Mad Max Trumped The Hoff

GAME RECAP: Nats Edge Phils 3-2

Once again Max Scherzer flirted with history, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning as he delivered another dominant start against the Phillies on Tuesday night. He overmatched the Phillies for eight innings, striking out 11 to lead the Nationals to a 3-2 victory. "I think when he goes out there, we're pretty pumped," Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper said. "Being able to see him do what he does, every five days he has an opportunity to go out there and throw a perfect game or a no-no. That just goes to show how hard he works and how he goes about it. Lot of fun to watch, lot of fun to play behind, and just an absolute machine.” It was Washington's eighth consecutive victory over Philadelphia; the Nationals have won 13 of their last 15 games at Citizens Bank Park. Scherzer did not surrender a hit until the sixth inning, when Freddy Galvis lined a leadoff double off the wall in right field. Philadelphia got on the board in the seventh on a two-run homer from Ryan Howard, who had struggled mightily against Scherzer in his career. "We need to improve our plate discipline. We're just not getting hits," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "It plays into anybody's strengths who can change speeds." "I knew I needed to change it up and really start hitting my offspeed early in those first at-bats," Scherzer said, "because it just seemed like they were going to be very aggressive on that first-pitch fastball." Phillies right-hander Jerad Eickhoff entered the game with a 9.91 ERA from the sixth inning and later this season, so his day was done following the sixth after a quality start in which he allowed three runs and struck out four. "I know [Scherzer's] a tough pitcher, so I know I've got to be on point with my stuff as well," Eickhoff said. "Try to keep our guys getting into the dugout and [getting] the bats. He pitched a great game. You know that going in, so it's a challenge."

PHILS PHACTS: 

• In the fourth inning, Trea Turner ripped a single into right and Danny Espinosa came flying around third, despite it being a hard-hit ball right to Aaron Altherr. Altherr came up firing, and his throw beat Espinosa to the plate by almost 10 feet. But instead of trying to dodge the tag or give himself up, the 6-foot, 206-pound Espinosa came barreling full speed into the stocky, 6-foot-2, 260-pound Rupp. Rupp won, holding onto the ball and getting Espinosa out. The play raised some eyebrows in the Phillies dugout, with catcher A.J. Ellis bringing up rule 7.13, which essentially states that a runner cannot deviate from his path to the plate to initiate contact with the catcher. The catcher, until he receives the ball, must give the runner a clear path. The consensus among the Phillies seemed to be that Rupp provided the path and that Espinosa chose to ram Rupp anyway. "You're going to have people that can say Espinosa could have gone to the inside, but I mean, it's baseball, man," Howard said. "You can't change every single thing about it. Ruppy's a big guy. He took the hit. I mean, actually, I think he liked it." "Yeah, it brought me back to my football days," Rupp said. "I thought it was ironic that Tim Tebow's trying out for baseball and I'm taking hits at the plate on the same day."
• Howard planted a ball in the left-field seats in the seventh to give the Phillies their runs and third hit off Scherzer and make it a 3-2 game. It was his 20th homer in just 276 at-bats this season. Howard is averaging a home run every 13.8 at-bats this year, which is his best rate since 2009, when he averaged a homer every 13.7 at-bats. "It's cool," Howard said. "It just goes to show, just keep trying to [plug] away and just keep swinging and doing what you do. Even though it's a lot less at-bats, hopefully, it shows something." Mackanin had played Howard over Tommy Joseph because "a lot of people don't have good numbers against [Scherzer] anyway. Lefties at least hit him better."
• It initially appeared as though Turner was thrown out on his steal in the seventh inning. The Nationals challenged the play, however, and the call was overturned.
• For the ninth time in his 61 starts since he joined the Nationals before the start of the 2015 season, Scherzer carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He has done so more times than anyone else in the Majors during that span, almost 15 percent of his starts. Scherzer did not finish the feat, but still managed to give the Nationals eight strong innings. He also reached double-digit strikeouts for the 12th time this season, the most in the Majors and setting a Nationals record. "I'm sure everybody on the team was thinking [no-hitter], because they've seen it before," Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. 

