The Philadelphia Phillies are one of the weirdest teams in baseball. The Phillies played what felt like Little League type of play on Sunday Night Baseball against the Mets last week. Then, all of the sudden, they swept the Milwaukee Brewers without some of their routine starters. Gotta love baseball, am I right?
Phillies Vs. Brewers Recap
The constant back-and-forth of wins ended this week. After winning one, then losing one, and so on and so forth, the Phillies managed to sweep the Milwaukee Brewers this week. The best part?
This happened in four games, not just three!
Game one
Game one kicked off with Vince Velasquez on the mound. Velasquez only allowed one run in six innings. This made him the first Phillies starter this season other than Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Zach Eflin to record an out in the sixth inning. The only run he allowed was a moonshot to Lorenzo Cain in the first inning, locking all windows and doors for the remainder of his start. Hector Neris came in for the five-out save after the Phillies nearly blew it to secure the win.
Game Two
The next night, Aaron Nola got the nod. He did not pitch his best but did well enough in six innings of work. Joe Girardi forgot to notice that Enyel De Los Santos was not added to the lineup card. Andrew McCutchen hit two home runs. Brad Miller hit a three-run home run. Sam Coonrod earned a five-out save of his own. With all of the chaos, the Phillies picked up another win.
Game Three
The pure and utter chaos of this series did not end there. In the first inning of game three, the first five Phillies’ batters all reached base. They were soon cleared after Didi Gregorius hit a grand slam to give the Phillies a 5-0 lead. However, Philadelphia would only pick up one hit the rest of the game after the first inning explosion. Chase Anderson did okay, and the bullpen did stellar en route to another one-run victory for the Phillies. It was their seventh straight one-run game, typing a franchise high.
Game Four
Game four was not as crazy, but all the more stressful. In an absolute pitching duel between Zack Wheeler and Brandon Woodruff. Alec Bohm hit a solo shot in the seventh inning to break the scoreless tie, and Rhys Hoskins hit an RBI double in the eighth for some run support. Wheeler pitched a complete game shut out where he retired 18 straight batters at one point.
Can the Fun Continue?
Phillies Vs. Braves Preview
Philadelphia is set to travel to Atlanta to take on their division rival for a weekend series.
The Phillies are set to get healthy, finally. Jean Segura was activated and is set to play Friday night. Bryce Harper took the trip to Atlanta and is expected to return this weekend. Archie Bradley is hoping to return following the Phillies’ road trip, and is starting a rehab stint this weekend. On the other hand, Travis d’Arnaud is out for at least 60 days for the Braves. Ender Inciarte and Mike Soroka remain out for Atlanta as well.
Philadelphia will have two of their top three on the mound against a sizzling hot Atlanta Braves’ offense. In their last ten games, the Braves’ lineup as a whole is batting .267.
Zach Eflin will look to cool those bats down in game one Friday night, with a struggling Charlie Morton opposing him. Vinny Velo aims to carry momentum from his six-inning, one-run outing against the Brewers on Saturday night as Ian Anderson gets the nod for Atlanta. Huascar Ynoa will finish up the series against Aaron Nola on Sunday Night Baseball.
This series will help to show if the Phillies are contenders or pretenders. Of course, it’s only May. However, coming off a sweep of the Brewers, it’ll be interesting to see if Philadelphia can keep squeezing out wins. They have a good chance with Eflin and Nola on the mound for two of the games.
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Photo Credit: Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire
