- The Phillies dropped out of first place yesterday when they lost to Arizona 2-0. The Diamondbacks took 2 of 3 in the series and now have won their last 11 games of 13 at Citizens Bank Park.
Manager Gabe Kapler seemingly gave the game away when he gave Bryce Harper the night off. Harper did pinch-hit with the bases empty in the 8th inning. Harper did not ask for a day off. Kapler decided to give him two days off in a row so Harper would be "crisper' for the big upcoming series vs Atlanta and Washington on the road.
The team looked flat Wednesday night against a 30-year-old rookie pitcher. The offense only managed to generate three hits the entire night, two of them by Nick Williams. who has lost a place on the club. The Phillies need to stop with the experiment and moved the hot Scott Kingery to the lead-off spot. Cesar Hernandez is in a terrible slump yet he is still batting first. Make sense?
Kingery has been playing center field after Andrew McCuthen was injured for the year. Kingery has done a fine job but he should be at second base, his natural position. The Phils gave him a huge contract yet have been jerking him around. He is coming into his own at the plate and deserves to be stable in the field.
Meanwhile, Hernandez, always inconsistent at the plate, on the base paths and in the field, should be traded for pitching while his value is high. At the very least he should not be batting lead-off.
Maikel Franco also continues to struggle. It's about time the Phillies cut the cord on Franco and deal him. hey made a big mistake by not signing Mike Moustakas last off-season to play third base. "The Moose" is having a good year for Milwaukee. 2018's first round pick Alex Bohm should be fast-tracked to Philly.
The loss wasted a great effort by starter Zach Eflin, who went eight solid innings and is now 6-6. Eflin strikeout 9 and only gave up two runs. He deserved a better fate.
The team is off today and begins a gigantic weekend series with the NL East division-leading Braves Friday night. Pivetta and Nola pitch the first two games of the weekend series in Atlanta.
- Great to see the St. Louis Blues win their first Stanley Cup last nigh tin Boston, defeating the bruins 4-1 in Game 7. The Blues, last in the entire National Hockey League in early January, went on an 11-game winning streak, caught fire and went all the way.
Nice to see a Boston team didn't win a championship again. So far since the year 2000, Boston clubs have won a total of 13 championships, between the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins.
The Flyers have now gone 44 years with drinking from Lord Stanley's Cup.
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