Minor Awards And Major Disappointments

GAME RECAP: National Edge Phillies 5-4

Maybe manager Dusty Baker said it best: Trea Turner is a difference-maker. The rookie center fielder proved it once again at Nationals Park on Friday night, when he clubbed a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Nationals over the Phillies, 5-4. Washington's magic number dwindled to 14 to win the National League East. The second-place Mets defeated the Braves, 6-4. With the score tied at 4, Turner battled reliever Frank Herrmann for nine pitches. Turner connected on a 1-2 fastball and hit the ball over the center-field fence to end the game. It was also his second home run of the night. "I finally got a pitch up in the zone. I put the barrel on it," Turner said. "I'm still laughing at how it ended up over the fence. I felt good." Turner now has eight home runs in 223 at-bats. He had only six home runs in 331 at-bats with Triple-A Syracuse this year. Baker had nothing but praise for his center fielder. "Keep it coming. The sky's the limit. He is probably doing some things that even amazes himself," the skipper said. "He just let it flow and let it be. He is playing an outstanding center field. His first two-homer game, his first walk-off homer game. This one he will remember for a long time." The Nationals blew a three-run lead before Turner's homer ended the game. The score was tied at 1 when the Nationals took the lead in the sixth inning off Philadelphia starter Jake Thompson. After Daniel Murphy doubled with one out, Bryce Harper singled to right field, sending Murphy home. An inning later, Phillies right-hander Colton Murray was on the mound when Turner hit a two-run homer to give Washington a three-run lead. But Washington's lead didn't last long. In the eighth inning, Koda Glover allowed a three run homer to Cameron Rupp to tie the score at four. "That kid Turner is a good-looking player," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.

PHILS PHACTS: 

• He did not get the win and he did not pitch six innings, but Thompson continues to make strides following a rough start to his big league career. He had a 9.78 ERA after his first four starts, and he was unable to pitch more than five innings in any of them. But after he allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Nationals, Thompson has a 2.33 ERA (five earned runs in 19 1/3 innings) in his last three. "I thought I had it," Thompson said.
• Rupp belted a game-tying, three-run homer to left-center field in the eighth inning. Rupp has struggled lately since hitting .278 with 18 doubles, one triple, 13 home runs, 38 RBIs and an .831 OPS through Aug. 5. In fact, he had hit a mere .185 with two doubles, one home run, seven RBIs and a .515 OPS in his previous 71 plate appearances, entering the game. Perhaps this shot gets him back on track. "I was ready for it," Rupp said. "I would say I sold myself on getting a fastball there."
• "I thought about hitting [Tommy] Joseph there or [Darin] Ruf, someone to maybe hit a home run, but my biggest concern was going 14 innings and having to go to those guys. That would be the worst-case scenario for me." -- Mackanin, on Herrmann hitting in the ninth. Mackanin said he hit Herrmann there because relievers Edubray Ramos, Hector Neris and Jeanmar Gomez have pitched too much recently.
• Herrera left the game in the fifth inning with a bruised right leg after Roark hit him with a pitch in fourth. X-rays were negative. He is day to day.

NEXT GAME:

Right-hander Jared Eickhoff (10-13, 3.86 ERA) faces the Nationals on Saturday night in the third game of a four-game series at Nationals Park. He has pitched six innings in each of his last four starts, allowing three or fewer runs in each of his last three.

PHILS PHACTS:

Rupp Goes Deep – Cameron Rupp needed that one. He mashed a game-tying, three-run home run to left-center field in the eighth inning Friday night in a 5-4 loss to the Nationals at Nationals Park. The 2-0 fastball from Nationals reliever Koda Glover left Rupp's bat at 106 mph and traveled a projected 420 feet, according to Statcast™. But it looked like it traveled faster and farther than it did. He crushed it. "I was ready for it," Rupp said. "I would say I sold myself on getting a fastball there." Rupp hopes the shot reverses his fortunes following a rough few weeks. He had hit .278 with 18 doubles, one triple, 13 home runs, 38 RBIs and an .831 OPS in 283 plate appearances through Aug. 5, making him one of the most productive catchers in baseball this season. But he has struggled since then. He entered Friday night hitting .185 with two doubles, one home run, seven RBIs and a .515 OPS in his last 71 plate appearances. "I just hit one of those spots," Rupp said. "It's part of the game. At some point every hitter goes through it. It took me a little longer to get out of it. It was a little frustrating at times. I got away from myself a little bit and finally found my approach again and got back to getting the ball in the zone and putting a good swing on it." Said Phillies manager Pete Mackanin: "He's pulling off the ball. I talked earlier about how he changed his approach at the plate and changed his swing path. Well, he was reverting back to his old swing path. That's common for players to do. When you do something one way your whole life you kind of creep back to it little by little. But he put a charge into that one." But Rupp never needed to worry too much. He solidified himself as the team's No. 1 catcher with his strong play through early August. Even with his recent struggles, he still ranks seventh out of 20 catchers in OPS, making him the projected Opening Day starter behind the plate next season. "You've got to have success in this game to keep your job," Rupp said. "It was nice to get off to a good start, but I really can't worry about that. I've got to stick with my strengths and worry about pitch selection and calling games and working with the pitchers and just let the offense happen."

Herrera Out – Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera left Friday night's 5-4 loss to the Nationals with a bruised right leg. Nationals right-hander Tanner Roark drilled Herrera in the leg with a pitch in the fourth inning. Herrera stayed in the game, but Aaron Altherr replaced him in the top of the fifth inning as a pinch-hitter. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said after the game that X-rays on Herrera's leg were negative. He is day to day. Herrera doubled in his first-inning at-bat against Roark. He is hitting .278 with 16 doubles, five triples, 13 home runs and 42 RBIs in 139 games this season.

Minor Awards – Dylan Cozens and Rhys Hoskins had two of the best seasons in Minor League baseball this year. So the Phillies on Friday announced both Double-A Reading sluggers earned the organization's Paul Owens Award for its top position players. It is the third time two players won the Paul Owens Award in the same season, and first since 1997, whenJimmy Rollins and Jeff Key won it. Triple-A Lehigh Valley right-hander Ben Lively earned the Paul Owens Award as the organization's top pitcher. Cozens, 22, hit .276 with 38 doubles, three triples, 40 home runs, 125 RBIs, 61 walks, 21 stolen bases, 106 runs scored and a .591 slugging percentage. He led the Minors in home runs, RBIs, extra-base hits (81) and total bases (308). Cozens, who the Phillies selected in the second round of the 2012 Draft, set the Reading single-season home run record and is just the second Phillies' Minor Leaguer since 1963 to hit 40 or more homers in a season. Ryan Howard hit 46 in 2004. The outfielder also earned the Eastern League MVP Award and earned a spot on the MLB Futures Game roster. Hoskins, 23, hit .281 with 26 doubles, 38 home runs, 116 RBIs, 71 walks, eight stolen bases, 95 runs and a .566 slugging percentage. He had three multi-homer games and seven games with four or more RBIs. Hoskins ranked second in the Minor Leagues in home runs, third in RBIs and total bases (282) and tied for ninth in extra-base hits (65) and runs.  The Phillies selected the first baseman in the fifth round of the 2014 Draft. "The hardest thing to develop is power, and the hardest thing to find is a run-producing bat," Phillies player development director Joe Jordan said in a statement. "We feel like both of these guys are going to be that. It has been a fantastic experience to watch them, and the reward was seeing them develop as players. We couldn't have drawn it up any better. I think both of them should be a bright part of our future." Lively, 24, went a combined 18-5 with a 2.69 ERA, 0.94 WHIP (42 walks, 118 hits), 139 strikeouts and a .192 opponents' batting average in 170 2/3 innings with Reading and Lehigh Valley. He is the first Minor Leaguer to win 18 games in a season since Colorado's Jhoulys Chacin in 2008. Lively led the International League in WHIP and opponents' batting average and finished second in ERA. Lively, who won Reds' Minor League Player of the Year in 2014, was acquired from Cincinnati in a trade for Marlon Byrd in Dec. '14. "Ben opened himself up in Spring Training and said, 'I've got to do what I can to get better,' and he has taken a huge step forward," Jordan said. "His delivery is sound and he is a big, strong guy that lives at the bottom of the strike zone. We saw this summer what he has a chance to be."

Today In Phils History – It was on this day in 1955 that Robin Roberts broke the NL record when he surrendered his 40^th homerun of the season (he would finish with 41 and break his own record the following year). A decade later, Fergie Jenkins made his MLB debut pitching 4 1/3 innings of relief and earning his 1^st win. In 1974, Lou Brock broke Maury Wills’ single season stolen base record (105) and Max Carey’s all time NL record (738) in a loss to the Phillies. Marty Bystrom made news for the 1^st time in the 1980 season when he recorded a shutout in his 1^st MLB start. Mike Schmidt hit his 10^th and final walk off homerun to break an 11^th inning tie with the Expos in 1985. 6 years later, Schmidt’s former teammate Larry Bowa was inducted into the Philadelphia Baseball Hall of Fame. In addition to Jenkins, other notable debuts that occurred on this day include Harry Coveleski (1907), Willie Jones (1947), Vic Power (1964 – with the Phillies), Bob Boone (1972), and Cameron Rupp (2013). Finally, happy birthday to Harry Anderson (1931) and Danys Baez (1977).

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 63-78 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 35-70-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record.

Phillies Pitchers Continue To Struggle Against Dodgers

GAME RECAP: Dodgers Down Phillies 7-2

Chase Utley had no home runs, grand slams or curtain calls on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park. But the Dodgers still rolled to a 7-2 win over the Phillies -- extending their lead in the National League West to 1 1/2 games over the Giants. Adrian Gonzalez hit a three-run homer to right field in the fourth inning and a two-run blast to right in the seventh to lead the way. Justin Turner added a two-run homer to left-center in the fifth. "The length of the lineup is impressive right now," Turner said. "We're a tough lineup to pitch to one through eight. Anyone can hit a ball over the fence and do some damage. It's fun going up there knowing you can hang a crooked number every inning." The Dodgers have scored 22 runs in the first two games of this series. They've done so on seven home runs, including two-homer games from Utley on Tuesday and Gonzalez on Wednesday. "Adrian's been under the radar," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "But tonight, huge night. Two homers, drove in five. … Good things are happening." The Dodgers also worked out of a jam in the sixth, when the Phillies loaded the bases with none out. Left-hander Grant Dayton got three consecutive flyouts to end the inning. Right-hander Jake Thompson pitched just five innings as Phillies starters have logged fewer than six innings in eight consecutive games, tying a franchise record. "Just kind of lost the feel for working down in the zone and both sides of the plate," Thompson said. "That's not a good problem to have against those guys."

PHILS PHACTS: 

• Thompson threw first-pitch strikes to just 10 of the 24 batters he faced, which tells the story of his night. He allowed five hits, five runs, four walks and two home runs as he fell to 1-2 with an 8.79 ERA in his first three big league starts. "Young pitchers tend to overthrow and try to make perfect pitches," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "Once you gain that poise and composure, you start understanding how important it is to locate those pitches. It's hard to make the perfect pitch."
• The rookie hit his 16th homer, a solo shot into the upper deck in left field in the sixth. Phillies first basemen have 31 homers this season, which is tied with the Indians for the most in baseball. "Tommy hit that ball in the upper deck, which was nice to see," Mackanin said. "I wish the bases were loaded on that at the time. We swung the bats well. We just didn't come through in the clutch."
• "It was a baserunning mistake. If you're on third base and you're not going to go because it would have been too close ... you stay heads up and the minute you see that ball go to second base, you score. He just shut it down a little bit early." --Mackanin, on Franco not scoring on a flyout to right in the sixth, when Dodgers right fielder Reddick threw to second on the play.
• Cesar Hernandez has reached base safely in 23 consecutive games. He has hit .348 with a .464 on-base percentage in that stretch. It is the longest on-base streak by a Phillies player since Darin Ruf reached safely in 33 games from Sept. 25, 2012, to Aug. 6, 2013.
• The Phillies challenged a call with two out in the ninth inning, when Odubel Herrera appeared to beat a throw to first from Utley. First-base umpire Jerry Meals had ruled Herrera out, but the call was overturned after a brief review.
• Jake Thompson was unable to complete six innings on Wednesday and the Phillies tied a franchise record. It was the eighth consecutive game their starter didn't pitch six innings and the first time it's happened since 1999.
• Cesar Hernandez has reached safely in 23 straight games for the longest streak by a Phillies hitter this season. Peter Bourjos reached safely in 22 straight games from June 16 to July 15. Over the streak, Hernandez is hitting .356 (32-for-90), including his first home run of the stretch on Tuesday.
• Stripling has had quite a bit more success in his limited action out of the bullpen. He made three long-relief appearances in July, posting a 1.54 ERA over 11 2/3 innings. In his 10 starts, Stripling has a 4.61 ERA.

NEXT GAME:

Dodgers right-hander Ross Stripling will square off against Phillies righty Jerad Eickhoff on Thursday in the finale of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies should be happy to see the Dodgers leave town, as they've managed just one win in five games against Los Angeles this season. Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley likely won't harbor similar feelings. He has mashed against his former team since homering in his first at-bat against the Phillies in Los Angeles. In his return to Philadelphia, Utley hit two home runs, including a grand slam, to cap an eight-run seventh inning on Tuesday night. Utley and Frank Thomas are the only players to homer twice in their first games back in a city where they previously hit 200 or more home runs. Thursday's finale will be the sixth and final meeting between the clubs this season. The Dodgers have taken full advantage of a rebuilding Phillies club since its last postseason appearance in 2011. Los Angeles has won 12 of its 15 games at Citizens Bank Park dating to the start of 2012. Additionally, the Phillies have dropped 10 of their last 13 to the Dodgers and six of their last seven. Stripling (3-4, 4.07 ERA) will make his third start since transitioning from the bullpen back into the rotation. Eickhoff (8-12, 3.82) shut out the Rockies for five innings, but gave up three runs in a sixth inning where he only recorded two outs in his last start.

PHILS PHACTS:

Rotational Shortcomings – Phillies manager Pete Mackanin answered a question about his bullpen on Wednesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, when he quickly segued into a discussion about the rotation. "We just need our starters to get out of that rut where we're not getting six, seven, eight innings," he said before a 7-2 loss to the Dodgers. "We're trying to develop nine-inning pitchers. But it has not happened like the Phillies had hoped, particularly lately. Rookie Jake Thompson yielded five hits, five runs, four walks and two home runs in five innings in his third big league start. He threw first-pitch strikes to just 10 of 24 batters as he fell to 1-2 with an 8.79 ERA. "He's 22 years old and made some mistakes," Mackanin said of the Phillies' No. 5prospect. "The interesting thing is that he doesn't walk that many people, but he's got nine walks in [14 1/3] innings. I attribute that to the fact he's 22 years old and his first go around at the big league level. Pitching is all about repeating your mechanics and making good pitches. In time, he'll get there." Mackanin said Thompson simply might be trying to impress too much, trying to follow up an impressive run at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he went 8-0 with a 1.21 ERA in his final 11 starts with the IronPigs. "I wouldn't say I'm trying to impress," Thompson said. "I'm just trying to get outs regardless of who I'm facing. Just trying to be too fine, falling behind, especially to those guys in the middle of the lineup. That's a terrible place to be." Phillies starters have pitched fewer than six innings in eight consecutive games, tying a franchise record last done in 1999. They also have not thrown seven or more innings in a game since July 26 in Miami, when Jerad Eickhoff gave up one run in seven innings. That is 19 consecutive games without a starter pitching seven innings. Phillies starters have a 7.05 ERA in that stretch, falling short of logging six innings 16 times. "We have to get it going and get back on track and pounding the strike zone, getting ahead early and running the counts deep, and getting outs early in the counts," Mackanin said. The Phillies' rotation looked pretty good early in the season, but the past few weeks have been quite a contrast. Aaron Nola will finish the season on the 60-day disabled list with an injured right elbow. Zach Eflin might not pitch again this season because of knee issues. Vince Velasquez has struggled recently, posting a 7.24 ERA in his last five starts. Thompson, who is the No. 67 overall prospect according to MLBPipeline.com, has not pitched more than five innings in his three starts. "Mentally I'm fine," Thompson said. "It's kind of how pitching goes. Every now and then you struggle with stuff. I dealt with it in Lehigh. I had a terrible first month of the season, partially due to the same thing -- erratic fastball command. We'll get in the bullpen and get it ironed out."

Nola Done – Aaron Nola's season is finished. The Phillies announced on Wednesday they've placed Nola on the 60-day disabled list with an injured right elbow to make room on the 40-man roster for right-hander Frank Herrmann. The Phils promoted Herrmann from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to replace left-hander Elvis Araujo, who was optioned to the IronPigs. "I'm pretty confident right now that everything is going to heal correctly, and by Spring Training, I should be good to go," Nola said. But Nola's recovery is not entirely certain. Dr. James Andrews examined Nola on Monday in Alabama. The righty has a low-grade sprain of his UCL and a low-grade strain of his flexor pronator tendon. "At this time nobody is talking about surgery," Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said. Nola also received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection on Monday, and he will not throw for four weeks to allow the PRP injection to work. "We'll ramp him back up at that point to see how he responds," Klentak said. If everything goes well, Nola is expected to be ready by Spring Training. If he does not respond, what is the next step? "We haven't gone down that road yet," Klentak said. "Right now, nobody is suggesting that surgery is the way to go on this, and we feel good about the fact that there's a consensus among all the doctors that have seen him." Nola finished 6-9 with a 4.78 ERA in 20 starts this season, and he went 1-5 with a 9.82 ERA in his final eight starts. Interestingly, Nola said he does not think the injured elbow had much to do with his recent struggles. "I think it was unrelated," Nola said. "Before the last game, everything felt good. My arm felt good. I don't think this had to do with any of the previous starts before then. Just overall my body felt really good leading up to that. It was just something that happened. ... I had some real bumps in the road there. But I want to learn from those, I want to learn from the challenges I had. The experiences that didn't go well, I want to learn from them and kind of build on those." The Phillies have used this season to look at their young starters. The results have been mixed. Jerad Eickhoff has been steady, but Nola struggled mightily before landing on the DL. Zach Eflin has patellar tendinopathy in his knees and it is unclear if he will pitch again this season. His results have varied. Vince Velasquez dominated early, but he has a 7.24 ERA in his last five starts and has struggled recently to pitch deep into games. Velasquez's workload is being monitored closely. He said he could make "three or four more starts" before the end of the season. Klentak said the Phillies do not have a specific day targeted as his final start. "More than anything it reinforces the position that we've taken for most of the last year about the importance of starting pitching depth," Klentak said about the rotation's performance. "For four months, this team's starting rotation was about as healthy as any starting rotation in baseball, and for the last two, three weeks it's been something less than that. That's kind of the nature of our game." Expect the Phillies to make a qualifying offer to Jeremy Hellickson after the season. If he accepts, they will have at least one veteran in the rotation. If he rejects the offer, expect them to pursue at least one more veteran starter. "We need to figure some more things out," Klentak said. "It's fairly reasonable to expect that every offseason we'll be looking to add starting pitching depth. There's a lot of different ways to skin that cat. But I think realistically this offseason will be no different than any other."

Crawford Dealing With Injury – Phillies top prospect J.P. Crawford remains sidelined with an injured oblique, but it probably will not affect his chances of being promoted to the big leagues before the end of the season. Crawford, 21, has not played since Aug. 9 after tweaking the oblique while making an acrobatic play in the field for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He is hitting .258 with nine doubles, one triple, three home runs, 25 RBIs and a .681 OPS in 306 plate appearances with the IronPigs. "J.P. is day to day," Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said on Wednesday. "I expect he'll be back in the lineup in Lehigh sometime in the next couple of days. He's been playing catch. He's been hitting off a tee. He's been doing a lot of work on the side. We're just trying to be a little careful with him and make sure he doesn't re-aggravate it." Crawford is the No. 3 prospect in baseball, according to MLBPipeline.com. He could be the Phillies' everyday shortstop as early as next season, but the Phils might not promote him until 2017 because of 40-man roster considerations. The Phillies have to protect multiple prospects before this year's Rule 5 Draft. The list includes 12 of their Top 30 prospects, according to MLBPipeline.com: Nick Williams (No. 3), Dylan Cozens (No. 7), Mark Appel (No. 11), Andrew Knapp (No. 12), Ricardo Pinto (No. 16), Nick Pivetta (No. 18), Elniery Garcia (No. 20), Malquin Canelo (No. 22), Carlos Tocci (No. 23), Ben Lively (No. 24), Jose Pujols (No. 27) and Alberto Tirado (No. 29). There are others not on that list, too. Crawford does not have to be protected yet, so keeping him off the 40-man roster until next year would allow Philadelphia to protect an additional prospect it feels is at risk of being selected in the Rule 5 Draft.

Today In Phils History – In his 1886 debut, Charles Ferguson gets the win over Boston and go on to collect 12 more victories and 4 ties in 16 games. 20 years later, Kitty Bransfield hit an inside-the-park grand slam against St. Louis. In 1909, Arlie Latham became the oldest player in MLB history to walk and steal a base when the Giants inserted the coach into the lineup against the Phillies. In 1960, the Braves Lew Burdette threw a no hitter against the Phillies with only Tony Gonzalez reaching base when he was hit by a pitch in the 5^th inning. Larry Bowa hit his 1^st MLB homerun on this day in 1972… he had amassed 1,745 plate appearances before hitting the inside the park homerun at the Vet. Steve Carlton and Tom Seaver faced off for the last time in 1981 with Seaver, once again getting the victory and improving his head to head record to 12-2. In 1990, Tommy Greene made his Phillies debut. 5 years later, the Phillies sent 4 Kevins to the plate against the Giants (Stocker, Elster, Flora, and Jordan). 2 years later, for only the 2^nd time in franchise history, the Phillies hit 2 grand slams in the same game as Mike Lieberthal and Billy McMillon both connected against the Giants. Lieberthal once again etched his name in Phillies history on this day in 2006 when he caught his 1,125^th game passing Red Dooin as the all-time leader in games caught and celebrated the milestone by throwing out 2 baserunners and connecting for a homerun in a loss to the Nationals.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 56-65 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 44-62-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record.

At Some Point You Just Can’t Watch…

GAME RECAP: Marlins Mash Phillies 11-1

Giancarlo Stanton sparked a big day for the Marlins with a spectacular catch and his 22nd home run as Adam Conley continued his dominance at home in the Marlins' 11-1 win over the Phillies on Wednesday afternoon at Marlins Park. Stanton robbed Tommy Joseph to end the top of the first with a leaping grab at the wall in right field, then capped a three-run bottom of the first with a homer to left-center. The Marlins cruised from there, collecting 16 hits, including three from Don Kelly, who had two triples and two RBIs. "It was awesome," Kelly said of his first three-hit game since August 2014. "This game is tough when you're struggling a little bit at the plate and you're up there grinding it out. You feel that potentially it's going to bust open for you." The Marlins, who lead the National League with 954 hits, put their leadoff hitter on base in every inning and had four players collect three hits each. Conley worked 6 2/3 scoreless innings, scattering eight hits. He struck out six, walked three, and helped his cause with two RBIs. The lefty escaped bases-loaded, one-out jams in both the third and sixth innings while improving to 3-0 in his last five starts at home with a 1.41 ERA (32 IP, 5 ER) over that span. "There was great defense behind me and I was able to execute pitches," Conley said. "Even though we found ourselves in some jams, we were able to pitch out of those." Phils starter Zach Eflin pitched into the sixth inning and was touched up for seven runs on nine hits as the Phillies are 4-9 since the All-Star break. They entered the break hoping to make a run at .500, but they would have to play 35-24 (.593) the rest of the way to accomplish that. "It's disappointing because we haven't gotten there yet," Joseph said about hitting the .500 mark, "but we've got just over two months to play. That's easily an attainable goal for this team."

