Phils fall 10-1 to Cubs in Game 1 of series

We couldn’t wait for the Phillies to return to Citizens Bank Park from the West Coast road trip, and the fans packed the stadium 42,110 strong. But the Phils couldn’t send out the hometown crowd happy, as they lost in miserable fashion to the Cubs 10-1, who snapped a 5-game losing streak of their own, the loss put the Phillies into their own 5-game losing streak.

It all started in the top of the first, Ranger Suarez had to pitch 30 pitches to get out of the inning, which he did manage to do without the Cubs scoring, but the seeds were sown for the next inning to have things unravel for Ranger and the Phils. The Cubs’ win brought them to 20-24 on the year, firmly in the middle of the pack of the NL Central. Surprisingly, the Pirates are still atop that division, though Milwaukee has now tied them up.

Why can’t the Phillies seem to win lately? It just seems like there is some kind of malaise around the team. No sense of urgency to get things done, when there are men on base, there is no concerted effort to make things happen. Things must change with this on this Phillies team, it’s almost Memorial Day and this team is 20-24, which is the same record as their current opponent.

Fans have started to rumble about Trea Turner, and much has been written by rival blogs about him, especially LA Dodger blogs. My concern about the Phils signing Turner to a very long-term deal at $300 million was that perhaps he isn’t that caliber of a player. I was happy to have him on the team but at the price, the Phillies management have to be scratching their heads about this time. Look at Freddie Freeman on the Dodgers who came over from the Braves after many years. The Dodgers got a bona fide superstar at 6 years and $162M. This year, Freeman has a 1.7 WAR already, with 8 HRs, and 27 RBI, and 6 stolen bases. Turner, for the Phillies, has a 0.5 WAR, with 4 HR and 10 RBI, and 5 stolen bases. Turner’s lack of ‘clutchness’ so far has been noted but he’s done so well previously this should change as well. T But the fans are waiting for this change with Turner to happen and they are growing a bit tired waiting.

Hitting is contagious, and when you don’t hit, that’s contagious too. That’s what seems to happening with the Phillies right now.

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