NEXT GAME:

Adam Morgan starts Wednesday's series finale at 7:05 p.m. ET as the Phillies look to avoid being swept for the first time since losing four to the D-backs in mid-June. The Phils have lost their last eight to the Nationals, and 13 of their last 15 against them at Citizens Bank Park. Morgan gave up one run over six innings to the Cardinals two starts ago, but allowed six Mets to score over five innings his most recent start.

PHILS PHACTS:

Howard Still Has Something Left – Ryan Howard hit his 20th homer of the season in Tuesday night's 3-2 loss to the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. It is the 11th time Howard has hit 20 or more homers in a season, so the accomplishment in and of itself is not unusual. But considering that he has spent the 2016 campaign in a reserve role, it is noteworthy that he has hit 20 in just 276 at-bats. "It's cool," Howard said. "It just goes to show, just keep trying to [plug] away and just keep swinging and doing what you do. Even though it's a lot less at-bats, hopefully, it shows something." Howard is averaging a home run every 13.8 at-bats this season, his best rate since 2009, when he averaged a homer every 13.7 at-bats. He averaged a homer every 23.2 at-bats the previous three seasons. Howard is hitting .196 with 20 homers, 45 RBIs and a .692 OPS, but he has hit .299 with nine homers, 20 RBIs and a .992 OPS in 87 at-bats since July 3. Howard was 1-for-20 with 13 strikeouts in his career against Nationals ace Max Scherzer before hitting the two-run homer to left in the seventh. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin had played Howard over Tommy Joseph because "a lot of people don't have good numbers against [Scherzer] anyway. Lefties at least hit him better." "Felt good, but I was able to make the adjustment," Howard said. "Sometimes I think it's just being a little bit too quick, but I just try to slow everything down and relax and see the ball."

Planning For September – Ryan Howard got a start on Tuesday vs. Washington's Max Scherzer, but after this, his name will appear less frequently on the lineup card. "I'll play [Howard] today, then tomorrow [Tommy] Joseph," manager Pete Mackanin said. "Then I'll lean on Joseph a bit more the rest of the way. I want to see him more." The decision was not passed down the organizational chain; Mackanin said it was his alone. "It makes sense to see Joseph as much as possible," he said. "I don't want to happen to him what happened to [Darin] Ruf, where we didn't have opportunities to get him at-bats." Joseph, now 250 at-bats into his big league career, has cooled as Major League pitchers have adjusted to him. Meanwhile, Howard had performed so well since the All-Star break that rumors of a waiver deal began to swirl. In 72 at-bats since the halfway point, Howard has hit .306, with seven home runs. That, combined with Joseph's .247 average over that span and his sub-.300 on-base percentage on the season, led to an uptick in playing time for the 36-year-old. Joseph got the occasional start against right-handers, but his role had devolved; that will no longer be the case. "I'm not going to strictly play Joseph," Mackanin said, "but I'd like to get him as many at-bats as possible through the end of the season. "He's got a good approach. He's got some deficiencies. He's hitting .240- or .250-something. The league has started pitching to some weaknesses, and .250's not what we're looking for. But it's his first year, and he's got power."

Goeddel Remains In Reserve Role – Manager Pete Mackanin and the Phillies plan to use September's expanded rosters to get an extended look at some of their young players, but outfielder Tyler Goeddel won't be one of them. "I've seen enough of Goeddel to know -- we kept him this long, we're going to keep him and see where we go next year with him," Mackanin said. "I don't feel a need to play him." If the Phillies did not see a future for Goeddel -- a Rule 5 pick -- in the organization, they could have returned him to the Rays, but the 23-year-old apparently showed enough back in May to stick. Goeddel started all 22 games he played in May, posting a .794 OPS in 79 plate appearances. In the nearly three months since, he has started exactly as many games as he did that month. He's hardly thrived in the reserve role. In 111 plate appearances since June 1, his season OPS has decreased more than 100 points, and he's recorded only 13 hits -- four for extra bases -- in 100 at-bats. So Jimmy Paredes again started in left field on Tuesday -- not for Mackanin to get an extended look, but to insert some semblance of a power threat into the lineup. "Paredes, he's an extra player," Mackanin said. "That's why we got him, to try to get some offense into the lineup. He's been swinging the bat pretty well, [and Peter] Bourjos is coming off a wrist injury. We're just trying to get Paredes as many at-bats as possible to see if he can help us win a few games." The biggest chunk of Paredes' playing time has come since Aug. 1. His 10 games started is only two fewer than the 12 he started in the two months after the Phillies acquired him. He's hit .244 with a pair of home runs in August, and struck out 13 times in 45 at-bats.

Today In Phils History – In 1894, Billy Hamilton (the original Billy Hamilton) stole 7 bases in an 8 inning win over Washington. With rumors of a fix swirling in 1920, Cubs pitcher Claude Hendrix is scratched from his scheduled start in favor of former Phillie Pete Alexander who subsequently lost the game 3-0. The Phillies chartered their 1^st flight on this day in 1950 flying from St. Louis to Boston (a 1t experience for many players) and prompting a call to TWA head Howard Hughes after experiencing significant turbulence during a thunderstorm. 6 years later, with starting pitcher Harvey Haddix having to withdraw due to back spasms, infielder Granny Hamner steps in as an emergency starter and goes 4 1/3 innings giving up 4 runs and 9 hits which taking the loss (he also made 2 other relief appearances that season and took the loss both times). Despite a career 594-510-1 records and 3 division titles, the Phillies fired manager Danny Ozark on this day in 1979 and replaced him with former pitcher and minor league and scouting director Dallas Green. In 2006, in the 4^th inning of a game against the Nationals at RFK Stadium, Ryan Howard connected for his 49^th homerun of the season breaking the franchise single season record previously held by Mike Schmidt. The following season, Kane Davis became the 28^th pitcher used by the Phillies that season setting a new team record. In 2011, Cliff Lee became the 3^rd pitcher in MLB history to have 2 consecutive months during which he had 5+ wins, 0 losses, and an ERA under 0.50. 2 years later, the Phillies traded away John McDonald and Michael Young in 2 separate transactions. John Mayberry Jr. met the same fate on this day the following season. Finally, happy 58^th birthday Von Hayes!

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 60-72 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 48-61-0 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.

And The Slide Continues For The Phillies

GAME RECAP: Nats Down Phils 5-1

Daniel Murphy completed his scorching hot month of May with another multi-hit game, including a solo home run, and Joe Ross delivered a strong outing to help lead the Nationals to a 5-1 victory over the Phillies on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. Murphy improved his average to .397 on the season and tied a franchise record for most hits in a single month with 47, including seven homers. He had only homered seven times in a single month once, this past October while he helped the Mets complete their run to the World Series. "Murph's ready to hit June, July August and September," Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. "And we've seen him in October. Doesn't really matter, just as long as we can keep him healthy and happy." The Nationals had four homers on the day -- Jayson Werth's solo homer in the first inning, Murphy's homer in the sixth, Danny Espinosa's two-run homer in the ninth inning followed by a pinch-hit inside the park home run from Stephen Drew -- to back Ross, who tossed seven innings of one-run ball. The Nationals will go for a series sweep Wednesday night. Meanwhile, Philadelphia has dropped nine of its last 11 games despite starter Aaron Nola's solid outing. Nola struck out six over six innings, allowing two runs. "That was the one bright spot," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said of Nola's outing. Bryce Harper sat out with a right knee contusion after being hit by a Jeremy Hellickson pitch in Monday's game.

PHILS PHACTS:

• Despite being only 22 years old and in his first full Major League season, Nola has flourished in his role as the quasi-ace of a staff that never really had one. He took the loss on Tuesday, but to no fault of his own. Nola notched his ninth quality start in 11 tries. He stranded three Nationals on base, escaping the rare jam in which he found himself. The only damage off the Nats' bats against Nola came on two solo home runs. "He competes pitch by pitch is what he does and he doesn't let anything bother him," Mackanin said. "He's like a golfer who sees the water in front of him and the sandtraps to the side and just puts that out of focus." 
• It remains a mystery where the Phillies' offense will come from each night. On Tuesday, the lone run was driven in by a Cesar Hernandez triple. Hernandez was batting eighth only because Pete Mackanin was hoping "to change our luck" offensively. In the past 33 games played at NL parks, Mackanin had hit the pitcher eighth in all but one. But Hernandez, in the eight hole, was the catalyst for the bottom third of the Phils' order. Three of the Phillies' four hits came from their bottom three -- two singles from David Lough on top of Hernandez's triple. "We're just getting out-homered every night," Mackanin said. "Four hits. We're not hitting home runs. I feel like it's a broken record -- we're not hitting."

