In the two weeks since our Phillies’ quarter-season review, we’ve seen some of the best and some of the worst baseball from the Fightins’. Now, as we enter in September, the Phillies have officially hit the halfway point of their season. Today, we take a look back as the Phillies enter into what will be a busy September for the club.
The Phillies’ past two weeks
In our last review, we left off at the end of the Phillies’ series sweep of the New York Mets. The Phils then shipped up to Boston for two games which resulted in a series split on August 18th-19th. August 20th was originally a day off on the shortened-season calendar. Instead, the Phillies found themselves in Buffalo to play a seven-inning doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays (2020, am I right?). The road team lost both sides of that doubleheader before catching a flight to Atlanta for a three-game set against the Braves.
The Phillies dropped the first two games of the series on August 21st-22nd. Now on a five-game losing streak, things were not looking good for the Phillies. Joe Girardi, a seasoned and player-savvy manager, took command and called a team meeting to rally the troops.
They haven’t looked back since. In the seven games since Girardi’s team meeting, the Phillies have gone 6-1. The Phillies won the last game of the series in Atlanta and won their next two games against the Nationals.
In their final series of the year against the Phillies last weekend, the Phillies dominated, taking the first two games 7-4 and 4-1. Following a five-game losing streak, the Phillies balanced the scales with a five-game winning streak. On Sunday, the Phillies lost to the Braves 12-10. After a 10-run second inning courtesy of Jake Arrieta and David Hale, the Phillies’ offense showed resilience, coming back to within two runs. Even in defeat, this Phillies team showed that they are hungry to see a victory every day.
Yesterday, the Phillies wrapped up the month of August with an 8-6 victory over the Nationals: Spencer Howard’s first big-league dub.
NL East Standings
With a month to go, the Phillies are in the middle of the pack in the race for the NL East. 15-15, the Phillies are tied with the Marlins for second place in the East while the Braves hold a three-game lead with a record of 20-14 (having played four more games).
| Team | W-L | Pct. | GB | NL East | AL East |
| Atlanta Braves | 20-14 | .588 | – | 13-9 | 7-5 |
| Miami Marlins | 15-15 | .500 | 3.0 | 10-11 | 5-4 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 15-15 | .500 | 3.0 | 12-7 | 3-8 |
| New York Mets | 15-20 | .429 | 5.5 | 11-15 | 4-5 |
| Washington Nationals | 12-20 | .375 | 7.0 | 6-10 | 6-10 |
The Phillies have played well in-division so far. They have yet to lose against the Mets or Nationals while having split their series against the Braves 5-5. They are 1-2 against the Marlins, but hopefully the Marlins’ ruining the Phillies’ July will be motivation enough to beat them in September. Only the Braves more wins in-division, 13-9, but that is mostly due to more games played.
Where the Phillies have been hurting is against the AL East. The Phillies have split their action against both the Yankees and Red Sox but have been swept in their five games against the Orioles and Blue Jays.
Observations on the offense and bullpen can be found on the page below.
Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire
