- The Phillies won on Saturday afternoon, despite themselves. They beat Milwaukee, 4-1. They left 15 runners on base. That's the story of the season so far- no clutch hits, too many strikeouts ( 13 on Saturday). Still, the Phils won and will go for the series win today behind the 8-2 Aaron Nola.
- Manager Gabe Kapler made a controversial move late in the game which ultimately paid-off. Kapler took starting pitcher Zach Eflin out of the game in the 6th inning, after he dominated the Brewers over 5 innings. He only gave up 3 hits, 1 run, struck out 7 and threw a mere 73 pitches. Kapler pinch-hit Franco for Eflin ( Franco was intentionally walked). The Phillies squeezed out a pair of runs in the inning. Obviously Kapler is aware the club has trouble scoring runs. But removing Eflin from a game in which he was in control, in favor of a shaky at best bullpen, was a risky move. Kapler would've been second-guessed to death if the move failed.
The bullpen ended up throwing 4 innings of scoreless ball. Another questionable move was only pitching Siranthony Dominguez one inning * the 8th( and allowing the struggling Hector Neris close. True, Neris had a 3-run lead, but we have seen Neris blow 3-run leads before. Neris has been pitching better recently, and he had a 1-2-3 9th inning against Milwaukee.
Kapler is different, that's for sure. Whether its instincts, a gut feeling or analytics, he gonna do what he wants, to hell with the fans and media.
- Rhys Hoskins had three hits, his average climbing to .249. He blasted the longest home run of his young career, a 431-foot shot to deep left field. His injury may have been a blessing in disguise, as Hoskins has been hot since his return.
- On the other hand, Odubel Herrera is ice cold. After getting two hits Friday night, Herrera slumped to 0-5 yesterday, including 3 strike outs. His average is down to .283 after leading the league at .363 only a month ago.
- With the win, the Phillies remain 4 games behind Atlanta in NL East. They are 1 1/2 games behind Washington for second place. They play seven games against the nationals before the end of the month. After the getaway game in Milwaukee this afternoon, the team comes home to face St. Louis. I'll be at the game Monday night vs the always-tough Cardinals.
- Nice to see the New York Mets struggling so mightily. The Mets are 10 1/2 games out of first, 9 games under .500 The same Mets squad that many so-called baseball pundits predicted would win it all- NL East and World Series. Couldn't happen to a better team or obnoxious fans.
- Kudos to Eagles' owner Jeff Lurie for doing the championship rings and ceremony the right way. Lurie gave rings to everyone who works full-time for the Birds. The rings are gaudy, glitzy, blingy and beautiful. The ring ceremony/party was the official last event of the championship season. Now the focus turns to training camp in late July and the defense of their world championship. The Eagles will be the hunted now, but the team can still claim the role of underdog, as most experts are not picking the Birds to repeat ( some are not even taking the Eagles to win the NFC east again).
It's true- no NFC East team has won back-to-back division titles since the Eagles did it in 2004. Even mediocre teams will be gunning for Philly now. The Eagles must be at their best each and every game this fall.It will be interesting to to see if the club remains hungry or they have a natural let-down. With Carson Wentz at the helm, I doubt if the squad will be complacent.
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