NEXT GAME:

Adam Morgan (1-3, 6.67 ERA) gets the ball for the Phillies in the series finale against Washington. He has lost his last three starts and his only two quality starts this season have come against the last-place Braves.

PHILS PHACTS:

Nola Continues To Mature – After Clint Robinson reached third with no outs, Aaron Nola appeared to be in trouble in the second inning of the Phillies' 5-1 loss to the Nationals on Tuesday. But Nola bore down and retired three of the next four Nats to strand Robinson on third and keep the Phillies within one. After getting Joe Ross swinging to end the frame, the typically stoic right-hander couldn't contain a fist pump as he left the mound. Nola left for good after the sixth. The two runs he allowed came on two solo home runs. He scattered four more Nats' baserunners and struck out six en route to his ninth quality start in 11 tries. "That was the bright spot of the night," manager Pete Mackanin said. Look beyond Nola, and you'll find just one run scored, four hits and a bullpen that let the score escalate from 2-1 to 5-1. Of Nola's 96 pitches, he'll categorize only two as mistakes: a first-pitch fastball to Jayson Werth in the first inning and another heater to Daniel Murphy in the sixth. Both landed in the seats. After each home run, though, Nola ended the damage there. After Werth's shot, Nola responded by getting Murphy, who leads the Majors with a .397 batting average, looking. After Murphy's homer, he struck out Robinson swinging on a sinker to close the sixth. "It shows a lot of moxie," Mackanin said. "This guy, nothing bothers him." Nola has begun to embody a cold-blooded mentality. And he's the guy the Phillies turn to when they need to stop a losing streak. Since he came up last July, Nola has eight times pitched after the Phillies had lost two or more in a row -- including his last two times out. In those starts, Nola's pitched 49 innings and posted a 2.94 ERA, while striking out 2.8 batters for every one he walks. Yet, he hasn't been able to snap every skid. Of those eight starts, Philadelphia has won five. In the three losses, the Phillies offense has averaged just 2.67 runs of support for Nola. "It's baseball, it happens," the level-headed Nola said. "Sometimes we pitch bad and get a lot of run support. Sometimes we pitch good and don't get too much run support." Nola denied treating these games unlike any other start. Mackanin, though, believes Nola has the special quality it takes for a starter to become a rotation's stopper. Whether the 22-year-old does have it, or if it's just masked by his maturity, Mackanin believes Nola's calm and cool demeanor has become infectious. "It's great to see," Mackanin said. "I think it rubs off on some of the guys."

Today In Phils History – Ed Delahanty made the first mark on franchise history when he hit two inside the park homeruns in the same game in 1893. 30 year later the Phillies weren’t so fortunate as the Giants scored in every inning of a 22-8 drubbing. The Phillies played their first night game, and lost to the Pirates, in 1939. 30 years later, Dick Allen homered in his 5^th consecutive game setting a team record. A decade later, manager Danny Ozark, long before Tony LaRussa, had Steve Carlton bat 8^th in the lineup without any success. 4 years later, Mike Schmidt was once again on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Finally, it has already been 11 years since Chase Utley was sent in to pinch hit in the bottom of the 8^th in a tie game against the Giants and hit a grand slam.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 26-26 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 45-55-0 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!

Mets Mistakes Get Royal Treatment

YESTERDAY IN POSTSEASON PLAY:

There is something to be said about the persistent pressure that the Royals have exerted on the Mets this series. Once again, mistakes cost the NL champions the game in the late innings as hits continued to fall for the Royals and they did just enough to take a daunting 3-1 series lead over New York. We will have to see if the Dark Knight rises or if the Royals will prove to be the bane of his existence in game 5.

Royals Beat Mets 5-3

It just keeps happening. These Royals just hang around and hang around and wait for one key mistake. Then they pounce. For the seventh time this postseason, the Royals came from behind to win. Fueled again by a patient offensive approach and a devastating defensive mistake -- this one by Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy -- Kansas City grabbed a 5-3 win in Game 4 of the World Series on Saturday night at Citi Field. The Royals, up 3-1 in the Series, are one win away from their first World Series championship since 1985. Game 5 is set for Sunday. Murphy may be the most significant reason the Mets won the National League pennant, willing them to victory after victory in postseason play. But his eighth-inning fielding error on a routine grounder by Eric Hosmer allowed Ben Zobrist to scoot home with the tying run. Moments later, Mike Moustakas singled in the go-ahead run past the glove of a diving Murphy, and Salvador Perez knocked in another insurance run. Then Royals manager Ned Yost called for closer Wade Davis to come in and get six outs, which he did. Checkmate. Davis had the Royals' first two-inning save in postseason play since Dan Quisenberry in Game 4 of the 1980 World Series. "We feel like if we can keep the game close, we're going to find a way to win it," Yost said. "Our bullpen is so dynamic, they give us a chance to win those type of games. And it's a team that just looks for a little crack. If we find a little crack, they're going to make something happen." Teams holding a 3-1 lead in best-of-seven postseason series are 68-12 (.850) all-time, and 39-6 (.867) in World Series play. No team has come back from a 3-1 deficit in the World Series since the Royals in 1985. "When you win the first two games at home, going into it your goal coming in here is winning two games here," Yost said of having a chance to clinch on Sunday in New York, before the Series would go back to Kansas City. "But you know if you win one here, you've got two games at home, where we're really, really tough." Trailing, 3-2, entering the eighth inning, the Royals drew consecutive one-out walks against Tyler Clippard, prompting Mets manager Terry Collins to call on closer Jeurys Familia to try for a five-out save. The first man he faced, Hosmer, sent a bouncing ball to the right side, where it scooted under Murphy's glove and into right field. As the largest Mets crowd in Citi Field history (44,815) grew mostly silent, Zobrist raced home. "I tried to one-hand it," Murphy said. "It probably deserved to be two-handed. I just misplayed it. It went right under my glove. They made us pay for it. It put us in a really bad spot, and that's frustrating." The result was the second blown save of the Series for Familia, who also served up a game-tying homer to Alex Gordon in the ninth inning of Game 1. "They truly don't ever stop," Collins said of the Royals' offense. "They have a very good lineup from top to bottom. They can do a lot of things. They're athletic. So like I say, you've got to make pitches and you've got to get outs when you have the opportunity." Familia's misstep undid the early work of Mets rookies Michael Conforto and Steven Matz. The former became the third-youngest player to homer twice in a World Series game, while the latter delivered five-plus innings of two-run ball had New York poised to tie the Series. Right-hander Chris Young started for the Royals and gave up two runs through four innings, then Danny Duffy, Luke Hochevar and Ryan Madson (1-0) bridged the gap to Davis. "We can smell it now," Young said. "But we know we have work to do yet."

POSTSEASON PREDICTIONS: Read my post from October 6^th to see how many I have gotten wrong!

CURRENT POSTSEASON PICTURE:

World Series

Kansas City leads Series 3-1

Kansas City at New York

Game 5: Sunday, November 1, at 8:00 PM

PHILS PHACTS:

Phillies didn’t have any tricks or treats to report from yesterday!

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies finally put an end to the season finishing in last place in the NL East with a record of 63-99. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and bipolar performances, this has ended up being one of the worst seasons in franchise history! However, there are some former Phillies still making headlines in the playoffs this year.

And The Phillies’ Streak Is Extended To 7 Games…

GAME RECAP: Rockies Sweep Phillies 4-1

Rockies left-hander Chris Rusin replaced injured starter Jordan Lyles and held the Phillies scoreless for 4 2/3 innings of a 4-1 victory on Sunday afternoon. "I knew I was going to be the first guy out of the 'pen, so I was already aware, stretched and ready to go," said Rusin (1-0). "It was tough, but I was fortunate enough to throw strikes, keep the ball down and get early contact." Rusin's rescue job -- augmented by Brooks Brown's strikeout display in the seventh -- helped the Rockies complete their first regular-season sweep in Philadelphia in their 23-year history. "To come east and win a couple series and sweep a series, that's a nice accomplishment, considering our history," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. The Rockies, who completed a two-city road trip 5-1, built a lead on two-run homers by Nolan Arenado in the first inning and DJ LeMahieu in the fifth -- both off Phillies starter Jerome Williams (3-5), who gave up eight hits. Lyles was avoiding a Cody Asche single through the middle when he suffered an aggravation of a left big toe sprain that occurred during his last start. It was the third time in four starts that Lyles left with an injury. "He passed all the tests of a the last few days and was ready to go, but he had to hop out of the way of a comebacker and that thing bit him again," said Weiss, who considered righty Christian Bergman but thought Rusin was a good option against a Phillies lineup with six left-handed hitters. Rusin, who started Tuesday at Cincinnati in place of Jorge De La Rosa (left middle finger cut), gave up Cameron Rupp's double that scored Asche. Rusin then quieted the Phillies until they loaded the bases on a walk and two hits to open the seventh. However, Brown, using a 95 mph fastball and a changeup 9 mph slower, fanned Rupp, Darin Ruf and Ben Revere on 11 total pitches. Brown began the year with five scoreless outings in his first six, but battled a shoulder issue that landed him on the 15-day disabled list. Now his groove is returning. "It's getting there, feels a lot better for sure -- command is getting better," Brown said. "I'm a strike-thrower. That's my biggest thing."

OTHER NOTES FROM THE DAY:

• The Phillies found themselves in position to cut into or even overtake the Rockies' lead in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and no one out. But they came up short again as Brown struck out Rupp, Ruf and Revere to end the threat. Philadelphia finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position Sunday and have just one hit in their last 28 such opportunities. "That was a big moment in the game, it was a shutdown inning for them and it was our best chance of the day," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "That was a disappointing half of an inning for us."
• Williams continued his ongoing fifth-inning struggles Sunday by allowing the LeMahieu blast. His ERA is now 12.19 in the fifth inning this year. He has allowed four home runs and six doubles in the inning and added his first fifth-inning hit batsman of the year as well. "We've got to start keeping an eye on him in the fifth instead of the sixth," Sandberg said. "Keep an eye on him. Sometimes it's a combination of elevating the ball as the game goes on and then missing with location."
• The Rockies' eight homers against the Phillies were the most in a three-game road series since they had eight at Milwaukee April 1-3, 2013. "This is a nice park to hit in, but you've still got to square it up and hit it good," Weiss said. "We faced [Cole] Hamels. We faced [Aaron] Harang, and nobody's hitting those guys. It's just a matter of us putting together better at-bats and competing better in the box."
• After being called up on May 15, rookie third baseman Maikel Franco batted 7-for-20 (.350) in his first five games with an OPS of 1.031 as the Phillies won four of those five games. Since he has cooled off, so too have the Phillies. Franco's batting average has now dipped below .200 and he's recorded only five hits in his last 11 games. The Phillies are 2-9 in those games.
• The Phillies benefited from an overturned call in the top of the third inning when a replay turned one out into two. Arenado sharply rolled a ground ball toward Chase Utley, who scooped up the grounder and flicked the ball to shortstop Cesar Hernandez covering second, rendering LeMahieu out. Hernandez then turned and threw to first, but his throw was ruled late by first-base umpire Chris Conroy. Sandberg challenged this ruling and the replay showed that the throw entered Ryan Howard's glove while Arenado's foot was still above the bag, ending the inning with the double play. The review lasted 45 seconds.
• The series opener on Tuesday will be the first of six games in nine days between the two National League foes, with a three-game series taking place in Cincinnati the following week.
• The Reds haven't felt that much compassion in the City of Brotherly Love in recent years. The Reds haven't won a series at Citizens Bank Park since August 2006, with a 8-21 record during the stretch.
• O'Sullivan will again look to work his way deeper into the game. O'Sullivan hasn't lasted more than six innings all season, and hasn't recorded an out in the seventh inning since 2013.

NEXT GAME:

Reds ace Johnny Cueto will return on Tuesday to begin a three-game series between the Reds and Phillies from Citizens Bank Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m ET. Cueto is coming back from right elbow stiffness that forced him to miss one start. Following a bullpen session on Sunday, Cueto said "every single pitch was good" during the session and that he will be ready to go on Tuesday. Cueto's last start was on May 19 at Kansas City, where he went seven innings, giving up three earned runs off nine hits in a 3-0 loss. Sean O'Sullivan will be the starter on the mound for Philadelphia in the series opener on Tuesday. The right-hander is 1-4 with a 4.81 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in six starts this season. O'Sullivan experienced his worst start of the season last time out, surrendering seven earned runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings in a 7-0 loss to the Mets.

