- The Phillies bounced back on Friday night, beating the lowly Marlins in Miami, 9-1. Pitcher Jake Arrieta won his 100th career game. Andrew McCuthen blasted a three-run homer, his third this season. Reliever Victor Arano, up from Lehigh Valley, pitched two scoreless innings to close the game.
The Phils are now 8-4, 1/2 game behind the Mets for 1st place in the National League East. They start a home stand with the New Yorkers on Monday.
The Marlins are awful and may lose 110 games this season. They can't score. They only scored one run last night, and a mere one run in three games in Cincinnati. Still, it was a good start of the weekend by Philadelphia, cautious to get stuck in a trap series in Florida.
The line-up again was solid, as McCuthen, Segura, Harper, Hoskins, Realmuto and Herrera all contributed to the win. It's always tough to sweep on the road but there is no reason why the phillies shouldn't win three in a row against Miami this weekend.
Zach Eflin goes for a 3-0 record tonight, with Vince Valasquez following on Sunday. Aaron Nola tried to make amends for his slow start on Monday against the Mets.The core of the bullpen is well-rested after three days of inactivity.
- The Sixers begin the playoffs today as they host the Brooklyn Nets Looks like center Joel Embiid won't play. The 76ers are at home and should have enough, even without Embiid to withstand the Nets. but we saw all year that the team is not the same without the big guy, both on offense and defense. If Embiid is still out with a sore knee, I like the nets today. Game 2 in Philly is Monday night.
Ben Simmons needs to step up, especially with Embiid ailing. Simmons had all off-season to improve his jumper and free throw shooting. He did neither. So Brooklyn will slacken off Simmons, daring him to shoot, or will foul him to make Simmons beat them on the foul line.
Jimmy butler and Tobias Harris can make life easier for Sixers' fans.
I think the teams split the first two games. Either Brooklyn wins today and Embiid plays in Game 2 and splits at home, or the Sixers win today and rest on Monday, with the Nets tying the series before heading to Brooklyn.
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