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.

Has It Already Been That Long?

PHILS PHACTS:

The Beginning Of The Lidge Legend – On this date [yesterday] eight years ago, the Astros sent Brad Lidge to Philadelphia as part of a five-player deal. Lidge was two years removed from his last All-Star appearance and coming off a 2007 season during which he converted 19 of 27 save opportunities and sported a 3.36 ERA -- not a bad season by any means, but nothing historic. His first season as a Phillie, though, can only be described as "tearing it up." Lidge was literally perfect, going 41-for-41 in saves (the first Phillie ever to do so), while averaging 11.94 strikeouts per nine innings. He was an All-Star and finished fourth in Cy Young Award voting that year, but Phillies fans probably remember his seven saves in the postseason more than anything he did in the regular season -- including Lidge's World Series Game 5 save that clinched Philly's first championship in 28 years. Your browser does not support iframes.  Did the Phillies win the World Series because they traded for Brad Lidge? It's impossible to prove otherwise. Fun fact: Joining Lidge in that deal was Eric Bruntlett, who turned the 14th unassisted triple play in MLB history as a Phillie in 2009.

Phillies Host Sleepover – On Friday night, Citizens Bank Park turned into a wonderland for a special group of Philadelphia-area children, who were able to turn from hospital patients into Major Leaguers for the Sleepover in the Phillies Clubhouse. The children, all being treated for serious illnesses, had the rigors of that routine wiped off their faces by wide smiles as they filed into the clubhouse in the early evening, accompanied by their parents and lugging sleeping bags and duffel bags of baseball equipment. Participants ranged in age from 3-year-old Noah Sierra, a patient at Temple University Hospital, to 16-year-old Riley Hunter, undergoing treatment at Nemours Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. Others came from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children. Each youngster was assigned a balloons-bedecked locker; one reedy teen broke into a grin as he entered the room and, with glee, immediately pointed to the nameplate "Marcus Quattlebaum" above a locker. As the kids began to settle in, new Phillies general manager Matt Klentak welcomed them with a video message to inform them that they would each sign an official players contract to become Phillies for a day as "my first official signings." Bending over the contracts placed in their lockers, the kids affixed their signatures, then made a beeline for the indoor batting cage, where they took turns taking cuts off tees with the help of a quartet of Phillies ballgirls. After slicing line drives, the kids took slices of pizza, as well as french fries and chicken fingers, from a buffet in the middle of the clubhouse. The Phillie Phanatic crashed the feast, adding selfies to the menu. The meal was followed by movies with the usual accompaniments -- ice cream and popcorn. A scavenger hunt, chaperoned by Phillies staff, ensured that by midnight the kids would be ready to drop into the sleeping bags laid out in the footprints of Ryan Howard, Freddy Galvis and company. It wasn't easy, with the prospect of sleep interrupting this special experience. Usually, dreams only come in sleep, but these kids were dreaming with their eyes wide open. Eventually, they drifted off, knowing that the treats would continue in the morning, with breakfast in the clubhouse followed by a photo session in the Phillies dugout. The Phillies did not have a successful season in 2015, but it got a whole lot better on a night-into-morning when they gave a bunch of kids the gifts of mirth, and of hope for all of their tomorrows.

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, at least Ryan Madson got another ring this year.