PHILS PHACTS: 

• Eflin had a 2.08 ERA in his last seven starts, which included a shutout Friday against the Pirates and a complete game earlier this month against the Braves. But the Marlins jumped on Eflin early. His ERA jumped from 3.40 to 4.23. "You can't go out there and dominate every outing," Eflin said. "I just think it's a mindset thing. I always have a positive mindset, not really ever negative. I think it's a big thing as a starting pitcher, especially when you have four days off between starts. I'm going to work my tail off the next four days and really focus on the next outing."
• The top three hitters in the Phillies' lineup (Cesar Hernandez, Odubel Herrera and Maikel Franco) combined to reach base nine times, but they never scored. Hernandez's two-out double in the ninth prevented the Phillies from suffering back-to-back shutout losses for the first time since July 8-9, 2015, when Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw pitched in shutouts at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. "What do you think?" manager Pete Mackanin said, when asked if the Phillies' lineup needs a shakeup.
• "You have to stay even-keeled. You have to stay consistent. At least I have to. I have to try to stay consistent, emotionally." -- Mackanin, on the Phillies' recent struggles.
• Home-plate umpire Pat Hoberg ejected Phillies bench coach Larry Bowa in the fourth inning for arguing balls and strikes after Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp was called out on strikes. It was Bowa's first ejection of the season. "He was mad at the umpire," Mackanin said. "He couldn't control himself. He had to let it out."
• The win clinched the Marlins' fourth consecutive winning month for the first time in franchise history.
• Three hits shy of reaching 3,000 career Major League hits, Ichiro Suzuki did not play on Wednesday. "It's a little uncomfortable as you get this close with [Ichiro] because you don't want to just put him in there to try to do this," Mattingly said. "We've been playing with him in the context of the team the whole year long; it's worked out perfectly. I know people want to see it and see it at home but I don't want to force it. [He'll play] when it's best for the team."

NEXT GAME:

The Phillies open a four-game series Thursday against the Braves at Turner Field at 7:10 p.m. ET. Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola hopes to turnaround his recent struggles. He went 5-4 with a 2.65 ERA in his first 12 starts this season, looking like a potential National League All-Star, but is 0-5 with a 10.61 ERA in his last seven starts.

PHILS PHACTS:

Just A Bump – The further Phillies rookie Zach Eflin distanced himself from his big league debut in Toronto in June, the more people marveled at how well he had pitched since. He entered Wednesday's 11-1 loss to the Marlins at Marlins Park with a 2.08 ERA in seven starts since allowing nine runs in 2 2/3 innings against the Blue Jays on June 14. His recent success included a shutout Friday against the Pirates and a complete game earlier this month against the Braves. But Eflin struggled against the Marlins, allowing nine hits, seven runs and four walks in five-plus innings as the Phillies dropped to 4-9 since the All-Star break. "You can't go out there and dominate every outing," Eflin said. "I just think it's a mindset thing. I always have a positive mindset, not really ever negative. I think it's a big thing as a starting pitcher, especially when you have four days off between starts. I'm going to work my tail off the next four days and really focus on the next outing." Eflin, whose ERA jumped from 3.40 to 4.23, allowed a leadoff double to J.T. Realmuto in the first inning. He scored on a fielder's choice to make it 1-0, but Giancarlo Stanton followed and crushed a two-run home run to left field to make it 3-0. Stanton hit a 1-0 fastball, which left his bat at 112 mph and traveled a projected 435 feet, according to Statcast™. "He hit it pretty well," Eflin said. Eflin allowed another run in the fourth and three more runs in the sixth before leaving the game. "Eflin wasn't the same pitcher he was in Pittsburgh," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "He just left the ball up. I didn't like the mix of pitches he used. We were hoping he'd use his curveball a little bit more. I thought he made some good pitches that the umpire missed. But that wasn't the reason. He just wasn't the same guy." It was a disappointment that Eflin could not replicate his success in Pittsburgh, particularly because he grew up in Orlando, Fla. He had family and at least 20 friends in attendance. "It's just the experience they got to have," Eflin said. "It's really cool knowing where I came from, all my friends being able to be here and supporting me." But the early returns for Eflin are encouraging, especially considering he was one of the first pieces acquired in the Phillies' rebuild. He joined the Phillies in December 2014, as part of the Jimmy Rollins trade with the Dodgers. He makes his next start Tuesday against the Giants at Citizens Bank Park.

Today In Phils History – The Phillies acquired Chuck Klein on this day in 1928. Russ Meyer continued the Phillies shutout streak (4^th in a row) against the Cubs in 1951. Harry Kalas was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame on this day in 2002 as the recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award. 5 years later, Tadihiro Iguchi became the 1^st player born in Japan to start for the Phillies when he was put in the lineup at 2B. Dominic Brown made his MLB debut in 2010. The Phillies lost 2 straight games on this day in 2011 for the first time in 46 contests. Finally, happy 30^th birthday to Darin Ruf.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 46-57 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 47-65-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record.

