Earlier this season, back when the Phillies were lunching on the White Sox and the Rockies of the world and bristling at the suggestion that their best-in-baseball record had been constructed on that rickety foundation, their rebuttal was based on a simple premise:
They can only play the teams the official Major League Baseball schedule maker places in front of them on any given day.
Eventually, of course, the degree of difficulty was going to increase. How much that has to do with the fact that they’ve lost 11 of their last 15 after falling to the Yankees, 6-5, on Wednesday would be a splendid topic to discuss over a couple beers at your favorite sports bar while the Phillies road gauntlet against three playoff contenders – Mariners, Dodgers, Diamondbacks – unfolds beginning Friday night at T-Mobile Park.
It ain’t getting easier any time soon.
“I feel like we ran into some really good teams,” first baseman Bryce Harper said before the team flew to Seattle Wednesday night. “You run into Minnesota. Cleveland. You’ve got two really good teams from the (AL Central) who came in here and did their jobs against us. Same thing with the Yankees. That’s a really good team right there. Sometimes you’ve got to tip your caps. Obviously, we don’t want to play the game that way. We’re a really good team. We want to win every game we play, every series, and obviously that’s not going to cut it.
“And we’ve got three really good teams we’re going to play next.”
Added centerfielder Brandon Marsh: “We’ve got to show up and do better. We like playing (at home) but we’re excited to go to the West Coast and try to turn over a new leaf and get back on the right track.”
The Mariners are in a dogfight with Houston for first place of the AL West. And despite blowing what was once a commanding 10-game lead in the division by losing 20 of 29, they seem to have since righted the ship by winning four of their last six. Also, they added two bats (Randy Arozarena, Justin Turner) and two arms (J.T. Chargois, Yimi Garcia) before Tuesday’s trade deadline. General manager Jerry DiPoto was quoted saying he believes the team is “meaningfully better” as a result.
Righthander Tyler Phillips (3-0, 1.80) will start Friday night for the Phillies at T-Mobile Park followed by LHP Kolby Allard (0-0, 6.75) Saturday night and RHP Zack Wheeler (10-5, 2.94) Sunday.
Then it’s on to Dodger Stadium for three games against a team that’s been in first place every day this season and boasts the second-best record in the National League despite a string of significant injuries.
Los Angeles was also active at the deadline and had what’s been rated as one of best deadline hauls: Starting pitcher Jack Flaherty, outfielder Kevin Kiermeier, infielder Armed Rosario and reliever Michael Kopech. “We moved the needle, I think, in a lot of ways,” manager Dave Roberts told reporters.
In Arizona, the final stop, the Phillies will face a team that is on the bubble of making it back to the tournament. Of course, the Snakes barely snuck into the playoffs last year and went all the way to the World Series, knocking off the Phillies in the NLCS along the way.
Arizona added two relievers, A.J. Puk and Dylan Florio, before the deadline and also added first base depth in Josh Bell.
When the Phillies return to Citizens Bank Park on August 13, they’ll first play five games against the Marlins and Nationals. But then it’s back into the fire with 13 straight against the Braves, Royals, Astros and Braves again.
And have we mentioned that Atlanta has crept to within 6 ½ games of the Phillies in the division, the closest they been in six weeks, with the Mets right on their heels?
Hey, they can only play who the schedule says they play. Rob Thomson is just ready for the Phillies to start beating somebody.
“Winning gives you confidence whether you’re playing the best team in baseball or the worst team in baseball,” he said.
Be the first to comment