PHILLY SPORTS CORNER- PHILLIES

After the rain..

Most of last  night's Phillies- Dodgers game occurred after the brief rain delay before the start of the 9th inning. Sure, Bryce Harper hit a massive 458-foot homer to dead center field earlier. Sure Vince Valasquez blew a 6-1 lead by surrendering four L.A. home runs earlier. But the really interesting part of this Game 2 with Los Angeles was after the rain.

First, Hector Neris blew a 8-6 save in the 9th. Neris has been good this year but lately has squandered leads, first to the Mets and Nationals, now to the Dodgers. I never have trusted Neris and now he back in my doghouse.

When all seemed lost and it appeared the Phillies would suffer yet another disheartening loss they scored three runs in the bottom of the 9th, highlighted by a Harper double. Harper hit the first pitch off L.A. closer Jansen, a laser beam shot to center, which hit the wet grass and skipped by center field Pollack to the wall.

The Dodgers are a great team and should make it to their third straight World Series and may even win it this year but they showed their weakness is their bullpen. Knock out their starter and you have a chance.

The Phils picked up a game on losing Atlanta and are now 8 1/2 out of first place in NL East, still 2 1/2 games behind second place Washington. The Phillies pitch Nick Pivetta tonight.



It was leaked this morning that both Matt Klentek and Andy MacPhail got 3-year extensions to their contracts. klentek's was back in march, while MacPhail was granyed his after the 2017 season.

Owner John Middleton can easily pay both off if he isn't satisfied with their performances after the season. but Middleton seems to like both, which is bad news for the fans. Klentek has destroyed the farm system while MacPhail has an attitude of "If we win, we win..If we don't, we don't." Clearly, Middleton was enamored by Klentek's help in signing Harper during the off-season. It may be a decision which Middleton regrets.


Give manager Gabe Kapler credit for benching the lazy bum Mikael Franco after Franco loafed in Game 1 vs the Dodgers. Maybe Kapler has learned his lesson. In his place at third base, Brad miller hit a home run on Tuesday night.