PHILADEPLHIA – The Philadelphia Phillies (68-49) easily waltzed across Texas en route to sweeping the Texas Rangers in Arlington, a place the club had not won a game at since 2014. Aside from slight concern surrounding Zack Wheeler‘s shoulder and dip in velocity, the Phillies have a lot of positive momentum heading into the middle game of the three-team, three city road swing.
Philadelphia currently leads the National League East by 5 1/2 games over the crumbling New York Mets who have dropped seven straight, and nine of their last ten. The Phillies will visit a hungry Cincinnati Reds (62-57) team right in the thick of the NL Wild Card Race, sitting just 1 1/2 games back of the Mets for that third and final spot. The Reds are coming off a series split against the Pirates, winning the final two games of the four-game set after taking a three-game series on the road against the Cubs.
In the first meeting between these two teams over the Fourth of July weekend, the Phillies won the second and third games of the three-game series to earn a series victory.
Pitching Preview
Taijuan Walker (4-5, 3.53 ERA) vs. Andrew Abbott (8-2, 2.34 ERA)
The two starters to open up the series are not the premier names in either team’s rotation, but they have performed admirably this season. Walker has had a roller coaster season since his debut when he was booed at Citizens Bank Park at the home opener, only to turn those jeers into cheers – tossing six scoreless innings against Colorado. Since then, Walker has been bounced out of the starting rotation only to be put back in due to the injury to Aaron Nola and he has held his own putting together a respectable season.
Rob Thomson had high praise for the righty after he spun six scoreless innings against Baltimore in his last outing.
He’ll take on the southpaw Abbott, who looks to bounce back after suffering just his second loss of the season his last time out against the Cubs when he allowed four earned runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 6.2 innings. In his previous four starts, he only allowed six earned runs over 25 innings, good for a 2.16 ERA. The Phillies had success against Abbott back on July 4 when he was touched up for four earned runs on nine hits and allowed a home run to Nick Castellanos in 3.1 innings.
Ranger Suárez (8-5, 2.94 ERA) vs. Brady Singer (9-9, 4.53 ERA)
Suárez is looking to bounce back after surrendering five earned runs on nine hits in 6.1 innings in a loss against Baltimore. It was the fourth time in his last five starts that he allowed three earned runs or more, pitching to a 5.40 ERA over 30 innings during that stretch. The rough patch comes after he dominated in 11 starts from mid-May to early July where he posted a 1.23 ERA in 73.1 innings of work.
Singer, a former first-round pick by Kansas City, has had a bumpy first season with Cincinnati and his last five starts are symbolic of that. In three of his last five outings, he has turned in quality starts. Singer has allowed just four earned runs over 19.2 innings, and racked up 27 strikeouts during those solid starts – including an impressive 10 punch-out performance against the Braves in six scoreless innings two starts ago. The righty will look to return to that form after he was tagged for four runs in just 3.2 innings in a 7-0 loss to the Pirates last time out.
Cristopher Sánchez (11-3, 2.36 ERA) vs. Hunter Greene (4-3, 2.72 ERA)
Sánchez is trying to sneak his way into becoming the leader in the NL Cy Young race. It will be a tough task to take down the odds-on favorite Paul Skenes, but the Phillies’ southpaw has been exceptional all season. Sánchez puts a streak of 12 consecutive starts going at least six innings on the line in the series finale. The last time Sánchez did not complete six innings in a start was back on May 29 in game one of a doubleheader against the Braves.
The young, flamethrowing Greene will take the mound for the Reds, making the series finale by far the best pitching matchup. Greene is making his first start since June 3 after missing over two months with a right groin strain. He has 73 strikeouts in 59.2 innings of work.
Marsh, Stott looking to stay hot
The production of Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott have made the lineup deeper and the duo are two of the hottest hitters in the lineup. Since his woeful March/April, Marsh has been one of the best hitters on the team slashing .312/.366/.479 with an .845 OPS over the last 77 games. Over his last 11 contests, the outfielder is hitting a robust .469 with a 1.455 OPS with five doubles, four homers, and seven RBIs.
As for Stott, since the birth of his second child on July 23, he is slashing .349/.431/.581 with a 1.013 OPS spanning 15 games. In the Texas series, he went 5-for-10, with a pair of doubles and three RBIs. He has picked up a hit in 11 of his last 15 contests.
The Phillies are starting to hit their stride as the dog days of summer are here. It is a pivotal series for both teams to start the week, but if the Phillies continue their strong play across the board and take care of the Reds while the Mets continue to free fall, they can have a sizable lead in the NL East heading into their series against the last place Nationals.
(Top Photo of Duran/Realmuto – Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images)
