The Phils really needed to keep that momentum that they had heading into the All Star Break. That didn’t happen though as the Phils lost the last two games to the New York Yankees at home in the Bronx. Despite the Phillies who hit the first pitch of the game for a home run. This hasn’t been done against a Yankee pitcher since Jimmy Rollins did it 20 years ago. On the last Yankees hit of the game, it seemed like Brad Miller just stopped when it looked like he could have gotten this baseball, it’s that kind of stuff that doesn’t make the Phillies look that great.
The Phils battled back to tie the game last night after opening up the game with a 2-0 lead in the first two innings, but couldn’t put it in the win column. Now they are a .500 ballclub once again. Joe Girardi seems to use more pitchers than Gabe Kapler did with somewhat similar results. Joe said in the postgame, ‘Yeah, we’ll get going offensively, I am not worried about that.’
Does this impact a possible Phillies buying frenzy at the trade deadline? They are a .500 baseball team, that could go either way but with improvements can they get in a race with the Mets for first place? The Mets just keep on getting the job done, they won again last night 7-0 and that’s what a good team does, they are finding ways to win ballgames. Joe explains some pitching here, what more can he say?
The Phillies desperately need pitching, I don’t think a Kris Bryant even helps this team as much as a couple of solid relief pitchers would. The bullpen usually can’t hold a lead, which is as good as nothing. When the Phils get a lead, and can’t hold it, it just doesn’t work on this team helping it towards a winning record.
Bryce Harper said, ‘We’re in striking distance,’ yesterday. Let’s see what happens in the next couple of series, as this team continues through the 2021 season. It’s not a dominating team though, we know that much, and it is unpredictable as well. Now the Phils head home for 4 games with the Atlanta Braves, who have also had some tough times but are building themselves back up recently.
