PHILLY SPORTS CORNER- PHILLIES

- Same old story for the Phillies last night in the first game of a key three-game series in Washington. Poor defense, little offense. It didn't help that Manager Gabe Kapler curiously had newcomers Ramos and Bour sitting on the bench. Hernandez led off again. Santana hit clean-up again. Is it any wonder the offense struggled?

- After an hour and 42 minute rain delay, starter Vince Valasquez returned and pitched two more innings of perfect ball. Only down 1-0 in the 5th inning, he was taken out of the game for pinch-hitter Scott Kingery. Why? The bullpen proceeded to blow the 4-1 lead they built, losing 10-4.

With the loss the Phils have now lost 3 games in a row and are two full games behind Atlanta. Even though the Nationals seemingly raised the white flag by trading Daniel Murphy to the Cubs and Matt Adams to the Cards, they still have enough firepower to make things interesting in NL East. The Phils are face Strasberg and Scherzer and cannot get swept.

-  I get it. It seems like the Phillies need to learn how to win. The front office has not gone all in on winning this year. Ramos and Bour help ( when they play). Loup is just another guy in the bullpen. Hamells would've helped the rotation. They are not ready to win yet. They are focus on 2019 when they hopefully sign Machado and/or Harper. What sign has Washington given to Bryce Harper by starting to trade key players like Murphy?

Still, it's been a fun season. Maybe the team isn't as entertaining a sit can be. Too much analytics, not enough fundamentals stressed. The club has speed in Quinn, Kingery and Hernandez but they don't use that speed nearly enough. But win or lose, it's fun to scoreboard watch again, fun to know meaningful baseball games are being played daily at the end of August, fun to have hope. Frustrating at times? Yes! But at least we care and are not totally focused on the new Eagles season just yet.

- Road woes continue for the Phillies, and with 19 of the final 37 games away from home the team needs to figure it out quickly. At home, it's more than having their fans support. It's playing in a smaller ballpark so Kapler's style of playing for 3-run homers pays off. Also, woes against NL East rivals continue. Only 10 games remain against opponents outside the East. Of course, the 7 games left with Atlanta at the end of September are huge- but staying close until then also means beating teams like the Marlins, Mets and Nats.