PHILS PHACTS:

One Inning – He's not fatigued. He's hitting his spots. His stuff is no different than it was last year. But when the fifth inning comes, something happens to Jerome Williams. After the Phillies' 4-1 Sunday loss, Williams is 3-5 with a 5.49 ERA. But those figures don't tell the full story of what has been going wrong for Williams, or more accurately, when it has been going wrong. Williams has logged 31 outs in the fifth inning this year. In between those outs, he's allowed 14 runs for an ERA of 12.19 and 21 hits -- including four home runs and five doubles. This issue was brought back to the forefront Sunday when, facing the top of the Rockies' order, he hit Charlie Blackmon and then saw DJ LeMahieu drive a pitch over the left-field fence for two runs. Another double and two flyouts later, Williams worked his way out of the inning. But his day was done. Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said he has noticed that the fifth inning is where his No. 3 starter has been crumbling this year and offered his explanation of why. "We've got to start keeping an eye on him in the fifth instead of the sixth," Sandberg said. "Sometimes it's a combination of elevating the ball as the game goes on and then missing with location. But yeah, elevation of the pitches have usually been the things that are biting him." Williams disagreed with his manager after the game. While the veteran right-hander did admit that it was his manager's decision to pull him and he has to respect that, Williams said he hasn't been elevating pitches late in games and he wasn't fatigued, so there was no reason to think he shouldn't have been in the game. Even further than that, Williams said he wasn't even aware that the fifth inning had been a sore spot for him this season. "I just go out there and try to do my job," he said. "Sometimes it's not happening. I don't pay attention to those things."

Choking With The Bases Loaded – Ben Revere had never matched up against Brooks Brown before Sunday. Now he wants another try. Brown came in for the Rockies in relief with no one out and a three-run lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Cameron Rupp walked up to the plate with the bases loaded for the Phillies. Rupp, who doubled home a run in the second inning, struck out on three pitches. Rupp was followed by pinch-hitter Darin Ruf. Brown struck Ruf out on five pitches. Next up was leadoff hitter Revere. He swung and missed at three changeups. "I wish I could face him again," Revere said after Sunday's 4-1 loss. "You get ticked off about going down like that." Since Revere had never seen Brown, his preparation was based off the tape he had watched on the right-hander and the Rupp and Ruf strikeouts. From the tape, Revere said he knew Brown had a dominating fastball, so he went to the plate expecting to be challenged. But Brown didn't challenge Revere so much as he fooled him. Three times. "To get triple-double changeups like that that really kinda surprised me," Revere said. "But I was up there being aggressive, trying to drive something. And he did the right pitches in the right counts." Revere's aggression was characteristic of the Phillies as a whole over the past two series. Dating back to May 26, the Phillies are 1-for-28 with runners in scoring position, with the only hit coming in the seventh inning. All that hit did was move the runners and load the bases to set up the back-to-back-to-back strikeouts. Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg stressed the importance of that exchange after the game, remarking that it was one of the best opportunities the team had to score. However, he also said that the incident was not isolated and has developed into a trend the past few games. "That was a disappointing half of an inning for us," Sandberg said. "I think pitchers are coming at us with strikes. You have to swing the bats and create some offense by swinging it to get some base runners." Because of the point in the game it came in, Revere's strikeout resonated most with the fans, as he left the field to a chorus of boos. But it wasn't just Revere who stranded runners in scoring position Sunday. The Phillies left men on second base in the first, second and fifth innings and aside from a first-inning single by Chase Utley, the top five hitters in the Phillies order went 0-for-18. Revere said he thought that Sunday's 1-for-19 showing was indicative of how well the Rockies prepared for this series. "However I look at it, the Rockies had a good game plan against us, especially the main hitters of me, Chase, Howie, especially the top of the order," Revere said. "They had our number. You have somebody's number, that's how you wind up [winning] games."

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are starting the season as expected and are now near the bottom of the NL east at 19-33. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and performance this spring, don’t expect their competitive place in the standings to last. All time, the Phillies are 45-55-0 on this day.