Closer But Still A Loss

GAME RECAP: Diamond Backs Shut Down Phillies 4-1 

Zack Greinke extended his winning streak to seven as he tossed eight outstanding innings to lead the D-backs past the Phillies, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. Greinke (10-3) has won seven straight starts and on Saturday, after he allowed a first-inning homer to Odubel Herrera, he did not allow another hit until Andres Blanco led off the seventh with a single. Overall, the right-hander allowed three hits and a walk to go with six strikeouts. "I threw a lot of strikes, and there were a lot of balls put in play early," Greinke said. "There were a couple of longer at-bats that got the pitch count up a little bit. But mainly just attacking the zone and trying to get balls put in play weakly." The Phillies had a 1-0 lead until the fifth when Nick Ahmed tied things up with his fourth homer of the year. Later in the inning, Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run blast and Jake Lamb added a solo homer in the seventh to cap the scoring.

PHILS PHACTS:

• Eickhoff started the game strong. He struck out four batters in the first two innings and didn't allow a run until the fifth. The first time Peter O'Brien -- who hit two home runs in Friday's 10-2 game -- stepped to the plate, Eickhoff sent him a fastball up and in. He threw a couple more on the inside corner and continued to attack the inside portion of the plate for much of game. "That's what I've always done," Eickhoff said. "Going inside is important, and I feel like I do that. I was able to do that for the most part today." Even in the final two innings, Eickhoff and Phillies manager Pete Mackanin felt he was still attacking. Instead, Eickhoff blamed balls finding the holes, as he gave up two homers. Mackanin said he thought Eickhoff lost his command the final two innings, so he eventually turned to Andrew Bailey with the bases loaded and two outs. "He could've gotten out of it, but I chose not to leave him in there," Mackanin said. "Bailey did a nice job bailing him out, going right after the hitter. I hate bringing a guy in with the bases loaded, but I felt like I had to."
• The Phillies set a franchise record in Friday's game, allowing their 17th home run over four games. The pattern continued into Saturday. Although the Phils did not join the 1977 Yankees as the only team to allow at least five home runs in three consecutive games, they came only two shy, with Eickhoff surrendering two in the fifth (becoming the sixth Phillies player to allow multiple home runs in an inning since Tuesday). Mackanin sees a disheartening trend in that a number of the home runs have come on two-strike counts. Both Goldschmidt and Lamb's blasts came with two strikes, 0-2 and 1-2, respectively. "It boils down to being able to command your slider or your breaking ball or secondary pitch or fastball up and in," Mackanin said. "You have to command that pitch, and if you leave it out over the plate, you get burned."
• When Mackanin made out the lineup card Saturday, Maikel Franco was penciled in the lowest spot he'd hit this season, sixth. It also included, in an attempt to stimulate the offense, Cody Asche hitting leadoff for the first time in his pro career and Herrera out of the top spot for the first time since April 19. But Mackanin's message was to Franco. After Friday's game, he said he believes Franco is getting into his own head and that he was going to move him down significantly. Mackanin kept his word, but it didn't help his young third baseman. Franco came to the plate as the tying run with one out in the seventh. Blanco stood on third and Jimmy Paredes on second. Greinke fell behind 3-0 to Franco. Yet, the at-bat ended with Franco's helmet on the dirt of the batter's box after he struck out swinging on a 3-2 curve from Greinke. "We sure need his bat," Mackanin said. "We need him to be what he's capable of. For some reason, he just got out of sync. He's not giving us disciplined, professional at-bats right now. Partially I think that's because he's overanxious, and he feels he needs to do too much." Franco denied that he was pressing, but he admitted that he might be over-swinging at times. "It's totally frustrating for everybody," Franco said. "You wanna do something, you want to go out there with energy and everything like that. Nothing good is happening right now. It's frustrating for everybody."

NEXT GAME:

Zach Eflin (0-1, 27.00) will make his first career start at Citizens Bank Park at 1:35 p.m. ET. In his Major League debut against the Blue Jays in Toronto, Eflin didn't make it out of the third, allowing nine runs on nine hits while serving up three home runs. The 22-year-old right-hander is ranked as the Phillies' No. 13 prospect by MLBPipeline.com

PHILS PHACTS:

