I was there yesterday when the Phillies lost to the Cardinals 7-5. True, the Phils won 2 of 3 in the series and are still 10 games over.500. but they missed out on the chance to sweep St. Louis for the first time in 13 years.
Cesar Hernandez, so hot recently, blew three chances to put the Phils on top. He was up with the bases loaded twice and the best he could do was get an RBI by beating out a double play grounder.
With first and second and no out in the 8th inning , and the Phillies down two, Kapler had Hernandez hit away rather than sacrifice bunt. Cesar popped out to third and the runners were stranded. Analytics said to hit away but old-school baseball said to move the runners along, where a single could tie the game, or a wold pitch could score a run.
Blame both Kapler and Hernandez for the failure.
Kapler has bee refreshingly honest in his post-game comments this season but after the game yesterday he slid back to protecting his players, stating that Hernandez did a "good job" in his at-bats, and that Jarad Eichoff, who gave up three Cardinal home runs, pitched better than he really did.
Once again Eichoff came up small. The organization and the media seem to like him better than I do. They called Eichoff a "workhorse" but to me, since the team traded for him from Texas, he has been mediocre at best.
Bryce Harper lashed three more hits . including a pair of doubles. He has gotten hot as the weather heats up. I never had much concern for Harper. He has been playing hard, playing great defensively, and even at the plate he effects the entire line-up with his presence alone.
Catcher Andrew Knapp played instead of J.T. Realmuto and it proved to be costly. Twice the Cards intentionally walked Rhys Hoskins to get to Hernandez. Knapp is a total waste offensively while being average at best defensively. I get it that Realmuto needs a day off once in a while, especially a day game after a night game. Why not look for a better back-up catcher if you're going to sit Realmuto once a week.
Nice crowd at a weekday game, over 31,000. Surprisingly, not many Cardinal fans in the crowd. No longer are opposing fans taking over Citizens Bank Park. It will be interesting when the Mets come in at the end of June.
Big series this weekend in Los Angeles. The two teams with the best record in the National League battle as the Phillies start a West Coast swing with a three-game weekend set with the two-time defending NL Champs, the mighty Dodgers.
This could be a preview of the playoffs. The Dodgers pitch Clayton Kershaw on Saturday. He's still a good pitcher but not great, as age and wear and tear have slowed down the big lefty. The Phils counter with Arrieta, Eflin and Pivetta
Taking two of three would be huge. The Phillies have shown the can play with the good clubs in the league. They split with the Cubs and recently took two of three from the Brewers in Milwaukee.
The team goes to San Diego next week, taking on the Manny Machado-led Padres.
The schedule finally gets easier later in June, with games against the Reds and Marlins.
The Minnesota Twins have turned out to be a really good team in the American League. They are leading the Indians by close to 10 games in AL Central. Everyone knew the Twins had some good, young stars on the horizon, but they have come together quicker than expected.
The Phillies played them early in April in Philadelphia and beat the Twins two of three. With the Astros, Yankees and Red Sox in the American League, it will be a challenge or Minnesota to get in to the World Series but anything is possible and it would be a refreshing change to see the Twins go far in the playoffs.
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