't last. No matter what, Valasquez is what he is- a 5 or 6 inning pitcher who suddenly hit a brick wall beyond that limit.
- Fans wanna believe in the Phillies. You watch them, wear the gear, attend the games. They make it hard to love them when they throw a game away like last night. Maybe that's why attendance is low. Fans wanna believe. But first the team needs to believe in itself.
- Jake Arrieta tries to stop the bleeding tonight. Aaron Nola faces Clayton Kershaw in a classic pitchers duel on Thursday afternoon. Zach Efflin hurls the Wednesday night game Having an Arrieta and Nola in the rotation stops long losing streaks.
- The Vegas Golden Knights won Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals last night over Washington, 6-4. Expansion Vegas is only 3 games away from one of the greatest sports stories in history- a team in it's first year of existence winning a championship. Theya re a lesson to the flyers and all teams attempting a rebuilding project. it doesn't and shouldn't take forever if you know what the hell you are doing.
- Meanwhile, Golden State makes it to the NBA finals. again, playing Cleveland in the finals for the 4th straight year. Interesting that the playoffs were home team-dominated thru-out until Game 7 of both conferences. When the chips were down in the deciding game, the better team won, home court or not. LeBron may just will the Cavs to another title. What, if anything, will this championship run mean to LeBron possibly joining the Sixers after the season?
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