Eickhoff Improving – Jerad Eickhoff got ahead no balls, two strikes on Peter O'Brien with no outs in the second. Then he sent a message. On the third pitch, Eickhoff fired a 91-mph fastball up and in. O'Brien dipped and dove out of the way, but Eickhoff made it clear: He was going to own the inside part of the plate in the Phillies' 4-1 loss to the D-backs on Saturday. "That's what I've always done," Eickhoff said. "Going inside is important, and I feel like I do that. I was able to do that for the most part today." Manager Pete Mackanin had been disappointed with the lack of aggressiveness his pitchers have shown, speculating that it contributed to the 20 home runs the staff has allowed over the last five games. Adam Morgan agreed after not making it out of the fifth inning in his start on Friday. Eickhoff was not deterred from the inner third, though. He continued to attack O'Brien inside, setting him up for a sweeping slider over the plate that the D-backs' rookie whiffed at. Eickhoff struck out O'Brien twice more before leaving the game after 5 2/3, having allowed three runs on nine hits. Through four innings, the 25-year-old right-hander had yet to surrender a run and had recorded five of his six strikeouts. He was pitching with moxie and challenging D-backs hitters, who had mustered no more than singles off him. The fifth inning wasn't the same story. Nick Ahmed kicked off the scoring with a home run to left-center. Jean Segura followed with a single, and Paul Goldschmidt brought him home with Arizona's second blast of the inning. It was the sixth time in five games a Phillies pitcher allowed multiple home runs in an inning. But neither Mackanin nor Eickhoff felt the starter backed off. "I went after them like I had the whole game," Eickhoff said. "Balls just found the holes, and that's kind of what I'm looking at it as." Where Mackanin felt Eickhoff faltered was with his command in the sixth inning, which he did not make it out of. After loading the bases, Mackanin pulled Eickhoff with two outs, calling on Andrew Bailey to erase the threat. "He could've gotten out of it, but I chose not to leave him in there," Mackanin said. "Bailey did a nice job bailing him out, going right after the hitter. I hate bringing a guy in with the bases loaded, but I felt like I had to." Eickhoff has been the lone bright spot on a starting staff that had an 8.45 ERA over their last eight games before Saturday. That number included Eickhoff's six shutout innings in Toronto. Over his last four starts, Eickhoff has gone 25 1/3 innings, allowing six runs (2.13 ERA). In comparison, twice in the last week, other Phillies starters allowed at least that many runs in a single start. On Saturday, Eickhoff offered an example of what it will take to turn it around.

Pitch, Hit, & Run At CBP – Of more than 600,000 Scotts Pitch, Hit & Run participants nationwide, 23 descended on Citizens Bank Park on Saturday morning to determine the Phillies' team champions and compete for a possible trip to San Diego for the MLB All-Star Game. The 23 competitors consisted of three baseball and softball participants each in the 7/8, 9/10, 11/12 and 13/14 age divisions. Those lucky enough to play on the same field as the Phillies got there by beating our hundreds of others at eight Delaware Valley sectional competitions. To move on to Petco Park for National Finals -- which will take place prior to the T-Mobile Home Run Derby on July 11 -- a player must finish in the top three in the age group nationwide. The winner of the baseball 13-14 division, Karim Mullen Jr., has high hopes of making it to San Diego, but just playing at Citizens Bank Park was exciting enough for him. "It's very cool," Mullen said. "I've never experienced something like this before." Softball isn't even Amelia Atkins' favorite sport. It takes second place to horseback riding for the Chester Springs, Pa., native. But that didn't stop her from showing off her skills and winning the 7-8 softball division. Atkins, like every one of the eight first-place finishers, said Ryan Howard is her favorite player. The slugger's recent struggles haven't overshadowed his community involvement and role on the Phillies' division-winning ballclubs. Mullen wears No. 6 because of Howard. "I play first base, he plays first base," Mullen said. "He hits home runs, I hit home runs." Scott's Pitch, Hit & Run is part of Major League Baseball's Play Ball initiative, a partnership program with USA Baseball that encourages widespread participation in all forms of baseball activities among all age groups, especially youth. This marks the 20th year of the Pitch, Hit & Run competition. List of the winners, by age group: Baseball 7-8: Tyler Reinhart (Lebanon, Pa.); Softball 7-8: Amelia Atkins (Chester Springs, Pa.); Baseball 9-10: Bronson Kilmer (South Gibson, Pa.); Softball 9-10: Meghan Fisher (Dauphin, Pa.); Baseball 11-12: Callan Fang (Yardley, Pa.); Softball 11-12: Abby Tobelman (Gap, Pa.); Baseball 13-14: Karim Mullen Jr. (Philadelphia); Softball 13-14: Zoey Gross (Mays Landing, N.J.).

Today In Phils History – Double trouble seems to be a trend on this day in Phillies history beginning in 1927 when Jack Scott started both games on the mound of a double header against Cincinnati going the distance in both the earlier win and latter loss. 2 years later, the Phillies and Giants completed a double header in 7 hours and 42 minutes (the longest double header of the decade) with the Phillies dropping both games. The only faceoff between Hall of Famers Jim Bunning and Tom Seaver happened on this day in 1970 with Seaver dominating the Phillies while Bunning lasting only 2 batters. The following year, Larry Bowa recorded 2 stolen bases on a single play as he reached third on the double steal and advanced home when Oscar Gamble got caught in a rundown (Gamble also reached second safely thanks to Bowa’s aggressiveness). Some of the other notable occurrences include Willie Jones inside the park grand slam in 1951 and Randy Wolf surrendering a homerun in what would be the last in a team record 12 straight starts in which they allowed a homerun.   

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 30-39 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 47-55-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record. Let the rebuild begin!